All Freelance Work is a Community for Freelance Workers Including Free Portfolios, Job Search, Job Posting, Helpful Articles, Forums, & More for the Self Employed.
A Customer Has to See Your Ad
between 7 and 28 Times Before They Will Act.
A Marketing Quandary
I had
a fabulous (and self-made rich!) business mentor for 3 1/2
years. One of the first pieces of advice he gave me was that
I needed to advertise more. I said, "But I can't afford
to." His reply was, "If potential clients don't
know about you, how can you ever expect to grow?"
After
months of haggling, I finally took his advice. Even though
I had to scrounge for money to advertise more, over time,
it paid off. And, that's where most small biz owners fall
off the wagon. We look at the money going out faster than
it's coming in and get nervous or give up. However, to grow
in the long run, we have to spend money in the short run.
A
Few Truths About Marketing
Most small
business owners make the mistake of trying to make the sale
when they haven't made themselves known to their customer
base. In effect, they do not brand their business. What is
branding? You know when you see the "swoop" that
it's Nike; the big yellow "M" that it's McDonald's,
etc. This is branding.
Why would
you want to brand your business? Because branding leads to
awareness, which leads to a relationship, which leads to trust,
which leads to sales.
How
Advertising Can Help You Brand Your Business & Increase
Sales
A favorite
marketing method of mine is postcards. Obviously, I can't
put every item my online store, EthnicHomeDecor.com, carries
on a postcard. So, why do I even bother? Because, by showing
a few popular items on the postcard, I get a prospect interested
and aware of the existence of my business. Then, via the postcard,
I invite the reader to "visit us online to see our complete
line of ethnic home decor."
Once the
visitor is on the site, I invite them to sign up to our mailing
list via a subscriber box. Many of them do. In this way, I
can begin to keep in touch with them via an e-zine, which
offers sales, discounts, decorating tips, etc. Thus, a relationship
is born.
Over time,
the customers gets used to receiving my mailings. When they
need any type of ethnic decor or ethnic gift, whose name do
you think will immediately come to mind? Ethnic Vendors or
Ethnic Home Decor, of course.
So, the
initial cost to snag a customer who may later place a $500
order was only 23 cents (the cost to mail a postcard). Further,
when a customer purchases from you once, they are 70-80% more
likely to continue purchasing from you. The reason can be
attributed to the fact below.
CONSUMER
FACT: Most customers don't do much comparison shopping.
Research suggests that many only check out an average of 1.2
brands before purchasing. So, if you're top of mind, you have
an excellent chance of making the sale.
Customers
Buy From Those They Know & Trust
Don't
expect a customer to buy from you the first time they visit
your site or see your ad. As customers buy from those they
know and trust, it is vital that you think long range about
sales.
Your goal
is to get customers to become aware of your business so that
you can start to build a relationship with them. Then, when
they need the type of product/service you offer, your business
will be the first one they think of. This is why it's important
to consistently market using offline and online methods.
Now, what
is your next marketing move?
Yuwanda Black is the serial entrepreneur
behind EntrepreDoer.biz.
EntrepreDoer.biz
offers help, hope and inspiration to small business owners
and aspiring entrepreneurs through articles, how-to e-books,
workshops, consultations and a small business column. Questions/feedback
welcomed at info@EntrepreDoer.biz.
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A complete, secure, online billing application that maintains hourly service billing, flat fee billing and recurring charges. Integration with Authorize.Net and other leading payment gateways provides hands-free recurring billing with a sophisticated CRM system.
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All Freelance Work is a Community for Freelance Workers Including Free Portfolios, Job Search, Job Posting, Helpful Articles, Forums, & More for the Self Employed.
