The Best Thing I Ever Learned (Do One Simple Thing, All Your Marketing Will Work Better)

Aletta de Wal teaches this in her classes and coaching, she taught me this years and years ago. It's a really simple thing and one of the MOST effective things you can do to increase the effectiveness of all your marketing efforts. Online, offline, EVERYTHING will work better if you do this one simple thing:  

Put complete contact info on everything.

I know, I know. "I do," says you. You sure?  

You'd be surprised at how many people don't do this. REALLY.  Go back and look at your marketing stuff. Website, emails, postcards, print ads, business cards. All of it.

Do you give people complete contact info so they can find you easily?  Your name (or company name), phone, email, web address and if applicable the address of your business (or the address of the place you want them to go to for whatever it is you're promoting)??? 

You'd be surprised at how hard people make it for other people to buy something, get somewhere, or inquire. I get emails and postcards from fine artists inviting me to their new show and how it's in such-and-such a city. Great. No state, no address, just the name of the city. You gonna make me go Google it just to see if it's in my area and where the gallery is?  Sheeshh.

Other people say, "I only need to put my website address, they can find the ways to contact me there."  Oh really? What if they get the urge to contact you and are not near a computer? What if they prefer the phone over email? Do not make them work just to contact you. Give them a few ways, you'll be glad you did.

Oh, and don't forget:  What I do for a living is support YOU in becoming more successful. Need some great postcards, business cards, a website, ezines? I design em, I set em up, I send em, and even if you just need help managing what you already have, I'm here to help with that also so you can get back to doing what you do best. That's why I say "We create time and space for you to focus on your vision. Then we'll help you get there."

As always, all my best to you and yours,

And here's me making it even easier to contact me:  (310) 649-4434 or  robin@sagaradevelopment.com

 

The Best Thing I Ever Learned (about marketing) - Reader's Questions

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about what I learned from the VP of Marketing at Disneyland, how it's best to stop putting money into something that isn't working.

However, I received some emails from readers that sent up some red flags.  One reader said that she was considering stopping (or cutting back on) email newsletters to her mailing list because it was costing money and not making money. Another reader wrote that he was going to quit a marketing campaign because after one week because it wasn't working.

So let me talk a bit about those "rules for success" I mentioned in the original article.  It's important to be realistic about potential results. It's important to not stop something before it has really had a chance to succeed.

1. Some business activities are not meant to be money-makers, per se. They're part of marketing. They serve other purposes, like reminding people that you're there, letting them know what's new and exciting, and giving them information, tips and other things that they find valuable so that they will also find YOU to be valuable and worth paying attention to. It helps build and maintain those oh-so-important relationships with your customers and clients. If you stop you'll save a few dollars, but you'll also fall off people's radar and they'll forget about you. Sure, you can cut down on costs and save some money by working smarter (ask me about this if you're interested), but as I advised the reader who wrote in, it's not a good idea to stop. Just look at it differently and revise what makes it a success.

2. When setting "rules for success" be realistic. One week probably isn't enough time to accurately judge a marketing campaign. On the other hand, doing something over and over for years with no results isn't good either. I once had a client who mailed letters to purchased mailing lists as part of his marketing. He did it for years, and never got one response. When I asked him about it he said, "Maybe this time it will work."  It didn't. Go figure.

So, give it enough time so you really know if it's working or not. Disneyland can tell right away if ticket sales are up. For the rest of us, it can take weeks, or months, to see a result from our efforts.  Don't expect miracles. It takes time, and a sensible plan, to see results. THEN, if it's not working, stop.

Got questions?  Feel free to email, or better yet, post a comment on the blog.

All my best to you and yours!