Direct Marketing News

Why do most tradesmen get upset with the results of their Yellow Pages advertising?

The answer is quite simple; their advertising was created by either the tradesman or someone who works for the Yellow Pages Company. In either case, the work was not done by someone with the knowledge required to attract new clients.

As a tradesman, you have the training and experience to be excellent at your trade, whether that is being a great plumber, a skilled electrician, or other top-notch craftsman. What you do not have is the information needed to be great at creating advertisements. One of the biggest mistakes a tradesman can make is to assume the person at the Yellow Pages Company can create an effective advertisement for a tradesman’s business. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Learning your trade was the basis for your business. Learning to cost out jobs and keep your finances straight assures your business is on solid ground. Learning to manage your business and your employees makes it possible for you to expand and grow your business. The next step is learning to effectively communicate with potential customers through advertising.

Even with all of the new media, Yellow Page advertising is still the most effective method for a tradesman to reach his potential customers.

Let’s look at just what is required to create an effective Yellow Pages advertisement and explain the fundamentals you need to maximize your advertising dollars. You already have the key to creating great advertising, and that is a knowledge of your customers and their needs. You provide solutions to your customers every day; what you need now is an understanding of how to communicate this to new customers.

Just as the new media is evolving into what is called Web 2.0, consider this your introduction to Advertising 2.0. It is personal, it m (more…)

Promotional items can be quite varied and unique; however, promo items don’t gain their sense of uniqueness solely on their own. Their singular power is derived from a few contributing places mainly. They are characterized by the number of individuals who utilize the gift items. How they’re designed and disseminated makes them distinct and unique. Some promotional items must be formulated, tweaked and customized to a particular audience.

Promotional items, in conjunction with targeted marketing, are a way to get to a well-defined audience and give them something that will make your brand memorable. The trick to achieving and keeping promotional uniqueness is by implementing a message that will stick in the minds of the people you give the items to.

So, what happens is you can target an audience. Give them promotional items that are separate from other items in a way that will deliver a focused marketing message. That way every time someone picks up a promo gift that you have given them, they will remember your brand.

What makes promotional items significant is that that they are promoting a message. They are carefully planned and engineered to hit at the most optimal times. Promoting can vary in meaning and overall purpose and can range from spreading the word about a family-run business to the branding of big business entity and establishing a consumer to company relationship.

There are many definitions for promotional items. Because the world of promotional items is so eclectic and interchangeable, it isn’t easy to sum up the entire scope of what promotional items. What they are and what they do would be almost impossible to tack down. However, promotional items include things that are useful in nature like highlighters, letter openers and business cardholders that come with a company logo on them. For any company’ (more…)

Facts tell, but stories sell.

Anyone in sales will tell you that testimonials are the cornerstone of your sales presentation. Any time you can provide social proof that your product will do what it says, people are more likely to take interest, open their wallets, and buy.

When I talk about “affirmative buying decisions”, I’m talking about people that say yes to your offer - even if the offer doesn’t cost a thing. It may be booking a party, joining your business or offering a referral for future business if they are not presently interested in your offer, but know someone that might be interested.

I learned a valuable lesson in the power of testimonials. Not because I got one, but because I gave one.

You’ve heard me cheer about Mark Joyner’s re-release of MindControlMarketing before, and for good reason. The book is amazing, insightful and a must-read for anyone serious about understanding their client’s motivations for an affirmative buying decision. Not only that, but the missing chapter alone is worth the investment of $27 for the book.

In reading the book, I made a comment about the congruency between what Mark does and what he writes about. I posted a note to Mark’s blog about how fascinating it is to watch his writing unfold in the work he does on a daily basis. I ended my post by saying the book was “so exciting I can’t stand it!”

Little did I know how that one comment would change my world.

Mark wrote a follow-up email to his subscriber base, and not only did my little unintentional testimonial appear in the body of the message, but it was FEATURED as part of the subject line! That’s a profound nod from Mr. Joyner.

In that email, he included several short testimonials, along with links to the sites of those who wrote them. That little message changed my world.

The day that the message was (more…)