The Power Of Samples II - Blue Zamboo Sample Boxes

I have previously written here about the Power of Samples as part of a business’ marketing plan. While reading the My Day Off blog I recently came across a great idea - the Blue Zamboo Sample Boxes.

For just $19.99 + postage, you can purchase a Blue Zamboo Sample Box with a selection of samples from companies such as Beauty Banquet, Dream Candles, Cool Things, Princess Chic and more!

This is a great way to trial products (and it would make for a nice gift for someone too).

Here’s to your success in business,

Donna-Marie

What Do You Do When Someone Is Disappointed In Your Product Or Service?

While reading the Pink Heels blog I came across a post about Jennifer’s disappointment with the Wii Fit Yoga. Reading this made me think… what do you do when someone expresses their disappointment in a product of service you provide?

Some businesses will offer a refund, others will apologise that the buyer was unhappy (note - not necessarily apologise for the product). Then, when the customer has left, they may dismiss the matter entirely.

If someone expresses their disappointment in one of your products or services, by all means do what you can to rectify the situation and build your customer relationship. But after that, don’t take it to heart nor dismiss the dissatisfaction. Seize this opportunity to learn and improve.

First, is the customer’s dissatisfaction warranted? Have other people made the same statement? Have others asked for a refund?

Then it’s important to look at how you can use this feedback to make sure the mistake doesn’t occur again (if in fact there was a mistake made) or to improve your product or service.

In the case of Jennifer’s feedback, if the maker’s of Wii Fit Yoga were to read this post, how would they react? It would definitely be worth their while to take that feedback on board and look at how they can improve the Wii Fit Yoga, thanking Jennifer for her valuable feedback.

By doing this, you are not only showing your customers that you are listening to them, but you’re also ensuring that you provide a high quality product.

Here’s to your success in business…

Donna-Marie

New Marketing Start-Up Kit

Diva Promotions have just launched a great marketing tool for small businesses… The Start-Up Marketing Kit.

This kit will guide you through the basics of knowing who you are marketing to, right through to creating a marketing plan to attract genuine customers to your business.

For a limited time only it’s available for just $22… I’m not sure how long it will remain at this price though.

Plus, you can request a free sample chapter so you can be sure that this is helpful for your business. Just click on the image below.

Here’s to your success in business…

Donna-Marie

Business and Christmas Promotions

Business Mums Network are currently running a survey all about businesses and their Christmas promotions, and they would love your input.

It will only take 2 minutes and the questions may even give you some ideas for your own promotions.

Please head over to the survey and share your experience… and on behalf of Melissa at Business Mums, thank you.

Here’s to your success in business,

Donna-Marie

Getting Crafty

On Jenni’s Papercraft Designs blog today she shared with us info on a great site for those who enjoy craft activities - Living Creatively.

This is a fantastic site for those who enjoy craft (I enjoy thinking about it, but whatever I make never ends up looking as good as it did in my head! I think I’ll stick to writing).

What particularly caught my attention about this site is their innovative way of encouraging other sites to link to them. In addition to some great competitions, anyone who links to them goes into a draw to win an advertising package worth $5,000AUD! How good is that?

If you’re into craft, that’s got to be worth checking out. For everyone else, could you use a competition to encourage visitors or links to your site?

Here’s to your success in business,

Donna-Marie

Planning Your Trade Displays

Annette Piper has a post on her blog where she talks about planning to attend the upcoming Ironfest which got me thinking about expos.

Displays at expos and trade shows can be a great way to promote your business, products or services and to meet new customers and potential customers. They can also be a good way of meeting fellow industry professionals.

Many of these expos don’t come cheap so if you’re going to pay to be involved, you want to make sure you get the most for your dollar.

Before you start packing your display products, first decide what you want to achieve from the event. Do you want to sell lots of products? Maybe your aim is to gather contact details for leads… possible customers. Or do you want to educate the public about your products or industry? Knowing this will help you plan your display.

Here are a few tips for next time you have a display:

• If your main aim is to collect contact details of leads, consider holding a competition for people to enter, then ask if they would like to be added to your mailing list (always ask permission before adding people to your marketing list).
• Make sure your stand is clean, uncluttered and attractive to your target market.
• Have something on your stand to encourage people to come over to you - a bowl of lollies, giveaways, lots of colour and excitement.
• Don’t just sit behind your table and wait for people to come and speak with you… go to them, stand to the side of or in front of your display and smile while greeting people walking by.
• Check with the organisers as to whether they will supply quality covers for display tables. If not, make sure you take your own.
• Product samples or ‘Special Expo Discounts’ are a good idea too.
• Don’t forget to take a camera so you can get some great pics of your display - you never know when these might come in handy.
• HAVE FUN!

Here’s to your success in business…

Donna-Marie

Look before you link

On Melissa Khalinsky’s blog she includes a post about Links to Your Site, talking about five ways of attracting traffic to your site. I love a comment she includes in her first tip:

“…there are many sites who are happy to do a link exchange. Before requesting an exchange, look at the site closely to see if they do exchange links.”

Great tip Melissa. I would like to add to that by encouraging people to request to link only with RELEVANT sites. I have received so many requests from people to be linked to my site, either a reciprocal link or one-way. Unfortunately, most of these requests come from businesses that have absolutely no relevance to my sites - totally different products/services, totally different markets.

Link away… just keep it relevant and appropriate.

Here’s to your success in business…

The Essential Business Guide

Diva Promotions have just launched their Essential Business Guide, full of practical tips and information for running a successful business.

To get your hands on this, you can download it now for free from one of my sites - Jacaranda Business Support Services. It’s on the left hand side, under the heading Who wants some free stuff?

It contains great articles from various authors on a wide range of topics about running a business, including one by Yours Truly, explaining the basic differences between PR, Advertising and Marketing… and which is best for you.

Here’s to your success in business…

Do You Have Tips to Share for Successful Live TV Interviews?

I received a wonderful phone call from one of my clients yesterday. I recently wrote a media release for her and she was ringing to tell me that shortly after sending it out, she received a phone call from one of the major, prime-time TV shows to say that they would like to interview her live next Tuesday.

How exciting for her!

I quickly sent her a few tips to help her prepare but I would love to hear more. I know there are a lot of experienced business people who read this blog… have you ever been interviewed live on prime-time TV? Can you offer any real life tips and suggestions, particularly ways to appear confident - including how to remember your name and what your business does - when you have 1,000,001 butterflies doing a jig in your stomach?

I’d love to hear your ideas.

Here’s to your success in business…

5 Tips for Online Article Submission

This post on Melissa Khalinsky’s blog has some useful tips about online article submission.

If you submit articles online, this is definitely worth reading as Melissa knows what she’s talking about - she manages The RepOZitory - an Australian article submission website. I believe these tips are based on the most common mistakes she sees in articles that are submitted to them.

Here’s to your business success…

Using the ‘net to Improve Your Business

Those of you who are in Brisbane may like to come along to the next Business Growth Session where Heart Harmony’s Ingrid Cliff and myself will be running a practical workshop on just a couple of the many online techniques you can use to improve your business.

You’ve probably heard about SEO, affiliates, etc… Ingrid and I will focus on two of the lesser known methods that can have dramatic results on your visitor numbers and page rank. Best of all, they’re really simple - almost anyone can do them!

The Business Growth Session is on Monday 3rd March, 2008 in the meeting room at Chermside Library. BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL! Full details are available on the website.

Here’s to your business success…

Do you compare?

Jacqui at Rainbow Designs has a wonderful post on comparing that I urge you to read. What she writes is so true - how often do we compare ourselves with others? Our blogs, our businesses, our homes, our… everything!

Comparing can sometimes be beneficial but generally, I find it’s much better to focus on being the best, unique you that you can be. It’s all about finding your own personal style and putting that into everything you do.

A few years ago I was part of a team who presented a publishing forum. The speaker before me was so ‘out there’ and everybody loved him. He was really over the top and the audience was so hyped and motivated after hearing him. Thankfully we had a tea break between his presentation and mine.

I was really concerned that I wouldn’t be able to live up to his style and was rethinking my delivery - how could I present more like him? And to make it more difficult, I was presenting on the legal and technical issues! How could I make that more exciting?

Well, I decided it was too late to make changes and I just got up and presented in my usual style. Surprisingly, everyone was glued to my every word, taking lots of notes. Some of the feedback we received later - and some at my prodding - was that the audience didn’t want more than one energetic section. They liked my presentation and found it just as useful as the other speaker before me.

So there was no need for me to worry and compare. Yes, it’s good to see what others are doing, to learn from them and improve. However sometimes two people - or two blogs, two presentations, two businesses - can be totally different and neither one is better than the other. They’re just… different.

Embrace your uniqueness!

Here’s to your business success…

The secret to getting the media to come running to you

How many times have you heard people comment on how difficult it is to get a press release read by the right media representatives, or how hard it is to get good editorial and TV coverage? I don’t know about you, but I hear it all the time.

It’s true… media outlets receive so many press releases each day that many go unread. Many more don’t even make it past the headline. Would you like to know how to get your press release read or better still, how to get the media to come to you, wanting to give you coverage and promotion?

I’ll let you in on the secret…

Simply give the media what they want.

“Yeah, simple,” I hear you say. “How do I know what they want?”

In all honesty, most areas of the media – print, radio, television, Internet – are always looking for good content to give their readers, viewers and listeners. Start by listing your target market and what publications they read; what shows they watch; what radio stations they listen to.

Next, read those publications, watch those shows and listen to those stations. Get a clear idea of what their style is and what they might be looking for. Now, how can you provide what they are looking for?

Most publications aren’t really interested in a new business because there are new businesses every day. But if you can show them HOW your business can BENEFIT their readers/listeners/viewers, you’re in with a chance. You need to find a unique story angle. What problems might their readers/listeners/viewers have that your product or service can solve? For example, there has a lot of talk around here recently about how easy it is for children to go missing. Let’s say you specialize in a product that can reduce the incidence of a child going missing, or that can help track them quickly. Write a press release that highlights the issues surrounding missing children, focusing on the emotions involved, rather than adjectives about how fabulous your product is. Then go on to state that there is a product available that can help minimize these incidents and give information about your product and its benefits.

Do not use your press release as a chance to advertise your product. That simply won’t work. You need to demonstrate a solution to a problem.

Next, make the journalist’s job as easy as possible. Journalists are very busy people. The easier you can make their job, the more inclined they are to cover your story. Give them good quality information; include a quote or two (journalists LOVE quotes); make sure you provide clear contact information for yourself, or whoever they should contact for further information; let them know that you’re available for an interview.

Once your story has been published or aired, send a brief note or email to the journalist involved to thank them, and let them know that you’re happy to help them next time they need information regarding your area of expertise. Once the journalist knows of your expertise and experiences how easy it is for them to work with you, they’ll come looking for you.

This is just the tip of the iceberg but I hope it helps you. Good luck – please send me the details of all the media coverage you get!

Here’s to your business success…

What do you wish you knew before you started your business?

It’s almost Christmas and as a special thank you for everyone who reads and posts comments on my blog I’d like to give you a gift.

For the last couple of months I have worked alongside 15 talented business owners to write an eBook full of handy tips, ideas and guidance for successfully running a business. Each business owner has contributed their own article about what they wish they had known before they started their business. Hopefully these articles will give you some ideas and help prevent you from making those same mistakes.

We’re giving this to you for free… nada… zip… zilch. Plus, you’re welcome to give it away to anyone else you think would benefit from reading it. The only stipulation is that you cannot alter it in any way and you cannot sell it.

For tips on time management, marketing ideas, balancing work/family, business ethics, niche marketing and lots more download your gift - What I Wish I Knew Before I Started My Business.

Happy reading!

Here’s to your business success…

Free worldwide shipping - part of great customer service

Recently I helped one of my clients write their company’s Customer Service Policy from scratch. They sort of had an idea of their customer service policies in their minds, but nothing was formal and nothing was written down.

I really enjoy writing policies like this because my clients have to sit down and think about their overall aims and objectives, their image, their customers. As we progress, they gradually come up with innovative ideas and form clear guidelines as to how they look after their customers, loyalty programs, how they can add value for thier customers, etc.

So when I was reading a blog post at Annette Piper Jewellery yesterday, her post about free worldwide shipping really caught my attention. Annette explained that she recieves so many lovely comments from international would-be customers however the cost of shipping her exquisite jewellery overseas prevented many of them from buying. So… she introduced free shipping. What a great idea!

What do your customers want that you don’t already provide? Can you offer that to them? Let me know what unique ideas you come up with.

Here’s to your business success…

The Power of Samples

Another great, low-cost marketing strategy is to give away or show samples of your products or services.

In one of my recent posts I mentioned the divine promotional chocolate bites I bought from Moments in Chocolate, individually wrapped with my logo and contact details on them. When I saw the website for these I thought they looked good; I might be interested in ordering some… one day. But when I received some free samples, that was it! I was hooked and ordered straight away.

If you want to increase your marketing efforts, think about ways you can offer samples of your products/services.

Sometimes it’s not possible to give a sample of your work. For example, Etched in Memories (a business that creates exquisite pieces of jewellery, keyrings and name tags with your special photos, words or design expertly engraved) recently posted about their samples. It’s not practical for them to send free samples of their creations but they do offer a samples page on their website. Perhaps this is something you can do?

You could also consider offering a 30-minute consultation for free or a report, guide or booklet.

7 ways to get the most from your advertising dollar

Let’s face it, most traditional advertising doesn’t come cheap. So how can you make sure you get value for your money?

Here’s a few tips:

1. Know who you are marketing to and where you will find them - what publications do they read? Where do they shop? What TV shows do they watch?
2. Follow the AIDA formula - Attention, Interest, Desire, Action… that’s what you’re trying to create in your ads.
3. Know the purpose of your ad. Do you want to educate people about your product/service, sell products, attract people to your website? Know what the aim is before you design your ad.
4. Your headline should include your main selling point.
5. Where possible, include your USP - Unique Selling Point; what is it that makes you different from your competitors?
6. Sell the BENEFITS of your products/services, not the FEATURES.
7. Make it easy for people to respond to your ad - include clear contact information.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to creating advertisements that sell. For some more ideas, have a look at the articles on my website.

A great idea for a promotional gift

In the mail today I received a wonderful package from Moments in Chocolate… a package containing some of their samples.

Any chocolate-lovers will know that there’s a huge difference between cheap, compound chocolate and the smooth, rich taste of high quality Belgian chocolate. Well, to my delight, Moments in Chocolate use the good stuff!

I can honestly report that the samples were DELICIOUS! Not that I ate them all, of course! (I gave one to my son) 

I’m about to place an order for a box of the miniature after dinner mint chocolates that come complete with a custom made label of your choice. I’m customising the label with my business name, logo and contact info and will give them out as promotional treats… if I don’t eat them all first! 

Getting free publicity for your business

For anyone who will is in Brisbane, Australia, we have a fantastic guest speaker lined up for our November 27th Business Growth Session. The Publicity Queen herself, Sally Romano, will be speaking about her tried and tested formula for getting publicity for your business. It’s from 9.30-11.30am so write the date in your diary now then click here for the full details and to register. 

Looking for a good article bank?

Anyone who knows the benefits of article banks - either as a place to submit your articles, somewhere to find good quality content or both - knows that there are literally 1000s to choose from.

But what if you’re specifically after articles relating to Australia? Until recently your only option was to go through seemingly endless articles to try to find something Australian based. Well, now there’s a simple solution… The RepOZitory.

The RepOZitory specialises in Australian articles. People in other countries can still use these articles, so long as they’re aware that they will have Aussie spelling and grammar.

There are plenty of great articles there on topics such as business, marketing, finance, families, health, time management… including a few written by yours truly.