Archive for the ‘Website promotion’ Category
Do you lie in your marketing materials?
Have you ever thought about that?
How many times have you seen a sales letter that made a big promise but the product didn’t deliver? Or how about a blog post whose title said one thing but the post itself said another?
How did you feel when you were done reading? Like you just wasted 5 minutes you’ll never get back.
Make sure you don’t do that. If necessary, have someone else read your marketing materials.
Always test your emails. Send them to yourself and click on the links, reread for clarity, and check the formatting. If your emails look sloppy, you’re going to lose subscribers.
And above all – if you say you’re going to tell your readers how to do something, follow through! And don’t take 50 paragraphs to do it.
Last week, I posted a link to an interview Jim Edwards did with an official at the FTC. Here is the link to the transcript of that interview:
http://www.igottatellyou.com/blog/ftc-interview/
Please…take a few minutes to read this and know exactly how these new rules will affect your business.
Jim Edwards did an interview last week with Rich Cleland, an assistant deputy at the FTC.
Get info about the new guidelines that go into effect December 1 here:
http://www.igottatellyou.com/blog/ftc-change-interview/
I have no material association with this site and am not compensated from Mr. Edwards in any way.
Some disturbing news from the FTC. Seems that you can now be fined for exercising your right to free speech:
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/05/20/what-to-make-of-ftcs-proposed-paid-post-regulations
I’m still flabbergasted, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s perfectly OK for a cemetery to rip you off because the FTC can’t be bothered to make them follow the same rules funeral homes do…not that they don’t rip you off either, but there are at least some rules.
However, if I’m understanding this correctly (and please set me straight if I’m not), Joe Shmoe has to disclose if he’s helping his brother-in-law get his business up and running, or if he’s getting a free movie ticket for encouraging others to go see a particular movie.
Is a blogged endorsement for a product or service false or misleading because someone is being paid for it? Certainly not. It’s one type of joint venture and businesses do it all the time. It’s one way any smart businessman makes money.
What ever happened to one doing his or her due diligence and the concept of caveat emptor? Or are we so stupid and incompetent we have to have the gubmint take care of us and bubble-wrap us from our own mistakes?
My guess is that somebody got ripped off and knows someone at the FTC.
Color me disgusted. What do you think?
Why do businesses have trouble getting and keeping loyal customers? Owners and employees forget the cardinal rule: It’s not about you–it’s about your customers. If you treat your customers as treasured partners instead of dollar signs, you’ll have the competitive edge every time.
While there are a thousand and one ways to deliver stellar customer service, the following seven tips create a win-win for your customer and your business, whether your business is online or off.
1. Hire the right people.
If you don’t have the right people, you can’t fully serve your customers. Period. Take your time hiring and pay employees well for their expertise. Better yet, give them a piece of the pie for excellent performance. Invest them in your business, and they’ll represent you well.
Listen to your employees, especially those on the front lines with customers. They’re the eyes and ears of your business, and you ignore them at your peril.
2. Do what you say you’re going to do.
If you tell Mrs. Brown you’re going to call her about her leaky faucet tomorrow at 10, you’d better be on that phone at 9:59 dialing her number. Or better yet, go to her house and look at the faucet yourself. Go above and beyond and you’ll be remembered.
Customers talk. Make sure they’re saying good things when they mention your name.
3. Pay attention.
Learn who your customers are. Greet them immediately by name when you see them, and ask how their families are. If you have an online business, drop them an occasional email to see how they are and how your product or service is working out for them.
Connect on a personal level and you’ll have more loyal customers than you’ll know what to do with.
4. Help your customers with all their needs.
Mr. James loves your mechanic Tim, but he really needs someone to detail his car next week. Put him in touch with a good detailer and you’ve just solved another problem for him.
Make sure your referrals are top-notch and that you’re paid a commission every time your referrals buy. In turn, give anyone who refers business to you a commission. This type of joint venture is a win-win-win.
5. Know how to handle complaints and upset customers.
Your front line staff plays the most visible and critical role in the customer’s experience. Be sure they know what to say and do . . . and what not to say and do. Set guidelines for handling every type of complaint and get staff involved. Properly handling complaints separates successful businesses from failures.
6. Stay in contact.
Collect email addresses and start a monthly newsletter to keep customers informed. Create a short, simple “What do you think of our company?” questionnaire using SurveyMonkey. Questionnaires and newsletters give you the opportunity to anticipate and identify customer needs.
Customers don’t buy products and services—they buy solutions to their problems. Buying decisions are made emotionally and justified logically, so appeal to both sides of the equation.
7. When in doubt, err on the side of the customer.
This is not to say the customer is always correct, but the customer’s perception needs to be that she is treated fairly. If you have a conflict, do what you can to resolve it.
Often the customer just wants to be heard and wants to know that you understand. Sometimes a small tweak, like changing a due date, is all the customer needs. It’s always a good idea to use The 10 Words of Great Customer Service: “What can we do to make it work for you?”
If you have a customer that just won’t work with you (and it will happen), consider refunding his money and letting him go. If you argue or refuse to refund his money, he will tell everyone he knows about it. If you part on friendly terms, he might tell everyone he knows, but there’s a chance you won’t look like the greedy bad person if you treat him fairly.
Having good customer service is crucial for every business to stay alive, but having great customer service will make your business thrive. Customer service is everyone’s job, no matter where they work. Your business will not and cannot exist without happy customers.
What if I told you $20 a month would buy you unlimited hosting, a domain name, the dynamic website you always wanted with all the space you need, and as many email accounts as you want?
Oh, and you have full control over the site and can make changes instantly any time, even at 3 am standing on your head . . . and you don’t have to involve anyone else!
It’s as easy as falling off a log. Everything is laid out step-by-step on video. Yes, you can easily do this even if you’re not the “techie” type. In fact, this program was designed specifically so all us “non-techie” folks can run with it and create our own websites.
No more having to settle for whatever limited ability the webmaster has. No more having to choose from 20 ugly templates that all look the same and aren’t what you want. You have a choice of hundreds of templates . . .
And if you don’t like any of them, you can design your site from scratch. How’s that for total control?
Oops, I forgot one last thing–there is a way you can get all of this free.
Yes, you read that right. Free.
If free isn’t good enough, you can make money from it too.
I start work on my site today. It’s about a passion of mine that I never thought I’d do a site for, and will keep you posted on my progress.
The possibilities are endless.
Customers and clients need you to be credible and trustworthy. One of the best marketing techniques for doing this is to position yourself as an expert in your field or niche.
Experts get recognized, have more work than they can handle, and are primary sources of information for potential customers and clients. But how can you establish yourself as an expert?
1. Write articles and post them on directories.
High-quality articles with plenty of actionable, accurate content show prospects you know what you’re talking about. Don’t forget the resource box for each article.
2. Comment on appropriate blogs.
Find blogs that complement your topic or niche and comment there, making sure you link to your website (usually you put in your site URL before your comment, then it’s linked to your name). People will flock to your site or blog, already pre-sold on you based on your comments.
3. Twitter, Facebook, Squidoo, Digg . . . or your local newspaper or radio station.
Online and offline media can both help you establish yourself as an expert if you play your cards right. Always be professional, find ways to be helpful, and give away a few secrets. People will wonder what else you have to offer if you’re freely sharing such good stuff!
4. Leverage your resources and acquaintances.
Do you know other experts in your field? Why not get together and hold a seminar to help your target audience with their biggest problem? Or guest blog for each other. You scratch their backs, they’ll scratch yours.
5. Try Google Knol.
This is a really cool tool I just found out about this morning and had to share with you. You’ll probably agree after you see the video . . . Knol is a great way to become known as an expert.
Good luck and if you have any other ideas, please let us know!
Facebook is a social networking site that most people use to stay in touch with friends and family. Many have rekindled friendships and gotten in touch with old classmates. Some have even met their significant others on FB.
It is also a fast and easy way to create new personal and business relationships. With Facebook, you can create your own network of friends, become an online fan of people and businesses, and join groups that share your beliefs and ideas.
While Facebook is a wonderful social networking website and fun to use, Internet marketers can’t resist using it for marketing.
Why?
One word: numbers.
Facebook has millions of subscribers from around the world and is one of the fastest-growing social media sites. Millions of people use it every day, and millions more log in for the first time every month.
Those numbers are staggering. You may be thinking you couldn’t possibly manage that volume of potential customers. However, Facebook helps you segment that traffic and easily find where your target audience hangs out–so you can hang out there too.
People tend to put themselves in groups based on a common characteristic, like age or interest. This can be a gold mine for you and very easy to tap into. All you need to do is join groups that match the demographics of your target audience. If you can’t find an existing group, create your own and get people to join.
You can get the word out about your products and services with Facebook tools like news feeds, blogs, and notes that are simple to create and maintain. You can show people what you have in a non-”salesy” way…just like talking to friends about a great new product or service.
Speaking of word-of-mouth advertising, anyone who likes your profile page can recommend it to their friends. Your Facebook profile can be used to promote your products or services with videos, photos, or reviews.
With Facebook, you get the tools you need to to generate highly-targeted traffic to your website. What more could any marketer ask for?
Avoid the traps that can trip you up in your business and replace them with strategies that lead to success.
Stop your struggles and find the road to prosperity with this FREE two-part telephone seminar.
If your business is stuck or you’re thinking of going into business for yourself, be sure to listen in on this free two-part teleseminar as Michelle Salater interviews Julio Blanco, business coach extraordinaire.
The founder of Envision Lifeworks, Julio Blanco is a 19-year marketing powerhouse who believes small businesses make a big difference. He gives entrepreneurs the mindset and marketing tools to create a successful business doing the work they love.
Michelle Salater is the epitome of the conscious entrepreneur. The owner of the highly successful web copywriting business Sūmèr, LLC, Michelle’s business skyrocketed after she started working with Julio…and she is excited to share his expertise with you.
In this two-part call, you’ll learn. . .
- The biggest hurdle stopping you from creating the business you want.
- The marketing trap that’s sapping your time, money, and energy.
- How to make growing your business seem effortless.
- Simple steps to have a successful business AND a personal life.
- One thing you are probably neglecting that is costing you thousands of dollars.
Why spend years and thousands of dollars figuring out how to create a successful small business when you can get on the path to prosperity right now…free?
For more details, go here.
Rover Retreat, metro Denver’s premier non-traditional dog kennel, announces the opening of its third site on June 8, 2009 at 287 US Highway 287 in Lafayette, Colorado.
A grand opening celebration will be held on Saturday, June 6 from 11am to 2 pm. The Lafayette Rover Retreat is in the same building as Mountain Ridge Animal Hospital, Lafayette Animal Emergency, and Bark Avenue Pet Boutique.
Unlike the typical kennel, at Rover Retreat the dogs are free to play with each other for most of the day. This dog daycare is much like a children’s daycare in that staff members closely supervise the dogs at all times. The dogs play in the morning, nap, and continue playing in the afternoon and evening until they are picked up.
Traditional kennels charge a low fee for overnight boarding but add charges for play time, medication administration, and treats. Rover Retreat charges one fee that includes these items, plus bowls, blankets, toys, and Kumpi food for overnight guests.
Rover Retreat’s operating hours are from 7am to 7pm seven days a week, closing during naptime. Clients can drop off their dogs for a full day (more than five hours) or a half-day (five hours or less). Overnight boarding is available seven days a week and during all holidays.
Rover Retreat’s slogan is “Your Best Friend’s Home Away From Home™” and the staff has decades of experience with dogs. Striving to provide the highest level of customer service, staff members get to know clients and their dogs and encourage phone calls, questions, and suggestions.
Rover Retreat’s website, www.roverretreat.com, describes in detail the services offered at each location, requirements for dogs to attend, pricing, and behavior and health resources for dogs and their owners.
About Rover Retreat:
Rover Retreat offers dog day care and overnight boarding services for dogs four months and older. Its experienced staff gives each dog individual attention and works hard to learn each dog’s personality, likes, dislikes, and special needs. Dogs enjoy plenty of supervised play time, and owners have the peace of mind that their dogs are safe, well taken care of, and as comfortable as possible. Rover Retreat currently has three locations in the Denver metro area: Golden, Wheat Ridge, and Lafayette.
Contact:
Therese Morin, Owner
Rover Retreat Golden
Rover Retreat Lafayette
303-604-6264
info@roverretreat.com
www.roverretreat.com
(This is a shameless plug for one of my clients. My pups go to Rover Retreat in Golden and they love it. As soon as they see the building they go ape. Literally. Therese Morin, the owner, is opening a new location and I’m doing all I can to help her promote it…Melody)
