In addition to the referrals from your direct clients, consider other strategic partners that can help send business your way.  For instance, if you know other businesses that already sell to your target market and are not direct competitors, you could approach them to be a referral partner to your business by offering them a fee for each referral they send to you.  This also works great if you approach non-profit organizations that are looking for ways to raise money for their organization and offer to give back to them a portion of your sales for every referral they send.  Anyone who has a school age child has seen this work extremely well for wrapping paper, magazine subscriptions and food products.  When my own children were in elementary school there was a local Chinese Food Restaurant that teamed up with the school and gave a portion of the entire night’s sales to the school. The school promoted the event and  sent home notices that Wednesday was the night to have dinner ordered from this local business.  The program was so successful that it continued to be a regular fundraiser event.

Look for connectors in your own circle of doing business as potential partners for referrals.  My hairdresser received a stack of my business cards when I first opened Purple Diamond to hand-out to  clients she had that owned their own business and was needing help with marketing or advertising.  In return, I gave her coaching on how to market her own business while she styled my hair. We both were happy with the arrangement.

Always be looking for new ways to develop and maintain referral partnerships.  The most successful businesses have adopted all of these techniques and continue to grow their list of clients  rapidly.  If you are not getting the success you need today in your business be sure to call Purple Diamond and see why our tag-line is:  “Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

All my best to your success ~ Charlene

The right time to advertise is not when you are closing the doors to the store you have loved and owned for 25+ years, but this can also be a key time for running an advertising campaign.  No, if you want to stay in business and come out of this slow period as a strong leader in your industry you need to call an advertising agency TODAY!  There isn’t a miracle with any form of marketing or advertising even though many reps would like to tell you that their product will get you instant results, but if you continue to stick your head in the sand and take no action at all you can be sure that it won’t be long before your business becomes part of the growing statistics of fall-out from today’s economy.  You need to be visible and maintain a marketing presence and get in front of your prospects.  Don’t discard traditional forms of advertising like TV, radio, billboards, etc and think that you can substitute these for social media marketing.  The truth is you need to do both traditional and non-traditional and do them aggressively.

If you need help with your advertising and marketing please call!  Though I love writing this marketing blog and giving marketing tips and ideas, your business deserves immediate attention and a plan to take action. If you are on the fence about what really works and if TV or radio in your area is affordable and effective or if buying Google Ad Words or ads on Facebook equals sales for your business, call! Don’t get caught as one of those businesses that the first call they make for advertising help is  to promote a “going out of business sale”.

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears The Purple Diamond!”

Beyond the obvious of the “good-will”  and potential PR opportunity or marketing exposure a business gets by sponsoring a community event, it also helps to build a strong environment and richness to the community your business has made home.  When the community is attractive it draws attention from others and brings in the best candidates for positions that may open up in your business in future years.  The popularity of community organizations in your local area and their well attended events will also create excellent business networking opportunities for your business without you needing to travel a great distance to connect with key prospects.  The home court advantage of sponsoring the local community event that is only a few miles from your office helps you or your sales team to easily get prospects to consider stopping over to your office while they are in town or to schedule a tour of your company at a later date.   When people become familiar with an area and they associate it with a positive experience, they are more willing to return or do business in that area and that helps your business.

So, what does a company do if they do if they only have $2000 a year  to give to the community organizations  or  events or an amount that is considered small compared to larger businesses? You can choose to give that one lump sum to one event in a sponsorship or donation, or you can divide that amount up in to $100-$200 increments and donate throughout the year to more than one community group.  My advice is to reach out to more so that more groups benefit and connect with your business.

Also, do not discard the importance of volunteering your skills or physically helping during the actual community event.  This is a great way to get to know key people within these organizations and also to connect with some of the larger corporate sponsors of the community events.  Smaller businesses may not have the cash flow that some businesses have, but volunteering your time or giving a gift certificate or gift basket with your business name on it to be auctioned or raffled off at the event is a great way to be part of the larger picture and get the exposure you need to grow your business.

Finally, if you are actively helping the community and there is a chance for a photo opportunity or a press release to be sent please do not be shy about sharing this on-line and with the newspapers and other media organizations.  Put it up on your own social media networking pages like Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter and blog about it as I have done here.

All my best to your success~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

Two things can easily be the reason you are not getting the results you are looking for from internet marketing when your reports show that you had high traffic to your site. The most obvious one, your offering didn’t sell me.  The product or service didn’t match the consumers’ needs or was priced too high for the market.  The second reason you have not had the sales to match the high “clicks” is that your website content and design of your site does not sell anyone.  Most people who use the internet to shop for products and services are looking for information that is clear and easy to read and can be found quickly.  If your home page or the landing page you have created for the ad word that was clicked on doesn’t capture a person in 3-5 seconds, you have most likely lost a sale.  Clutter on a website has a negative effect and if your site is hard to navigate and the person has to search for information or a way to contact you or place an order or a reason to buy from you, then all the “clicks” or visits to your website will not end up in  sales.

Some of the more proactive companies have employed the use of a “live chat” to their websites to avoid losing potential sales. This may not be possible for smaller companies that do not have a large enough sales or technical staff, but it does offer an opportunity to get the feedback you need immediately as to what a person might have a question about or what they are wanting to buy.  You are better able to match your products with their needs when “live chat” is available.

To learn  more about how to turn “clicks” in to sales contact Purple Diamond or consult with an internet marketing consultant.

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

The results of traditional marketing have long been tracked and no one questions that having a creative TV commercial for your business that runs during a popular show or on a sports network during an important game gets your message out to the masses rapidly, but where are the profit margin numbers for Facebook or Twitter?  We can track clicks on many on-line banner advertisements and the traffic to our websites and blogs, but unless you are paying for an ad on Facebook you are left with only the weekly report of how popular your business page is, so how do you know?  The truth is that right now you actually don’t know for sure other than the incredible testimonials that small businesses with no advertising budgets have shared with others on how they have grown their business from a grass roots campaign on Facebook and Twitter.  My own company has had great success through social media marketing and I am presently helping many of my clients go boldly forward with adding this to their marketing mix.

When I hear from local businesses that they do not have time for social media marketing or they doubt the impact of using Facebook or Twitter, I am reminded of the early years of my selling TV commercials in the local market to the owners of car dealerships.  I had  a tough time convincing the owners of car dealerships to consider running TV ads on the local cable channels like CNN, USA and ESPN because they were convinced that all they needed was a newspaper ad since they saw many of their customers bringing in the ad when looking at cars.  How could a customer  carry the TV commercial in the door to prove the effectiveness of television advertising to the car dealership owners?    I needed to help them see that an ad with  “site, sound and motion”, that didn’t cost more than what they were spending in the papers,  could be very powerful in helping to sell cars.  Do you remember in 1998 when Volkswagen reintroduced the “Beetle”, they used television ads that moved people and got them excited again about the VW Bug which had tremendous impact on selling a retired old brand of automobile in a new fun way!

So, like the local auto dealers years ago who struggled with taking some of their advertising dollars from the newspapers and boldly buying commercial time on ESPN, USA, CNN and other great networks, today you have to ask yourself why you have not jumped in to using social media marketing with your traditional advertising.  If you need to have years of statistics to prove that this will enhance your brand and ultimately help you to sell more of your products, then you may find that you miss your window of opportunity to get out ahead of your competitors and gain market share.  And, by the way, the local car dealers who moved quickly years ago in buying cable TV advertisements saw that they did significantly better than the ones who only used the newspaper.

All my best to your success!~Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

1.)    Frequency is key!

Posting an update at least once per day  and adding  “friends / fans”  to your personal and business page must be on-going and with effort.  Do not wait for people to friend you….find them and invite them to YOUR page!
*Inspirational Quotes, Questions that create discussions, Videos from YouTube and Posting about important upcoming events are great fillers when you are struggling for an idea to post for your daily update.
2.)     NO controversial posts or comments to anyone who has posted something that can have a polarized issue unless they follow your brand for your business.
3.)    Interact with Others!
Happy Birthdays / Like button when appropriate and genuine comments to their posts.
4.)    Add photos and videos!

*People are drawn to pictures so if you have something you want people to notice be sure to add a picture with your post.
5.)    Need both a Personal and a Business Page!

Building a Fans page [or Business page] without paying for a Facebook ad requires building it through your personal page so you must have both to grow your followers! If you are worried about your personal content being seen you can choose to use the new privacy settings.  But, if you are on Facebook to gain more contacts and help market your business it makes sense to keep your personal page free from embarrassing pictures or content you would not share openly.  Remember, you are on the internet and even the best privacy setting might not keep people out so think before you post or upload a picture, but don’t avoid Facebook because you are afraid to be found.  It is more powerful than your website and if used well it can drive traffic to your website….it offers a great opportunity to promote your services on a larger scale because it reaches more people daily!
6.)    Use the Event page when you have an upcoming event.

7.)    Invite your friends from your personal page to your business page at least once every 2 weeks.  If you have been building friends you will have new people each time to send an invite to.
8.)    Don’t be afraid to ASK for your friends help and be sure to give help to others!
9.)    JOIN JOIN JOIN……the more business pages and groups you belong to the more your business gets exposure!
10.)    Don’t hand this important job off to your staff…this is one of the fastest and quickest way to make a warm sales call and it has replaced COLD CALLING in a huge way.
11.)     If you have a blog be sure to post active links to your blog AND your website on a regular basis.
12.)    GAMES do not send a great message unless you sell games!

There is a tendency to get caught up in to the games and surveys on Facebook, but it clutters your wall and takes away time for connecting with others and growing your contacts.
13.)    Early posting in the morning can have favorable results.
14.)    Don’t sell sell sell…….remember that most people run from salesmen so be sure to not come on too strong.  Be genuine and represent your business with a positive voice.
15.)    HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE & PATIENCE….this is a new marketing tool and has no exact numbers, but it is a great source that is still free and worth using!

If you are still struggling with Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter or you are not sure if having a blog is right for your business, consider hiring Purple Diamond for marketing coaching or a one on one consult.

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

The key to marketing is to help people remember YOU and to connect what you do with something they need or want!  A picture in the business section of the newspaper, a press release or an ad in the paper is just a small part of the strategy that smart business owners employ.  It is the additional press that comes from strategically using Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and other sites to bring that one article or photo to the attention of others in a way that shares a story about your business and why doing business with you is special.  Never over look the power of having business friends via Facebook or Linkedin who share your message and recommend your work.  Just by stating that they are a client is their own endorsement of your brand! And, the newspapers understand this and that is why they have created their own “Fans or Like” pages on Facebook and have set-up on-line articles that can be shared quickly and they encourage their readers to post their own views and comments.   On-line banner ads that link directly to a business website and the new commercial video ads are starting to get the attention of the business community and their potential clients.  Newspapers, once thought of as a thing of the past, are stepping up by using the internet strategically to get the attention of both the readers and the business community.  If you have not been in the paper lately, perhaps it is time to consider submitting a press release with a photo or taking out an ad that will be seen in both their paper version and on-line site.

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

The first thing I recommend is that if you have not had a vacation and you are working 12 hour days, 7 days a week, you really need to take a week at the beginning of the summer and RELAX and ENERGIZE yourself!  Think back to when you were in college cramming for finals and trying to exist on 2-3 hours of sleep a night.  Let’s face it, you became a walking zombie who only got through the week of hell because you knew that there was an end date to exam week and then a vacation break directly after.  As a business owner, learning to recognize the signs of “burn-out” is key to your success and longevity in the industry.  Stepping away from your business and in to a week or two of fun and relaxation will have you refreshed and ready to make the most of working the remaining days of summer with new ideas and a vitality that could be missing right now.

The second thing I recommend to do during the quieter months of summer is to prospect for new business.  Attend business networking groups that are outside your local area, go to workshops and seminars that attract businesses that could be potential clients, and spend time taking key clients that may still be working hard like you out to lunch or for a day of golf as a way of thanking them for their business. Use this time to  reach out to your customers with cards or emails during the slower months which will help with retention and possibly expand your business if you add a “refer-a-friend” program in the newsletter.

Finally, the summer is a great time to meet and do planning for your marketing for the remaining year and in to 2011.  One of the biggest problems that small businesses have is that they are always putting out fires and often do not have time for real planning or creating a strategy for their marketing.  Their websites never get updated, they still struggle with understanding how to position social on-line networking as a way to market their business and they seldom analyze what the ROI is for the advertisements that they are currently running.   The hit or miss type of marketing they have done all year often is a result of being hurried and the summer months allows the time to organize, regroup and make a successful plan.

In addition to these three things, summer is a great time to do an office make-over or have a professional organizer help you to set-up systems that work for your business.  Move your desk,  paint the walls, add a few plants and have an organizer help you to get rid of the piles of paper and watch how fast your sales improve when your work space is one that you are happier working in!

All my best to your success!

~Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

“Repetition is key!”, this is a well-known phrase that anyone in advertising will share.  Whether you are doing TV commercials or radio spots or any traditional form of advertising, the schedule’s effectiveness depends upon the message standing out and the frequency of it being heard or seen. It used to be standard that it took 3-5 times for a person to see a TV commercial before they recognized that they saw the spot…..that was when life was simpler and a person wasn’t multi-tasking while watching TV.  Today we are on Facebook, tweeting on our cell phones and reading emails all while watching our favorite TV shows so if you are using any of these ways to reach your potential market you need to understand that one message just won’t be heard.  Don’t think because you posted one announcement on your Linkedin page, created an event page on Facebook  or spread the word on Twitter that everyone knows about a business event you are hosting on a certain day.  You need to post the message many times in the weeks to come on many different social networking sites, hand out numerous flyers, email more than once about it, and if your budget allows it needs to be promoted on radio, TV and print!  Send that message “again and again and again” because repetition and a creative message is the only way to cut through the noise and flood of information that each person has in their life today.  Being nice and not wanting to bombard people with your message leads to poor sales or an event that is not well attended.  Leave the politeness to your competitor because the businesses that are succeeding get their message out by sending it over and over again.  Think of the TV commercials that you say you are sick of seeing….these are the businesses that are getting top sales.  You cannot afford to be shy in business.  If you have an important message you need to be ready to do all that it takes to be heard.  Use everything you can to reach potential clients on-line and in person and be sure to reach them more than once.  And, if you still have not jumped in to using the internet effectively to help promote your business be sure to contact a marketing coach who can teach you how to be successful on-line.

All my best to your success!

~Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

I give one-on-one coaching to clients who are still struggling with the new technology, but every social networking site has a “help” section and commonly asked questions that will quickly make you an expert on how to gain the aptitude of how to navigate the site.  If you choose to embrace on-line social networking and have a positive attitude and a great aptitude for connecting with others and building your network, then you may be smiling as I did today when I received an email on Facebook with ANOTHER referral for my marketing services from one of the many contacts that are on my page!

All my best to your success!

~Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”