Merry Christmas from Achaeus, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season.
We hope 2010 brings you and your business growth and prosperity.
Our office will be closing on December 23, 2009 and we will re-open for business on January 11, 2009.
Archive for December, 2009
The biggest marketing mistake I see businesses making today is that they don’t combine traditional marketing (media advertising, client calls, events, etc) and online marketing (emails, articles, video, social networking etc).
You may think the internet is irrelevant to your business but you couldn’t be more wrong. The right combination of traditional and online marketing can drastically reduce your overall marketing budget and increase the frequency of contact with both your prospects and your customers.
Online marketing can help you build very strong customer relationships by supporting your existing marketing activities. It can be a bigger sales force than you ever imagined.
The Revolution Has Started
There is a revolution going on right under our noses. The internet is rapidly becoming the place to be. In any given month:
Google has over 7.6 billion visitors
YouTube welcomes 2.6 billion visitors
each day more than 60 billion emails are sent.
Internet marketing is booming. And for good reasons, executed properly it works.
I can hear what you’re saying…
“Yes, but I’m sick of all those emails and so are my customers.”
“That’s OK for people selling widgets but I have a more selective customer base.”
Just stay with me and read the rest of this eZone.
Here’s what’s happening in traditional media…
According to AAP, weekday newspaper circulation in the United States fell by 10.6 per cent in the six months to September 2009, compared with a year ago.It was the largest decline in the past decade.
Also classified ad use is down 51% in 2 years.
Following the Trend
One thing is for sure - today’s 20-30 year olds may not be your current customers but they certainly will be in the future. Understanding how this demographic is accessing information is vital to the future of your business.
Did you know…
- The majority of the group watch less than 1 hour of television a week
- They prefer to text rather than have voice contact
- They do not buy newspapers
- Avoid untargeted ads (print media, TV, radio) like the plague. This fact alone will change the way companies promote their businesses.
Traditional ad agencies are going broke, newspaper sales are declining rapidly, and television ad revenue is plummeting. And the reason why…the internet is replacing these forms of advertising.
Your customers won’t find you if you don’t have a strong internet presence.
The proverbial stone has dropped into the pond and the waves of change are coming your way. The question is - Are you ready?
Here’s the really good news?
Internet marketing is cheaper, more flexible and totally measurable.
The biggest opportunity…
INSTANT ACCESS to your customers. Customers today are carrying networks with them at all times, on their mobile phone. As marketers we’ve never had this sort of access.
BUT
There is a right way and a wrong way to go about internet marketing. We are all getting bombarded by unwanted nuisance emails. Clearly, most businesses don’t know how to use the internet successfully.
So here’s the GOLDEN RULE to successful internet marketing
“GIVE BEFORE YOU GET”
This is the wrong way
Most businesses get an email and start harassing the prospect with all sorts of information about how great the company is and all the details about their products and services. And it is never ending. It’s just blah, blah, blah. People turn off.
These businesses never stop to find out what’s really works when it comes to internet marketing. All they manage to do is to annoy the hell out of their prospects. Bad move!
The Right Way
Help your customers be more successful by giving them free and useful information. One of the most common forms is to provide free reports packed full of great content.
Here are some examples:
For a business broker:
“How to avoid the 13 most costly mistakes when you buy a small business”
For an air conditioning business:
”The 7 steps you can take to reduce the cost of servicing your air conditioners by up to 23%.”
For a Google expert:
“The 6 key elements to get your business on the first page of Google in just 2 weeks.”
Don’t worry about giving away all your secrets. Information alone does not get the job done.
Do not promote your business in these reports. That’s a fatal flaw.
The idea is to set your company up as the expert trusted adviser. It’s your opportunity to show how much knowledge your company has and how you can help your prospects.
Most of my clients don’t have time to prepare these reports and other forms of free information. There is a simple solution. And it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. I’ll cover this topic in my first eZone for 2010.
CALL TO ACTION
Here’s how you get started.
Find out (talk to a few customers) the biggest problem your customers have when it comes to XXX. For example, servicing air conditioners, buying a business, Google ads, etc. Armed with this information you can then get a report written. Keep an eye out for my first eZone in 2010. I’ll explain how to do that.
All the best for the Christmas season, don’t drink too much on New Year’s eve and, most of all, relax.