Entrepreneurs – Small Business

10 Internet Marketing Strategies for Small Business

On May 27, 2014   /   Branding - Marketing, Entrepreneurs - Small Business, General   /   Leave a comment
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Internet marketing strategies

Internet marketing is not an option, it is a necessity for every small business to grow. We love working with start up companies, we love the passion and the excitement new entrepreneurs bring with each bright venture. It is also hard for us to meet some of these fresh start up small businesses who are following their dreams but haven’t done the due diligence of research. We are often contacted first to design and develop a small business website. One of our specialities here of course. However in our first website consultation we talk to our prospective customers about how they are going to market their new business and if they have considered internet marketing. Unfortunately many small business owners believe having a website is an internet marketing strategy. It is a component but it is not a complete strategy to drive traffic, phone calls and orders in and of itself.

Following is a list of some of the internet marketing strategies small businesses implement. Not all of these internet marketing concepts are necessary for every single business. If you are not sure about which will fit best with your internet marketing goals post a question in the comment sections and I will be happy to help. I will need to know what your product or service is and what your internet marketing goals are. Do you want to increase page views, do you want to make more sales, do you want more downloads, etc.

10 Internet Marketing Strategies for small business

  1. Web Presence – First and foremost is to have a fully functioning quality website. A website that communicates quickly what your product or service is key in keeping your visitor engaged in staying on your website long enough to determine if they want to work with you. List your services or products, make it easy to locate contact information whether it is an online form and most definitely provide an email contact and phone number on all your pages. Don’t skimp on your website design. If your website looks cheap your company will bear the burden of this perception.
  2. Content Marketing – Content marketing includes articles, blog posts, press releases, e-books, all types of photos including product photos, staff photos, stock photos for your blog posts, and videos. Don’t ever worry that you are offering too much information on your website. Note you will naturally be adding relevant keywords to your content (see SEO below) and you will be answering every visitors question each time they come to your site. Sharing your wisdom and expertise adds credibility and trust for your customer and bodes higher search results than websites that don’t get updated frequently and have less content
  3. SEO/SEM – Search engine marketing helps bring your website up in search results within search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. The use of relevant keywords holds high importance in SEO for small business websites. To use Connection Group as an example, as a graphic design and marketing company in the Lansing Michigan area we want customers who are seeking graphic design and marketing in the Lansing, Michigan to find us. The best way to be visible in search engines is to make sure we have those keywords (graphic design, marketing, Lansing, Michigan) on our website in various places.  There are many components of SEO and many bad practices by disreputable SEO firms to avoid. Please post in comments if you have questions.
  4. Local Search Marketing – Local search incorporates the rules and tactics for standard SEO and integrates maps, such as Google maps. When a customer searches your product or services a map with local companies who fit the query come up. Your company and similar companies in your industry will have listing that include contact information such as address, phone number, and can include website and there will be a symbol on the map indicating your exact business location.
  5. Social Media Marketing – Everybody groan and get it over with. I know social media for small businesses is an internet strategy that challenges the best of us but it all comes down to your goals and your audience. Some of our customers rock Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and others report increased sales rates from the traffic they received from LinkedIn. The most challenging part of social media as an internet marketing strategy for small businesses  is setting the frequency of posts and determining return on investment. To start, I recommend securing social media profiles with your business name in all of the main social media channels. The next step is to evaluate which social media channels your customers spend the most time in, when they are there and what they want to hear from you.  Piece of cake right?
  6. Email Marketing – Email marketing lists are considered by many to be the most valuable database in many small businesses portfolio. Email marketing lists are built from customers and prospects who have expressed an interest in your product or service. Whether you gained them through a give away, a promise to keep them updated on new product releases, or discounts, these people have opted in to receive communication from you. Unlike a phone call, or face to face meeting, emails can be sent 24/7 and the recipient can choose when they will look at them and how they will respond. Small businesses should consider using an established email marketing software such as Mailchimp to help ensure your campaigns reach your customers in-box without getting caught in spam filters.
  7. Landing Pages – A landing page is a page on your website that is designed to capture visitors contact information. Landing pages contain a lead capture form (conversion form) also known as an online inquiry form. Created for a specific audience they can be a very successful internet marketing strategy. Good landing pages are simple and focus on one message to achieve the goal of capturing the lead content. Consider using landing pages with email campaigns targeted to previous customers, use of landing pages with online advertising allow ease of tracking and optimizing for each ad, and lastly landing pages can be used for giveaways and free downloads of e-books, original graphics, etc.
  8. Mobile Compatibility – Mobile marketing statistics so far for 2014 show some industries are seeing nearly 50% of visits to their websites from mobile users. This of course will vary with demographics and your actual product or service but it is high across the board – high enough not to ignore. Most small businesses are investing in responsive website design rather than going with a desktop website and a separate mobile website. Maintaining two separate websites is just crazy unless that’s all you have to do all day. Responsive sites provide the best of both worlds. Those visiting your site on a smart phone, tablet or desktop computer get the same information, it is all just scaled for the screen size they are using. Questions? Let’s talk.
  9. Online directory listings – Make sure your business is listed and complete your information and be sure there is accurate contact information in all main online directories such as Google, Bing, Yelp and YP. Consumers who do not know your company name but are searching for your product or service can view your listing and contact you. Most directories have free listings and others offer more options at a cost. There are many other service listings like Yext, etc. and also industry specific directories you will want to explore.
  10. Google Adwords and Social Media Paid Advertising – Google Adwords can help bring you to the top of searches page by paying for top placement. Internet advertising is sold on a cost per click (CPC) or cost per  impression. You build ads using keywords for your product or service depending on your budget and how many others in your industry are advertising the same keywords and setting similar budgets your ad will come up in when people search for your product or service. Due diligence must be paid to each online adverting campaign to make sure you are getting in the top rankings and that you are taking advantage of each opportunity. As you work to improve organic search engine results for your website by adding content, etc. Although not for the faint at heart or for those who are not very ‘techie’, Google adwords and some social media advertising can be a good addition to your internet marketing strategy.

So which of the 10 internet marketing strategies above does your company need the most to increase inbound marketing results? Do you think you need to start working on all or them, or only 1 − 4, or are you completely overwhelmed and want to go back to door to door sales and forget all this crazy internet stuff? Connect with us, we can help with all of the services listed, we know the ropes and we can help get results.

Stay connected!

Photo credit: Apple, the Apple logo and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
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10 Tips – DIY Small Business Logo Design

On March 26, 2013   /   Entrepreneurs - Small Business, General, Graphic Design and Web design   /   1 Comment
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For some people, putting together a DIY small business logo design is easy. Anyone with a computer and software can do it. Can you believe a person built a logo in Microsoft Excel?
It’s often too easy to distinguish a professional logo design from a DIY small business logo design. These tips can save you grace, time, and money.

charlie's-bar-and-grill-logos1. Color Can Cost You

Remember that your digital logo is in RGB. For professional printing purposes, you will need it converted to the CMYK color ink model. For specialty advertising, promotional products, labels, etc., you’ll get a better price if you use spot or pantone (PMS) colors instead of 4-color process printing. Save money and time by making sure you have all formats in place before ordering printing, creating displays, etc. Learn more about the color models in our recent blog post: DIY Graphic Design – Reproducing Your Small Business Logo Design and DIY Design: How to Choose Colors for Your Small Business Logo and Brand.

2. Can You See Me Know?

Your screen is right in front of you and possibly blown up 1000 percent larger than an actual business card. Make sure your logo is legible when it is reduced to fit clearly on a business card. Print at 100% to check legibility.

3. Consider Old Eyes

Depending on who your small business is marketing to, you’ll want to remember that as the population gets older, eyes can’ distinguish certain colors on top of similar colors. Make sure to balance and contrast colors especially when you are placing color on color.

4. Match Your Font Personalities

wirth-and-fedewa-construction-logo-designNow that you are a designer, it is no longer ‘type.’ Instead, we are sculpting with fonts. My first caution is to please not treat them like they are shoes. ‘The more, the merrier’ doesn’t apply to fonts. We must limit ourselves. Too many styles will appear erratic.
Choose a font that is legible from a distance. This doesn’t mean it has to be simple or boring. A stylish font that communicates clearly establishes a  brand.
Which style feels right for your business? A flowing script, or a vintage schoolhouse font for a bridal shop logo? Solid bold sans serif, or edgy and grungy for a manufacturing firm logo? Choose what fits and keep it clean.

5. Logo Size Matters

Your computer screen is 72 dots per inch (DPI). To reproduce a logo that is clean and crisp when printed professionally, your logo needs to be at least 300 dpi. As a guide for business card, brochure or pocket folder printing, your logo file should be 300 dpi by a minimum of 4” tall. Don’t worry about the width as long as it is equal or larger than 4”. For small business exhibit design and other sign designs including vehicle graphics, I say go as big as you can with your logo file – vehicle wraps cover a lot of area, you want your logo to be crisp and clean even at 8” if it is called to.

6. Use Effects with Caution

Be careful with effects that overwhelm your font or graphics. Effects often use shadowing that may distort your business logo when printed or when it is enlarged on a screen that’s bigger than the original. Don’t let your small business logo look as though it’s from a horror film. Unless it is a horror film.

7. No Stealing!

OMGosh get your hands out of the Google images cookie jar! I know everything looks so good in there but you just can’t have it.
Fortunately, there are plenty of clip art resources and stock photos sites available. You probably have some installed with your software. Don’t get crazy and use the same stick person image from Microsoft Office that millions have used in their logos since the 90s’. Be unique, how can you change a stock graphic to make it your own?
There are free resources for stock images online and some with fees that have limits on use. Read use terms carefully. Be careful and respectful,  and follow online copyright law.

original cartoon illustration logo8. Eye-Catching Original Graphics

Using graphics in a small business logo design is a great way to help your logo design stand out. If your artist  (wife, kid, guy you met at church…) draws a logo graphic for you, the bigger the original, the better. When you scan the logo into your computer, scan it at 100%. If it is a digital illustration the original should be saved at a high resoluton from it’s native application.
An original illustration of a house for a custom home builders logo that is only 1” wide will not reproduce well once it is blown up to fit the side of a vehicle. A small original may also limit how much color can be added. Be sure the style suits the message you want to Not a DIY small business logo design but a logo for Custom Home Builder logo designportray for your small business.

9. Admit When You Need Help

If you find you are spending every weekend for a month researching and designing and restarting to design a logo for your small business, stop.  Think about the value you place on your time as a busy small business owner. Instead, put in a few hours doing what you are skilled at and take the money you made to pay a professional.

10. Honest Feedback

Most important of all, get feedback on your design. Share ideas with your family, friends, people who know nothing about your business and people who know you and that you respect.
Please don’t ask a professional graphic designer for an opinion on your DIY small business logo design unless you are ready to hear the truth. I love it when I can say, it works; good balance and choice of colors, etc. When there are issues… and  you already told me your daughter designed it for you… I’m in a bad spot.  The designer in me knows it’s my job to create strong brand identities. The human says, I can’t squash a kid or a parent’s dream. Prepare yourself to hear the professional truth, maybe don’t have your daughter in the meeting!

Start your DIY small business logo design

All the best on your business endeavor and enjoy creating your DIY small business logo design and honing brand message!

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A Simple Guide to Launching Your Small Business Website and Blog

On February 26, 2013   /   Branding - Marketing, Entrepreneurs - Small Business   /   2 Comments

websites-blog-samplesSetting up and launching a business website is a must if you are to succeed in marketing. Whether you’re hiring a website designer or doing everything yourself, having an online hub is vital. There’s simply no way around it, and today we’ll show you how to create and launch your small business website. We’ll focus primarily on setting up a self-hosted website using WordPress.
Before that, though, a number of folks may question why they need self-hosted websites for their small businesses, when there’s Facebook, Twitter, and so on. Setting up a business site involves a bit of time and financial investment, while Facebook, Twitter, and a host of other social media outlets are free. So what are the benefits to running your own website versus relying on third-party social media?

Facebook vs. Self-hosted Site

It’s true that a business website probably won’t be able to attract the gazillions of users that are on Facebook and Twitter combined. However, a small business owner should still build a strong online hub for the following reasons:
1. Ownership
As “king of your online castle,” you own not just the domain, but all the content in the site. By registering your own domain, you’re not just sitting on someone else’s property. Setting up your stand-alone website builds your authority in your niche, and adds to your legitimacy as a professional business owner.
2. Stability
The nature of social media means that its content changes rapidly by the day – or the hour! Updates that you’ve written yesterday may no longer be visible today. Not so with websites and blogs. Posted content is available on your site as long as it’s online. Such evergreen content will continue to help you build your brand and increase your search engine ranking.
3. Control
As the owner of your website, you control everything that your audience sees about your business. You decide what the content will be, and the action steps that will be available to your site’s visitors.
These are just three reasons why investing in a self-hosted website will bring you a greater return than spending all your online marketing efforts on social media.
That said, we’re not saying that you should concentrate solely on your website.
In fact, the opposite is true.
Being active on social media is essential for marketing your brand. If you’re building an audience online, you should be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc. However, none of these sites should take the place of your website.
Your website should be the hub of all your online efforts. Social media should be outposts used to drive your desired audience to your website, where they can then make decisions to purchase your products or engage your services.

Setting Up a Self-Hosted Website and Blog

When we talk about setting up your online site, we also mean getting a blog up and running as part of your website. Having a blog offers advantages than a static website doesn’t have.
In terms of posting evergreen, useful content that will help you rank high in search engines, there’s nothing quite as easy to use as a blog. Posts and pages are what will give your website/blog depth in your niche topic. And blogs are inherently set up to make frequent posting quick and painless.
The steps below outline the process for setting up your blog from scratch:
1. Register your domain name
For maximum SEO benefits and brand recognition, your domain name should be www.yourbusiness.com. You register your domain through one of many domain registrars, such as HostGator, GoDaddy, NetworkSolutions, etc.
Registration must be renewed yearly. You can save money by registering domain for several years at a time.
2. Secure a hosting service
A webhost is the physical server where your website and data are kept. Many hosting companies also offer domain registration. You pay a fee for using the server space and bandwidth to run your website.
3. Install WordPress
WordPress is one of the best and easiest software to use for blogging. The software itself is free, and is available to download at WordPress.org. Some hosting companies offer a one-click installation to your domain.
4. Install a theme
While WordPress comes with a pre-installed theme (or blog design), you may want to install a different one that will better suit your business and your purposes. There are many free themes available for download. These may be accessed within the WordPress software or downloaded from WordPress.org.
For better functionality and a more professional look, you can also purchase a theme or get a website designer to create a custom look for your website that will grow with your content. Full disclosure, there are some restrictions with WordPress and other blogging software templates. Most small businesses will be well served with most of the templates but when you start to add more bells and whistles to your company website you may need a more robust custom template that will handle custom programming.
5. Start blogging
Once WordPress and the theme are installed, you can start creating content for your website. Login through www.yourbusiness.com/wp-admin/ to start posting pages and posts for your new online hub.
If you’re a DIYer, these first steps will help you launch your small business website and start building an audience online. However, if you’re not the type to dive into domain names and WordPress themes, you may want to look into having a web design or marketing company do these for you. The important thing is for you to get your brand in front of your audience, and establish yourself as an expert that they can trust with their business. And a well-designed small business website is the cornerstone of your online marketing strategy.

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Should You Hire a Full-Service Brand Manager or Just a Website Designer?

On February 13, 2013   /   Entrepreneurs - Small Business   /   3 Comments

web-design-brand-managementA couple of posts ago, we talked about how to be your own brand manager for your small business.
One of the first tasks in launching your brand is to set up a self-hosted and professional website. As a business owner, you can hire a web designer, and then do everything else yourself after your website is up and running.
However, after working to build a business, not every business owner will have the resources needed to take on the myriad tasks involved in brand marketing. While there are advantages to doing everything yourself, it may not always be feasible for everyone.
There are times when hiring a full-service brand and communications manager is best for your business. A full-service brand manager takes care of everything your business needs to attract more customers, establish and maintain a robust online presence, and present a consistent and professional company image.
This includes tasks such as creating a custom website, setting up social media accounts, providing content for webpages, blogs and newsletters, and providing consultation when needed. Some brand management companies, like Connection Group, even offer additional services in advertising and print communications such as corporate brochures and any item that communicates your brand message to your customer.
Today we’ll talk about how to evaluate whether it would be best for you to be your own brand manager, or if you should entrust the tasks involved in marketing to someone else. Some of the factors you need to consider include your available time, resources, expertise, interest, ability, and skills. We’ll take a look at three of those factors below:
Do You Have the Time?
Time is one of the most valuable resources of a small business owner. Many entrepreneurs put in far more hours than a full-time worker. What many don’t realize is that managing a brand (not just a company) requires a huge investment of careful thought and time.
Are you able to put in the hours needed to build a website or Facebook page, write press releases, blog articles and social media posts, craft newsletters, create visual displays, and monitor customer engagement? These are just some of the tasks that a brand manager can do for your company on a regular basis.
Do You Have the Expertise?
Launching an effective marketing campaign requires specific skills and knowledge. If you’re going to build your brand from the ground up, for example, some of the skills that you will need are website development, search engine optimization, graphic and print design, familiarity with social media, writing, and marketing ability.
If you don’t already have this type of expertise, ask yourself whether you are able to spend the time required to study and gain the skills you need.
Do You Have an Interest in Marketing?
Having a passion for your business and having a passion for marketing your business are two different things. In the same way that the skills required to make a product or provide a service are different from the skills necessary to spread the word about that product or service, your excitement over what your company offers may not translate to excitement for the type of marketing needed to reach and cultivate new customers.
As a business owner, one of the decisions you have to make is to weigh the benefits of investing in a skilled brand manager versus putting in the time to do it yourself. How many hours are you willing to spend on marketing every week? Do you have the knowledge, skills and interest to carry it through to the long-term?
If you would like to know more about what a full-service brand manager can do for your company, contact us today. Connection Group offers a free initial consultation. We can assess where you are in your online brand and marketing efforts. If all you need is a professionally-designed website, we can do that for you too. Remember, that first consultation is on us!

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On the Web: How to Manage Your Brand as a Small Business

On January 23, 2013   /   Branding - Marketing, Entrepreneurs - Small Business   /   Leave a comment
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As a small business owner, one of your jobs is to manage your brand online and off. In addition to reaching new customers and growing your company, you need to maintain an online presence and use it to achieve your goals.
logosWhile you’re good at what you do for your business and customers, you may not be quite as savvy when it comes to the internet. So, we put together this checklist for managing your website, and brand, as a small business owner. Putting these elements in action lets you take advantage of the opportunities that the web has to offer.

A. Have a Clear Message

Your business (and website) must have what is often called a unique value proposition (UVP), or unique selling point. What are you offering? Who is your audience?  What message do you want to send?
Before you start creating or revamping your website, you must be able to answer these questions.

  • Your offer is simply your roster of products or services and their corresponding prices.
  • Your ideal customer is the person whom you want to engage in your business. These are the people you want to attract to your website, and move to make a purchasing decision.
  • Your message is what you want to stand out in your prospects or customers mind. Are you the most economical, the best quality, the fastest, or the most experienced?

What comes next is a bit more complicated: Identifying and crafting your message. This is where the “unique” comes into your unique value proposition. What makes you uniquely qualified to offer these services? In other words, what makes your business different from the rest?
These are things you must think about before you set up your online hub. In order to have an effective website, you must identify what makes you different from all the others that are offering the same thing. If your business caters mainly to your local community, you would want to include that as part of what makes you stand out. You know your customers by name, you provide a personal touch to your services, and so on.
Once you know your message, you must present it in a clear, concise, and consistent way, which brings us to the next point.

B. Unify Your Brand

Everything that has your company’s name on it – whether it’s a business card, a logo, or a website – is part of your brand. They must all work together to get your unique message across to your ideal client.
Here are some practical tips that will help you with brand management in a way that supports your day-to-day work:
Your website must be self-hosted and be on a relevant domain name.
Self-hosted simply means it’s not a free service or platform, like Blogger or WordPress.com.
When your buy your domain name, it should be “yourbusiness.com” (example: connectiongraphics.com). Make it easy to remember, with no numbers or special characters except if it’s part of your company name.
A self-hosted site on a good domain name tells your customers that you’re an authority in your field. They can trust you with their business.
Create a unified look that reflects your company and mission.
The image your business presents must be consistent across all types of communications, whether it’s online or not.
The first place to start is your company logo. If you don’t have a logo, get a professional designer to make one for you. Use it on all your communications.
Pull colors and design elements out of your logo and use them in your website, e-newsletter, letterhead, promotional materials, etc. For example, if you use a clean sans-serif font on your business card, don’t go for swirly artsy types on your website.
Set-up online outposts.
Whether or not you like being on social media, it’s now practically a requirement for any business. You need to set up and maintain “online outposts.” These in turn will direct your ideal customer back to your website, and toward a decision to purchase.
These outposts include blogs, social media and newsletters.

C. Create Effective Content

Now that you have your self-hosted website and relevant online outposts, you need to turn your attention to the elements of your site that will turn your readers into customers.
Your business website must have the following:

  • About page (what your business is about, who you are, your qualifications, and other special attributes that will make the online reader want to do business with you)
  • Easy-to-navigate information about your services and/or products
  • Different ways to contact you (via contact form, address, email, twitter, Facebook, etc.)
  • Option to subscribe to an email newsletter or RSS feed
  • Secure product page and shopping cart, as needed
  • Regularly updated information about your services, products and related topics

The last item on the list above will help your clients know your business better, as well as help you get found in search engines. The best and easiest way to do this is to maintain a blog. High-quality and regularly-updated content will establish you as an authority in your niche.
As a small business owner, an effective online presence begins with and is established by a clear message, a unified look and effective content. If you’d like to learn more about how to manage your brand online and off, sign up for our newsletter, Connectivity.

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What is the difference between Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising and Sales?

On August 30, 2012   /   Branding - Marketing, Entrepreneurs - Small Business, General   /   Leave a comment
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advertising, communication, pr, newspaper with mouseMany people confuse these terms and this sure makes for a difficult job for marketing firms. Connection Group is a brand marketing firm, our focus is considerably different than let’s say a Marketing Research firm. Connection Group assists with marketing plans, promotions, design, advertising and general public relations with a focus on development and promotion of your brand in print and web communication.  There are PR firms that outsource design and communication items to us and in turn, there are public relations and research items that are better suited for firms who specialize in those modalities.
Because many of our local Lansing marketing firms and design agencies handle a variety of task and because there are so many different elements that can be broken into niche areas (Marketing Research, Brand Marketing, Promotions, Event Marketing, etc.) it is clear why there is so much confusion. Let’s take a look at each category and attempt to clarify the main goals of each.

Marketing

Marketing is the umbrella term for the process of creating, communicating and delivering products or services to customers.  Target marketing is achieved through research studies that help determine buying habits or lifestyle practices of people and companies. Research ranges from such options as geo-targeting, surveys, focus groups, web analytics, phone tracking and many more in-depth and long-term studies. Contrary to popular belief by some specialist, marketing is not just about research and statistics. Research is one step in the marketing plan. Most people learn that marketing consists of four major considerations: product, price, place and promotion. To Connection Group, marketing is as much about the action taken upon review of data as the number crunching, and charts and graphs reviews. Brand Marketing, which we specialize in, starts with the background research, leads to the plan, and formulation of the promotional campaign. Depending on the size of the company, and the size of the marketing budget, the marketing plan will include an outline for Sales objectives, Advertising media, Communication materials, Public Relations projects and review suggestions.

Sales

Sales is a component of marketing but marketers are not sales staff. Sales is typically handled by a separate department that can include sales managers, sales representatives or account representatives depending on the company industry and size of the business. It is marketing’s job to provide tracking, statistics, materials and messages that support the company brand and give the sales force a sustainable strategic advantage to meet the customers needs. Do not expect your marketing department to plan sales strategy, create sales appointments or contact prospects or customers – hire a sales person for this.

Advertising and public relations are considered marketing promotions

Advertising

Advertising can involve a number of activities to communicate to a target audience. Most advertising is paid media such as radio, television, email, newspaper, magazine, the internet, and other print publications, etc.  Advertising focuses on communicating a message to the market and typically carries a theme that communicates the company brand. The chosen media is determined by the marketing  research which has identified the most successful way of reaching the target audience within the financial budget set for advertising.

Public Relations

Public Relations support the marketing effort and is often a component of the marketing plan. PR is a method companies use to convey a positive image to their market and the community. Press releases, speaking at public forums, and community involvement are methods used by businesses to establish the company name and communicate the brand image. Public Relations is considerably less cost than advertising, however the efforts can take time and may not attract the attention by media that is desired. Addressing the public on issues of importance can also be risky with any controversial subject that can be misconstrued by competition, the media or the public view.

Considerations when outsourcing these services

Some marketing departments and marketing firms may offer all of these services in house, some may outsource a portion of the services and some may supply only the data or the marketing plan recommended for your company and you will be responsible for identifying who will implement each task. Don’t assume every marketing firm is going to provide Public Relations services or media placement, and don’t expect your marketers to be graphic designers or sales people. Identify what your goals are and communicate this when interviewing firms. Knowing what items you will be handling in house; social media updates, e-newsletters, press releases, etc will help determine the level of services you desire. Some firms handle everything, some marketing firms hand you a plan and blow you a kiss good bye. Connection Group can work on a per project basis and also provides monthly marketing maintenance for companies. Give us a call today for a complimentary consultation, in person or an online marketing consultation. We can let you know if what your company needs is a newly designed website with more content to enhance SEO, a full blown PR campaign, or just a good sales representative with clear communication materials to reach your target audience.
 
Stay connected!

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Sustainable Sales Growth

On August 31, 2010   /   Entrepreneurs - Small Business   /   Leave a comment
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Sustainable Sales Growth image 2010 copyright Connection Group.

Plant - Feed - Harvest


Plant Your Best Seeds
Life coach, Michael Neil states “When you approach sales from a place of joyful service, you realize making offers is like planting a garden. Instead of focusing on what you might get back if you’re lucky, take some time to think about what you would like to grow.”
Ask yourself questions like:

  • Who would I love to serve?  How would I love to serve them?
  • What would be the most powerful, fun, and useful thing I could do for this client or customer?
  • If I dedicated my life to making this person/company’s life better, what is the biggest difference I could make for them in the smallest amount of time?

Feeling Finding Questions help bring answers your prospect may not even know are under the surface. I have often gone into meetings with prospects and existing customers for a specific project and after further discussion we have determined another solution or product would serve their goals better. The following questions were shared with me by Phil Kline who is an expert in Dale Carnegie Sales Training. These questions are more valuable insight are provided in Phil’s book, Customer Driven Sales.
6 FEELING FINDING QUESTIONS:
1. What do you like most about your current product (website, logo, brand, marketing efforts)
2. Why is that important to you?
3. What do you dislike most about your present product (website,logo brand…)
4. Why is that a problem for you?
5. If I could change something for you in your next product what would you want me to do differently?
6. Why would that be important to you?
When questions are asked from a place of joyful inquiry, the answers are truthful, creative, fun, and take root. Don’t skip the ‘Why’ questions! As your prospect digs deep to answer the ‘why’ the true reason behind the need can be discovered.
Harvest Low-Hanging Fruit
Often the best sale to make is going to existing clients and customers. When working with customers for a long time is is easy to get into ruts. Projects can flow well, which is always a blessing but are we doing the best we can or are we staying safe? Especially with marketing and graphic design it is important to always look at new ways of approaching concepts. You don’t have to throw the baby out with the bath water and completely reinvent everything. Sometimes just a change in logo placement or color can update a Web site or print marketing piece. Other times digging deep into the entire brand and relating it to the business as it is today is needed. If you take the time to  ask questions to find the differences your customer would love to make and the way they would most like to make them, you can deliver creative solutions that help your customer relationship and their business flourish.
Happy seed planting and remember to appreciate the abundance of the harvest.
If you like the Sustainable Sales Growth image please visit our desktop patterns area. We have a “Money as Tools” saying on the images posted. If you would like to use one as your desktop pattern, download the image size that fits you monitor.

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Taking a Corporate Brand from Good to Great (4 of 4)

On June 24, 2010   /   Branding - Marketing, Entrepreneurs - Small Business, Graphic Design and Web design   /   Leave a comment

Monitor Your Brand…
A great brand can be costly and can take months, if not years, to build. It’s a foundational piece in your marketing communication that you do not want to be without. In this internet age It can be destroyed in hours by a blogger upset with your company. Stay connected to what is being said. The first thing to do is acquire a feed reader. (Google reader has many nice features.)
1. Google Alerts are email updates of the latest results based on your choice of query or topic. The alerts tracks blog posts, news articles, videos and even groups.
2. Blog Comments – Use BackType.com
3. Social Comments –
Yacktrack.com searches WordPress, Blogger, Stumbleupon, Digg, FriendFeed, etc. for comments on you and your blogging, social media, activity.
4. Twitter – Using Twitter search, you can locate any instances of your name. Try Twilert .
5. FriendFeed.com is a social aggregator. You can search your brand throughout all social networks at once.
6. Social Mention is a social media search engine for user-generated content such as blogs, comments, bookmarks, events, news, videos, and microblogging services.
I hope these four posts on Corporate branding have been helpful. Please contact me if you have any questions!
Connection Group offers a complete range of technology, Web development and creative services. We are passionate about crafting quality corporate identity and marketing strategies at reasonable rates, and we are skilled at developing and creating:
• Brand identity
• Website Design
• Corporate brochures
• Corporate Identity Packages
• Corporate presentations
• Banner and billboard creations
• Ads and marketing materials for print & online
• Product & Event Marketing
• Product package graphic design, and more…

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