Recently, a coworker told me a story about how a potential client actually made the following statement:

Honestly, it’s not like people have any emotional connection to the brands they buy. Why should I care about this?

Really?

Think about the brands you buy. What device do you listen to music on? What kind of shoes do you wear? What kind of car do you drive? In this society, we’re all brand ambassadors. And the most highly regarded brands are the ones who value the emotional connection they foster with customers.

The goal of any business is to turn random strangers into raging fans. Creating brand evangelists doesn’t just aid customer retention, it bolsters your referral marketing. For instance, I love Nike SHOX sneakers. They’re incredibly comfortable, and let’s be honest, I feel faster when I wear them. Not only am I a consistent Nike shoe customer, but I recommend the shoes to my friends. So what’s my value to Nike? It certainly adds up to more than a few pairs of sneakers. And because Nike understands the value of that relationship, they strengthen it with special discounts and services that go above and beyond my expectations.

Business owners should all view they’re brand and business the same way. Customers are not just logically tied to buying decisions, there is a strong emotional appeal behind every purchase.

As a web design firm in Indianapolis we spend a lot of time looking at websites. The most effective websites are created when brands realize they have an obligation to create an emotional connection with consumers. Business owners who understand this typically have a clearer vision of what they want they’re marketing to accomplish and a better road map for how to get there.

What are you doing to create and maintain emotional connections with your customers?

Want to turn Random Strangers into Raving Fans? Join us for a group working session on how to create lasting relationships with both prospects and customers.

Today’s post comes to us from Scott, Roundpeg’s summer interactive development intern. Scott started his own business a while back, and shares some tips about what he learned from turning his passion into cash flow.

I am a very curious person.  I like to ask lots of questions and it is important to me to see how something is done before I actually do it myself.  There have been times, however, when I have blindly rushed into something. For example:

Last summer, shortly after graduating from high school I was working Marsh Supermarket.  It was near the end of my shift, I was bringing in the last few carts from the parking lot and getting ready to go home.  I can’t remember my inspiration or thought process but I do remember the end result.  Standing in the parking I decided I should make a Frisbee!

When I got home I rushed to my computer to do some research.  I found a company that let me send them a design.   Before I knew it I had sold 20 of my frisbees to members of the community.  I learned a few things from this business venture.

Selling to a Specific Niche

Choosing a niche to sell to is key for any product.  The trick is to select a niche that is not too narrow or you will not sell much product.  Also, the item that is being sold, in this case a frisbee, has to appeal to the customer.  People won’t necessarily buy a frisbee for the heck of it.  There has to be a better reason.  In my case the audience I chose was attracted to buy my frisbee because it said “Panther Ultimate” on it.  The panther is the mascot of my high school.  It is also the mascot of another area high school.  Using this phrasing I was able to attract students from both schools.

Become an expert

I started playing Ultimate Frisbee a few years ago and came to love this unique sport.   My passion for Ultimate Frisbee drove me to learn more.  I attended a College Ultimate Championship and was overwhelmed by the amount of merchandise available.  After going home I quickly looked up the different brands and found out which companies were generally regarded as the best makers of frisbees.  Once I had a company in mind I got information on the most widely used frisbee weights and found the standard weight.  When I was satisfied I knew everything  I could possibly be asked about a frisbee I felt confident my researching was done.

Referral marketing is essential

Forming a network of people is important when trying to sell via referrals. I have played recreational Ultimate frisbee with different groups and people of all ages.  As a result, I have friends at multiple colleges who are on their school teams.  My friends know I am passionate about the sport and not just some random person.  If someone needed a new frisbee my friends would point them my way. Using my passion to start this business venture led me to the sale of frisbees.  This was a great experience and I would definitely repeat it.

Are you passionate about something?  How have you used this passion to enhance your business?

I write blog posts for a several of reasons:

1. Share marketing tips to clients, prospects and referral sources
2. Announce upcoming events
3. Create a steady stream of keyword rich content to help improve our search rankings
4. Give visitors some insight into the personality behind the roundpeg brand.

While all of the reasons are valid, today I want to take a closer look at using blogs to improve search position.  To do that, you need to put yourself in the shoes of your visitors and anticipate what words they might use to find your site. (It helps if your have good analytics, so you can see what words are being used)

We have been doing a lot of key word research recently using a new tool to help pick the best words and the results have been interesting.  We are adding phrases such as small business marketing tips or small business marketing ideas to our new blog posts, because these phrases  are each searched more than 1,000 times each month.

I don’t advocate keyword stuffing ( repeating the same phrase over and over) However, keeping a list of terms to include in your post is an effective marketing strategy for small business owners seeking to squeeze the most value out of every post.

How do you find the balance?  I typically write the entire post and then go back and look for places I can rework a sentence or two to include some of the phrases I am trying to focus on.

One more tip:   Try to use key words early in the blog post, title and excerpt.

Recently, I was invited by my alma mater’s placement office to attend an career connections fair. Being back on campus for the first time since graduation gave me a chance to reflect on just how far I’ve come in the last 12 months; what I had learned about myself and my industry.

The event provided students with an opportunity to talk to alumni about their careers and respective industry.  I enjoyed sharing my experiences with  students who were where I was just a year ago.

The most surprising thing about the experience was how easy it was for me to answer most of the questions the students had about the marketing industry. I told them when I graduated I was excited to jump into the field I had studied. I thought I knew what I was getting into and didn’t think I would learn as much as I did in just one year.

Here are just a few of the things I told them about my first year as a business professional:

1. Realize you know nothing-I started January 10th, 2010. In the11 months since then, I have realized all the theory in the world means nothing if you can’t follow through with execution. Web design, writing for search engine optimization, and crafting press releases are just a few of aspects of my job, I had studied in theory, but had no real experience with till I came to Roundpeg. My degree may have gotten me in the door, but my willingness to keep learning is the reason I’m still here.

2. Build a network-Getting out and meeting people isn’t just beneficial on a professional level, but also helps personal development. Creating connections leads to valuable relationships, and these relationships will benefit you for the rest of your career. Many new grads probably don’t realize, their first job, next may not come from filling out an application. It may come from an introduction and a handshake. ( This is also true after you land the job, as you look for your next sale, customer or project.)

3. Surround yourself with passionate people-Passion creates an energy which can’t be replicated. When I come to work every day, I feel that passion. It drives us to be better than we were yesterday. Start-Up Weekend was a great example of how groups of passionate people can turn the wheels of innovation.

4. Value culture-A company culture can make a job tedious or something so much fun you look forward to it on Sunday night. Adventures in Dining, Photo Shoots, RoundpegRadio, Beer-Thirty….over the last 12 months, the people in this office have created a company culture, influenced by our unique personalities.  And while I appreciate my time off, I really look forward to being at Roundpeg.

5. Speak Up-Don’t be afraid to give your opinion. The good bosses and coworkers will value it. Give it humbly, but don’t discount your own viewpoint. Speaking up and seeing your ideas integrated into a project, program or company policy or system,  invests you in the company, giving you a sense of ownership, which can be hugely motivating.

6. Play to your strengths-It would be easy to spend all my time focused on improving my weaknesses, but that’s not the best way for me to benefit the company. It’s good to work on weaknesses, but you should always focus on your strengths. Odds are if you’re great at something, you enjoy doing it. And, believe me, it makes you a much more valuable employee.

We are excited to announce that we have two seminars scheduled for January of 2011. We’re bringing back two of our most popular classes, “From Random Strangers to Raving Fans” and “Forget Henry Ford”.

From Random Strangers to Raving Fans: This class will be team-taught by Lorraine Ball and Matt Nettleton, a sales coach at Sandler Training Trustpointe. The class will teach participants to “use a system to create the right messages for the right people at the right time.”

Topics discussed will include how important it is that sales and marketing support each other.  After all, the best marketing plan in the world won’t help you if you can’t seal the deal, and the best sales strategy won’t help you if you don’t have leads in the first place!

Check out the details below. Hope to see you there!

January 19, 8:00 – 10:00  a.m.

Sandler Training Trustpointe Offices, 6666 East 75th Street, Indianapolis

Seating is limited, so be sure to  register soon by filling out the contact form below:

Forget Henry Ford: 5 Easy Lessons for a Tough Economy: On Wednesday, January 26,  Nick Carter, President of AddressTwo and Jay Mattingly, Director of Marketing at Roundpeg will be teaching a seminar on how new business owners can navigate in the unsafe waters of a tough economy. The seminar will be held from 8:30-10 AM at the Trustpointe offices (6666 East 75th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46250).

New business owners know just how treacherous starting a new business can be. What many do NOT realize however, is that in addition to being filled with danger, the road to successful business ownership is also filled with opportunity.

In this FREE 90-minute seminar, Nick and Jay will help participants uncover some of the tricks micro entrepreneurs can use to maximize their chances of prosperity. Topics covered will range from why business owners shouldn’t buy ads to why they need to forget everything they know about the way big companies run.

Participants simply have to register. To sign up, fill out the registration form below:

Do you know what your product/service is worth? Are you charging the right amount? Most small business owners, me included, struggle with this question. Why? Because we often confuse the cost of producing the product with the value it brings to the customer.

Establishing a price for your goods or services has nothing to do with the production cost and everything to do with the value. A great example of this in action is software.
A few years ago I bought a copy of the Adobe Creative Suite. I opened an attractive box which contained a CD and a small manual. There was less than $10 worth of material in the box, and yet I happily have paid $1,000 for the software. Why? I paid a premium, well above production cost, because the software fulfilled a need.

A few months ago I upgraded the software, through an online download. I didn’t even get the CD or manual, but I was extremely satisfied with the benefits I purchased.

Calculate Your Value

The same is true for your product or service. Your value is based on how much you help clients save, increase, reduce or improve. If you can quantify these benefits, then you have a foundation for establishing an appropriate price for your goods or services

• Use these questions to build your value:
• How much can my product save my customer? Savings may be in time, money or effort.
• How much can my product earn for my customer? Can you help them increase their income; directly or indirectly? Does it create a foundation for future opportunities or establish valuable personal relationships?
• What intangible benefits might customers realize, and is it possible to quantify these benefits? Will your product improve their abilities, confidence, appearance or peace of mind?

Focus on the Benefits

Remember, your customers buy benefits and solutions to their problems. If you can associate a dollar value with specific benefits, you have a powerful message to include in your marketing material and a solid foundation to charge a premium price for your product!

We seem to be doing quite a few direct mail campaigns for client right now.  While not for every business, direct mail campaigns, can be a very powerful marekting tool for many small business.   However, a poorly planned campaign, can be disapointing and expensive.   How do you make your campaign more effective?

While design is an important component, and our designer Taylor has created some really fun designs lately, a productive campaign needs more then just good design.

A productive campaign should include:

1. A  well researched, narrowly targeted list.
2. A realistic timing schedule.  Don’t send 10,000 cards, then nothing for six weeks.  Space them out so you have time to respond to the inquries.
3. Follow up with both additional mailings as well as telephone calls.
4. Test your messages and offers.  Instead of one huge mailing, send out smaller, test groups. Vary layout, message and call to action, till you find the one which makes the phone ring most often.
5. Be sure to include a  strong call to action, or incentive for your prospect to call you now – Consider time senstive offers, special pricing or free stuff.

Written by Christine Maley

Early this week I wrote a post on email marketing so I thought it would be interesting  to follow up with a look at how to get people to actually read the mail you send them.

We all receive so much mail and email, that we rarely read the majority of what we receive. Many items are automatically trashed because their heading or format  fails to capture the interest of the receiver.  So how do we get people to actually read what we have to say?

Half of the battle is simply getting the consumer to open your piece of mail.   There was a post in Marigold’s Technologies Direct Marketing Blog that I think is very relevant to this:

“Far too often I have seen email creative efforts focus 99% of their time on the body of the email, that is, the copy, layout and graphic design and only 1% on the subject line. This is a huge mistake. Sometimes the subject line is a mere afterthought. In our experience conducting B2B email marketing campaigns, sometimes we receive the creative with beautiful images, HTML design, good copywriting and no subject line at all. We then ask for the subject line only to have one thrown back at us with minimal consideration. It is my opinion that 50% of the creative effort should go into development of the subject line itself and I will tell you why.

It does not matter how good the content of the email is if it does not get opened.”

To read more of this article and for some tips on good subject lines, click here

The difference between direct marketing mail and directly-to-trash-marketing- for me- is making them short, sweet, and any of these three things:

1. Personalized
2. Interesting
3. Relevant

Your business is all of these things to the customer. The heading of your mail needs to demonstrate that.

Written by Christine Maley

Early this week I wrote a post on email marketing so I thought it would be interesting  to follow up with a look at how to get people to actually read the mail you send them.

We all receive so much mail and email, that we rarely read the majority of what we receive. Many items are automatically trashed because their heading or format  fails to capture the interest of the receiver.  So how do we get people to actually read what we have to say?

Half of the battle is simply getting the consumer to open your piece of mail.   There was a post in Marigold’s Technologies Direct Marketing Blog that I think is very relevant to this:

“Far too often I have seen email creative efforts focus 99% of their time on the body of the email, that is, the copy, layout and graphic design and only 1% on the subject line. This is a huge mistake. Sometimes the subject line is a mere afterthought. In our experience conducting B2B email marketing campaigns, sometimes we receive the creative with beautiful images, HTML design, good copywriting and no subject line at all. We then ask for the subject line only to have one thrown back at us with minimal consideration. It is my opinion that 50% of the creative effort should go into development of the subject line itself and I will tell you why.

It does not matter how good the content of the email is if it does not get opened.”

To read more of this article and for some tips on good subject lines, click here

The difference between direct marketing mail and directly-to-trash-marketing- for me- is making them short, sweet, and any of these three things:

1. Personalized
2. Interesting
3. Relevant

Your business is all of these things to the customer. The heading of your mail needs to demonstrate that.

When I put out a request for guest bloggers, I was delighted by the responses, from friends and associates across a wide range of industries.  Today’s post is by my good friend Barb Jones of Stellar Training. Here is her post on organizing those contacts you have worked so hard to find!

Round Up Your Prospect/Client Data

Okay small business owner, be honest.  Are prospect business cards stashed all over your office?  And handwritten notes about prospects or clients?  Are your people getting frustrated because it takes so long to figure out who talked to a prospect or client last and about what?

You need a home for all of this information.  One that is accessible to everyone 24/7.  You could assemble a set of business card files and some sturdy boxes but it’s probably time to look at digital options.  The search tools alone are worth the cost.  There is a wide range of software options available from Contact Managers to Client Relationship Managers.

First, a note to those of you who have put all of your contacts in an Excel file.  Excel is a kind of database but it is not intended to be a contact manager and has none of the labor-saving tools almost every CM or CRM has.  I know you are working around that fact but you are working entirely too hard.

Shop carefully and weigh what you really need.  Contact Management software tends to include the contact database and a few other tools like calendars and email.  Client Relationship Management software tends to include the contact database and several other tools like email, calendars, multimedia publication, web form generation, sales force management, automated marketing and others.  Prices vary widely.  Expect that a low price means you spend your own time doing the integration built into a more expensive product.

Every choice is a trade-off, but your reward is the time reclaimed and the security of knowing you haven’t lost track of precious prospect or client information.  Peace of mind and free time.  Wonder what you could do with that?

4/3/09 by Barbara Jones, Stellar Training Products and Certified Infusionsoft Coach