Tip for May 1, 2006

Repeat what works A Guerrilla repeats past successes. Rosier Reeves, president of one of America's great advertising agencies said, "Originality is the most dangerous word in advertising." When an ad is successful, run it again, and again. When you get a high response from a direct marketing effort, repeat it again and again.

Tip for May 2, 2006

Online research can give you an edge Most small business people are too busy doing business to conduct research, but if major corporations spend millions on research each year, there must be something to it. Fortunately, the Net lets you conduct your own research for a small investment of your time. By searching with web search engines, Gopher, Archie or Veronica, you can locate information about your competitors, results of opinion polls, government reports on consumer habits or agricultural markets, and hundreds of other topics. This information can help you plan your marketing attack, focus your goals or product designs more precisely, or go after foreign market opportunities you may not have considered. Spend a little time each month conducting basic research about your business; the intelligence you gain will be worth it.

Tip for May 3, 2006

Most people lose customers whenever staff changes at a client company but Guerrilla Mark Brodie finds new clients and profits whenever staff changes occur. Mark works in the competitive field of graphic art and design. He scans the weekly want ads for companies that have open positions in marketing, advertising and graphic design. He waits a few weeks and then contacts the new employee, who is often looking for new vendors and anxious to get things going.

Tip for May 4, 2006

As of today, a full 53% the marketing budget of major corporations is devoted to customer retention. Guerrillas know that the name of the game is not making sales, but establishing relationships.

Tip for May 5, 2006

Read the news for new ideas Subscribe to at least one Internet or online magazine, and read it carefully each month. Read the ads as well as the articles. When you keep current on what others are doing or selling in the online world, you're exposed to new ideas about what people want, and how other people are trying to provide it. By keeping up with current online events, you can keep your imagination humming with new ideas for products, services, and marketing them in cyberspace.

Tip for May 6, 2006

How are your communication skills? Do you really listen in the sales interview or are you just waiting for the prospect to stop talking so you can begin to talk? Active listening requires concentration! Don't expect to be able to respond to a prospect's needs unless you're listening at a higher, more sensitive level. Listen as you would to the words of a find actor or actress, in a movie or on a TV show, who lowers his/her voice and you miss what they are saying and have to ask the person next to you - what did he/she say? Listen with intensity - get involved

Tip for May 7, 2006

Avoiding Unintentional Spacing, 1 of 3 After completing a major project, and doing extensive editing, select your software program's "Find & Replace" feature (under the Editing menu) and instruct your program to locate every instance of two spaces in a row, and replace each instance with a single space. By now, you've probably aware of the importance of not inserting two spaces after each period. However, two spaces in a row often show up after deleting or moving individual words. You'll be surprised at what a difference "tight" copy can make, especially if your body copy is set justified (i.e. lines of each length).

Tip for May 8, 2006

Avoid Unintentional Spacing, Part 2 of 3 After editing and proofing an e-book or newsletter, select "Find and Replace" from the Edit menu and instruct your software program to search for every instance of two Hard Returns (created by pressing the Enter key twice). Paragraph spacing should be inserted using the FOrmat>Paragraph>Space After command, not by pressing the Enter key twice. Pressing the Enter key twice creates too much space between paragraphs. Often, two spaces are inadvertently added when moving paragraphs around. Eliminating the duplicate spaces will clarify the organization and information hierarchy of your publication.

Tip for May 9, 2006

Avoid Unintentional Spacing, Part 3 of 3 Ever notice how the line spacing in the last line of a paragraph appears somehow different? Often, it appears as if extra white space were inserted above the last line. Yet, if you examine the Paragraph and line spacing specifications, you won't see a reason for the extra space. Eliminate the unwanted space by simply inserting a Hard Return, by pressing the Enter key, at the end of the sentence. This is often all it takes to tighten up line spacing and restore the integrity of your original design.

Tip for May 10, 2006

What does Barnes and Noble Know about Packaging? Yesterday, I received a "bonus" gift certificate from an extremely satisfied client. The gift certificate card--itself--isn't the news, however. The news is the packaging. What the client handed me was a four by five inch heavy cardboard "envelope" about a half inch thick. The package really presold the contents of the card inside, and added to my sense of pleasure. As a Guerrilla Marketer, are you, similarly, "packaging" your expressions of thanks to employees, fusion marketing partners, and clients who refer others to you?

Tip for May 11, 2006

Always add page numbers I'm amazed by the number of documents--even expensive e-books--that do not contain page numbers. Page numbers help your readers track their progress through your document. They also make it easy to keep printouts in proper order. Page numbers presell your competence by communicating professionalism and attention to detail.

Tip for May 12, 2006

Host an Open House! Guerrilla Marketing is based on leveraging low-cost tactics into growing profits. Today, I saw--from across a mall parking lot--an "Open House Today!" banner hanging from a computer store. Curious, I walked over, only to find out that the banner ALWAYS hangs in the doorway, but I hadn't noticed it until today (when my "computer antenna" was looking for an external hard drive. Because I was in the market today, I noticed the sign today--even though it was there "everyday." How can you adapt this idea to your marketing?

Tip for May 13, 2006

Colors for e-mail I'm getting more and more text e-mails set in different colors (often blue or brown) or with black text placed against colored backgrounds (light shades of blue, gray, or yellow, etc.) Although the use of color in e-mail helps set the sender apart, color often makes the e-mail harder to read. Black text against a white background makes for easy reading: as you depart from that, you may run into problems. Guerrillas always place functionality and results against attempts to decorate or entertain.

Tip for May 14, 2006

Gain free PR by promoting an ad campaign before and after it breaks, but the campaign must be unusual, innovative, or controversial.

Tip for May 15, 2006

Guerrillas use every possible weapon Don't consider your online marketing plan complete if you've simply launched a web site or you're participating in a couple of discussions. True guerrillas are always looking for ways to add to their arsenal of weapons and thereby strengthen their marketing attacks. If your web site is running smoothly, for example, think about ways to draw attention to it from around the Net. If you've developed and published a series of online articles, find more ways to promote the series. Guerrillas only win because they never quit.

Tip for May 16, 2006

Let go - get excited and let out a Tarzan yell. Seize the moment! Control your own destiny and don't take those no's personally. Walk with a bounce in your step and a smile on your face. You must take charge! You must hype yourself up! Most of the time you're alone, out on the street selling, and you attitude, as it appears to the customer, will register sale or no sale. No one can motivate you except yourself. If things aren't going well, make an attitude check. Pump yourself up, get excited, get enthusiastic, let out a Tarzan yell and then sell, sell, sell!

Tip for May 17, 2006

The guerrilla contractor a contractor who installs roofs, gutters, ceiling fans and more calls customers 11 months after installation and asks, "Is there any work you need while the warranty is still in effect?" He gets few repair requests but loads of new business and referrals.

Tip for May 18, 2006

Why and how to keep the prospect's door open. At the end of every sales interview, set up a call back appointment for a tour with a service staff person. Keep the door open or you may never get back in! "Mr. Prospect, I'd like to set an appointment for next week to bring my service supervisor by to meet you and to tour your facility. The more we know about your company and your particular needs, the easier it is for us to provide the most qualified temporary employee at the lowest possible cost."

Tip for May 19, 2006

Does advertising help to clarify things? Apparently not. 59% of respondents said they are confused by the many different calling plans offered by phone companies, resulting in an aversion to long-distance commercials.

Tip for May 20, 2006

Look beyond the Web When you're searching for information on the Net, look beyond the Web. There are millions of documents and files available via Gopher, WAIS, and FTP, and you can use search utilities like TurboGopher, WinGopher, Archie, Anarchie, and Veronica to find them. * Gopher servers often store university or government documents such as trade statistics or opinion poll results. * WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) stores the full text of articles, reports, and speeches by famous people, among other facts. * FTP servers used by corporations, government agencies, and universities can store files containing lengthy reports, graphics, charts, demo programs, and video clips. Much of the information available on Gopher and WAIS in particular, may never be available on the web. So check out these other information searching methods to avoid missing out on a lot of great information.

Tip for May 21, 2006

Follow-up calls by a service staff person, On the phone or in-person, this also breaks down the prospect's natural resistance to change. Another approach is to invite the prospect to your office for a tour to meet the staff. Don't leave the prospects office without trying to set up a call back appointment for a tour of the prospect's office or to have the prospect visit your office

Tip for May 22, 2006

How long does it take a person to absorb your advertisement and message? One second. How long does it take them to act upon what they've learned? Days, weeks, or even months. It isn't not good news, but it's the truth.

Tip for May 23, 2006

Ask an expert Along with searching for information on the Net, try asking for answers from people likely to know. There are lots of discussion groups online where experts in such fields as law, accounting, advertising, insurance, engineering, and other disciplines hang out. A brief question posted to such a discussion will probably get a helpful answer from someone who really knows what he or she is talking about.

Tip for May 24, 2006

Guerrilla Ed Clark sometimes gets price objections for his resume writing service in Louisiana. When a prospect gives him a big harumph or says "I'll write it myself," he offers to rewrite it without obligation. If they don't like his work, they pay nothing (they also DON'T get to keep it). To date, his Guerrilla method is 100% effective. The secret? Deliver the best possible quality work.

Tip for May 25, 2006

Grab more attention with your ads by using photos instead of illustrations or by using before-and-after pictures. Both techniques have been proven to increase response to advertising.

Tip for May 26, 2006

Discussions are online focus groups Companies like Dell Computer, Compaq, and others pay employees to do nothing but monitor online discussion groups for complaints about their products or about their competition. By staying on top of as many related discussions as possible, you can deal with a customer problem quickly, or learn about your competitors' weaknesses.

Tip for May 27, 2006

Planning to overcome rate objections. To smoothly overcome rate objections, write a script, role play with a peer and practice, practice, practice. Price is not an objection when you can fill a job order with a product that increases productivity, and your competition cannot. List the most common rate objections you hear and your responses to these objections. Then practice your responses

Tip for May 28, 2006

Advertising Tips: People like product copy next to the product being described, subheads, white space between paragraphs, close--up product-oriented photos. People dislike large solid blocks of copy, small light-face headlines, copy set against a dark background, fancy type that's pretty but causes migraines when read.

Tip for May 29, 2006

Have you checked your server log lately? If you maintain a worldwide web, Gopher, or FTP site or you use an auto-responder to distribute e-mail documents, the server that handles your presentation maintains a log that can be valuable to you. It shows how many different computers access your files each day, and which network domains those requests come from. If you're using an auto-responder program, the log also shows the e-mail address of each person who asks for the information being distributed. Ask your service provider to send you a copy of your server log once a month, and then monitor them to determine whether your traffic is increasing or decreasing, which of your web pages are most popular, and who is receiving documents from your auto-responder.

Tip for May 30, 2006

A sales tool you should always carry with you. Solicit and use customer testimonial letters on every sales interview. If you're not using testimonials from satisfied customers, begin today. Ask your customers or have your service staff ask customers for testimonial letters attesting to the attitudes, competencies and overall satisfaction with your service or a particularly temporary employee. Place the letters in a loose-leaf binder and show them to prospects in this manner: "Ms. Prospect, instead of me telling you how we can satisfy your needs, please take a moment to review the comments of our customers that you find in this book." Hand the opened book of testimonial letters to the prospect and don't say another word until the prospect speaks. Testimonials can close the sale!

Tip for May 31, 2006

The decision to read or not read body copy is consistently made within 20 seconds of opening a direct mail piece. Worse yet, over 50% of direct mail is tossed without anybody reading anything.

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