http://www.financealley.com en-us editorial@financealley.com There are 5 major steps involved in creating and promoting any marketing strategy: preparation, creation, production, delivery and release/launch. Let's have a look at each of these 5 major steps: STEP ONE: PREPARATION The first major step invo... http://www.financealley.com/article_741150_15.html 07th January 2009 In order to get the most out of any marketing activity you implement, you need to be clear on 6 specific areas. By answering these questions, you'll ensure that you are focused and on-track with exactly what you want and need to accomplish in implementin... http://www.financealley.com/article_729419_15.html 29th December 2008 Whenever you sit down to write any kind of marketing copy (email, sales page, flyer, etc.) use the following tips to guide you. * ensure the copy is focused on your prospect's needs, concerns and problems - not on you or your services. * you need to... http://www.financealley.com/article_726353_15.html 18th December 2008 One of the fastest growing arenas of Internet marketing is audio products. Almost every online marketer can now offer audio products in the form of CDs and MP3s as a part of their product offerings, due to the better quality and reasonably priced technolo... http://www.financealley.com/article_726080_15.html 18th December 2008 I believe that marketing is all about having a relationship with your prospects, customers and clients. I also believe that having this relationship is based on educating them and not "selling" them. Robert Allen, a famous real estate investor said,... http://www.financealley.com/article_714449_15.html 08th December 2008 A free-giveaway is a vital first step in marketing your business and building a list of prospects that you can turn into customers and clients. Once you create your free-giveaway, you don't need to touch it again. Remember, there will always be new pe... http://www.financealley.com/article_713226_15.html 05th December 2008 You need to promote your free-giveaway and let everyone know about it. There are several ways that you can market your free offering. Many of them are simple and inexpensive or no cost to do and set up. Keep in mind that a lot of these methods to pro... http://www.financealley.com/article_707384_15.html 02nd December 2008 Once you've figured out what format you're gong to provide your free-giveaway in (audio, video, written), the second step is to figure out what the content is going to be. Your free-giveaway needs to be something that your target group finds valuable a... http://www.financealley.com/article_703956_15.html 01st December 2008 The first step involved in creating your free-giveaway deals with preparation. You need to decide which format you are going to provide your free product in. There are basically 6 different formats you can choose for your free-giveaway. You can also ... http://www.financealley.com/article_700224_15.html 01st December 2008 In order to get the most out of a free-giveaway, you need to be clear on who your target audience is and what the objective is for this marketing tactic. By answering these questions, you'll ensure that you are focused and on-track with exactly what you ... http://www.financealley.com/article_698514_15.html 30th November 2008 Offering something of value for free is a very important step in marketing. It is a way of introducing yourself to prospective clients in a non-intrusive, friendly manner. People are naturally more cautious and skeptical these days so you need to make it ... http://www.financealley.com/article_698481_15.html 30th November 2008 Part of marketing is tracking and measuring how well individual marketing tactics are working. The reasons for this are: o to measure how well your tactics are working overall o track individual marketing activities to see any patterns o know ... http://www.financealley.com/article_691404_15.html 22nd November 2008 Pretty well every marketing strategy or tactic that exists can fall under one of these three areas: writing, speaking and networking. Most of us usually have a clear "winner" in terms of which activity we enjoy doing the best or know the most about. ... http://www.financealley.com/article_688139_15.html 18th November 2008 Many small business owners dislike marketing and do it grudgingly, even though we know it's absolutely key to having any success. There are many reasons why people seem to procrastinate with their marketing: they don't really understand the tactic or ... http://www.financealley.com/article_683808_15.html 10th November 2008 Every business needs a marketing framework - but many new small businesses get confused about which steps they need to take first. I define a marketing framework as the basic structure of your overall marketing action plan that also encompasses the cor... http://www.financealley.com/article_678145_15.html 30th October 2008 As small business owners it's easy to fall into the habit of believing you're too busy to market. However, this is like saying that you're too busy to invest in your ongoing success. Below is a list of simple and quick marketing actions that you can s... http://www.financealley.com/article_675873_15.html 27th October 2008 Follow up is all about giving people the valuable information they need and want; showing them you understand their problems and concerns; creating opportunities for them to get to know and trust you; and proving your credibility and the value of your pro... http://www.financealley.com/article_669210_15.html 20th October 2008 There are 8 components that will help you make the most of your follow-up marketing strategies and ensure they are as effective as possible. Pay attention to these different components because they will help you to systematize your follow-up activities... http://www.financealley.com/article_666571_15.html 15th October 2008 There are 9 reasons why follow up is such an important part of your marketing strategy. I'll explain each one briefly below. 1. Build relationships People need to learn to trust and like you before they'll enter into a relationship with you and tha... http://www.financealley.com/article_661489_15.html 13th October 2008 There are 6 main areas, or reasons, to employ follow-up tactics in your day-to-day business life: thank you; personal; gather information; administration; provide information; and product and service sales. In a previous article I talked in detail abo... http://www.financealley.com/article_658640_15.html 07th October 2008 There are 6 main areas, or reasons, to employ follow-up tactics in your day-to-day business life: thank you; personal; gather information; administration; provide information; and product and service sales. In this article I'll look at 3 of these area... http://www.financealley.com/article_655581_15.html 06th October 2008 I believe that marketing is connecting with people and forming a relationship, and connecting on a consistent basis. Having said that, is there an actual process for fostering this relationship? My experience has taught me that yes, there is definitel... http://www.financealley.com/article_650258_15.html 26th September 2008 There are different ways that you can schedule your marketing to ensure that you are doing it consistently and as easily as possible. What appeals to you depends mainly on the level of detail and structure you like to have. One person's organized is ano... http://www.financealley.com/article_646083_15.html 23rd September 2008 Scheduling your marketing activities is key to ensuring you are consistently and successfully getting the word out about you and your company and all the great services and products you have to share with people. There are several formats that people u... http://www.financealley.com/article_642987_15.html 19th September 2008 Your marketing message describes the core of your business and your clients. It's essential that it accurately reflect your offerings so that new and future prospects and customers know exactly what you offer and how it can help them. The whole idea o... http://www.financealley.com/article_639745_15.html 16th September 2008 I was talking to the owner of a new laser clinic that helps people quit smoking. He just opened his doors a month ago and like any new business, he needs an infusion of cash. He knows the exact number of clients he needs for the next couple months in ... http://www.financealley.com/article_636491_15.html 12th September 2008 I talked in a previous article about the importance utilizing "pull" marketing, which is simply drawing people into your business by ensuring you constantly provide value to them. Sounds good, but how are you supposed to provide value to your prospects... http://www.financealley.com/article_633704_15.html 09th September 2008 I was talking to a client the other day about the difference between push and pull marketing and why you want to use pull marketing. Briefly, "push" marketing is as it sounds - you're pushing the prospect or client into buying your product or service. ... http://www.financealley.com/article_631841_15.html 09th September 2008 Your mindset, or attitude, towards marketing has a direct impact on: * your satisfaction with your business * the number of clients you find and keep * the quality and quantity of the products and services you offer * your sales - your bottom ... http://www.financealley.com/article_629423_15.html 09th September 2008 I talked in my last blog post about the importance your marketing mindset/attitude has on your success. Whether your mindset about marketing is negative, positive, or most likely a little of both, I've found that an "adjustment" is essential every now an... http://www.financealley.com/article_626322_15.html 08th September 2008 In an earlier article I talked about consistency being key to your marketing success. I was talking about the definition of consistency as steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc. However, there is a second definition of consiste... http://www.financealley.com/article_623494_15.html 06th September 2008 Make something happen...or nothing will happen. It's as simple and brutal as that. You can sit around and complain - that you don't have enough time to market...that marketing is too complicated...too hard...that you aren't any good at it. How to a... http://www.financealley.com/article_621127_15.html 05th September 2008 You've heard me say over and over again that the key to marketing is to take consistent action. If you don't take any action with your marketing, then nothing much is going to happen in terms of finding and keeping your most profitable clients. One of... http://www.financealley.com/article_616839_15.html 03rd September 2008 Life is busy and our business keeps us hopping too. There is never enough time to get everything we want done and need to get done - and there never will be enough time! That's why it's so important to schedule things and especially your marketing act... http://www.financealley.com/article_614495_15.html 02nd September 2008 The main definition of consistency is: steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc. One of the major reasons that small businesses (and large businesses) do not have success with their marketing is because they don't apply the princip... http://www.financealley.com/article_611626_15.html 28th August 2008 Your marketing message describes the core of your business and your clients. It's essential that it accurately reflect your offering so that new and future prospects and customers know exactly what you offer and how it can help them. The whole idea of... http://www.financealley.com/article_608909_15.html 24th August 2008 USP stands for Unique Selling Point or Unique Selling Proposition. It's a term used in marketing that is supposed to tell prospects and customers what it is about your product or service that is unique, valuable and relevant to them. A great USP makes... http://www.financealley.com/article_607163_15.html 22nd August 2008 Your marketing must answer the question of "What's in it for me?" for your prospects and customers. The fastest way to do this is by showing you understand what they need (their problem) and that you have the answer (solution) for them. Remember that ... http://www.financealley.com/article_603075_15.html 18th August 2008 What is your solution? Simply put, your solution is the flip-side of your target/niche group's problem. Your products and services are the solution to your potential and current clients' problem or need. Another way to look at it is that the soluti... http://www.financealley.com/article_600053_15.html 15th August 2008 Once you have identified your target or niche market, the next step is to determine what their unmet needs or wants are - in other words, their problems. You need to answer this question in order to write your marketing message but also for the good of... http://www.financealley.com/article_596687_15.html 13th August 2008 You need to understand who they are and what motivates them. You want to paint a picture of who these people are - their habits, vital statistics (demographics), their character or personality (psychographics) and their buying habits. Let me expand on... http://www.financealley.com/article_592448_15.html 29th July 2008 Who are you marketing to? Who are you trying to sell to? You need to be really clear about this - not just to craft your marketing message but for your overall business. It is important to zero-in on a primary group of people and really understand wh... http://www.financealley.com/article_589289_15.html 24th July 2008 I believe your marketing message is the most important aspect of your marketing. If you don't have the "right" marketing message for your business and your intended customer, then everything else you do is compromised. If your marketing message is wea... http://www.financealley.com/article_584983_15.html 22nd July 2008 In all my years of marketing and helping people market their businesses, I've found that to successfully and easily market, it helps to view marketing as an ongoing relationship. Finding and keeping clients is another way of saying forming and having a r... http://www.financealley.com/article_581920_15.html 21st July 2008 A niche market can be thought of as a narrowly defined group of potential customers - usually a portion of a larger target market. For example, a target market is working women, but a niche market is working women with kids at home, or working women in e... http://www.financealley.com/article_579096_15.html 17th July 2008 A relationship isn't based on one date and a marketing relationship isn't built on one contact between you and your customer. It also works at the other end of the spectrum: a relationship won't be sustained without any contact and a business relationsh... http://www.financealley.com/article_575862_15.html 14th July 2008 So if marketing is all about fostering a relationship, then how does selling fit in? Well, first off you've got to take a look at your view of selling. Selling is not being pushy, it isn't brainwashing and it's not getting people to do things they don'... http://www.financealley.com/article_573718_15.html 10th July 2008 Most small business owners do not have marketing plans. This means that their marketing tends to be inconsistent, ineffective and inefficient. Some service professionals do have marketing plans for their business, but fail to actually put it into prac... http://www.financealley.com/article_568343_15.html 02nd July 2008 The secret to making people sit up and take notice of you and your company is to identify and address the problems they are facing. This is really the only way that you'll get their attention and any resulting action on their part. Sure, people may tak... http://www.financealley.com/article_565273_15.html 27th June 2008 To find your most profitable clients the first small business tactic that needs to be done is to figure out what exactly you have to offer to potential and current clients. Many businesses make the mistake of thinking that what's important is their exp... http://www.financealley.com/article_561983_15.html 23rd June 2008