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Marketing Monday – Thank You Cards

November 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Marketing MondayOne way to foster customer loyalty, and create a buzz, is to send a thank you card, in the mail if possible. Sending something in the mail rather than by email can be a big surprise as so many businesses send everything by email. It is also usual for a business to thank their customers.

You may not want to send a card to customers who make small purchases. Decide in advance who you will send cards to. For example, you may want to send a card to everyone who makes a purchase over $20 from your shop, or who buy more than one item, or similar.

If you are sending a thank you card for a purchase, it can be tempting to simply include it with the package you are sending out – don’t do this! A thank you card is much more effective if you send it a few days after your customer will have received their purchase. It will also give your customer a chance to check the item is what they wanted and that the item has arrived in one piece.

It may also be tempting to put the same message in every card. Where possible, personalise it so people know you care and they feel special.

It may also be tempting to include other marketing material in with your card. Again, this may not be a great idea, unless you include a small voucher or similar to encourage them to buy from you – then again, the thank you card may be enough of a value add for most people.

Make your thank you cards part of your marketing strategy and write it in to your procedures as part of sending out packages.

Filed Under: Promoting your business

Marketing Monday – Choose Your Holiday

October 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Marketing MondayToday is Halloween. It is not a day we observe in my family, even though it seems to be gaining popularity in Australia. For this reason I find it very hard to give you some Halloween marketing ideas. If you really want some ideas, check out this post from last year.

So, instead of giving you some ideas for Halloween, I’ll give you this tip – choose the holidays you will use for your marketing.

It can be tempting to come up with an idea for every holiday that comes along, however it may not fit your business. This could be for a number of reasons:

  • it’s not a holiday you or your family observe
  • it doesn’t suit your business
  • there are too many other things happening for you to give it your full effort and run your promotion well
  • or something else

There is nothing wrong with not having a promotion for a particular holiday. For example, if you have a business full of items for men, you may not want to do a Mother’s Day promotion or marketing push. You may want to save it and put all your energy in to a Father’s Day promotion.

Another example: I used to send Mother’s Day cards to my clients instead of Christmas cards. Christmas was such a busy time of year I ran out of time and 99% of my clients were Mums!

One of the main benefits in choosing your holidays is that you can put more energy into creating something creative to promote your business as well as helping you budget for those promotions.

Do you create a promotion for every holiday that comes along, or do you save your promotional energy for those holidays that best suit your business?

Filed Under: Promoting your business, Seasonal

Marketing Monday – Update your bio box

October 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Marketing MondayOn the weekend, I picked up a free magazine that is distributed in my local area. It contained a number of articles, including some free reprint articles.

Now, I know these were free reprint articles as I know the businesses and I have used one or two of those articles myself.

One thing I noticed about the articles was the bio box at the end. At least one article had a website listed that is no longer current (the business owner has a new business now) and another one had outdated information.

In order to get the most from your free reprint articles, make sure you keep your bio box up to date. This may include:

  • Making sure your URL is current - you may have re-named your business, or started a new one, or simply changed from a .com to a .com.au as your main URL
  • Making sure your basic information is current – over time, the focus of your business may change, you may have a new special or your may have had more children
  • Making sure you still offer what is in your bio box – there are some articles about article marketing that suggest you put an offer in your bio box. Make sure it is still valid

This may be a huge job, especially if you have a lot of free reprint articles and publish them on a lot of article banks. The easiest way to do this is to have a template for the free reprint articles on your website where you can change your bio box automatically. Also keep track of where you distribute your free reprint articles so you can update as necessary.

Don’t worry too much about the articles on other websites, unless you have made major changes (such as changing your URL). If you have time, it is worth checking these and contacting site owners with any updates – but that’s another post. It’s more important to keep things current for new people using your articles.

Filed Under: Articles, Promoting your business

Marketing Monday – Relevant Colouring Sheets

October 3, 2011 By 2 Comments

Marketing MondayI have posted before about using colouring sheets to promote your business.  These are a simple way to promote your business, especially if your target market includes parents and children.

Over the weekend I was doing some major sorting out, and came across some colouring sheets that were in a number of goodie bags that I was finally emptying out.

One in particular stood out. It was a bag promoting a children’s music lesson company. Among other things was a packet of colouring pencils and a colouring sheet. The sheet was of half a dozen Australian animals, and there was no mention of the company on the sheet. When the sheet was away from the bag, there was nothing to tell me where the colouring sheet had come from.

So, my first tip today for colouring sheets is to make your sheet relevant to your business.

For example, if your business is related to music, create a colouring sheet with musical notes or instruments. If your business is related to crafts, create a colouring sheet related to whatever you make.

My second tip is make sure you include branding for your business on the sheet. It may be a logo or web address, or even a colouring in version of your business card in the corner. Essentially something that will tell parents where the sheet came from. Just make sure that your branding doesn’t take away from the main picture.

If you are using the sheets as a colouring competition, also include space for parents or kids to fill out their contact details and get their entry in to you.

Filed Under: Branding, Promoting your business

Marketing Monday – Promotional Tops

September 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Marketing MondayI have attended many, many events and now have a drawer full of promotional t-shirts, they are all sitting there, gathering dust.

Last week, I was talking with someone at work about what makes a good promotional top – one that we would wear more than just for the event we originally received the t-shirt for.

If you create or use promotional t-shirts, polo tops, or any other kind of promotional clothing, these tips we came up with may help:

  • Quality - most promotional tops are poor quality. I understand why this is, it’s mostly because they are cheaper, especially if the business is getting a lot done as a giveaway, however it is the better quality t-shirts that we are likely to wear more.
  • Colour - I have a few t-shirts that really aren’t my colour. They were given out at an event and were the colour for the event, however it is not a colour I would normally wear. While getting t-shirts printed in a variety of colours is not practical, this is something to think about when choosing a colour for your t-shirts.
  • Design - Most tops I have simply have a business logo on them, usually blazened across the front of the t-shirt, making me think twice before wearing them again. Think about the design of the t-shirt – is there a way you can turn your logo and message in to a fashion item?
  • Fit - Most of the tops I have don’t fit properly. Some have always been that way, as there were limited sizes available (and for a free t-shirt, you’re not too fussy). Others are a relaxed fit when I prefer something more fitted. Others have high necks when I prefer something a bit lower. Look at your target market and think about the fit they would prefer.

I hope this helps you when looking at promotional t-shirts. You never know, if they are done well, you may even be able to sell them, or even have customers wanting to collect them!

    Filed Under: Promoting your business

    Marketing Monday – Free Reprint Articles

    September 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

    Marketing MondayArticle Marketing is a great way to connect with your target market and let them know you have the answers to solve their problems.  It is less “in your face” as some other types of marketing, however it can help you reach people you may not otherwise reach.

    Article Marketing involves time – your time to write articles.  If you are not a great writer, you could hire a ghost writer to write for you, or a proofreader to go through your articles and edit/proof them so they read better.  At the bottom of each article, include a bio box with details of you and your business that must be published with each article.

    To make the most of your articles, write on topics that are related to your business in some way.  If you have a maternity shop, write about pregnancy, childbirth and fashion.  If you are a writer that is focussing on business, write a variety of business related articles.  If you run a gift shop, write about celebrations and special occasions and giving gifts.

    The thing with articles is that they are not a blatent advertisement about your business, rather they are giving your clients a feel for your expertise.  And by showing them that you are an expert in your field, this can encourage them to use your services. The promotion for your business comes at the end of your article in your bio box.

    Once your article is written, submit your site to article directories, information websites and offline publications. You can also set up a “Free Reprint Articles” section on your website to encourage people to use them on their website, blog or in their newsletters.

    Filed Under: Articles, Promoting your business

    Friday Five – Uses for Top 10 Lists

    September 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

    Friday FiveAn easy way to create content for your website or promotional material for your business is with a Top 10 List.

    Before you create your list, it helps to know the purpose for your list.

    This weeks Friday Five will give you five places you can use your Top 10 List.

    1. Blog post – lists are an easy way to create content for your blog, and can be done regularly, just like the Friday Five lists that I have here.
    2. Free Reprint Article – general information lists, such as a list of toilet training tips for a parenting website, make great free reprint articles. Make sure the information is general and you have written a bio box for the bottom of the article promoting your business.
    3. Newsletter information – lists make great content for your newsletter as they are easy to put together and quick for your readers to read.
    4. Promotional Postcards – these are a great way to promote your business as well as give some useful information to customers and potential customers.
    5. Facebook Updates – one way to provide interesting updates is to post a list over a period of time, one point per update. You may want to post one point a day, or even spread the list out over a single day. Then compile the points to make a list for use elsewhere.

    Now that you have some ideas of where to use Top 10 Lists, next week I will give you some ideas for general topics for your Top 10 Lists.

    Filed Under: Blogging, e-Newsletters, Friday Five, Promoting your business

    Difference between an article and a blog post

    September 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

    Write a blog post or an article?

    I’ve seen some discussions lately about blog posts and articles. A few people have asked about the difference.

    I have also had some people ask me for a guest blog post when they really wanted an article.

    For me, there is a definite difference between a blog post and an article. Here are a few of the things I look at when writing and whether or not I am writing a blog post or an article:

    • Length - generally a blog post is around 200-300 words, an article is generally around 500 words, or longer if required.
    • Topic - generally a blog post is a single thought or idea whereas an article may contain more than one thought or idea, or go more in depth on the topic.
    • Editing - with blog posts, I generally write them and click publish (or schedule the post for a later date). With an article, I will take the time to edit the article properly, not just for spelling errors but also so the article flows, makes sense, and contains all the information needed.
    • Purpose - blog posts are usually for here (or one of my other blogs) and for no other purpose. Articles are usually for a purpose, whether as a free reprint article or for a magazine or website. Articles are generally designed for publishing with someone else.

    Blog posts can be used as articles, and vice versa, but in general these are the differences as I see them. There are some others, but they can basically be summed up as above.

    Filed Under: Articles, Blogging, Promoting your business Tagged With:

    Marketing Monday – Blog Link Ups

    September 12, 2011 By 2 Comments

    Marketing MondayBlogging is becoming a business, as well as a tool that can help promote your business. One way to promote your blog is with a blog link up.

    There are many different kinds of link ups, and they all work in essentially the same way – the blog owner posts a topic, you then write a post on your blog, add a button that links back to the host blog, and then add a link to your post on the host blogs post.

    The idea is then to visit other posts in the link up and add comments, adding both traffic to that post and comments.

    I have a number of blogs on different topics and have joined in some link ups related to those blogs. These have brought in traffic and comments, and I have picked up some dedicated readers.

    Before getting involved in a link up, consider the following:

    • Is the topic relevant to my blog? For example, if your blog is about business, you may not want to join in a link up about kids play ideas.
    • Is the topic interesting to my readers? Some link ups may be fun to write about, but won’t be interesting to your readers.
    • Can I write something interesting on this topic? There is no point taking part in the link up if you can’t find something interesting to write. You can either wait for another week, or find another link up.
    • Will other people in the link up be interested in your blog? If they are, you are more likely to pick up regular readers. You can gauge interest by looking at the other posts and trying out the link up for yourself.

    To find a link up to take part in, look at some of your favourite blogs and join in some of the link ups they do. You can also do a Google search for “blog link up”.

    Some link ups that I’ve taken part in include:

    • Ink Paper Pen – an online writing group who give writing prompts each week.
    • Yay for Home – each Friday they have a Things I Know link up. This fits with any topic/theme as you set your own topic.
    • Leaf Journals - have a weekly link up based on their Story Starters. Their story starters can be used as prompts for blog posts and business information as well as fiction and short stories.

    There are many other link ups around. Just do a search and see what you can find. As with any other marketing you do, test and measure to see how well they are working for your blog and your business.

    Do you have a favourite link up? Give it a plug in the comments.

    Filed Under: Blogging, Communication, Promoting your business

    Friday Five – Old Blog Posts

    September 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

    Friday FiveIf you have been blogging for a while, you will have built up an archive of blog posts. These posts can be valuable to your business, and not just providing old posts for search engines to find.

    This week, I look at five ways you can use old posts to promote your business and provide value to your customers.

    1. Post archive – if you are on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media site, find some of your old posts and use them as status updates. You may find that your old information is topical again and can bring people back to your blog.
    2. EBook – compile some of your blog posts into an eBook or report. You can either sell this report or use it as an incentive for people to sign up to your email list.
    3. Re-write as an article – there are many websites out there looking for content. Could your old posts be re-written as an article to submit to these sites? It may be as simple as updating some of the information or making the posts a bit longer, and then adding your bio box on the bottom.
    4. Re-write as a blog post – has it been some time since the information on your old post was published? Re-write an old blog post so it’s fresh again and re-post it. You may have a whole new audience now that will find that information useful.
    5. Promotional tool – blog posts can form the basis for other promotional tools, including postcards, posters and information sheets. Glean relevant information from old posts, you never know what gems you may have.

    Blog posts contain valuable information that can be re-used to promote and grow your business.

    Do you have any other ideas of how you can use your old blog posts?

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    Filed Under: Blogging, Branding, Friday Five, Growing your business, Promoting your business
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