As a small business marketing strategy consultant, I’m not a big fan of brand-building because it’s a huge waste  of scarce resources. On top of that, you can achieve the same goal while making sales at the same time. Why wait for someone to need your product? Give them a reason to contact you now!

Even if you have a product or service that most people don’t immediately need (medical, legal, funeral, etc.), you can begin developing a relationship with them so when the need arises, they contact you because they feel they already know you!

This is a must-see video for any business owner who’s asked the question how to get more customers. When you realize the million-dollar question is, “How do I make more money in my business?”

<

A new client of mine is an auto shop that was spending his marketing
dollars in the local shopping magazines like Reach and Super Shopper.

His ads were pretty similar to all the other auto shop ads in the magazines
and offered discount oil changes and similar services. Most of the ad responses
were from people looking for cheap oil changes for $19.95. Very few became
long-term clients and there were no systems in place to cross-sell, up-sell or
follow-up to promote different services.

I’m in the process of implementing a marketing system that focuses on
existing clients.

It includes

• A client welcome procedure
• A service checklist
• Up-sell and cross-sell training
• Thank you notes
• Referral incentives
• Monthly email and direct mail specials to clients
• And more

We just completed a customer reactivation mailer to past clients
that cost $1,240. At the same time, he was already committed to
two magazine mailers that cost him over $1,400.

The first week results?

The two magazine mailers, each dropped to approximately 30,000
households have brought in two customers for two oil changes.
Total sales: $39.90

The customer reactivation mailer, mailed to 1,500 past clients
has brought in twenty-six customers and over $4,000 in sales.
The deadline on the offer is still two weeks away so we will continue
to get more business from the mailer.

These results are typical and will dramatically improve as we implement
the complete marketing system.

You may have heard the saying the money is in the list – your customer
list. Before you spend a fortune on cold mailers or advertising, be sure
you have a plan to keep in touch with your existing clients.

New Government Regulations

If your company uses testimonials in your marketing materials,
you need to be aware of the new FTC guidelines concerning endorsements
and testimonials.

Here is the announcement http://ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

The guidelines were just released and a lot of us in the marketing
community are going through our materials and web sites to be
sure we meet the new guidelines. If you use testimonials, celebrity
or any type of actual or implied first, second or third-party endorsements,
you will be affected.

I’m a marketer, not a lawyer so if you want a real legal opinion, on your copy
I’m afraid you needto pay for it. If you belong to an industry or trade association,
the legal counsel may be able to help you.

If you want a marketer’s opinion or need some powerful marketing
that generates results, then give me a shout.

The guidelines go into effect December 1, 2009. Some people have asked me
what I think about them. Well, what I think doesn’t really matter except for the
fact that this is the Federal Government & they don’t really get a big kick out of
companies ignoring their rules. So… I think it’s a good idea to be safe and
comply!

Good selling,

Paul

PS – Here’s a copy of the press release:

FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials

Changes Affect Testimonial Advertisements, Bloggers, Celebrity Endorsements

The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it has approved final revisions to the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act.

The notice incorporates several changes to the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. The Guides were last updated in 1980.

Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. Likewise, if a company refers in an advertisement to the findings of a research organization that conducted research sponsored by the company, the advertisement must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization. And a paid endorsement – like any other advertisement – is deceptive if it makes false or misleading claims.

Celebrity endorsers also are addressed in the revised Guides. While the 1980 Guides did not explicitly state that endorsers as well as advertisers could be liable under the FTC Act for statements they make in an endorsement, the revised Guides reflect Commission case law and clearly state that both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement – or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers. The revised Guides also make it clear that celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media.

The Guides are administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; they are not binding law themselves. In any law enforcement action challenging the allegedly deceptive use of testimonials or endorsements, the Commission would have the burden of proving that the challenged conduct violates the FTC Act.

The Commission vote approving issuance of the Federal Register notice detailing the changes was 4-0. The notice will be published in the Federal Register shortly, and is available now on the FTC’s Web site as a link to this press release. Copies also are available from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,700 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a networking meeting and met a couple of guys from the same company. Later in the day, I got an email from one of guys telling me to keep the other one in mind if I ever needed the product they were selling. He said he enjoyed talking to me even though we didn’t really talk. The other guy did the talking. It was a nice email, nothing pushy or too in my face but I thought it was a bit odd. Why didn’t the first guy send me an email himself?

Lesson 1 – When you are marketing your business, you are also marketing yourself. If you are going to have someone handle your communications, be sure they do it under your name.

Today, I received a LinkedIn invitation from the guy who had the other person send the email for him. He didn’t use his last name. Let’s just say he called himself Joe B.

Joe B wrote “Since you are a person I trust, I wanted to invite you to join my network on LinkedIn. I’m using it to discover inside connections I didn’t know I had. It’s interesting to see the level of access you can have with only a few people in your network. It’s free to join and only takes a minute to sign up and join my network.

Lesson 2 for Joe B.

Remember, it’s marketing and social. He tells me he trusts me (but not enough to give his last name). He’s discovering inside connections he didn’t know he had so he can build his business (nothing about me or my business). Even though I’ve been on LinkedIn for a couple of years, he tells me it’s free to join. Since he contacted me through my profile, it seems somewhat evident I’m already on LinkedIn.

Did I accept him into my network? No. Will I remember him and his company? Yes (for his unusual approach). Would I recommend him to any of my contacts? Not likely. If I’m not important enough for him to write me  personally or to be trusted with his last name, why would I tell others about him?  To him, I’m a business card and a prospect.

In general, people who approach networking and social media like this will say, “It doesn’t work.” Either that or they finally figure out that good marketing and good social media strategies are built on relationships and trust and change their approach. Social media is changing the face of business and the rules are changing.

Anyway, that’s my take on it.

The general weaknesses I’ve seen have more to to with the ad selection, layout and offer. Most business are unaware that there is a science to advertising. There are formulas to creating headlines, layout, copy and content.If you’ve read books such as Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins, How to Write Advertising that Sells by Clyde Bedell or Oglivy on Advertising by David Oglivy, you know what I’m writing about.

Unfortunately, few business owners are aware of this and, from what I’ve seen (at least locally) few of the local ad circular companies know about them either.

Local Advertising shouldn't be a guessing game

Open up a local circular and it can be like looking at a Grateful Dead album cover. They’re very colorful and visually appealing but trying to cut through the crap to see the core selling message can be a major challenge.

The other beef I have with them is that all the ads for similar businesses are virtually identical. Change the logo and address and they are interchangeable.  When I ask a business owner why he or she runs the same ad as their competitor, the response is,” That’s what the rep recommended.”

Think about this. Even if your business is similar to others, do you say to clients, Buy from me because I’m identical to the guy or gal down the street?”

Of course not!

If that’s the case, why do people follow the leader like sheep when creating ads? Be different. Be bold!  Be unique and stand out from the crowd. When you look at competitive ads, it’s not really that hard to do.

Want to stand out from the crowd and generate more sales from ads you ever thought possible? Then make a decision to put results ahead of creativity and use proven, scientific methods to creating ads. You will be amazed at the dramatic increases in response you can generate with truly good advertising.

One of the things that never ceases to surprise me is the number of small businesses owners who allow their growth to be limited, even determined by their employees. Small business marketing So many of them keep people around who don’t do their work, have rotten attitudes, destroy office morale or drive away clients.

I remember an employee of a client who told me that their clients either couldn’t afford or didn’t need a product we wanted to promote! When I asked how she knew the financial situation of 1,500 clients, she was unable to answer the question. I wrote a sales letter promoting this product and a large number of clients called in and bought it. Still, she won’t sell it.

I realize immediate termination is not always an option and the issues surrounding termination and unemployment are complex. However, if an employee is hurting your business, you really need to make plans to change their behavior. If that doesn’t work make plans to terminate and replace them. Doing so is a favor to you, your customers and the emplo0yee. If a person has a bad attitude or no motivation, the odds are that you will never change them.

Many talk about how indispensable certain employees are. When I hear that I remember a saying my dad told me, “The graveyards are full of indispensable people.” If you have allowed an employee to become “indispensable,” think about taking action to make sure they aren’t and that you will survive and thrive without them.

Since I serve small businesses, I agree with his philosophy that ads should be direct response and generate a ROI and sales. Look at it this way, if your business was close to failing and you had two months to turn things around, would you try to be creative and build your brand or would you want your ad to generate immediate sales? Why wait for a creative brand-building campaign when you can have a creative brand-building campaign that makes you money today?