Tip for May 1, 2008

Sales & Marketing magazine reports that advertising produced 31% of a business marketers leads, PR produced 23%, trade shows 12%, telemarketing 8%, direct mail 5.7%, and postcard decks 5.2%.

Tip for May 2, 2008

Contests Contests automatically generate excitement about your company because everyone likes to be a winner. A well-designed contest will increase traffic to your online business, improve off-line and online visibility, increase sales, and leave your customers feeling good, whether they win or not. Here are some tips for holding an effective contest: 1) Offer something worth winning: a significant and valuable prize won't cost you that much if its related to your business. 2) Select the audience by selecting the prize: By choosing a gift that relates directly to your business, you'll attract only potential customers. 3) Offer consolation prizes: Just knowing there are other prizes makes people more likely to enter. You may want to offer an inexpensive to all entrants. 4) Think globally: Make sure that your prize can be delivered anywhere. 5) Know the rules: Make sure there are no legal restrictions on awarding your prize to whoever might win it.

Tip for May 3, 2008

If timing is so important to marketing then why are we usually thinking about our timing and not the customers? Guerrilla David Murphy has some classic ways to tap into your customers timing with promotion. Every event in the customers life and relationship has a promotion at David's company. For 5 years of business they get an extra 5% off for the whole month. A birth brings an offer of 3 for the price of 2. Graduation gets a free upgrade or similar increase. David's examples are many but you will have to adapt them to your own business. David's result from this approach? Lifetime relationships with customers.

Tip for May 4, 2008

Guerrilla Peter Schroeder runs a collection agency near Toronto in Waterloo, Canada. He sends gets postcards to prospects from Florida with the following on the back: "Please don't send my overdue account for collection to Rampart Canada collection agency. I am having to much fun with your money here in Florida!" He adds to the fun by forwarding them to Florida for a more authentic postmark. Response to his creative campaign is great, but there have been a few complaints. Non-Guerrillas might think even one complaint bad, but when Peter explains that it's just a funny pitch, they sign right up!

Tip for May 5, 2008

If you're marketing with direct response TV, keep the phone number on the screen at least ten seconds. Tests proved that response rates increased 70% by increasing the phone number exposure time from three seconds to ten seconds.

Tip for May 6, 2008

Margins in documents to be printed by clients Avoid placing text or graphics too close to the edges of pages that you distribute to clients as e-mail attachments or web site downloads. Printers differ in the "live area," or portion of the page they can print on. Header and footer information too near the top or bottom of your pages, for example, may not get printed. When it doubt, leave approximately three-quarters of an inch border around all four sides of a page.

Tip for May 7, 2008

Three sales you must make: To succeed in business, you must always sell yourself, then sell your product, then sell your company. The quality of your company is always a major concern with the customer.

Tip for May 8, 2008

Event sponsorship Daunted by the high cost of advertising and the shrinking network audiences, more and more companies are using event sponsorship to get their names before the public. Even smaller companies can do it on a smaller basis.

Tip for May 9, 2008

Does your publicity plan have a key message? Think about how you would like your company presented in the media. Refer to your mission statement or business identity phrases and list some of the qualities or advantages you want reflected in media stories about your company. Think in terms of competing with other firms; cast your key messages in terms of your adversaries, such as "Better color selection than Acme Widgets." Your key messages will become the real items you're selling to the media - your goal is to have them reflected in any news story about your business.

Tip for May 10, 2008

Whether they acknowledge it or not, prospects are probably overworked, over stressed, and overwhelmed. Show that you'll be fair with them, that you really care, and that your job is to share in solving their problems and difficulties. How many of us have about had it up to here with reorganization, re engineering, and downsizing? How many of you are really sick of all this change and, especially, technology? Your customers feel about the same way you do. Being fair, caring, and doing more than your share will show that you're on their side with the weekly changes in everything we all face. The difference is, the guerrilla brings answers and solutions.

Tip for May 11, 2008

In getting appointments, a Guerrilla is more concerned with being genuine than in presenting an overly polished and superficial professional image.

Tip for May 12, 2008

How to be among the top sales achievers. Every morning, write the five most important things you want to accomplish that day and get them done. At the very least, working to achieve the five most important things you want to accomplish every day, sets you out front, with the minority, "the successful people in sales positions." If you wish to really be in a minority, the top achievers also set major goals for the year along with a plan that will keep you on track to meet your goals. 1) Set a specific target to reach. EXAMPLE; I want to bring in 2,000 new accounts in 1998. 2) Make a commitment to work to achieve your goals. 3) Write down what you must do throughout the year to reach your goal of 2,000 new accounts. EXAMPLE; How many new accounts you must open each month and what the billable costs will be for these accounts per week

Tip for May 13, 2008

Marketing online the web can be like winking at people in the dark - you'll never catch their attention unless you turn the lights on. Guerrilla Wendy McClelland turned the lights on for her website publicity by putting URL's (a web address) on EVERYTHING that left her office. T-shirts, fax cover sheets, stationery, press releases, and even her car were plastered with the website address. Wendy logged over 4,000 registrations on her web guest book in the first 2 months and got a lot of local press coverage.

Tip for May 14, 2008

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 15, 2008

Controlling yourself - another key to success. How many hours of selling time do you spend in the office every day? It's easy to get caught up in paperwork or conversation when you should be out selling. Prioritize and control your time. How you spend your time will determine how successful you will be. It's very easy for a salesperson to be "busy", but you must prioritize your daily tasks and follow through to be successful

Tip for May 16, 2008

Guarantee everything Mail order is a 50 billion dollar a year industry, but it didn't get that big until everyone in it began offering a no-hassle guarantee on everything they sold. Most businesses will take their goods back if the customer isn't satisfied, but guerrillas turn guarantees into weapons by making sure their customers know about them. State your guarantee at the top of your online catalog, on your store's home page, and on your order form. Each repetition builds customer confidence and by making buying from you a risk-free proposition.

Tip for May 17, 2008

Big names growing stronger: McDonald's, Levi's, Seiko. Big names growing weaker: IBM, Nissan, Esso. Another name growing stronger, Motorola, tells its salespeople they have the authority of the Chairman when they're with customers. And one more big name, Xerox, has changed its name to incorporate its marketing theme. New name is The Document Company Xerox. Really? Really.

Tip for May 18, 2008

A classified ad for an apartment building was circled and had arrows pointing to it, said circle and arrows being part of the ad. Very attention-getting.

Tip for May 19, 2008

"Hello, Mr. Prospect. Thank you for taking time to meet with me today. I'd like to ask you a few questions this morning about growing your business faster, increasing your sales, making you look great to the board, stockholders..." A good beginning statement. Now start asking those questions that relate to your product or service. "Have you ever noticed..."

Tip for May 20, 2008

Sales Incentive #6: trade-in allowances When selling physical products, consider offering an allowance for returning used or previous versions of the item. This makes special sense when the trade-in can be sold to another buyer, like automobile and camera retailers routinely do. Train yourself to be creative. In the case of books, especially when dealing with high-margin items where economies of scale reduce per-unit production costs. For example, even if a publisher offered a "trade in" on earlier versions of a book or CD and discarded them, the profits from sales of the new versions could generate healthy profits.

Tip for May 21, 2008

Are you using spot color? Spot color means using two or three colors in printing. It attracts the eye to certain area of the document for emphasis while making the piece more pleasant to read. Use it for reports, presentations, posters, exhibits, brochures, graphs, diagrams and charts.

Tip for May 22, 2008

Ten Commandmants of Guerrilla Marketing Design, No. 8 Guerrillas recognize design's LIMITATION. Guerrillas understand the limitations of design. They recognize that design cannot compensate for a lack of planning or message content. Fancy typefaces, bright colors and attractive layouts are worthless in the absence of meaningful messages delivered to the right audience at the right time—at the lowest possible cost.

Tip for May 23, 2008

No, no, no, no! Most prospects will say "no" four times before saying "yes." Most salespeople stop asking after two "no's." Once the prospects say, "yes," they feel a tinge of remorse, so offer support for their decision.

Tip for May 24, 2008

Information is your product People go online seeking information, and no matter what you're selling, information is all you can offer online. Therefore, the quality of the information you provide will determine whether or not you're successful in cyberspace. Evaluate everything you do for its information content. The information should be of maximum use to your customer. For example, simply listing color choices won't mean as much as showing samples of those colors. Listing candy or muffin or coffee flavors won't mean as much as describing tastes. Put yourself in your customers' shoes and think about what they need to make a decision about buying, and then make sure you supply that information. Good information is good business.

Tip for May 25, 2008

Multipart Newsletter Topics, Part 2 of 3 When sending multipart newsletters, and posting them on your web site, always remind readers of the individual issue's context. On the front and back pages, remind readers that they're receiving one of a series of newsletters addressing a major topic. Whenever possible, remind visitors of the contents of the previous newsletter, and build anticipation for the next issue to appear. These context messages can be placed both on the newsletter itself, as well as the covering letter announcing the newsletter's availability as a web site download or e-mail attachment.

Tip for May 26, 2008

Savvy retailers wait at least one month before having their grand openings. If they don't wait, customers will come flocking in to become acquainted with untrained salespeople, poorly stocked shelves, slow delivery times, clumsy sales procedures and messy surroundings. Polish these items to perfection before your grand opening or it won't be so grand. Guerrillas are rarely in hurry.

Tip for May 27, 2008

Signatures sell You'll send e-mail messages and participate in discussion groups for a variety of business and personal reasons, but attaching an effective signature to every message helps carry on your marketing attack in every situation. In discussion groups, a signature that describes your business is always an acceptable way to market yourself, regardless of the group's policies on advertising. An effective signature includes your name, your company name, your online and offline addresses, phone and fax numbers, and a slogan that sums up your business mission in a few words. A signature should be no more than six lines high. Use a signature on every e-mail message you send, and on every discussion group notice you post. Modify your signature to suit different marketing needs, such as promoting your web site, promoting a contest, offering a free electronic brochure, or promoting a specific product or service. Notice the signatures other people use, and think about how you can use signatures to your own best advantage. A good signature may be your best chance to attract new customers, so make the most of this powerful marketing weapon.

Tip for May 28, 2008

There are fewer babies these days. Does that mean fewer baby goods will sell? It does not. More older parents will spend more money on their kids.

Tip for May 29, 2008

E-mail Age Requires Fast Fulfillment of Promises Three weeks ago I attended a day-long coaching event in Cambridge, MA. One of the speakers offered attendees a set of his presentation visuals, which contained a lot of detailed information. All you had to do was offer your business card. I did. And I waited. Today--three weeks later--I received an e-mail attachment containing the PDF of his presentation visuals....along with a promotion for an upcoming event the presenter was hosting. The numbers are still instructive, but delay has considerably eroded my enthusiasm. Guerrilla Marketers recognize the importance of the fast fulfillment of promises in the age of instantaneous e-mail.

Tip for May 30, 2008

Join a club Clubs raise money for good causes and contribute to the community as well as allow the members to socialize and develop important business contacts. Online discussion groups are a good resource for finding online organizations. Each discussion group is an informal club geared towards a particular topic. Even if participation in a discussion doesn't lead to news of an official organization, it may result in informal meetings with other participants in the discussion. You may be able to meet some of your online correspondents at a trade show or conference. Personal contacts like this are crucial because they reinforce the relationships you've established online by adding faces to the names you've come to know.

Tip for May 31, 2008

Will local or industry newspapers write about your online site? Of course they will if you make it fascinating enough for their readers. That’s your job. Promotion will get them to your site. Killer content will get them to make return trips.