Tip for November 1, 2007

Points to consider when choosing packaging: 1) Environmental issues 2) balancing function with appearance 3) Appropriateness for target market and position 4) Safety in opening 5) Legal requirements for export markets 6) Attachability of promotional material 7) Physical protection of product 8) Filling process required 9) Can the pack be handled within the company's production capabilities? 10) Hygiene 11) Graphics and labeling 12) Convenience in opening and resealing 13) Effectiveness in delivering the product to the consumer 14) Acceptance by the distribution network 15) package cost in relation to selling price.

Tip for November 2, 2007

Become a publisher Guerrillas with publishing skills or resources should consider putting out a newsletter or 'zine. A newsletter is a text-only document generally distributed via e-mail to a subscriber list. A 'zine contains graphics and is usually displayed on a Web site. The 'zine should provide useful information to customers and prospects, bolster the company's reputation, and offer another online venue where the company can showcase some of its own products. To date, most marketing-oriented 'zines have been done by technology businesses so the field is wide-open. Whether you opt for a newsletter or a 'zine, you should endeavor to set a regular publishing schedule, plan issues in advance and promote your publication. Announce your newsletter or 'zine in every appropriate place. This includes notifying existing customers via e-mail (perhaps sending them a sample issue of your newsletter and the offering free subscriptions), announcing the publication in related online discussion groups, on your storefront, or Web site.

Tip for November 3, 2007

Many salespeople are strongly competitive and high-pressure. They're driven to outsell their comrades, the competition, and even themselves. They are often top producers. But their success is frequently short-lived, subject to the "paper match" syndrome, hot as hell, but quickly gone out. Because their style does not build the long-term customer loyalty that is so critical in guerrilla selling. Stop and listen more. You'll hear this advice frequently.

Tip for November 4, 2007

Three Internet Rules: From direct mail genius, Herschell Gordon Lewis, we learn the first rule of Internet advertising is to "stop the surfers in their tracks." The second is: "Change your offer often and even daily isn't too often." The third is "Don't be overawed by jargon throwers."

Tip for November 5, 2007

Directory assistance Because information is scattered far and wide on the Net, finding the right data is a huge problem. You can become a hero to beleaguered information seekers by publishing a useful directory. The directory can relate to your business or be a public service project established to create goodwill. Even if you have no writing skills, you can take the following steps: - Scour the Net for resources related to your topic. post messages in discussion groups explaining what you're doing and requesting help in finding sources. - Create a directory and make it available via e-mail, mailbot, or a storefront. - Promote the directory in your e-mail and discussion group signatures and send out free samples to people on your mailing list. - maintain the directory by checking the resources in it at least once a month to ensure that they are still valid.

Tip for November 6, 2007

Guerrillas treat all objections as legitimate concerns. They love objections because they help the guerrilla to see real needs underneath the superficial ones we all talk about. "Well, I'd like pay a lot less, maybe get some discount or other." This is very superficial. "Tell me more about that...," begins the guerrilla. Now you begins probing for the specific underlying worries and fears.

Tip for November 7, 2007

Airlines Suggest Alternatives--Do You? On several airline web sites, the site will suggest adjacent, alternative cities which offer scheduling and pricing options. Often, the mileage from the original airport to the suggested alternative is shown, so you can see that driving 80 miles, for example, will save you $199 in round trip savings. Do you offer alternatives to accommodate prospects who tell you they are interested in your product or service, but are not comfortable with one, or more, aspects of your offering. Do you offer less-expensive, or "Lite," versions of your full program for those seeking a less expensive alternative?

Tip for November 8, 2007

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 November 9, 2007

Do you have a press kit? If your attempts at gaining publicity meet with success, the first item you'll need for interested editors is a press kit. A press kit can contain: * a backgrounder, or brief history of your company, its products, its markets, and its management, * one or more press releases explaining your current news announcement, * photos of your products or key management personnel, * reprints of other articles about your company, * your company brochure, * a competitive analysis of your company versus its competition, * a press guide, or key questions and answers about your company, and * your business card. Along with printed versions of these, prepare electronic versions for editors who contact you via e-mail. Don't go off half-cocked in the battle for publicity. Prepare a press kit before you begin seeking publicity, and you'll be prepared when opportunity strikes.

Tip for November 10, 2007

Copy Musts: Advertising and marketing copy must always be readable, informative, clear, honest, simple, motivating, specific and believable.

Tip for November 11, 2007

3D Web Planning and Copywriting Guerrillas often find it difficult to plan and write web site copy. It is often difficult to visualize the structure of a web site. One way to get around this is to plan and write a web site as a series of linked Word documents, using text boxes to indicate sidebars and other page elements. Working with linked Word documents permits you to quickly and easily jump between pages, and experience your developing text as your web site visitors will.

Tip for November 12, 2007

Gear your marketing to people already in the market, and know what they really buy other than instant gratification. Fresh from college, I decided that I had to own a business suit. This brought up several questions: 1. Where should I get it? 2. How much should I pay for it? 3. What should I look for in a suit? Coincidentally, I came across an ad in the newspaper headlined: “How much should a man spend on a suit?” I read every word in that ad—and brought from the store without even visiting other stores! Your prospects operate in a similar fashion. Marketing didn’t create my need for a suit—an upcoming job interview did! But, marketing predisposed me to look for information about buying suits—information that the ad provided. Ask yourself: Do your marketing communications offer the information that prospects ready to buy are looking for?

Tip for November 13, 2007

Display formatted documents on your web site Guerrillas are always on the lookout for new technologies which solve old problems. Macromedia has recently introduced Contribute 2. Contribute 2 permits users to create Flash Paper files of formatted documents like newsletters and press releases. These communicate at a glance. Instead of requiring web site visitors to download an Adobe Acrobat file, they can immediate read, view, and print a newsletter, press release, or training document from a web page.

Tip for November 14, 2007

Excellence example of Preprinted Second Color Accents The next time you're in your local Barnes & Noble bookstore, pick up a copy of their Events newsletter, listing current and upcoming author readings and signings. Notice how good looking the sheet is. Pay particular attention to the fact that the accent colors, green and salmon (orange-pink), are limited to words and graphics that are unlikely to change from issue to issue. Text that is changes is printed in black. This permits Barnes and Noble to preprint the second colors in great quantities, and ship them to their stores around the country. These preprints form a framework for each individual store to run through their black and white laser printers or photocopiers. Production costs are low because each store's unique issue is photocopied or printed at rock bottom price, yet the overall impact is that of a three color print job! How can you put this idea to work? Newsletters, business cards, flyers?

Tip for November 15, 2007

You are what you write Written words are your identity in the online world. Your writing skills affect your e-mail replies, electronic brochures, signatures, discussion group postings, web site text, online articles, and any other messages that are associated with you and your business. Clear and error-free writing conveys professionalism; poor writing conveys the opposite. Vague messages can cost you extra time as you explain yourself again or answer questions that should have been answered the first time. When you don't bother to correct spelling, grammar, or formatting errors, your readers will wonder if you'll sweat the details in a business transaction. And concise writing shows your respect for our readers' time. If your messages ramble on, readers will resent your lack of focus. With the volume of sloppy writing out there on the Net, doing the job properly will help you stand out in the crowd. Not everyone is a born writer, but everyone serious about online marketing should do everything they can to produce clear, concise, effective, and error-free messages at all times. This means having someone proofread your messages, or getting a business writing book and improving your skills. Treat every message you compose as your first and best chance to win business, and you'll be on your way to crafting messages that prove you're worth doing business with.

Tip for November 16, 2007

The guerrilla attacks when the competition retreats, and the attack is concentrated where the guerrilla offers specific product or service advantages. Retreating companies leave voids in the market, ideal niches for guerrilla companies.

Tip for November 17, 2007

Are You Working Harder than You Should, Part 3? Lessons we can learn from Jay from his 32-year career based on a 3-day work week: Reason Number 3: Determination. By reversing the ratio of work to leisure characteristic of most people at the time, Jay worked extra hard at establishing his reputation by writing -- writing anything -- because he was so determined. Whether for client, publication, or promotion, Jay was determined to live each day to the fullest. And that meant succeeding where others often failed.

Tip for November 18, 2007

Combine marketing weapons Direct mail doesn't work on its own. Telemarketing doesn't work on its own. Free seminars to hot prospects don't work. And for certain, advertising doesn't work. None of these marketing weapons work when used all by themselves. Focus your attention on a combination of marketing weapons and you'll find that they all work.

Tip for November 19, 2007

Guerrillas know that they must seek profits from their current customers. They worship at the shrine of customer follow-up.

Tip for November 20, 2007

More on colors: blue ink turns green on yellow stock; red turns purple on blue stock; purple ink turns black on green stock; all colors disappear on black stock.

Tip for November 21, 2007

Photography Magazines illustrate the power of niche marketing. Guerrillas have long appreciated the advantages of specialization. Recent trends in photography magazines reinforce the importance of niche marketing. As popular, "broadness" magazines become slimmer and slimmer, and subscription costs drop to artificially low values, titles that target market niches within photography are growing in number, size, circulation, and costs. The best example are the several publications, like B&W, targeting those who love black and white photography. Paradoxically, the more color digital photography grows, the more readers there are for black and white, only, publications. B&W, for example, is just three years old, but is increasing in size, production value, and costs. They serve a dedicated, intense market. The fact that their back issues are becoming harder and harder to get shows the loyalty a specialty niche can develop among their readers. The costs of issues of B&W or Lenswork approaches that of paperback books, and yet their circulation keeps growing. Question. How can YOU differentiate yourself by specializing in a niche, instead of trying to be all things to all people?

Tip for November 22, 2007

Some more probing questions Probing question #1: "I'd really be interested in learning about your company's needs. Would you tell me how you evaluated the product you're currently using?"

Tip for November 23, 2007

Guerrillas speak and write in the first person, aligning everything they say with the prospect's business.

Tip for November 24, 2007

"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 November 25, 2007

Qualities men admire most in other men: dependability (88%), honesty (88%), willingness to help (86%), humor (81%), authenticity (79%), is a regular guy (69%), balances work and home (65%), intelligence (65%), is left-handed (99%). (No no! I'm only kidding. I just put that last one in to see if you were paying attention.)

Tip for November 26, 2007

Use Familiarity to Introduce New Ideas Guerrilla Marketers know that one marketing contact is unlikely to result in a sale. Sales result from a consistent series of contacts. These build up the comfort and familiarity necessary to make a sale. For example, yesterday I purchased a copy of Puccinni's Madama Butterfly. There's no news in that, except for the fact that I've never before purchased an opera recording. Yet, every Saturday afternoon, after "Car Talk" and Michael Feldman's "What Do You Know" on the local NPR radio station, I find myself leaving the dial where it is as they broadcast the Saturday afternoon opera live from Lincoln Center. After becoming exposed to opera over the course of several pleasant Saturdays, I realized I was missing out on something--and decided to get involved. The lesson? What can you do to make it easy for your prospects to build up a level of comfort and familiarity with you?

Tip for November 27, 2007

Ten Commandments of Guerrilla Marketing Design, No. 6 Guerrillas design to be VISUAL. Whenever possible, Guerrilla Marketers replace words in paragraphs with storytelling visuals such as charts, graphs, lists, organization charts, tables, and timelines. Guerrillas use visuals to communicate comparisons, relationships and sequences at a glance.

Tip for November 28, 2007

Ask for the order One of the tried and true tactics of all selling is to specifically ask for orders. This works online, too. People who are seriously considering your product or service may need just that extra push of being asked, so ask. Phrases like "order now," "send for your information today," and others can add a little urgency to your message and turn browsers into buyers.

Tip for November 29, 2007

Are you a professional? "Professionals are reliable; you can trust them to fulfill their promises." "They act quickly to put literature in the mail, to follow-up on the set time and are never late for appointments." Are you a professional? Professionals respect people's time, and people appreciate that. Professionals hold their head high and take responsibility for the services they provide or fail to provide. Are you a professional?

Tip for November 30, 2007

Note-taking demonstrates that you're listening carefully. A few prospects may feel uncomfortable about note-taking, and will appreciate your courtesy in asking for permission. If they do not give you permission, they probably won't buy, and even if they do; they usually make poor customers. They are distrustful and often feel controlled by others.