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Marketing Lessons From Apples iPod
Apple Computer just announced that their earnings from the last quarter more than quadrupled mainly due to robust holiday sales of the iPod digital music player. More than 10 million iPods have been sold since it was introduced in 2001. There are some important marketing lessons to be learned from all this. First of all, Apple has created a product for a hungry market that has the financial means to purchase it even with the relatively high price point. If you find a hot and hungry market, create a product for it and you are almost guaranteed to succeed. Lesson #1: Find a hot and hungry market Ever since the introduction of the MP3 file format, we have seen the popularity of converting songs from a CD so that they can be stored on the computer. Even the Napster episode showed us that there is a huge market for a device like the iPod. Here's the summary of the first lesson - don't sell shovels to fishermen and fishing poles to gold miners. Rather, sell the shovels to gold miners and the fishing poles to fishermen. Create a product that already has an existing market. Lesson #2: Create different versions Now Apple just announced the introduction of the iPod Shuffle - a lower-priced version of the iPod with flash memory instead of hard drive storage. This strategy is called versioning. First create a product that sells. Then create another version of the product for a different market segment. In this case, Apple first came up with a more expensive product and followed it up with a cheaper product. Lesson #3: Create the halo effect The halo effect is essentially this: increasing sales of one popular product will generate more sales for your other existing products. In this case, the tremendous popularity of the iPod has created enough buzz that more people are buying Macs. In the past, Macs have made inroads only to a small segment of the market. But now, we're likely to see Apple increase its market share of personal computers in the months to come. So whatever you are selling, there are definitely some general marketing lessons to be learned from the success of the iPod. Think about it the next time you use your iPod. Hock Ng is the editor of The Marketing Tools Review, an online newsletter highlighting the latest marketing tools and strategies, especially for internet marketers. To find out more, visit: http://www.marketing-tools-review.com
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Plan for the future now!I am a repeat customer of Dell. All our hardware (laptops, desktops, and servers) are Dell machines. As our business growths, there is a continual need to upgrade. How do I know what components to purchase? I simply log into my Dell account and enter the product number of the machine I need to upgrade. Every single information record about that machine is accessible-now that is business record keeping! Of course, not everyone has deep pockets for a state-of-the-art system, but you get the message.How long should you keep records for? In some countries, you are required by law to keep business records for a certain period of time. If you employ a project management software tool you essential have the option to store records forever (recommended). At a minimum, store records for at least one year.Communicate like a professional. 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Show appreciation for having the opportunity to work with a client. Send a card, nothing fancy or expensive, with a personal and original thank you message. You should try it-it works wonders.Have a genuine interest in your client's best interest. Share you insider knowledge of the industry with your client. When you can not take on a job (maybe you have enough work, or are not qualified for that particular subject matter), reach out to your network and forward the job to a colleague. You can also point clients to web sites that can handle their translation project. Clients appreciate these small acts of kindness, and they certainly do not forget about them!After completing under graduate school in Japan, I returned to Zambia briefly to help in the family business. We made it a policy to recommend customers to establishments-even if they were competitors-that most likely carried the product that we could not provide. Did customers ever appreciate it! They ended up coming around more regularly and making more purchases. Not only that, but even our competitors started referring their customers to us during stock outs. Of course, we made sure not to run out of stock too often-clients also have businesses to run?The customary caution is not to introduce the client to a nightmare. A good rule of thumb to follow is to never introduce the client to a product (service) that you yourself would not layout money for. When clients like you, you are the line up. ConclusionUltimately, the success of your translation style can only be measured by the number of your clients, and the number of projects that those client entrust you with. That is very much a function of how successful you are in making your clients feel comfortable with your deal-as defined by reputation, professionalism and visibility-and by climbing in the "likeability" rankings. Your Marketing Plan - Prerequisite to Success Marketing is a vital aspect of a business' operations. 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Watch & Learn When commercials come on the television do you get up and head for the kitchen to get a snack? Do you tune out the radio when commercials start? Do you skip over advertisements in newspapers and magazines? Deceptive Marketing and Procrastination Procrastination is every marketers worst nightmare. Get Personal: Letters vs. Direct Mail One of the reasons direct mail works is the personal aspect. It's ostensibly a letter from you to your prospect. Because of this, the more personal you make it, the better your response will be. Where Should I Network? Building business relationships through networking is a great way to build your business. The caveat? It's a slow process. Direct Mail Formats: How to Choose the Right One for Your Next Mailing Which pulls the best response, a postcard, a self-mailer or a letter? The answer, you'll be irritated to know, is clear. It depends. The Seven Deadly Sins of Ineffective Nametags Your nametag can be your best friend. It can be a lifesaver in meetings, trade shows and events to start conversations when you meet groups of new people. It will also identify you as well as your company in the minds of others. As a result, you will become more approachable and transform strangers into valuable connections. Unfortunately, nametags can become useless and ineffective when they are designed and worn without careful consideration. Reverse The Risk And Boost Your Profits As a business owner or marketer, if you don't reverse the risk in your product and/or service offerings, you're really missing out in what can be one of the most powerful weapons in your marketing arsenal. The Top 10 Ways to Market your Business or Professional Practice Without Advertising Every business and professional practice MUST be in the public eye. You need customers! Folks need your goods and services -- it's a mutual alliance for mutual benefit! But if potential clients and customers don't know you exist, or can't find you, you will go bankrupt! They won't benefit from your services, and you won't make any money. So, marketing is a necessity. Advertising is one form of marketing, but it's terribly expensive. Here are the Top 10 alternatives: 10 Proven Ways To Accelerate Your Profits 1. Make copies of your web site in many differentlanguages. This'll allow foreign speaking people toread your web site and advertisements. Helping Your Prospects Overcome ?Buying Fears? By Using Testimonials You DO use direct marketing for your small business? right? If so, you're taking advantage of the most cost-effective means of advertising available. (Yes? I'm biased? I admit it!) Whats In a Business Card? Over the years as I have attended trade shows, networking meetings, chamber events and more; I have noticed a few things about the successful and the not so successful. First of all, do you have a business card?If you belong to a large corporation, you were probably issued business cards as a matter of course, almost as if it was a company perk. If you are in a small or home-based business, chances are you, personally, made the effort to get business cards, which entailed design, print and distribution. So if you went to all of the trouble of acquiring them, you should use them to your advantage. Here are a few tried and true rules for marketing with your card.1. Never leave home without the cards. I have stopped for coffee already and had someone ask me for a card because they saw my car sign as I pulled into the local coffee shop lot. If you want people to discredit you as a businessperson, all you have to do is say "Oh sorry I forgot my cards today." I have even been to trade shows and fellow exhibitors were walking around without cards. You have not only lost an immediate opportunity to market your business, but you look like an amateur who doesn't deserve the business.2. Is the information correct? The reality is that sometimes we change our contact information. If you know that there will be changes in the near future, then limit the number of cards you have printed. Do not, scribble out and hand write information on your card. Back to "Can anyone say amateur?" I said that to someone once and his reply was, "yes but business cards are expensive." That says two things to me: 1) he didn't shop around for a good price and 2) AMATEUR! The idea is to attract business not scare it away.3. Does the card say what you want it to say? What message are you trying to get across? When designing a business card, think about the placement of information on the card. Is the key information in a prominent place on the card? Does the design work with the rest of your company image? Your business card should be an extension of your company just like your logo, stationery, checks, signage, website and more. They should all get across the same message and design.4. Can prospective clients contact you easily with the information provided on your card? This is a big one!Is your website up to date?Do you check your email at least once a day? (and respond!)Is your email address professional (not mycompany@genericfreeemail.com)Is your voice mail message clear, concise and professional?In this day of technology everyone assumes you must have email and a website for your business to be successful. This is not necessarily true. If you do not conduct business via email or internet then do not put that information on your card. No matter what you use, the key is to be accessible.5. Are you marketing with your business card? Keeping them in your pocket is a waste of time and money. Be clear about who your target client is. When you see an opportunity slip in your business card. Do not be rude and pushy, but confident that the person could benefit from your services.If you are not sure that your business card is getting you where you want, market test it. Give it to some friends and colleagues and ask them for their opinions. If your friends are not going to be honest with you, then try "strangers." At the next event you attend ask some people what they think of your design. Want To Impress Customers, Win Clients and Influence People? Remember the baseball cards kids traded while chewing their way through kilos of noxious bubblegum, all for about a nickle a pack? No? Then ask your Dad. Are you familiar with the latest digital CD Cardz that look like traditional sports trading cards and play interactive video, triva, bios, stats, music, as well as desktop goodies? No? Then ask your kid. Seriously, my point is that times are changing and you no longer have to feel that you are either a stereotypical blue collar worker or a red necked Luddite. The truth is, you too can jump on the multimedia gravy train ? (just ask for 1st class compartment Serious) and utilize these cool mediums within your corporate environment. Over a career year, you probably hand out small forests of business cards with merely your contact information printed on them right? So what if you were to hand out a business card-sized CD-Rom instead, that not only had your contact information on it, but held your company website or a pertinent presentation, video, music, a free corporate screen saver etc, all hyperlinking to your on line site too? So we are talking a talking business card and there are two routes to take. If you want professional help in creating the all singing and dancing marketing tool, come to us at http://www.serious.com, where we will hold your hand and do the work for you. However in truth this is only viable for larger orders of cardz and you might well be a small business or a freelancer with no need for huge quantities, but yet still want to make a lasting impression. If this is the case, then you can buy our transparent blank 50 MB CD-R cardz from us and create your own! These come in starter packs of 10, with a label applicator, label and presentation software, including web site templates and there are also refill packs available. How to Successfully Promote your Business to an International Audience Breaking into the international marketplace can catapult a company into increased profitability and growth more rapidly than when selling to a domestic market. Mobile Marketing a New Age Strategy More and more companies seem to be looking for new and innovative ways to market their products. Overlooking most of the traditional marketing techniques, more companies are pioneering the relatively new mobile marketing campaign. Mobile event trailers and vehicle graphic wraps are bringing the products directly to the consumers. With an array of games, giveaways, contests and twenty-five foot product shots surrounding and engaging the consumer, it's hard to see why this form of marketing is not more widely used.
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