Where Does Social Media Fit In With Your MarketingAuthor: Ingrid Cliff
But where does social media such as forums, blogs, social bookmarking fit with your overall marketing strategy?
Social media does not replace all of your other marketing - it just changes the mix.
When I look at a company's marketing I categorise it into two main areas - Online and Offline. I then break these down into further categories.
Online:* Website & Search engine strategies * Customer strategies* List building strategies* Sales strategies* Social Media
Offline:* Hands-off strategies (where you communicate with your customers indirectly) such as advertising, marketing collateral, direct mail, sponsorship, press releases* Hands-on strategies (where you communicate face to face with customers) such as trade shows, seminars, events, client nurturing* Shared strategies (where you work with others to jointly grow your businesses) such as networking, alliances, joint ventures, referrals
When a business is looking at marketing, they need to look at the right blend of these strategies to meet their specific goals.
Social media is just one part of the blend - but there are many reasons I love the Social Media for small business.
For starters the big one - it's almost totally free! The only cost with much of the social media strategies is time if you do it yourself.
You can target your social media strategy so it also achieves the side targets of all of your other online strategies - more loyal customers, bigger list, better sales, and increased search engine presence.
The downside is it can be tricky to learn what to do; many of your peers and colleagues look at you as if you have suddenly grown two heads when you talk about it (so peer support can be quite low); and if not done correctly it can suck up hours of time without much result.
Off-line strategies are more traditional and have been proven to work over the years. The downside is they are often quite costly and in many cases you don't get the results you were hoping for.
I know of people who have paid $3000+ for a tradeshow booth plus fit-out and printing costs, as well as wages and time and ended up with very little result.
With all marketing strategies - both online and off line, you need to calculate return on investment. You want to see how much the strategy costs to acquire a new customer.
So in the case of the tradeshow - let's assume they spent all up $5000 on the show and acquired 10 new customers - the cost to acquire each new customer was $500. You need each customer to spend more than $500 with you over the life of their history with you in order to generate a return on investment.
I recommend businesses run the stats ruler over their networking activities in particular. Add in the membership fees, annual fees, meal fees, lost earning time (if appropriate) and then calculate how much new business you have generated from that process.
This is very confronting for many people - they may enjoy their networking but when they run the financial ruler over it they find they are paying out much more than they are getting back in financial return.
Of course not everything is about money - if you are getting your personal needs for connection and being part of something bigger met, then your investment in networking is a worthwhile one for you personally. Just be clear it is not really a business strategy but a personal strategy and you will go into your next session with a slightly different outlook and will gain more from it as a result.
So back to where social media fits with your marketing strategy.
Well it all depends on what you want to achieve, the demographics of your market, the amount you have to spend and the time you have available. In my experience it is something worth adding to your marketing blend.
(Copyfrom:www.articlesbase.com)Spread the Word About Your VIP ServiceAuthor: Art Gib
Your restaurant is only as good as the word of mouth about it. If you're not causing a stir with your good service, you won't be bringing in the high quality clientele. Champagne buckets and personalized meal plans only go so far to cause your clients to do the marketing for you. You need to learn how to effectively market your VIP service too.
Be as Good as Your Reputation
When you want good word of mouth, you need to make sure your restaurant can hold up under scrutiny. That is, you need to be as good as you want people to think you are. Try to come up with a list of special services you can offer to your clients and then make sure that every guest gets a taste of this list.
This can be something a simple as a free drink with dinner or beautifully arranged meals -- it doesn't have to cost you any money. But create an impression with each and every guest when they eat at your restaurant. This is going to get people talking and it keeps people coming in.
Advertise Where Your Customers Are
Advertising is somewhat of an archaic form of marketing, it seems. After all, you don't see world class restaurants advertising in the newspapers. What you need to do is look at where your ideal customers already are. For example, if you want to appeal to the rich and famous, you need to be advertising in the hotels where they might be staying. Talk with the hotel to see if you can get
listed in the services they recommend to their guests so that you can get and stay noticed.
If you are looking to cater to the business class, you need to advertise with tourism bureaus and with travel agencies. This way, you will encourage a trip to your restaurant as a part of their travel plans.
When you're a healthy restaurant, you might want to advertise at fitness centers and spas as a part of a healthy spa day -- check with the businesses to see how you can both benefit from this type of situation.
Press Releases Work
Creating validity for your restaurant is one of the most important marketing tricks you can learn. Write or have someone else write up a press release that explains the benefits of your restaurant. This release should be sent to press release websites as well as to your local newspaper entertainment section to help spread the word about your place.
Honestly, people believe everything they read and see online, so getting your restaurant 'noticed' in this way is going to bring more people in the door. This article should be factual without being sales-y and it should describe various things your restaurant offers that no others do. Since it looks like 'news,' the reader will be more likely to find out more.
(Copyfrom:www.articlesbase.com)The Maven Matrix Manifesto Revealed, Review and GuideAuthor: Dr. Robert C. Worstell, Phd
The reason for the importance of the Maven Matrix Manifesto
To begin with, Jay Abraham has considerable weight with me, mostly as I've been able to get some of his tapes and listen to them. While he deals with this scene of being important in his field - and makes good money through what he does - you have to be able to reject any of what he says and test it against real-world applications: ie. how can you immediately use it, how can you apply it to future projects, how would this have changed what you did in the past. Action is the word to apply.
Next point - I don't like the title, I don't like the artwork. But the basic data is why I'm writing this.
Now, you have to go beyond the pitch to get to the data. And that's why I boiled this all down for you and put it up on the web as a series of Slideshares.
When you download their extensive PDF, go to page 35. This is where the real data begins. And it stops at page 68. 33 actual pages of data from 88. Everything else is their using the maven matrix and general sales techniques on you.
I say in my slideshare that every single penny you invest with them is well worth it - providing you actually USE it. And I repeat that mantra several times throughout: you only get out what you put in.
Let's get into the review:
The Overview
The reason you are studying this is to climb to the top of your niche as the de facto expert and market leader for it. And so then reap the benefits in terms of traffic and subscribers and income.
All this Matrix does, besides some important strategies, is to position you and create a brand out of your persona. That's the key point. We're really just buying a new suit to wear - which is going to make you stand out from the crowd. Perfect thing to get attention - which you can then convert to regular subscribers and continuing sales.
What we are going to do is use the working principles of "old school" advertising with new techniques. All the "old" books on advertising principles and copywriting work, just as good as ever. These are just some modern tweaks.
The Eleven Points
There are eleven points to the matrix. Let's just drop right into these and tear them apart.
1. Gain Your Market's Trust - do your homework on the niche you are in and find out how it works, what the problems are. Boil this down into a blanket statement - a personal story of how you've been there and done that yourself.
You're telling a story which readers will embrace. People think in stories. Remember that. This is how they figure whether their own life-stories are valuable or not - how to improve it, etc. The more credible story you tell, the more trust you build.
And burn this into the inside of your skull: "All Marketing is Conversation. Conversations Depend on Trust."
2. Establish Your Maven Persona - develop a distinctive character. People love characters and will follow a poor story line or weak plot to find out how that character deals with that scene. You can find tons of characters in classic fiction and modern films which people want to follow. Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker, Lion King, Little Mermaid - you identify with some character trait.
Again, people are working to find out what to do with their lives. They compare their hero/heroine with their own emotional or analytic response. "What would Jesus do?" is a classic approach to this. This is simply how people think - the technical term is "transference." Those charater traits are the ones people actually trust. What's predictable, what helps them feel secure.
They list 24 common character types, but you can roll your own instead of trying to fit into someone else's mold. Play around with this, study the real characters in the popular media, and you'll soon find those traits which resonate with you - these are the ones you trust.
3. Develop your market vision. I'd actually put this first, much as Napoleon Hill in his Think and Grow Rich. You have to know the problems of that niche, but you also have to have a driving vision to achieve and revolve your life around this. Everything really needs to decide what they want to accomplish, for themselves personally, as well as for their niche.
It's what you want to do for others that is the important part. You can't get without giving. So the more you do for others to make them rich, happy, successful, healthy - that is how you are going to get help with your own wealth, happiness, success, health, etc.
All market leaders have a vision for their niche, their industry. Fred Smith (Federal Express), Tom Monaghan (Domino's Pizza), Michael Dell (Dell Computers), Roy Kroc (McDonald's), Sam Walton (Wal-Mart) - all these have created revolutionary new ideas for their particular industry - and took over their niches as a result.
It's not falling in love with your product, or your business, or its growth. Your key to success is to fall in love with the success and growth of your clients. Their success is your success. Period.
The day of the "consumer" (one who consumes) and the "customer" (a creature of habit) are over. The days of real conversations and real service to help your client succeed are the rising tide.
4. Tell Your Creation Myth. The text book for myths is Joseph Cambell's "Man With a Thousand Faces." He studied all the legends and myths and boiled them down to a single outline. Everything fits into this mold. Really.
The creation myth these guys are talking about is the story of where you started and how you got where you are today. Simple. Keep it that way. People want to understand and trust you. Your own humble beginnings tell your story and reflect on your character. See how these things (story, character, trust) all keep coming together?
As they put it, "You have to reveal your hops and dreams, your current frustractions, your personal failures, what you've achieved so far and what you're still struggling to achieve."
One of the all-time great creation myths (outside of Horatio Alger) is Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". Great for study. And there are others out there. Napoleon Hill tells many stories of successful people. Stephen Covey is another great source.
5. Develop Predictable Behaviors - develop trust by being predictable and regular. You have certain "trademark" behaviors, idiosyncrasies. These are what make you an individual. Recognize these, amplify them if you want to - but Be Yourself. And people who like these traits will return to you over and over - as long as you stay the same.
Look over who you trust. What do they do that you like and admire? Have they "always" acted this way? Look over those you don't trust. Chiefly, they change frequently and are unpredictable. They usually don't follow through on major projects or plans, and require a lot of structure in their lives (consider a sturdy corral for excitable livestock...).
6. Become a polarizing figure. You want to create discussion, controversy. Essentially: have strong opinions and state them. Particularly if they have to do with improving the success of your clients: product quality, service integrity, fair and honest treatment.
Don't be politically correct. The most PC people are in the graveyard - they no longer offend anyone. Be yourself - vigorously. Stand up for what is right and sensible - and those things which make your clients' lives easier and more profitable.
While they give really polarizing figures as examples, you don't have to be a "Rich Jerk" in order to succeed. Just be yourself - AT HIGH VOLUME. The point is to be able to attract attention so you can get the conversation started.
7. Develop your own Phraseology. Essentially - create and use trademark phrases which become viral messengers for you. These are special tags or nomenlature which tell about you and your products.
This is common to all silos: pollitics, religion, any technical industry, cults, you name it. Everyone describes their products with special terms, which are often trademarked so no one else can use them. This can also extend to motto's and advertizing phrases. Coke and McDonald have had many memorable slogans and jingles. Viral marketing at its finest.
8. Use a Signature Communications Channel. They tell about a guy who turned a family liquor store into a $50 million business, who has showed up on major late-night and afternoon-talk shows. He started weekly videos on wine for the "average Joe".
Some use "manifestos", others use special reports or blogs. Often this can be a syndicated channel for this news. Even commenting on social media, such as StumbleUpon or FaceBook can qualify you.
Again, the point is distinctive predictability that instills trust.
9. Create a Velvet-Rope Community. Essentially, offering exclusive and increadible access for an incrediblly high price. BUT - you're giving value beyond measure here - which pays incredibly to your bank account and to their success.
The point here is that mavens have only so much time to spend and so when you get personal access, it's worth much more than money. But value is what you say it is - a sale price is determined between the seller and buyer. High-priced houses are more than just a sales job. They are actually worth that much to the buyer.
10. This leads to Evangelists - turn every client, every affiliate into devoted and walking advertisements for you. Essentially this is done by the quality of service you provide, plus their own success as a result of your interaction...
11. Accelerate the process through Mentors. Everyone has mentors. Teachers in school, sports heroes, even the stories you read and the legends, the myths you've encountered. All these send you messages, teach you lessons. Whether you meet with them in person as a coach, or counsellor, or you simply read their books or listen to their tapes.
What you put into those coaching sessions says what you are going to take away. How you apply yourself to those references is how successful you're going to be.
That is the take-away from this Maven Matrix. After this point in the PDF, they simply go head into the sales pitch. And every single penny you invest with them could come back to you twenty-fold.
But my reason for this review is simple:
You can be bigger, greater, more effective, more successful than you've ever thought possible before. Take these guys' advice to heart and become greater than you ever thought possible.
You are special. You have solutions to common problems that other people haven't thought of - save them the time of having to figure it out for themselves. Take the chance.
One life. One future. Yours.
Your choice.
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