Posted by Cynthia Fedor on
July 12th, 2012 |
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Today, there are plenty of available tools for marketing a small business. However, they can only take you so far if you don’t know the basics of motivating consumer response. Once you’ve captured their attention, how do you get prospects to follow through with action? Here are three things to consider when crafting an effective call-to-action statement.
Call to action: “Words that urge the reader, listener, or
viewer of a sales promotion or message to take an immediate action…”
– via BusinessDictionary.com
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Posted by Cynthia Fedor on
July 6th, 2012 |
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For service professionals that conduct most of their business away from the office and out in the field, finding the time for marketing and lead generation can be difficult. However, there are some simple things home services professionals can do in order to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, and effectively attract new business while working on existing job sites.
1) Make your service trucks and trailers advertise for you.
Vehicle wraps and truck-side billboard advertising isn’t a new concept but it is amazing to see how many service vehicles lack signage of any kind. Those that do often include the bare minimum of information and do little to address why prospects should consider one company over another. It’s no longer enough to slap the company name and a phone number on the car door and expect the phone to ring off the hook. Read More »
Posted by Cynthia Fedor on
June 15th, 2012 |
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Even in today’s social- and digital-media-rich environment, well thought out direct mail campaigns have the ability to capture a recipient’s attention, get them to read and process content, commit to the message, then execute a specific call to action. Done correctly, direct mail can be an affordable small business marketing tool that provides exceptional results. And, although there is no secret formula for direct mail design and strategy that will guarantee 100% response from all recipients, there are best practices marketers should follow to increase brand visibility, consumer response rates and overall ROI.
Over time, these fundamentals haven’t changed much. When I asked the question on LinkedIn, “If you only had one direct mail marketing tip to share, what would it be?” these five core essential tips for effective direct mail postcard marketing stood out. Read More »
Posted by Cynthia Fedor on
May 10th, 2012 |
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By 2013, 34.9 percent of the global population—roughly 1.19 billion people—will conduct business while on the go, according to a Worldwide Mobile Worker Population Forecast published by the marketing intelligence firm IDC. A large segment of this group is in their vehicles daily, managing business and marketing efforts from a makeshift office on wheels.
For those in the home services industry—remodelers, home cleaners, landscapers, roofers, real estate agents, etc.—this is especially true. Smart phones and access to productivity apps offer an opportunity to effectively market, manage, and grow business in between appointments, from virtually anywhere. Read More »
Posted by Cynthia Fedor on
May 3rd, 2012 |
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During this year’s Future Insights Live conference, a few hand-selected attendees had the opportunity to pitch their mobile or web app to a panel of judges that included, among others, Jason Calacanis, angel investor and founder of the video learning site Mahalo.com, and Jason Nazar, founder of the document resource site, DocStoc.com. After hearing the pitches, the panel asked each presenter questions in order to better understand the apps and the company’s business models.
Through their questions and commentary, they provided the following tips on how to successfully pitch a business and/or product. Although the guidance was for pitching to investors, these same tips apply when speaking to, or marketing to, your customer base. Read More »
Posted by Cynthia Fedor on
April 17th, 2012 |
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Last month when I read about JCPenney’s new integrated marketing strategy I was excited to see how the retailer would execute on the direct mail component of their plan. Through the approach described in the article, JCP seemed to understand the value of highly targeted and personalized direct mail as part of an integrated mix and the role it could play in getting people into physical store locations.
“We’re focused on targeting our customers through an integrated marketing campaign, and direct mail is a key component to this outreach strategy,” says Kate Coultas, spokesperson for JCPenney. Source: Deliver Magazine
This month, I received my first direct mail postcard from JCPenney. The oversized square format along with their bold new logo caught my eye; however, they failed to keep my attention and motivate action. In this post, I’ll outline a few things they can do to make future direct mail touches more effective. Read More »
Posted by Cynthia Fedor on
April 17th, 2012 |
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Every now and again, we have an opportunity to pause and step away from the rush of business activities to personally connect with people that make a positive impact in our communities. Last week, I was delighted to attend the Ballet Austin Guild’s Women on Their Toes luncheon and have that chance. Each year, this event takes a moment to highlight the service of individuals that selflessly volunteer their time to ensure the success of local non-profit organizations.
This year’s honorees included:
- Jarret Crippen with the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas
- Griffin Davis of The Trail Foundation
- Lauren Espinoza of Badgerdog Literary Publishing
- Jenny Eversole with Hospice Austin
- Amrita Moor of The Amala foundation
- Kerri Morrison with New Milestones Foundation
- Misty O’Neal of Texas Hearing and Service Dogs
- Mary Ann Parker with the Assistance League® of Austin
- Jimmy Shields of The Christi Center
- Ted Whatley with Breakthrough Austin
Their personal stories and action inspires me to find ways that I can make a difference in my community. It all starts with a human element. Whether you’re engaging with people via social networks, through your work, or face-to-face, realize that you can encourage positive change in your community. Read More »
Posted by Cynthia Fedor on
April 11th, 2012 |
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It’s official! QuantumDigital just launched QCards, the first direct mail marketing iPhone app designed to help SMBs grow local business while on the go.
Through QCards, users can create, print and mail vibrant, full-color postcards to market their business in local neighborhoods–right from their iPhone. What’s unique about this application is that it offers users the ability to generate neighborhood mailing lists on the fly by using their smartphone’s geo-location feature or by typing in a target location. Service-based business professionals–like house painters, landscapers, real estate agents, or residential cleaners–no longer have to walk door to door distributing business cards or door hangers to prospects surrounding job sites. They can simply take a picture with their iPhone, write a personal message, and even link to their website or a video via QR code, then mail postcards to the neighborhood audience. SMBs can market their business in a matter of minutes; postcards mail next business day so they can start seeing results quickly. Read More »
Posted by Cynthia Fedor on
March 30th, 2012 |
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Finding yourself in the midst of a creative block is the pits! What’s worse is that the more you fight it and try to work through an idea roadblock, the more frustrated you feel. When it comes to generating the latest and greatest BIG IDEA that will get your business noticed, sometimes it helps to let down your guard and simply play the role of spectator for a bit. Often, checking out what others are doing and allowing yourself to be inspired by their work can help kick start the creative mechanism in your own mind.
Here are a few great sources to turn to when you find yourself in a creative rut. Read More »
Posted by Cynthia Fedor on
March 14th, 2012 |
1 Response
Didn’t get to attend the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin this year? Have no fear. There’s a ton of notes available on Twitter. To make it easier than sifting through all of the information to find useful bits of information, I’ve outlined some helpful tweets from just a couple of the panels that I attended.
Feel free to use the associated hashtags to discover more information about each panel or leave a comment for this post to get a conversation started here. Read More »
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