Creative Marketing: Just Your Style

You've enlisted some of the traditional marketing methods to sell your services: you received some publicity in your local paper; your website is up and running; and you're listed in the Yellow Pages. So why isn't the phone ringing off the hook? Maybe you're marketing strategies need to get more creative!

Creative marketing will allow you to attract new clients, as well as remind past clients that you're still around. You'll also stand out from the other professionals in your field: creative marketing gets you noticed, enticing people to want to know more about you! And the beauty of creative marketing is that there is no one right way to do it. Methods that work -- and feel comfortable -- for you might not work for others.

Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

Staying In Touch

Rather than relying solely on the phone to stay in touch, utilize mail and e-mail. It's fast, easy, and tells your clients that you took the extra time to think of them.

Send birthday cards on your clients' birthdays, or better yet, send an anniversary card to celebrate the date when you first worked with a client.

Another great option is to send postcards or newsletters filled with tips. This establishes you as an expert in your field. Be sure to include an update of your current services or any special offers you have.

Give-Aways that Work

Everyone loves a little gift now and then. Promotional give-aways can boost your business by showing appreciation and offering a reminder that you're ready to help.

Steer clear of pens, notepads, and keychains. Your clients have enough of those. Brainstorm with friends and your local advertising specialties representative to find affordable, unique ideas that represent you and your business. (Look in the Yellow Pages under "Advertising Promotional Products" for companies near you.) For example, at Time to Organize, my company found an affordable, colorful travel alarm clock that can double as a desk clock. Imprinted with my logo and website address, it's a gift that was useful to my clients and beneficial to my business. Remember that memorable and useful items are most appreciated.

Getting Visibility

Try to draw a little attention wherever you go. Depending upon how shy (or flamboyant) you are, you might try something as simple as wearing your nametag in public to driving around town with magnetic signs attached to your vehicle that tout your services. Don't be shy about tooting your own horn. If you tend to downplay your strengths, fearing you'll sound brazen, squash that feeling now! As a small-business owner, you don't have a marketing department, so you must be your own loudest advocate! Making others aware of your products and services is NOT bragging.

I hope these ideas jump start your creative thought process. I would love to hear from YOU about your creative marketing strategies. What worked best?What bombed? Happy thinking...

Sara Pedersen, author of the FREE e-zine "The Marketing Fairy's Guide to Simple Self Promotion," is a professional organizer and marketing specialist. She helps small business owners make their marketing dreams come true. Sign up today at http://www.time2organize.net to receive your FREE monthly subscription.

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Direct Mail
Do you have a website? A Web Newsletter? A mailing list of e-mail addresses for customers? Do you track and test everything? You can use the web to get sales in lots of exciting ways which are dependant on technology that's available at the time. Whether you budget is �600 or �6000, I can show you how it's done effectively time after time after time! So here's what I do when I start working with clients and I would like to offer it to you as a gift now. Have a look at this list of ten great ways of marketing. I guarantee, that nearly all web site owners will not have every one of these simple methods in place right now. Please pick at least two that you're either not doing, or not doing that well - and MAKE A DECISION to add them to your marketing mix in the weeks ahead: Direct Mail Internet Marketing Email Marketing Advertising Telephone Marketing Direct Sales Strategic Alliances Referral Systems PR Additional Products/Services We will tackle these in order Direct Mail Direct mail is often overused and badly done. It's got a bad reputation over the years, mainly due to spammers, used instead of the telephone or by con artists seeking their next victim. There are a lot of myths and nonsense about mailings. You may want to print this out, because in my continuing efforts to help you reach success ? I am about to share the secrets of direct mail - I'd be surprised if the contents of this mail does not save you thousands of pounds over the next 12 months. By the way, if you are totally new to Direct Mail - "It's anything sent by post, sales letters, electronic mail or brochures etc" I want to dispel some things about DM to you. "Direct Mail doesn't work" . This ingenious conclusion is arrived at by the fact that most people throw most of the mail we get directly in the bin - therefore the thinking is that it's a waste of money. The truth is that 90 out of 100 people might throw your mailing in the bin, but if 5 people look at it, 5 more read it and one of those 5 buys from you - you may well have a highly profitable mailing. Last week I sent 400 emails to potential clients, and got 37 replies. That's to say that 37 people actually read my mail, and I got exactly 9 new clients as a result. Now what would happen if I doubled my mailings next week? I could expect from 800 mails, about 80 replies and maybe 20 sales! And that's easily doable by the way, because I've done it. But saying that, your mailing may not work ? it depends on what you say, price involved and some products may just not be suited to an email campaign. It's very much a numbers game, but one thing is certain, email is free! You have to enter this knowing that most of your mailings will go unread, but at least it's cheaper than other advertising methods. Large companies like Capital One, know their mailings DO work ? they've spent a fortune fine tuning and testing these campaigns. But just to warn you ? direct mail can fail, and they are the ones, usually, small to medium businesses send out, because they don't understand what they are really doing. If it's done right, it will make your profits increase dramatically, and when it's done badly ? it can eat into a budget, so be very careful! There are 2 types of mailings: Potential Customers Existing Customers If you don't do much mailing ? start doing some now. It's easy to not email out of fear of upsetting clients, scared of bombarding them with too many mails, thus losing a sale. That's crazy and it's to nobodys advantage. Actually, most sales emails are helpful and quite genuine. I was once told "You've got to be mad to not listen to a salesman ? they might have something you need!" So next time you receive a mail or telesales call, consider that it could well be in your favour. And there really is nothing wrong with sending out 2 mails each week.. So don't worry. I have noticed that many clients are sitting with 1000's of email addresses ? yet they aren't contacting these clients. That's like throwing money down the drain. They could say NO, then again they could say YES to your product. Imagine if a further 10 bought your services next week ? how do you feel about not emailing those customers now? Try it today?.. Think of something you can offer these customers, you must have something you can offer! Even something for free. Send them a letter and measure the response. If it works, mail them and measure the results. If it keeps on working, keep on doing it! The best email is a personal communication with a customer you know. It may read as follows: Dear----------- I wanted to follow up after your purchase of (your product) on (date) to see how it's working out for you and to thank you for your continuing business. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know by return email, or feel free to call my private phone number. Many Thanks Regards Mr X Your customer is going to open, read and appreciate an email like this. They may even respond to it, and even if they don't, it doesn't look like spam or bug anyone. And they probably will appreciate that. ------------------------------...Give it a go ? you'll be surprised. Regards Christopher Given www.busigen.com

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