Halloween at the Office!

Newsletters? Yes, a tool NOT to miss when building your business.

Newsletters, sometimes called e-zines, are a necessary and effective business opportunity no entrepreneur can afford to pass up. Depending on your proclivity for writing, newsletters can either be a royal pain in the butt or a whole lot of fun. Decide whether you can handle producing one internally and if not, look for outside help. Newsletters are a great tool to use in your marketing plan. When writing them, consider the following:

Make them personal. This is a great time to communicate your culture and build a connection with your readers. Remember, people work with and buy from those they trust.

Make it interactive. Offer a featured readers section such as a story, questions or opinion section. Give away a discount or free guide if they call with the newsletter code. Another way to track and measure the effectiveness of your newsletter.

Use this newsletter to further enhance your message and address the top three areas that you hope your clients will come to you for. Keep it consistent and easy to follow. Consider having a "tip" at the top to keep your readers attention.

As Seen in Simply The Best Magazine

Branding?

A good brand is about consistency and a strong identity. It stems beyond your logo, and if you don't have one, developing your logo or image is a great place to start!

Here are some quick tips:

Logo -- A logo is simply an iconic image to represent your company. The ING orange dot, the Nike swoosh...icons that are consistently used and marketed.

Color -- Corporate colors are increasingly important. While they never used to be as critical, many firms associate colors with what they represent. For example, when we developed the brand for my home care agency, we chose to avoid red since it represented blood.

Shape -- Blocks, subtle marks, soft fonts...every bit of the design is reflective of you - your company - your image.

Tag Line -- Key Words and Phrases -- Consistent language that your target audience can relate to is important and the implementation of these words when spoken or written is used to reflect your company.

USP -- What is your unique selling position? What is your value add? What makes you different from your competition? Everyone is the leader, the best, the only choice, the first choice. But what do YOU do that is TRULY different? Around here, we are Not Your Ordinary Chicks. Simple - makes you laugh, makes you wonder. Exactly what we wanted. We are different and we make a difference in everything we do. It is ok to be different in a marketing agency.

Let me give you a couple of more examples: Avenue HomeCare - An extension of your family. VitaShape MD. Beautiful Cells, Beautiful Self. Estate Planning Law Center ~ Keeping Life Simple

What is your Unique Selling Position?

For your USP - brainstorm with words that will "move" people. Search the internet. Look at competitors in your market. See what they are doing and offering but more importantly - What they are not. Take advantage of today's volatile market by positioning yourself and your firm as an educational resource. The "leader" in helping people.

Pay attention to your local news and print mediums (newspaper) and market your firm to associate with, support or capitalize on the area concerns/weaknesses. For example, foreclosures or protecting land that people may have. Although they may have lost money in the stock market, they can still protect what they have.

Write articles that address the needs in your area. Submit that article to all media. Post it on your website - on your blog. Send copies to existing and potential professional referral sources. Send copies to your past and current clients. Put copies in your waiting area. Send it to your radio stations - especially those AM talk shows and public TV.

The 3 C's

Customer Centric Copy - On the internet today it is so important to create an on line reality that is impressive to your target audience. Using the right web content can boost your reputation and make your company more credible on the internet.

Keep in mind that your visitors do not visit to hear about you, specifically. They have found your site in the interest of learning more about what you do, what you offer and what it can do for them.

One way to help you build on line credibility is to publish a case study. It never hurts to offer details of how you have worked with someone else - how you made a difference for them. This not only helps the visitor relate, but also put your services into perspective. It may even initiate further thought or interest in an area that they didn't know you offered.

Finally, case studies can essentially help build a sense of trust with your visitors.

Drive Clients to Your Website

With the wealth of information available on the web, how do you drive clients to your Web site?

And once they are there, how do you get them to schedule a consultation?

Don't overload your visitors or make it difficult for them to find what they are looking for.
Keeping it simple is your best bet in several ways. For example, clear information on where you are located, how to contact your office and a strong headline that speaks to the unique benefits your firm offers. It is also important not to overload your website with too much information.
Keeping it fresh and up to date is more advantageous than overwhelming people.

You should also avoid too much flash technology on your site, which appears as splash pages or some sort of animation. A lot of 'cool' features will actually impede your ability to be found in an organic search. For instance, if your practice logo is placed on your site as an image vs. text, it's virtually invisible to search engines. What's more, those flashy bells and whistles can slow down the loading time for your Web site. People are incredibly impatient on the Internet.

You've got literally one or two seconds to grab their attention.

ESP?

Not only do we have it, we used it daily. If your firm is not utilizing the strength of ESP, it should be.

Many business owners have or are beginning to realize the power of the internet, that keeping your information current is critical to your on line success. Your firm has the potential to create a website that compete with your competitors providing that you keep the self-centered content out and the educational material in. After all, at Brock MacNeill, our ESP represents our strength in being a leading electronic service providers.