6 months passed by and as luck would have it, my bookkeeper friend approached her client and asked “so how’s that ad working out for you?” In which her client replied, “I don’t know… in fact, we have no idea if we got any clients from it!” After a few quick phone calls, they discovered that over a 6 month period they had a total of just 2 phone calls that came from the ad of which neither resulted in closed business. What a bummer.
The moral of the story is this. While these type of ads may be effective for some businesses, for the most part, it is often too expensive to maintain and the good news is that there are now more cost effective ways of advertising your business. In particular, Google Adwords.
Why Google Adwords?
In short, Google Adwords is fast, effective and measurable. In traditional newspaper and other forms of paper advertising you typically pay a set price for your ad regardless of whether you get 100 leads or none!...
In my view, marketing is not just about ‘exposure’, it’s about attracting qualified leads. And that’s where Google Adwords does such a great job because you only pay for the amount of clicks that your ad gets. And the best part about it is that your ad only appears when someone has searched for a particular phrase which means the clicks that you receive is super targeted!
How Do I Get Started?
The first thing to do is to ensure that your website is up to scratch and that your content is optimised for maximum response. The next thing is to workout a set budget for your Adwords campaign so that you can easily maintain your cash flow.
Now for a limited time only, Google is offering a $75 free trial with Adwords for all first time users. To take advantage of this just jump onto https://services.google.com/fb/forms/adwordscoupon/ and complete the relevant details.
I Want My Ads Running Now
I recently wrote up a guide called “The Definitive Guide To Small Business Marketing” which details the steps on how to get your Google Adwords campaign up and running in minutes. If you haven’t already read this I highly recommend grabbing yourself a FREE copy at https://www.promo.youcoaching.com.au and filling out your details to get instant access to it.
Whatever you do, remember to always track the performance of your campaigns and that way, you can measure how effective your Adwords campaign truly is.
Feel free to leave a comment and share this article with your friends and colleagues. Happy Adword-ing and feel free to email me if you have any questions!
Have you ever noticed that the good old days of paper marketing is becoming more and more like olden day cars? They still do the job but boy it's expensive to run. And that's because there are now better ways of marketing that work just as well and in some cases, even better! Straight off the cuff I can tell you that there are 3 main reasons why you need to be using email marketing. It's cheap, it's easy and it works!
- It's Cheap… did you know McDonald’s provides free wi-fi?
- It's Easy… click, click, send!
- It Works… a client of ours recently scored 5 new clients from this
You may not realise this but in Australia alone, over 80% of our population are frequent users of the internet. So it's quite clear to see that by not harnessing email marketing as part of your online strategy you'd be missing out on plenty of extra money making opportunities. And we wouldn't want you to miss out.
Who Do You Rely On?
I know that it's common for people in business to rely on mediums such as Gmail or Microsoft Outlook to handle all their emails - including their marketing campaigns. And while it's totally cool to be using it for general communicating between colleagues and clients, you simply shouldn't be leaving the task of marketing to these mediums! It's the equivalent of trying to mow the lawn using a whipper snipper because it takes a thousand times longer to do and the results aren't quite the same.
The Right Tool For The Job
For anyone that's a veteran of email marketing you'd know that using a specialist email marketing provider is key in the success of your campaigns. Some of the advantages of using these providers is that you're able to create cool and unique looking emails (especially if you have newsletters), schedule campaigns to run automatically and most importantly, track the success of your campaigns. And I don't know how many times I've said this before, but I'll say it again anyway, tracking and measuring your performance is essential to improving your marketing.
Getting Started Is So Easy
In the online marketing world we've been spoiled for choices because there's plenty of excellent email marketing services out there. In particular, if you're new to the game of email marketing, I'd recommend having a look at MailChimp (www.mailchimp.com) because it's a totally free service and would be more than adequate for anyone with less than 2,000 email contacts. It takes less than 5 minutes to set up and you can be sending emails to your clients immediately. It's got plenty of great features too and once you familiarise yourself with this system, you can truly spread your wings and start sending regular emails to keep your contacts up to date with great freebies and special promos.
The Golden Question - How Often Should I Send Emails?
There is no definitive rule to this however, in my opinion your email marketing strategy should aim to add value to your contacts and have you positioned as the go-to person when the time comes for them to buy what you have to offer. So whether you email once a week, 2-3 times a week or once a month, so long as you are achieving your purpose then it warrants the frequency of emails.
I'm a feedback lover so share the love and leave a comment or a thought. And remember to 'Like' this post... thanks and happy emailing!
Within minutes, Seb's already telling me about how the game of sales has changed. And I'm thinking, "How? We're still working with people, so the principles must be the same!" That's when he elaborated on about how people often think selling is about how good we are at regurgitating product info. But there's more to it. It's now about how well you connect with your customer and the experience you create for them. And this totally made sense to me because over the years, I've noticed an uprising overlap between customer service and sales roles in many businesses. It’s become so grey that you wonder who’s actually in customer service and who’s part of sales.
How Good Customer Service Can Boost Your Sales
It's been studied over and over that a majority of people often choose to purchase a product or service not soley on price, but rather on how much they liked and enjoyed their experience of your service. This means that the better your customer service is, the more likely you are going to convert customers into paying ones, which enables your business to grow faster. The bonus behind your efforts is that people love referring their friends and family to you if they found your experience enjoyable. So below are three things I believe every business must know about providing an exceptional customer experience.
Become An Exceptional Listener
I used to think that listening was all about thinking about a reply whilst the other person is talking. Well it's not. And neither is just sitting there with a smile without anything to ask your customer. True listening involves a combination of asking the right questions and listening for the things that truly matters to your clients. Because the old 'one size' fits all approach to selling doesn't work any more. Which means our role has taken on more of an advisory role where we'd recommend particular products or services based on your customers genuine situation. Without listening, you can't provide the customer with the right solution. But if you do listen, you'll be amazed by what you'll discover and how easy it is to connect with them.
Don’t Wing It Because You’ll Crash
It's too often that people try to 'wing' their meetings hoping that they'll do a good enough job. Well, ‘good’ is not good enough. In today's business world, we need to be exceptional to stand out. And knowing about what you have to offer isn't just about knowing the features. Instead, you need to learn the benefits of each feature and how that relates back to your customer. For example, a phone feature is that it comes with a built-in camera, whilst the benefit of it is that you can always capture special moments on the go.
Offer Only Genuine Value
Once you’re absolutely clear on your customers needs, it’s only then that you should genuinely offer them a solution that is of clear value to them. For example, there is no point trying to offer a swimming pool to a couple who live in an apartment. The reason why this is important is because by providing solutions that are a fit for your customers, you earn their trust and as this pool of trust grows, you become their trusted advisor in your area of expertise. Remember, don’t be tempted into making a quick sale because it’s important to view your clients for their life time value. So always think long term and don’t rush them.
So just as Seb pointed out that the game of sales is changing, take this opportunity to review your approach to your customers because a little adjustment goes a long way in business.
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