Don't Assume

Never assume your current clients know all you can do for them. The best way to get more business is to get more from existing customers. The only way you can do that is to keep telling them all that you do. One marketing strategy for this is to send out a printed piece that lists all the things you do followed by pieces that expand on each individual item. The way a printer might do this is to create a piece that talks about brochures, business cards, wide format printing, book binding, and so forth, with a short paragraph about each thing. This would then be followed with a postcard that talks more about each individual item.

This strategy works well for most businesses -- from lawn care to lawyers. Mowing, landscaping, xeriscaping, etc., followed by details of what each of those things is and why. Litigation, taxes, wills, etc., you get the picture.

Keep telling people about the things you do, and don't get frustrated if they don't seem to "get it" right away. No matter how many years I've been working with a printing client, I still get people walking in who say, "Oh, you do that? I had no idea!" It can be frustrating when you think you've gotten your message out...but that sentence is an opportunity for me to tell people about all my printing and marketing services...and it is an opportunity for you to tell people what you do, too.

What is the most valuable benefit about going to trade shows?

Yesterday, Hall Letter Shop was at the Bakersfield Business Expo and we were lucky to meet some great people and see some great people that are already customers and friends of ours.

We were very excited to show some of our new products and technology including the use of QR Codes, Cross-Media Marketing and more. Going to Business shows like that is invaluable to a business like ours and a great way to market products and services that are offered!

Tell us: Do you go to trade shows for your business? What type of business do you have? If you do go, what is the most valuable benefit to going to trade shows? What successes have you had? If you don't go, why not?

How are you using your time?

I ran across a startling infographic I thought I'd share with you. It's on the website Information Is Beautiful, at http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/cognitive-surplus-visualized/. US adults spend roughly 200 billion hours (combined) watching TV each year. By contrast, it took just 100 million hours to create Wikipedia.

All of us at one time or another have wished we had more time. But have we stopped to think about how we're using the time we have? Are we contributing more to mindless activities like watching TV, or are we using our time for more worthwhile pursuits?

It's something to think about, the next time you reach for the remote control.

World Leaders... In Their Own Words... For Free

If you're looking for powerful speeches from some of the top thinkers in business, entertainment, and politics from around the world, look no further than TED.com. TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, is a nonprofit group that sponsors conferences across the US and UK. Attendees pay to hear thought leaders ranging from Al Gore and Steve Jobs to Dr. Jane Goodall and writer J.J. Abrams.

What's unique about TED is that the group makes all of its past speeches available free on its website and even allows reposting. An archive of over 600 speeches, searchable by name and topic/theme, is available, with translations into more than 75 languages. The site also includes a blog, a thriving online community, and information about upcoming events.

For more information visit http://www.ted.com. But be warned. Once you get there, you might never want to leave.

What's your Twitter Grade?

What's Your Twitter Grade?

Influence is a hot topic in social media circles. Becoming influential -- or at least getting noticed by those who already are -- can help spread your message on sites like Twitter through mentions, retweets, and click-throughs to your website. One site that purports to score Twitter accounts on their level of influence is Klout.com.

As the site explains, "The Klout Score is a measurement of your overall online influence." Scores range from 0-100 and are based off 25 variables that combine to measure a user's reach, amplification, and network strength. "We believe influence is the ability to drive people to action," the site continues. "Action might be defined as a reply, a retweet, or clicking on a link."

Because scores are based on such diverse criteria, a user's raw follower count does not ensure them of a high Klout score. Similarly, a person with few followers might have a higher Klout score because of the quality of those followers and the conversations that take place between the user and their community.

To test your Twitter "klout," go to http://klout.com and enter your Twitter username in the box. You can re-check your score once a week, to see how well you're doing at improving your engagement.

Mining for Data Gold

Information is power. You and I both know that, but you may not realize just how powerful information can be or how it can be used. Think of the marketing power behind what you know. The children's shoe shop that collects the names and birthdays of its small customers can use that data to send out personalized postcards with a birthday coupon. Flower shops can keep track of anniversaries. Vets can send out updates about shots.

Your database represents a goldmine of information for all your marketing plans...but many small businesses are awful at maintaining a great database. Are you? Is your goldmine brimming with information, or is it played out?

This weekend, spend some time updating, editing, and cleaning your database. Gather names, addresses, phone numbers, and email information from your invoices, handwritten notes, emails, and existing data. Then put all of that information into one database you can use. Your "database" may consist of little more than a simple Excel spreadsheet, or it may require a more robust solution, such as ACT, Goldmine, QuickBooks, or any number of other options.

Going forward, get your staff to ask for complete information. Create a basic information form or questionnaire for customers and prospects, and use it to get the kind of information you can use to better know – and understand – your customers and their needs.

Share and Share Alike

Do you want to increase the traffic to your blog? One way to do that is by encouraging visitors to share your content on their various social networks. Facebook offers a couple ways to do this. The first is the "Like" button, which you can add to any page on the Internet. In most cases, the feature requires just a single line of HTML code, which you can download from the Facebook website (http://developers.facebook.com/docs/guides/web#plugins). The second is the Facebook Share link, which you can access here (http://www.facebook.com/share/). Again, you need just a small piece of code that you can add to any page on your blog.

Twitter recently created its own share button, similar to Facebook's. You can learn more by visiting http://twitter.com/goodies/tweetbutton. Another good Twitter sharing tool is TweetMeme. Their website is http://tweetmeme.com.

Depending on the blogging site you use, there might be plugins available to automate the process. Check with your blog provider to find out more. In any case, adding share and like-style buttons to your website and blog are a great way to increase traffic and generate more buzz.

Cross-Media Marketing

Hall Letter Shop is excited to announce our implementation of MindFire marketing intelligence software. New capabilities include creation and deployment of targeted, trackable cross-media campaigns.

Marketing Professionals and businesses are becoming increasingly interested in a higher level of interactivity from their marketing and advertising efforts. There is also a demand for higher response rates and a real time measurement of campaign effectiveness.

By blending the strengths of Direct Mail, the Internet, Email, Social Media, QR codes and other advertising media with the power of real time result reporting, you get a new and more effective marketing technique called cross-media marketing.

Is Busyness Hurting Your Business?

All too often the "shoemaker's kids have no shoes" effect takes place in businesses. Many business owners get so wrapped up in the day-to-day struggles of staying afloat that they forget to step back and look at the bigger picture as often as they should.

Whether you are a small, independent business or not, you should have a marketing strategy that ensures your company is properly equipped and focused to move in the right direction.

Sit down with a pencil, and write out your objectives; your long-term goals and vision; your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; and what you can do now to ensure success down the road. Don't assume you are too small to have a strategy or that busyness now will ensure continued success in the future. There is nothing more embarrassing than being a shoemaker whose kids have no shoes!

All the elements of the marketing process (objectives, segmentation, targeting, positioning and product, price, place, promotion) need to be considered. Everything should be measured based on your objectives and continually adjusted as necessary.

Above all, you should be able to immediately answer the question: Why should someone use you over your competitor? Are you more "strategy"-focused? Do you offer a more competitive per diem? Do you have 24/7 availability? Do you have 30 years of experience in your field? What makes you worth buying from? If you can't explain it to yourself, how are you going to communicate it effectively to your customer?

Welcome to Hall Letter Shop's Blog!

We will be featuring traditional/online/social media articles that will be helpful to your business and keep you updated about the services that Hall Letter Shop offers.

Hope you enjoy!