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Business

Business Owners, How Do You Get Out of That Vicious Cycle?

Business Plan - Picture courtesy of cuvc.org
Business Plan - Picture courtesy of cuvc.org

by Lisa J. Lehr

Business owners can easily get stuck in a vicious cycle: Business isn’t so good. They can’t afford to outsource their marketing. They do it themselves, results remain poor, and business remains not-so-good.

How do business owners get out of this vicious cycle? It’s not easy, but it’s simple: they make a decision to get serious about their marketing before they lose their business altogether. If you’re a business owner finding yourself in this rut, here are some ideas to get you started:

1.      Define your audience. If you try to market to everyone, you end up marketing to no one. Who’s your target market? Once you’ve figured this out, you may discover you don’t have to spend as much money on marketing as you have been.

2.      Find a copywriter. Ask other local business people or do an online search. You can work with someone locally or long-distance, as you prefer. Fee structures vary. After you’ve interviewed a few, it’s best to choose one in the mid-range. Highly paid copywriters are the best, but a lot of their cost is simply their fame. Don’t choose the lowest bidder—you’ll get what you pay for.

3.      Get a website! It’s mind-boggling that some business owners still don’t “get it” that a website is absolutely essential. Many potential customers want to “check you out” before they call you or come into your place of business. If they can’t, they may well go to your competitor instead. It’s really not a highly technical task anymore, but if you don’t have the skills or the time to do it yourself, outsource it.

4.      Put an opt-in box on your website. Collect names and e-mail addresses. Keep a list. Then keep in touch with your list. It’s that simple.

5.      Have a call to action. This can work in harmony with the opt-in, such as “download your free report,” or separately, such as “call for a free consultation.” But be sure to tell your website visitors what you want them to do.

6.      Give them free information. It may seem counter-intuitive, but giving away information accomplishes two things: it establishes you as an expert, and it makes people feel indebted to you. Free information can take many forms. Ask your copywriter about it.

7.      Take advantage of free publicity. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and several other social media tools are free. Learn how to use them.

8.      Leverage testimonials. The first thing you need to know is that you (almost) never use a testimonial word-for-word. That would be akin to recording a real-life conversation and transcribing it as-is for dialog in a novel. (It really doesn’t sound very good.) If you do not haves testimonials (maybe you’re a new business), your copywriter can help you work around this.

9.      Leverage customer complaints. Complaints are not all bad! Among other things, they tell you what you need to improve. While an unhappy customer spreads the “bad” word much farther and wider than a happy one spreads the “good” word, you can turn an unhappy customer into a happy one.

10.  As a local business, you can create a “coupon swap” program with another local business and double your potential customer base.

11.  Ask your copywriter what kinds of marketing collateral would benefit your business. White papers, news releases, fliers, brochures, postcards, and many others are all in the repertoire of any good copywriter.

These are all ideas I thought of in just a few minutes. If any of them sound mysterious to you, it’s probably because you don’t have the marketing expertise that a copywriter has. And that’s fine; you’re not expected to. That’s what copywriters are for.

Get serious about your marketing. Talk to your colleagues, log on to Google, do whatever you need to do to find a copywriter who will make your marketing work…before your business becomes another victim of the vicious cycle.

Lisa J. Lehr is a writer and copywriter living in Grass Valley. She can help you promote your business with a full range of online and offline marketing pieces. A member of Empire Toastmasters, she’s available to speak to your business or professional group. Visit her website www.justrightcopy.com for more information, opt in for the message series, and receive a free Marketing Guide.

—
Lisa J. Lehr
I write words that make you money–just ask me how.
www.justrightcopy.com
Visit my website and sign up for my fr~ee marketing tips.
New! No~cost Marketing Guide now available at my website.

Bits & Pieces, Business

You Don’t Have to Be a Helpless Victim of “This Economy”



by Lisa J. Lehr

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really tired of hearing the phrase “in this economy.” As in: “Everyone’s trying to save money…in this economy.” “Who can afford this, that, or the other thing…in this economy?” “Good luck getting a job, making a profit, running a business…in this economy.”

It’s as if “this economy” is a catch-all excuse for failure, inaction, and stuck-ness. Okay, certain things are out of our control. But let’s not throw everything that is within our control into the same hopeless bag. If you’re a business owner, there’s a lot you can do to secure an advantage over your competition who’s given in to the doom-and-gloom mentality of “this economy.”

Here are some starters:

1.      Figure out your USP, and tell everybody what it is. If you’re not sure if you even have a USP, it means “unique selling proposition.” So what makes you so special? If you’re not the biggest, the oldest, or the closest, you must have something else that no one else has. Dig it out, polish it up, show it off. Hint: what do your best customers say about you?

2.      Make sure your website is as good as it can be. Please don’t tell me you don’t have a website! (Okay, do tell me…I can help.) Forget the flash and snazzy graphics. You need a clean, easily navigable, informative website. The more content, the better—both for getting more web traffic and for making your readers know, like, and trust you. People who know, like, and trust you will buy from you! And on that website…

3.      Put an opt-in form in a prominent place. This simple tool can literally bring in 90% of your sales. If you’re not sure what this is, I’m sure you’ve seen them on other websites: people enter their name and e-mail address and give you permission to keep in touch with them. Voila, when they need the product or service you offer, guess who’s top-of-mind—you!

4.      Be famous. Not celebrity-famous—but establishing yourself as an expert in your field will put you light-years ahead of your competitors. This means you offer articles, news releases, blog posts, case studies, white papers, even an informative Yellow Pages ad—all kinds of free, no-obligation content that gets your name “out there” and convinces people you know your stuff. Secondary benefit: all that “free stuff” makes people feel indebted to you—and more likely to choose you over your competitors.

5.      Have materials to hand out. Called “marketing collateral,” these are all the print pieces that support any sales messages you have: brochures, free articles, point-of-sale take-home pieces, catalogs, magalogs, white papers, and so on. These offline pieces have a “stickiness” that online content doesn’t have: people will keep, re-read, and pass along to others informative reading material. Make sure your contact info (including your web address!) is on everything.

Advertising can be expensive. And that “I can’t afford to advertise…in this economy” mentality has led to the failure of many businesses…especially in this economy. But the above relatively simple and inexpensive strategies will give you the visibility, authority, and distinction you need to remain competitive in your field. Even in this economy. Especially in this economy.

Lisa J. Lehr is a writer and copywriter living in Grass Valley. She can help you promote your business with a full range of online and offline marketing pieces. A member of Empire Toastmasters, she’s available to speak to your business or professional group. Visit her website www.justrightcopy.com for more information, opt in for a message series, and receive a free Marketing Guide.

Business

Chrysler May Terminate Liberty Motors Chrysler-Dodge Dealership

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Liberty Motors
Liberty Motors

Wow, in continuing bad news for Grass Valley’s tax revenues and our local shopping, Chrysler has announced that they are trying to close 789 dealerships according to CNN today. One of the chosen one’s is our local Chrysler dealer, G.K. Alcombrack, Inc. known as Liberty Motors Dodge Chrysler off of Freeman Lane.

Since Chrysler is in bankruptcy court, they are asking that the sales and service agreements between Chrysler Motors LLC and the 789 dealerships be terminated.

Chrysler has already sent letters to the dealerships and “Upon approval from the court, your agreement will be rejected on or about June 9, 2009”. This represents about 25% of their dealerships and represents about 14% of their sales.

So now we have lost Weaver GMAC, Ford has moved to Auburn and we may lose Chrysler. The only car sales remaining in Western Nevada County will be used car dealers. If we want to buy a new car, we’ll have to go out of town. Not a good thing, sorry to say. That means we have not only lost our dealerships, but when we want warranty work, that’s another trip out of town and more lost revenue.

I talked to Ernie Shewmaker today, salesman for Liberty Motors and he stated that they will continue to sell used cars at their present site. He claims they have not ordered any vehicles from Chrysler in months. However, their website still reflects that they are a Chrysler dealer.

To read the full story got to CNN Chrysler Closing 789 Dealerships

For a map of the 789 Dealerships to be closed go to New York Times Maps of Closings