The Power of Twitter Introductions

Funny thing happened on my way to filming a Twitter Introduction… Yesterday morning, I uploaded a Twitter Introduction Video to YouTube. I had seen a few others and thought that the notion of a Twitter Introduction video would be great. Twitter is such an amazing platform.

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The Power of Twitter Introductions

How To Develop A Mini eMail Trade Show!

No matter where you look on the web, the key to making any money online is wrapped up in the list. Without one, you’ve got a major hurdle to clear. The following concept, may be your answer to fast-tracking exposure! At some point in time, you have probably visited a trade show within your industry. You saw legions of companies within your industry, selling goods from booths and visitors looking to buy or develop leads for themselves. Using this model, why not create your own mini trade show with friends or colleagues who compliment each other’s businesses? By combining the lists from say five to ten companies, who share the same target audience, put together a promotion to present a series of services to this body of contacts and feed off of each other. Here is how you could approach it:

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How To Develop A Mini eMail Trade Show!

Marketing Like a Rock Star, Take Two

Marketing Lessons From Christina Aguilera

While “cruising” around YouTube, I stumbled across this video of Christina Aguilera performing live in Sydney Australia. Watching this video (not my normal fare, but damn can she perform), I noticed how she uses so many sales and trainer techniques.

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Marketing Like a Rock Star, Take Two

The Problem With Advertising: Lesson 2

This one will be short and sweet… Most of my clients know that I’m not a big ‘fan’ of advertising – NOT because it doesn’t work – but because of the fact that I feel there are far BETTER ways to invest your marketing dollars. And here’s a quick piece of advice – for EVERY dollar you spend, please please please have a way to track your ROI (return on investment). If you spend $5000 on a magazine ad….how much business did it bring you? If you’re a small business owner, and you can’t answer this question, you’re wasting your money. Here’s an example from one of my clients… A fitness club was spending $1000/month on newspaper advertising. When I asked about the ROI on these ads, they had no idea. So I asked them to let me spend the following month’s $1000 budget on something different. The Result? $14,000 in new membership sales. (When was the last time you invested $1000 and got $14,000 in return, within 30 days?) Want to know what I did? Contact me!! : )

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The Problem With Advertising: Lesson 2

What’s Twitter and why should I care?

Twitter is a cross between a social networking platform and a micro blogging platform. You create a simple profile, you start following people, some follow you and you have 140 characters to say something about what you’re doing, thinking or planning.  People who talk about interesting, meaningful stuff and include links to blogs and articles have a positive affect on their brand. There has been lots of press coverage on Twitter including a Wall Street Journal article titled: “ Twitter Goes Mainstream .” In December 2008 HubSpot published the Q4 report on the State of the Twittersphere . Some interesting stats from this report: Twitter is dominated by new users – 70% of Twitter users joined in 2008. 5,000 to 10,000 new accounts are opened every day!

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Twitter in Business: It’s for Real!

Feel The Love!

You’ve heard the old adage, “if it weren’t for customers, running a business would be a lot of fun”. While this line brings a smirk to our face, it really is the wrong attitude to take if you want your customers to bring you more business. Businesses who truly have a dislike for their customers, no doubt also have a large turn over of customers. If you are in the professional industry like myself, you have to take an active interest in your customer’s businesses.

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Feel The Love!

The Problem With Advertising: Lesson 1

So let’s start with some definitions. For me, ‘marketing’ is all of the things you do to get a cheque in your hand or to get the cash register to ring. ‘Advertising’ is when you pay for media, whether its a newspaper, TV commercial, or direct mail flyer. I often hear from business owners about their experiences with different forms of advertising media. For example, I’ll hear something like “I tried newspaper advertising, and it didn’t work for me.” Here’s the problem… Its NOT that the specific type of medium doesn’t ‘work’….there are a few variables in play. FIRST – who is the target audience? If your demographic is teenagers, and you advertise in a publication targeting seniors, you have a problem (I know, this example seems obvious, but you can’t imagine how many people get this wrong) SECOND – Is the timing right? Are people expecting to see your message? THIRD – This is what I consider the most important….WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE? It costs you the same amount to advertise in that newspaper…whether you get zero sales or 100. So the important factor is to have the right MESSAGE in the right MEDIUM. I’ll explain how to craft a great message in a future post, but if you have a specific ad you’re working on and need my help please contact me at marsicomarketing@gmail.com

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The Problem With Advertising: Lesson 1

Heard It Through The Grapevine

Okay…this isn’t really a marketing lesson. More of an observation about human behaviour that has fascinated me over the years. Each day, people spread buzz about the latest trends. We talk about things that interest us, things that are newsworthy, things we’ve ‘heard’. That’s my favourite….when people say “I heard…”. Let me give you an example. A few co-workers, hanging around the water cooler, start talking about a movie that’s coming out…when one of them says “I heard its supposed to be the biggest movie of the summer.” Here’s what kills me…they ‘heard’ it in an AD FOR THE MOVIE!!! (But they make it seem like they got it from a trusted news source or from their best friend) My next favourite thing is when people say “Everyone thinks….” For example – “Everyone thinks our prices are too high” (when really, only 1 or 2 people made the complaint…out of 100,000 potential people that could have made the complaint) Yes, its not my usual post. Just something to make you say “Hmmmmmm….”

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Heard It Through The Grapevine

Your Invisible Assets

One of the main objectives of taking my clients through my ‘Marsico Marketing System™’ is to leverage and capitalize on what I call a company’s Invisible Assets™. These are the assets that won’t show up on a balance sheet, but are just as (or maybe more) important than the ones that do. A company has 3 Invisible Assets – their (1) Reputation (2) Relationships (3) Knowledge 1) Your Reputation – who you are, what you do, why you’re different and unique, your story, your message, who you serve, and how you benefit them. 2) Your Relationships – with your clients, your prospects, your vendors and suppliers, your employees, and with the marketplace. 3) Your Knowledge – your wisdom, your experiences, your expertise, your skills, and your capabilities. Many of my upcoming articles will be focused on specific strategies which help leverage and profit from these assets. Until next time…

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Your Invisible Assets

The death of the USP

Ok so maybe I’m being a tad over dramatic when I use the term ‘death’.  It’s not that the USP is dead per se, but it certainly is living out it’s final days in some retirement home along side telemarketing and the VCR.  I am sure there are people still finding certain levels of success hawking goods via the phone and of course we will need a device to play all thoseVHS tapes stockpiled in the attic from the mid 90’s but like anything else, evolution kicks in and the human race finds a better way.  While the USP can still serve a purpose to the average small business owner, I think that evolution will once again have it’s way.

As a small business owner you’ve probably come across the term USP a million times.  USP stands for ‘Unique Selling Proposition’ and many believe it should form the backbone of your marketing.  The basic premise is that each and every business should have a unique selling point.  Something that a customer can associate with that specific business and specifically a definitive benefit gained by doing business with that particular business.  The key is that it must be unique and powerful.  It must be something different that sets the business apart from the competition and yet powerful enough to convert new prospects.

Now I am a huge fan of being different especially when it comes to small business.  For me identifying Points of Difference is a crucial exercise that every small business should engage in.  The problem I have with the USP is that the vast majority are merely SP’s as opposed to USP’s.  In many cases the ‘uniqueness’ is no longer present.  What was once a very distinct point of difference or USP is now just par for the course.  Take FedEx for example.  “When your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight” was a great USP at one point.  Now you would be hard pressed to find a reputable courier company that doesn’t offer some sort of same day or overnight delivery.  Not so unique anymore.

My point is that without the ‘unique’ you basically only have a selling proposition.  With our unprecedented access to information and the huge selection we have thanks to the global economy having a selling proposition will hardly cut it.

For a great article on the evolution of the USP check out Marsico Marketing.  John is a marketing genius and he helps small business owners develop their “DNA” or Distinct Natural Advantage.  Distinct Natural Advantage is a concept coined by John and involves what he calls the Seven P’s…
(1) Purpose (2) People (3) Pain (4) Promise (5) Proof (6) Positioning and (7) Packaging

John is writing a 7 part series on developing your ’Distinct Natural Advantage’ and I highly recommend it to any small business owner looking to take their business to the next level.