Uncover What Clients Want by Reading What They Read

Subscribing to the trade magazines your clients read proves to make marketing easier.

Many of the articles provide a tutorial on how to put your products and services into their hands and convince similar industry participants to buy, too.

For example, the April 21st edition of Meeting News includes a section that showcases convention centers in Myrtle Beach, Las Vegas, Memphis, and San Antonio.

Each showcase includes the convention center’s statistics, guest specialties, and contact person. That’s a ton of information to pursue a relationship with the center or ancillary partners.

Reading the same publications as your clients has the ability to put your marketing campaigns on a new and profitable platform.

The next time you speak with clients, ask each of them which magazines arrive in their mailbox so that you can subscribe to the same.

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May 12, 2008 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Offline Ideas | Leave a Comment

Which Business Card Benefits Your Marketing Plan?

Business cards It’s been two years since I attended The Incentive Show (now known as the New York Incentive, Rewards, & Recognition Show) and reported on this trifold business card shown at the event.

Have you found a similar card that meets your needs, or is the traditional one-sided card still your favorite?

I admit not graduating to a trifold option, but I have added a two-sided card to my marketing arsenal.

One side includes my photograph on the left and details about my business on the right. The back side features three positive slogans taken from my seminars and then repeats my contact data on the bottom.

This card accompanies me wherever I travel. It’s one of three cards I carry and distribute according to the contact, our conversation, and how I can serve them.

For example, if I speak with a retailer, he gets one type of card. If meeting with a service-based business owner, she receives a different card.

It’s terrific that business cards fit easily into all budgets, and you can upgrade the theme and contact information whenever your marketing plan changes.

You’ll find more information about business cards beginning with this page.

Technorati Tags: solo business marketing, business cards, small business marketing

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May 1, 2008 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Offline Ideas | Leave a Comment

Show Directories are a Post-Event Resource

Yesterday, I found several companies I want to work with that provide unique services listed in a place that many marketers take for granted: an official show directory.

This makes me wonder — what do you do with show directories when the event is over? Do you:

Leave it in the hotel room as trash

Crumple it in your luggage and don’t unearth it until the next trip

Toss it in an office pile

Organize it on a shelf with other show directories

I once saw no value in these thick manuals, but now I appreciate the time and energy producers take to compile these valuable resources.

A long-time trade show speaker once told me that she keeps her show directories in order on one shelf in her office, discarding the old one after attending a newer show. Since then I’ve done the same.

I find many times that it’s much easier to review a past show’s roster than to search online for what I consider to be a needle in a haystack. Do you, as a solo marketer, have such time on your hands, or is treating show directories like treasured resources, a better option?

Technorati Tags: solo business marketing, official show directory, trade show directory, small business marketing, solo entrepreneur

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April 29, 2008 | Filed Under Conferences, Offline Ideas | Leave a Comment

Offers By Mail Aid Your Marketing Plan

Almost every week by mail I receive a new credit card offer from American Express. Yesterday, I was invited to “take my business to the next level” by upgrading my current AmEx business card to the Business Platinum Card.

The one-page letter explained the benefits of receiving four companion airfare tickets, conference room access in hundreds of cities worldwide, and enrollment in the membership program, all for an annual fee of $450.

As a customer, it’s in my best interest to keep the free-of-charge card in my possession and invest $450 in a marketing program that increases my revenue. But as a marketer, I recognize a smart campaign.

Loyal clients are first in line to receive new product offers.

The sales conversion rate is higher within your current customer list than with prospects.

Any objections voiced by respondents will help you adjust your offer for the next group on your marketing list.

By the time next week’s AmEx offer arrives, I’ll have used this week’s letter as a pattern for my own marketing campaign. What company that consistently sends you offers will unwittingly help take your business to the next level?

Technorati Tags: solo business marketing, sales letters, small business marketing, solo entrepreneur

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April 22, 2008 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Offline Ideas | Leave a Comment