“20 GOLDEN NUGGETS"

Research your market before committing to any promotion. What may be good for someone else may not work for you.

Plan your promotions. Don’t just throw together advertising and hope for the best. Develop promotions which take advantage of seasonal and economic changes. What worked last year may not work today, and what works today may not work tomorrow.

Evaluate your promotional program periodically. Get rid of some of the less successful promotions and replace them with other programs you feel will produce better results.

Follow the lead of the major corporations and distribute your promotional dollars between several different promotions. In small businesses this usually means 5 – 10 different promotions.

Develop promotions which communicate to the prospect what you can do to help them with their need or want. Entice prospects by offering a free estimate, special, trial period, money back guarantee, buy 1 get 1 free etc.

Budget a specific percent (%) of your projected gross income to promotion. In most businesses this averages to about 10% in new businesses (i.e. businesses less than 3 years old) this averages to about 15%.

Have a realistic ideal of what a successful promotion is. Many businesses expect a $10,000 return off a $500 investment or a new customer who will spend $50 per month for the next year.

Compare promotions like any other investment, by the percent (%) of return. Don’t expect $500 of print advertising to bring in the same amount of new business as $5,000 of radio or television advertising. 

Change ad copy periodically. Different messages appeal to different customers.

Develop a habit of determining where new business is coming from. A good tracking system would allow the employees to distinguish what promotion the customer was responding to.

Make a Commitment to Customer Satisfaction: If you assume that your clients are satisfied and that they will automatically call you if they need anything, you could be wrong. As your client base continues to grow, it is first important that you maintain the same level of service you provided when you first earned your client’s business. Then look for ways to improve.

Send a Business Anniversary Card: Pull yourself out of the holiday card game with the exception of sending business anniversary cards. Remember the first meeting you had with each client and take the time to send a card to celebrate the date. The client will be flattered that you remembered. Write a note letting the client know that you are looking forward to working together for many more years.

Ask for referrals. When giving a business card you should ask, "I would appreciate a referral, if you know anyone that could use my services". People naturally like to do favors for people. This places you in a good position with them and they will feel better about helping you. Give them 2 cards

Use proper business card etiquette. Whenever you give a business card, ask for a business card. When given a business card, don't just take it and place it in your pocket. Make the person feel important by looking at their card for a few seconds. Write comments on the card such as date, location and common points of interest.

Not Focusing on Repeat Business: Repeat business typically makes up 80 percent of customers in most businesses. Too often marketing campaigns are heavily focused on bringing in new customers and not building relationships with current ones.

Ignoring the most important factor in direct mail success. Do you know what the most important part of your direct mail campaign is? It’s not the copy. It’s not the art work. It’s not even the format or when you mail. It is the mailing list. 

Not using a letter in your mailing package. The sales letter - not the outer envelope, the brochure, or even the reply form - is the most important part of your direct-mail package. A package with a letter will nearly always out pull a postcard, a self-mailer, or a brochure or ad reprint mailed without a letter.

Not having an offer. An offer is what the reader gets when he responds to your mailing. To be successful, a direct-mail package should sell the offer, not the product itself. For example, if I mail a letter describing a new computer, my letter is not going to do the whole job of convincing people to buy my computer. But the letter is capable of swaying some people to at least show interest by requesting a free brochure about the computer.

Saving the best for last. Some copywriters save their strongest sales pitch for last, starting slow in their sales letters and hoping to build to a climactic conclusion. The letter must grab a person’s attention immediately. So start your letter with your strongest sales point.

Some examples of powerful openings:

v  14 things that can go wrong in your company - and one sure way to prevent them" - an envelope teaser for a mailing that sold a manual on internal auditing procedures.

v  "A special invitation to the hero of American business" - from a subscription letter for Inc. magazine.

v  "Can 193,750 millionaires be wrong?" - An envelope teaser for a subscription mailing for Financial World magazine.

v  "Dear Friend: I’m fed up with the legal system. I want to change it, and I think you do, too." - The lead paragraph of a fund-raising letter