Your Marketing Plan offers analysis of the industry you are in and who the players are in your market, your competitors, suppliers, and targeted customers for each product or service offered.   It also details the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in your industry [SWOT Analysis].  Beyond this analysis, your Marketing Plan covers your marketing strategy which must also address your objectives,  mission statement and how your product’s positioning keeps it in line with these objectives and what ways will your company use to get these products to customers.  Finally, a Marketing Plan will offer what success metrics you will use to monitor your progress and what signs will indicate when it is time to make changes to the plan.  Having a financial analysis with the breakeven analysis and an analysis that includes scenarios of what your business will do if the profit loss statements fall above or below the projected target as a contingency plan is the final element for a great Marketing Plan.

Whether you own a new business or are an established company with over 50 years in business, a current Marketing Plan can be a key element towards the success of your business in 2012.  It is never too late to compile this essential marketing information and create a Marketing Strategy based on real information.  The longer you run your business without the advantage of having a Marketing Plan, the greater chance of missed opportunities and wasted marketing dollars.

All my best to your success! ~Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

The first thing I recommend to my clients is that they offer quality information or tips to attract and maintain online contacts. The key is to be giving and helpful to their business or life. Give them a real reason to want to know more about you and your business. Erase the “sales hat” image and replace it with someone who cares about your contacts and not wasting their time. Allow them to feel comfortable to approach you with questions and be seen as the person who is there to help.

Next, know the right balance of giving help to contacts and becoming an unpaid consultant who never closes a sale. This is tricky, but I often get people who ask me for help with their social media marketing and marketing strategy for their business and since I am a paid coach I need to know when it is time to stop giving information away for free and to invite them to hire Purple Diamond. My rule is after 2 or 3 times of sharing my marketing expertise with a business I will take the communication off-line and set-up a meeting either on the phone or in person. This meeting is to convert the interested contact to a client or to re-classify them as not my ideal prospect and keep them as a contact with no intention to convert them or offer more free help other than my marketing tips that I post regularly.

Don’t try so hard that you turn your online contacts off from your business. Always remember that you have a quality product and when you appear “too needy” online it can have a negative impact for your business. People enjoy people who remain positive, upbeat and confident, but if you are negative and always looking desperate for a sale your pages will be the ones that are avoided. Look at your stats and if you are not getting traffic online ask yourself what needs to change. It might be the lack of content to your pages, but it could be that you are trying to “sell” in each post and that is making people avoid you.

Finally, be sure your pages offer testimonials and great info about why you are someone they should want to do business with. Offer consistent postings and interaction with your contacts and have a process ready to know when the best time is to close the sale. Good luck with your social media marketing!

All my best to your success~ Charlene

“Success Wears the Purple Diamond!”

Purple Diamond just converted from an Adobe flash-based site that allowed for a diamond to tumble on to the screen with music and buttons that swirled with a diamond spinning.  The site was beautiful and exactly what Purple Diamond wanted in 2008 to grab the attention of businesses that were looking for a more visual marketing message for their business with television campaigns, YouTube and Corporate Videos.  The flash was impressive and often got praises from various business owners, however it did not allow for great search engine rankings on Google since Google is great at reading text and not so great at reading flash images.  The site also loaded s-l-o-w-l-y and as many people know, you have about 3 to 5 seconds to engage your audience before they click on to the next site which meant this beautiful site was possibly losing potential clients.

And, if losing clients with a slow load time for a flash website wasn’t bad enough, one of Purple Diamond’s services is social media marketing strategy and training. The first part of that strategy is to encourage clients to upgrade to smart phones that will allow you to remain social at all time, but a flash website is not compatible with a mobile phone or tablet so these clients could not see my old flash website on their mobile device!

If your website is too distracting your message could be lost or never communicated. A website today is a key marketing tool so be sure that yours not only looks good and offers your message, but works in a way that will drive traffic and interest!

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

Road Map to Social Media

Do you need a road map for all the Social Media Sites? For most business owners this on-line world is most likely making your head spin and just when you mastered the use of Facebook or Twitter you “StumbleUpon”  about 10 other sites that are up and coming and need your immediate attention.  Are you on Pinterest, Google+, the new and improved MySpace and let’s not forget Vimeo which is competing with Youtube!  Or, are you being left in the dust and worry that it is negatively impacting your business?

The key to success with “social media” for your business is to be social! You can set-up accounts on all of these sites, but if you are not connecting with others and spending at least 80% of your time commenting on what others post, then these sites will not offer the results that many business owners are looking for.   At least 5 times a week I hear a business owner tell me they do not have the time for all of this and they just want to work their business and forget all about social media.  They struggle with a world that wants to know more about them and not just their business and they fight with the reality that this is the new frontier for marketing and it is not going away.

I remember when TV commercials shifted from having famous actors talking about products to when CEO’s stepped boldly on the screen and allowed the world to see who the man or woman was behind the product.   It was hard for me to get local business owners to be in their own TV commercials, but eventually they recognized that by being part of the message they increased the level of exposure for their business and brand and saw a positive impact on sales because they were willing to get in front of the camera and connect with the audience.  On-line social networking is requiring the same thing from owners and CEO’s, you can’t stand in the background and expect your targeted audience to embrace you like someone who steps forward and is willing to share more of themselves with the world.

Road maps on which sites are best suited for your business and directions on how to use each site are easy things to share with you, but as a marketing coach I will tell you that you can’t be absent from the process and to get the same results.  Create a plan on when and where you will participate on these sites, learn some of the tools that make these sites easier to manage, and connect with your future customers!

All my best to your success,

Charlene
“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

Much like Groundhog Day and the old belief that if the little critter sees his shadow there will be 6 more weeks of winter, business owners are trying these new marketing trends hoping they will lead to more clients.  But, for a small business or sole proprietor testing these new trends can exhaust resources quickly.  Ten minutes on Facebook leads to hours and the cost to maintain Blogs and other social media sites with creative content that supports your brand and brings customers closer can be challenging.  So, do you refuse to participate and hope that the reports about companies growing their business with the help of these trends is all a crazy superstition like Groundhog Day? Or, do you join in the fun and get some help from professionals who can help you to decide the best way for YOUR business to use the tools without wasting time or additional money?

Well, I just heard on the news that the Groundhog saw his shadow and we will now have 6 more weeks of winter.  Hard to believe with the mild weather we have had in Massachusetts this year, but that is what they predict.  And, the prediction about the latest and greatest marketing trends is also that this is how businesses will continue to gain customer loyalty and sales.  So, if you are reading this Blog and you still haven’t created a strategy for how to work all of this in to your marketing portfolio, please contact Purple Diamond or another marketing/social media specialist.  Purple Diamond specializes with small businesses and helping them make some sense of all the new things that come their way.

All my best to your success!~Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

If you want to get sales from your efforts on the internet go back to the basic 4:

1.) Respond QUICKLY to requests for info & make a genuine connection!

2.) Create TIME each day to interact and develop a relationship with the people who follow you on social media or visit your website.

[ Consider adding a "LIVE HELP" feature as part of your website to attract questions from visitors to your site . Also, use the features on the social media sites to email directly to at least 5-10 followers/contacts a day with a personal message thanking them for connecting with you and offer to meet with them one-on-one or promote a phone meeting. It helps to have a message developed by your marketing team that will get attention and a response.]

3.) Develop creative content to post to your on-line sites that will increase your followers so that you are seen as an expert in your field.

[Selling to someone who is already “SOLD” on your expertise and has chosen to “follow” you is almost as great as having a client refer their friend for your services. The key is for you to RESPOND to them in a personal way.]

4.) Ask for the sale!

[Close…close…close…..if you are lacking skills in sales consider working with a coach or hiring a salesman to help your business, but the BEST way to get a sale is to ASK for one!]

All my best to your success ~ Charlene.

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

2.) Make a list of topics for future press releases to use during the year and go beyond sending them to just the newspaper.  Pitch them to a radio or TV station and self-promote them on-line with social media.

3.) Have regular brainstorm sessions on new products and services; advertising concepts; taglines; social campaigns for on-line marketing; contest ideas and sales promotions; and review of what your competitors are doing and what you offer that is different from them!           [note: if you do not have anyone to brainstorm with be sure to consider hiring a marketing coach like Purple Diamond!]

4.) Set-up strategic alliances and partnerships.

5.) Set stretch goals and action items to achieve them for each month, quarter, year, 5 year and beyond.  Be sure you create an overall marketing plan, but be organized and disciplined to have a weekly plan of meetings and action items written down prior to the start of your week! PLAN for success!

6.) Update website on a regular basis and maintain an on-line strong social media campaign to drive traffic to your site. Consider launching a thoughtful email marketing campaign that draws attention and offers useful information so that you have a greater open click rate.

7.) Be sure to THANK your customers and offer excellent customer support. Consider having a special customer service fun event to invite your clients and top prospects to as a way to show them that they are appreciated! If your budget is small and does not allow for this be sure to at least take the time to send a hand-written note thanking them for their business.

8.) Attend networking groups, join the local chamber and participate in charitable organizations that give back to the community that your business belongs to.

9.) Know your numbers, measure results and ASK other business owners what they have used that has had a significant impact on their business.

10.) Work with a Marketing Coach who understands your market and what challenges you face and how to get you the results you need today!

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

Should a business ditch the social media marketing campaign because they are not getting the results they had hoped for?  Not if they want to attract the next generation of consumers! The solution isn’t to ignore the problem, but to get the help you need to handle your social media marketing.  If your company does not have the resources to outsource your a social media marketing to a marketing specialist or to hire a person to handle your campaign in-house, consider hiring a marketing consultant to come in and brainstorm with you about a strategy and content that will work for your business. You can also attend seminars and training on how to use social media for your business. Research what is available in your area and take action. The more time you delay on adopting a sound plan for your business, the less chance you have to reach your desired marketing goals.

All my best to your success ~ Charlene.

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

The key to having a marketing message that engages your audience and gets results for your business requires 3 things!  First, you have to know what 3 benefits your product or  service offers.  Having a clear understanding of what value you offer and what needs your business satisfies is essential.  Second, you must know who your true target audience is for this product or service and where to reach them to deliver your message.  Finally, the third component to creating a message that gets noticed is to have strong writing and communication skills or be willing to hire a professional writer or marketing professional who can help you in this area.

To have a magical message that stays with people is much like the 4C’s of Purple Diamond.  Clarity requires a clear message. The cut must be above the rest. The color is rare and equals great wealth and the carat weight is always up to you!  Contact Purple Diamond if you want to take your marketing to another level.

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

Business owners who want more are getting help today for their business by hiring marketing coaches and business consultants who are able to bring a fresh view to what can bring your company from OK to great.  Purple Diamond has helped over 50 local businesses in the past couple of years with affordable and effective marketing coaching and services with the emphasis on “success”.   The coaching service was created after a year of hearing local business owners say that they were overwhelmed with the sluggish economy, decline in their business and the confusion of what really works for advertising today.  Most of these owners were sole proprietors who didn’t want to take their worry home to their family, but really needed someone to share their frustrations with and to brainstorm new and innovative ideas.  So, Purple Diamond created a marketing coaching service that allowed businesses to hire a coach for a couple hours a month.

If you are OK with “OK” or really don’t want to have better sales, then this solution is not the right one for you.  However, if you want your business to be better than good consider hiring a marketing coach or business consultant to work with you today!

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”