There are more ways to sell your product than you might think
If you’re involved in selling anything online then you can easily fall into the trap of thinking that the only way to do it is via banners and text. But there are definitely other ways of selling things online too and here’s a link to an article about a different way that IBM is marketing one of its products online.
A variation on this theme just might work for your small business. Here’s the link
We’re hearing a lot about viral marketing these days and sometimes it seems that if you’re not actively involved in viral marketing then your small business is doomed to fail.
But what is viral marketing? Is it more than just asking your clients and customers to tell others about your great service?
In an article entitled ‘What Makes It Viral?’ published on the ClickZ Network way back in July 2000 Kathleen Riley had this to say about viral marketing:
“Producing a message with a quality offer or an incentive for pass-along is what viral marketing is all about …
Offer something worthy of sharing a valuable discount, vital information or offer an incentive for sharing additional entries into a sweepstakes or an added discount or premium service and viral marketing happens naturally… and often quite successfully.”
So what can you do to get your clients and customers talking about your small business?
Now if you’ve been reading this blog for a while you will have seen me talking about various marketing strategies for small business and home office based businesses. It’s something that Toni and I have been involved in for some time but we’ve never really had a look at the way the big end of town does their marketing.
Well that changed earlier this month when we were invited to the release of McKenna – a new bourbon new to Australia. The marketing company wanted to create some buzz amongst bloggers here in Queensland and another well-known blogger suggested that Toni and I should be among those targeted.
Unfortunately, due to a mix up, we weren’t able to attend the official McKenna release party but we were kept in the loop with promotional material we could use on the site and two gift packs.
The promotional material was delivered via email in a .ppt file. Neither of us have Power Point installed so that was a bit of a waste.
Then the gift packs arrived yesterday. The cap was nice but there was no way it would fit my head (heck even the Army had to hunt around to find a hat big enough for me when I enlisted).
The t-shirt fitted me like a glove but Toni’s … well … at least she was flattered 
And then there was the McKenna bourbon and cola … smooth … not overpowering … and didn’t leave a lingering taste in your mouth … and definitely worth buying again.
I guess the lesson here is that the associated fluff can be nice but when you have a great product you have to make sure that it can speak for itself. Toni can’t wait for it to appear in a bottle shop in Hervey Bay.
Thanks to Paul Francis from Zealot and McKenna Bourbon for the chance to peek at the way the big end of town goes about marketing.
If your small business or home office type business is involved in affiliate marketing then you need to be thinking more about press releases.
There is no doubt that press releases are changing and they are now becoming a tool that anyone can use to get your message right to the very people you want to talk to – the consumers.
If you want to get some ideas on how to use a press release to market your sponsors’ wares then you might find this article interesting
If your small business or home office type business is involved in affiliate marketing then you need to be thinking more about press releases.
There is no doubt that press releases are changing and they are now becoming a tool that anyone can use to get your message right to the very people you want to talk to – the consumers.
If you want to get some ideas on how to use a press release to market your sponsors’ wares then you might find this article interesting
There are many ways to advertise your products – just look at motor vehicles for instance. Almost everywhere you look you will see an ad for a motor vehicle or an ad that reinforces a brand name.
Sometimes, if you think outside the box, you can do both at once.
This ad that was produced for Honda in the United Kingdom to advertise their latest Honda Civic model definitely came from somewhere way outside the box but it arouses your interest in the car, it has an underlying message of Honda being an exciting company and there is the appeal of … well I won’t spoil the surprise.
Have a look for yourself and turn your speakers way up – Honda Civic
The scale of the ad is obviously way above anything a small business or home office business could afford but that doesn’t stop you from thinking outside of the box like Honda’s ad agency did.
I’ve beem reading an interesting post titled Marketing in a Post-Cluetrain Era over on Gaping Void and it got me wondering about how to apply what was talked about there to basically any small business in any town big or small.
Recently one of the our friends who runs a computer business was thinking about ways of getting the name of his business in front of people in this town. We suggested that he sponsor the newsletter that goes home to the parents of the students at one of the local high schools.
Here if you sponsor the newsletter you get to advertise on it for free.
Now that’s fine and it does work but what would you do if you felt that there was some value in what was talked about on Gaping Void?
It’s something to think about and I’m sure that there are a number of things you could do that would suit your situation.
One thing I just thought of for our friend was to don a tshirt embazoned with the name of his business and help out at the next school fete or even offer to talk to the computer class about computer repairs. Of course, there would be a handout for the kids to take home with them and the name of his business would be right there on the handout.
Those are just some idle thoughts – is the basic concept something that could work for you?
Hmmm – I owe some people some apologies. Elsewhere I mentioned that yesterday I would post about why video blogs had the potential to be unattractive marketing tools for small businesses and I didn’t do it … but I will – just as soon as I can find where Toni filed something she wrote for another website.
Once I’ve found it I can be a bit lazy and copy and paste most of it and add a few comments and it will be done.
Until then I’ll just have to feel guilty about not doing it and I was sitting here feeling guilty as I read through this week’s property guide for another project I’m working on.
Right now the real estate industry in Australia is in the doldrums and even though we live in one of the five biggest growth areas in the country the local real estate market is basically dead.
So I decided to have a look in the property guide to see how the local real estate agents were selling house. Now many real estate agents will tell you that houses basically sell themselves and I don’t doubt that for a moment. However when you’re in competition with many other real estate agents who list in the same property guide you do have to do something about getting people to stop and actually look at the houses.
Now a good way of doing that is to include power words in the headlines. Power words are words that the human race is conditioned to read and act on. Not surprisingly in a 50 page property guide I found one power word … and I also found a lot of crap too.
So here are 10 lines of real estate crap just from the first few pages of our property guide.
2. Vendor Says ‘Sell’ – ummm … don’t they all?
3. Budget Beater – are you trying to tell me that buying this house is going to destroy my finances?
4. Magnificent Home – Panoramic Views – then why are you showing me a picture of the pool in the backyard?
5. You’re Buying the Land – the Units are Almost a Gift – you really think we’re that stupid?
6. It Doesn’t Come Much Better Than This - I hope it does because the house in the picture looks rather plain
7. Is There Cheaper? – Yep two lines down and three photos to the right in their own ad
8. Looking to Grab a Bargain? Why are you showing me a photo of an entertainment unit? I thought this was the real estate guide.
9. Is There a Better Location? – you mean the claustrophobic kitchen in the photo is the best location in town?
10. A Little Unique – yep it’s got three gum trees in the front yard instead of the usual palm trees.
Actually #8 contains a power word that I missed – it’s a pity the agent couldn’t match that word with a view of a house.
Even if you have a product that will sell itself you still need to use the right words to attract the attention of potential buyers.
Here is a excerpt taken from a press release that hit my inbox today. I’m not sure that this idea is going to work for everyone – in fact I’m not sure that it is going to work for very many people at all but anything that challenges you to think is worth looking at.
One thing I definitely don’t agree with is something that Joe says in his introduction (and I elected not to post the introduction) and that is:
Forget about blogs. They’re so 2004.
Nice hype Joe but blogs are not a thing of the past and that line almost made me hit the delete button before I finished reading the rest of your message.
Working in his small home office over the garage, Joe Chapuis knows the next big thing is upon us. Internet video has arrived, and it presents the opportunity of a lifetime – especially for the little guy.
For less than $2,000, Joe Chapuis has built a mini-studio at home where where he produces his new video newsletter for entrepreneurs and small business owners, The HotBizz Report His topics include ecommerce, internet marketing and inspirational success stories.
“It’s amazing. Just a few years ago, this would have been nearly impossible,” he says. “Now, anyone with a decent camera and the right software can brodcast digital-quality video to millions of people around the world.”
Using a $650 digital camcorder, and several low-budget software programs for video production and editing, Chapuis produces two 3-4 minute video shows each week. His only other overhead cost is for web hosting. “I’ve got a dedicated server that runs me $99 month,” he adds, “But I’ll probably have to upgrade to a more expensive package to handle the increased bandwidth usage as my audience grows.”
However, the fact that anyone can now create their own home-grown video show for global distribution doesn’t mean that every production is going to find a sizable audience. “The number of vloggers is growing daily,” he says. “People aren’t going to waste precious time watching your show just because it’s there.” He adds, “The content has to be good if you want to stand out from the crowd and make a name for yourself.”
Well, to start 2006 off on the right foot let me share with you this lesson about branding. It all started when one guy in an industry with a bad reputation wanted to branch out into franchising.
You can read about it right here