Time To Gear Up, Not Wind Down!

While I'm all for enjoying the holidays, make sure that you also take some time to think about how you can improve your business in the coming year. Now, I know that for many small business owners, money is tight. Therefore, don't think that the changes you make have to be major costly changes. Quite the contrary; it's actually some small changes that may make the biggest difference. Since, I'm not an expert on all things business but rather marketing, here's a look at a couple marketing-related issues you may want to meditate on during the holidays:

Target Audience - Are you targeting the right audience? Is an audience you're targeting as profitable? What are new target audiences that you can tap or re-direct your business' products / services?

Marketing Dollars - With people holding on to their hard-owned dollars more and more these days, you've got to do everything that you can to stand out. Therefore, it's a good idea to think about how you can plump up your marketing and advertising efforts.

Advertising Media - If you haven't been doing so throughout the year, now is the time to reevaluate how you're allocating your advertising dollars. If you been running a campaign--whether it's print, radio, TV, direct mail, outdoor, environmental, or Internet--it's crucial to determine what's working for you and what's not; don't make drastic changes if you haven't truly given the measures time to prove their worth (or lack thereof). However, if you've been conducting a marketing campaign and profits from it are stagnating, it's time to change!

Your Message - What you say to your clients through your marketing efforts and customer service interactions says a lot about your business. Make sure the message is still right for your company as it is today, or how you hope it to be in the future.

Times are different here in America in this day and age; the economy has changed the playing field quite a bit for small businesses. Therefore, planning and adapting for the times we live in is critical for the survival of your business. So, with that said, do wrap your mind around what will be new for your business in the new year. However, don't think too hard...these holidays only come one a year. Enjoy them!

From the Scribe, Etc. family to yours, we wish you a healthy, prosperous and fun new year!

Making The Most Of Your Marketing Moolah

Times are tough for many entrepreneurs. But you know what? This is the time to keep one of the Golden Rules of Business in mind: You’ve got to spend money to make money! So, while you may be slashing budgets to keep those profit margins where you’d like, slashing your marketing budget should not be on your “to-do” list at all. Why? Because if you don’t market to potential customers and remind them that you’re out there, ready, willing and able to serve them, times could get even tougher. You definitely don’t want that!

With that in mind, spend wisely. Here are a few tips on how to do just that:

• Choose marketing tactics that will help you to reach the greatest number of qualified customers (those who you’ve identified as being in your target market) rather than general audiences.
  
  
• Don’t skimp on the quality for quantity. You may be tempted to cut corners to get marketing pieces out to the most customers in the least amount of time and / or cost but don’t give in to temptation! Your marketing materials are a reflection of you / your business. Consumers know cheap, rushed marketing collateral when they see it…and they make a judgment about you based on it.
  
  
• Be selective on who receives printed materials; close deals with hot leads, give warm leads the necessary information to win them over, and exchange business cards / contact information with cold leads.
  
  
• Every potential customer does not need all of the marketing collateral you’ve created for your business. So, don’t hesitate to pick who gets what. If you sell face-to-face, provide a brochure instead of a full sales kit if possible. Or, if your brochure provides an overview of your services / products and you’d like to provide additional information, create a one-sheet that summarizes the content in the sales kit to accompany a brochure. If you sell via the Internet or over the phone, incorporate emailing attachments of your sales materials into your routine.
  
  
• Consider trying a new medium or a new form for your marketing. For example, just because you’ve always advertised in a certain publication, that doesn’t mean you have to continue to do so. If a source isn’t a heavy revenue or lead generator, apply the monies you would’ve spent on that towards another form of marketing or use that same advertisement and format it for use in alternate ways—advertising in less costly publications, as direct mail, in e-marketing, etc.
  
  
• Use your website! Unless your website designer charges for maintenance on your website or changes to the site, it won’t cost anything to add PDF versions of your marketing collateral to your website…or to add pages to your website with the content; if you opt to add pages to your website but want to control who sees that information, do not create an active link to those pages. Instead, have your web designer provide you with the URLs to each of the pages and send that to specific clients.

Whether you use one or all of the tips above, remember that marketing does not equal sales. That’s to say, marketing is necessary to attract clients and it can lead to sales but it’s not a one to one ratio. Therefore, be realistic about the expected return on your investment. One to three percent is a safe presumption for expected return. If you can truly pinpoint your marketing to the appropriate target demographic and if you’re able to expose them to your marketing message three or more times, you may be able to increase that percentage.

Sell More With Fewer Leads

Many fledgling entrepreneurs, and even some veterans, are misguided when it comes to generating revenues. They presume that more leads will lead to an increased number of sales, which will lead to greater revenues. Now, the business people who believe that aren’t wrong because if they can actually convert most of those leads into sales, revenues will increase. Therefore, it is a sensible way to do business. However, it is not the cleverest and certainly not the easiest. (It’s hard work getting those additional leads!)

So, the question is: If increasing the number of leads you have coming in isn’t the easiest and smartest way to generate revenues, what is?

One word: Upselling.

Whether you’ve heard the term or not, you are familiar with the practice of upselling because you’ve likely been up-sold on many occasions. Think about that last “buy one, get one half off” purchase you made, or the time when you purchased a warranty for a device that would’ve been cheaper to replace, or the last time you ate out and added on a salad or dessert at the waiter’s suggestion. In each of those situations, you were upsold. You were on the receiving end and you increased those businesses sales but now that you’re an entrepreneur, it’s time for you to do the upselling. Here’s how:

1. Sell a customer on an initial product.
   
   
2. Complete a quick mental assessment of your customer’s needs and the other products or services that you have available. Consider all services or goods that may compliment what you’ve already sold the client on or enhance the customers experience with whatever they’ve agreed to purchase.
   
   
3. Explain to the customer (briefly) how the additional product or service would be beneficial to them, providing more details as his or her interest grows.
   
   
4. Ask if the customer is interested.

That’s all there is to it! If you’re constantly attempting to upsell clients, you will increase your revenues; exactly how much your revenues rise, however, will depend on the price of your goods / services and the quality of your sales staff. Regardless it’s always worth a try to upsell a customer because it’s a heck of a lot easier and takes much less time to ask someone who’s already in the purchasing mood to buy a little more than to find people who are new to your products / services and try to sell them something. So, ask for the upsell and you just might receive!

Marketing Tools: Creating An Effective Brochure

Online, it’s your website that’s there to “sell” your business when you’re not. Offline, however, it’s most often your brochure. Therefore, it’s important not to just slap some pictures and information on a piece of paper then call it a day. Hardly! Though a seemingly insignificant part of your overall marketing efforts, brochures really can be powerful marketing tools...if you create them to be.

Here are some tips to help you create an effective brochure for your company:

• Determine The Purpose of The Brochure
  Since most brochures are tri-folds, which is often an 8.5” by 11” sheet of paper front and back, you’re limited on space. Therefore, the brochure should be as focused as possible. Decide what area of your business the brochure will focus on as well as who it will be target at and stick to it. Do NOT try to tell everything about your business and its products / services to everyone in one brochure. The effort will be futile. Instead, plan to create multiple brochures to address the different services you offer as well as your different target markets.
  
  
• Decide On The Action You Want The Consumer To Take
  Once you’ve decided on the purpose of your brochure, you need to decide what you want the reader to do. For example, are you trying to get the customer to call and order a product after reading the brochure? Perhaps the brochure is meant to entice the person to get more information by calling you—at which point you can work your sales magic—or by visiting your website. Knowing your action is key as it will help you to decide what information—text and images—should be included in the brochure and how they should be used.
  
  
• Keep The Content Simple
  Brochures are meant to provide a potential customer with an overview. Therefore, be direct with the copy that you use. Use short, catchy headlines and sub-headlines. Bullet points are great when attempting to convey large amounts of information in a limited space. Plus, bulleted copy is “glance-friendly,” which is perfect since most people only glance at brochures when they first receive them. Reserve longer copy for information that requires more of an explanation, such as helping the consumer to understand how a service works.
  
  
• Match Your Brand
  The design of the brochure should exemplify your company’s brand. The voice of the writing in the brochure should also match that of your other marketing material.
  
  
• Look Professional
  Your brochure is an extension of your company. Make sure it’s as professional as you are. Hiring professionals to create the brochure will produce the best results (with the least amount of stress for you). However, if that’s not an option, use a template provided by a printer to create your own.
  
  
• Remember: It’s Not All About You!
  The most important note to keep in mind when you’re creating your brochure—and any other marketing material—is that the content should convey consumer benefit while it educates the reader about your company / the goods your offer.

If you keep the above tips in mind, you’ll be able to create an effective brochure that can sell your business when you’re not there. After that, all you’ll have to do is get the brochures in the right people’s hands or make them available in key locations. You can handle that, right? Of course, you can. Good Luck!

Taking Your Business To The Next Level

For entrepreneurs—new and seasoned—this is an excruciatingly tough time to be in business and that's simply because money is tight almost everywhere. Those who have it to loan as well as those who have it to spend are extremely cautious with their funds. That, I believe, is the biggest challenge of the current economy. As such, even entrepreneurs with exceptional products and services are struggling to stay in business.

Conversely, the opportunity that the current economy presents is that businesses now have the "out" to be what they want to be rather than what they think they have to be based on their industry. More businesses are discovering that it's okay if they choose to be a local business versus a global enterprise, a niche firm versus a multi-faceted company, an entity that serves one main consumer group rather than multiple. Though it's scary for an entrepreneur to change, there's an unspoken freedom in the "mess" that is our current economy and entrepreneurs should embrace it. With that said, here are some tips for taking your business to the next level...whatever you deem that to be.

•    Hone Your Vision

You must be able to visualize what you want to achieve. This vision must be concrete. Having this specific vision will allow you to better determine what it's going to take for you to realize you vision.

•    Acknowledge Your Reality

You must acknowledge what your present capabilities are. That means you must assess your financial abilities, your skill set and your ability to secure outside help to execute your vision. If your current reality does not allow for you to create your vision, you must then do one of two things: (1) revise your vision to something more feasible for your current reality or (2) step back from your original vision, instead focusing on enhancing your capabilities so that you can eventually execute your original vision.

•    Create Your Plan

I'll be the first to say that success does not always require a plan. Sometimes, it does "just happen" but we all know that's more often the exception rather than the rule. So, planning is the next step you need to take if you want to reach "the next level." This is simply because it's a lot easier to see how much further you has to go to achieve your vision when you have a checklist of what must be accomplished to get THERE as Kelly A. Morgan calls it in her book, Journey To A Place Called THERE: A Navigation Guide for Creating a Balanced Life.

•    Look Beyond Your Desired Bottom Line

Money talks in business. We all know that. However, most people forget that money walks if you don't do business right. Therefore, I would also encourage you to not only invest in activities that will result in increased sales but to also invest money and / or time in activities that may not directly contribute to your bottom line. Showing consumers what you're able to do or what kind of businessperson you are, even when there's no obvious benefit for you, will make you that much more memorable to a potential client. That's critical, especially for entrepreneurs in highly competitive industries.

Good luck as you venture into this next fiscal quarter. Make it a good one! As always, if you have a marketing question that you would like me to answer, send me an email at AskTanisha@TheLoftyEntrepreneur.com.

Expected ROI On Marketing

Many business owners believe that if they shell out large amounts of money to promote their products they’ll receive large returns. It’s a logical notion in theory but in practice, that’s not typically happens. Sure, the marketer will see a return in the way of potential consumers showing interest but marketing isn’t a “one-dollar equals one customer” kind of thing. Yes, investment and return on investment are directly related to one another but they are not constants of one another.

When it comes to return on a marketing investment, the general rule of thumb is to expect a 1% to 3% response from the total number of potential customers you’ve contacted. In simple number terms, that means that for every 100 people you contact, you can expect to have 1 to 3 people actually respond to your marketing. I know what you’re thinking: That could be a lot of money for such a small return. In reality though, it’s not; unless you spend more on your per consumer marketing than a single product / service costs, that is. Here’s an example:

Say that you’re an ink cartridge dealer and you want to send out a direct mail postcard advertising a buy one, get one half off offer to approximately 500 customers. If you purchase leads, that might cost you $50.00 ($0.10 / lead), printing for 500 postcards might cost you $50, and bulk rate postage might cost you $0.32 / mailing. That brings printing and mailing costs to $160. Presuming that the average price of an ink cartridge was $20.00 then for every customer that responds, you stand to earn at least $30.00.

Well based on the 1%-3% rule, your sales would be $150.00 to $450.00. Now, of course you’d like to be on the 3% end to turn a profit but having that 1% return is valuable too. If you were able to get 1% of your audience in the store once, you’ll do it again (especially if you provide another special offer!) and repeat customers are the life of any business. You’ll make a profit when those customers tell their friends about your store and when that 1% returns for another set of cartridges themselves.

Prefer to see your returns sooner rather than later? Then plan out your marketing and be very specific for who you’re marketing to. Remember: The examples above are based off of marketing to general audience. You’ll increase the percentage for potential returns if you research your market and focus your advertising accordingly. Just think about it: If you sent out that same postcard out to 500 households with school age children right before school starts again, you might get a 5% - 7% response instead of the standard 1% to 3%. In that scenario, your sales would range from $750 to $1,050. Sounds better, doesn’t it? Well, give it a try and let me know how things work out for you.

As always, if you have a marketing question that you would like me to answer, send me an email at AskTanisha@TheLoftyEntrepreneur.com.

Scribe, Etc. Launches The Lofty EntrepreneurTM Book Series

Stockbridge, Georgia – March 15, 2010 – Scribe, Etc. owner Tanisha Coffey announced today that she will be expanding the company’s The Lofty EntrepreneurTM branding. The brand, which currently exists as a blog (www.TheLoftyEntrepreneur.com) and as a column for The Atlanta Post (www.TheAtlantaPost.com), will now also live in book form. The books will be sold under the “The Lofty EntrepreneurTM Presents...” umbrella.

The books in The Lofty EntrepreneurTM series are designed specifically for solopreneurs and small business owners. The focus of each book is showing entrepreneurs how they can apply corporate level business practices and strategies to their business...but on a scale and budget that's manageable for them. According to Coffey, Scribe, Etc. currently has seven book projects in the pre-production phase that are slated to be part of The Lofty EntrepreneurTM series. According to Coffey select titles will be collaborative co-authoring efforts. She notes that those interested in co-authoring can visit the firm’s publishing Web site (www.Scribe-Etc-Publishing.com) to apply for consideration.

The Lofty EntrepreneurTM series of books won’t be Coffey’s first publishing effort. The firm published Journey to a Place Called THERE: A Navigation Guide for Creating a Balanced Life by Kelly A. Morgan last year (2009). That book is currently available on Amazon.com and Morgan’s Web site: www.CoachKellySpeaks.com.


About Scribe, Etc. (www.Scribe-Etc.com)
Scribe, Etc. is a business consulting, marketing / corporate communications and author services firm based in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. The firm works with B2B, B2C and non-profits and individuals helping them to create ingenious communications and to make wise marketing decisions based on their goals! Meanwhile, Scribe, Etc. Publishing Services (SEPS, www.Scribe-Etc-Publishing.com) is an extension of Scribe, Etc. Through that division, Scribe, Etc. provides book writing / ghostwriting, book marketing promotion materials, proofreading / editing and book design assistance for authors—those who have their sights set on being a self-published author and those who dream of being signed by a major publishing house. Scribe, Etc. also published select titles.

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Entrepreneur Poll - Marketing Challenges

What is your biggest challenge when it comes to marketing your business? Chime in by taking the quick poll at this link.

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