Business

Author : claude whitacreYour customers want the same things we all want; After the basic need to be fed, warm, and safe from the weather, we all want:

To be well liked
To be thought of as clever
To be thought of as attractive
To be thought of as special
To be accepted by our group ( friends, church, hobby, occupation any group we hold important)
To feel like we got a special deal from the local merchant
Our family to love us

See how universal these things are?
Notice they were all about the customer (or more specifically, the person wanting these things) None of these "wants" are about things We all have inner needs, and these needs are pretty universal

Did you notice that the above list of customer wants doesn\’t include buying anything? The reason customers buy is because they have the belief that owning what you sell will help bring them closer to satisfying one or more of their desires

Also notice that none of the things we want are truly altruistic? Helping other people may help us satisfy one of our desires, but the desires themself are entirely selfish

Wanting things for other people usually is way down on the list of things we want & think about Our customers are the same way It isn\’t that we are evil, it\’s that we do things for other people either out of obligation or because it makes us feel better about ourselves in some way

How does this help us as small business owners?
We can treat customers better We can, by our actions, make them feel better about buying from us We can laugh at their jokes a little more often We can listen to their stories without rolling our eyes in boredom We can treat them like new friends We can treat them like we want to be treated ourselves

The great Zig Ziglar said that you can get anything you want if you help enough people get what they want There is power in that thought

Can you make your customer feel a little more important than they felt when they first came in your store? Of course you can Can you make hem feel more clever? Sure, just credit them with a good idea or a good question when they ask a question Any small business owner can do that

Can you give them a feeling that they got a special deal, just for them? Of course It doesn\’t have to be something big Almost any little extra will do Any little extra effort will do Small businesses become bigger businesses by giving just a little extra Nothing creates BUZZ like treating you customers like real friends And the core of that idea is giving a little more than they paid for

Do you remember the last store, restaurant, or business you visited that made you feel pretty good about going there? Think hard Treat your customers like that

Appeal to a customer\’s self centered needs first, and your needs will always be taken care of It\’s one of the few ways to get rich Give more than you take

That\’s it for now
Small business advertising expert Claude Whitacre is author of the book The Unfair Advantage Small Business Advertising Manual. You can download a complete free copy at http://www.local-small-business-advertising-marketing-book.com or you can just buy a copy at http://www.claudewhitacre.comSubmitted By ArticleUnited.com Submission Services

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Author : claude whitacreThere are many reasons why an advertisement doesn't produce a profit Here are several reasons ads fail, and how to make them profitable

Using "Image Advertising"
Most image advertising is generated by an advertising agency Image ads are created to sell the ad to the advertiser, not sell the product to the consumer Image ads are effective in one way They make the local advertising more effective It\’s easier to sell something if the name is known Credibility has already been partially established But you still need the local advertising to get the customer off the sofa and into the store Image ads create familiarity Local ads create the desire to buy the product now Great ads create the value in the product, and a reason to buy now

High expectations
Some exceptional ads will generate profits at ten or twenty times their cost But most successful ads break even with just a little profit made If your ads break even, you have created a new customer at no cost Most successful companies are happy if their ads break even They are buying their customer for free The vast majority of the profits are made on the relationship you have established with the customer, not from the first sale But making a profit on the first sale is easily done if you follow a few simple rules

Customers don\’t see your ad
If you\’re in the wrong section of the newspaper, you won\’t be seen by your most likely buyers If you\’re on a radio station that plays Heavy Metal music, and you sell hearing aids, your most likely buyers won\’t hear your ad You have to advertise where your customers are

Customers don\’t read your ad
This may be painful to hear Nobody will read your ad if they aren\’t compelled to by your headline Your company name is not a headline It creates no interest It creates no demand A headline needs to grab the reader\’s attention, and create instant interest, or the reader won\’t read the ad
Slogans are not headlines "We service what we sell" isn\’t a headline Read magazine covers Everything written on the cover is a headline They are designed to make you want to read more
Look at a newspaper Every article has a headline The paper itself has a headline Would you ever read an article without a headline? No Headlines are a way for the reader to skim through the paper (or TV, Radio, Direct Mail) to find something that grads their attention and interests them Every successful ad has a headline, and it\’s always at the top of the ad

Ads create no value
This is a major cause of ads failing The reader has to see, in the ad, how they are benefitting If you are selling a product for $500, you better show at least $1,000 of value in the ad

Ads are trying to be cute
The first place many creative ad writers go is the Clever route Cute, funny, clever ads are fun to make and feel like they should work Here\’s why they don\’t; Clever ads make the reader-listener-viewer think about the ad You want them thinking about the product Have you ever seen an infomercial? Do they use jingles? Sing songs? Tell jokes? Nope Have you ever had a sales presentation? That\’s what an ad is, a sales presentation in print Profitable sales presentations focus on three things; Benefits, benefits, and benefits The customer is asking "What\’s in it for me? What do I get? How does it benefit me?"

"Clever" entertains Giving the customer an irresistible offer sells And isn't that what we all want?Small business advertising expert Claude Whitacre is author of the book The Unfair Advantage Small Business Advertising Manual. You can download a complete free copy at http://www.local-small-business-advertising-marketing-book.com or you can just buy a copy at http://www.claudewhitacre.comSubmitted By ArticleUnited.com Submission Services

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Author : claude whitacreThere are several points to consider if you want to start a small business to build mousetraps Of course "mousetrap" is a metaphor for any new product I just picked mousetraps because it was catchy These points will apply to that thing you sell too Just watch

1) Do people really want a better, and more expensive mousetrap? Is there something about the mousetraps sold now that people don\’t like? For example, do people get their fingers snapped by the tripping mechanism? Do they hate the idea of picking up a dead mouse to dispose of it? Is it the sight o the dead mouse? The smell? Just the idea of mangling a perfectly innocent mouse?
If so, there is a marketing and advertising opportunity here

2) Is your market growing, or shrinking? Are there more people buying mousetraps than last year? If so, you have an opportunity to ride the wave with a slightly cheaper version of the current mousetrap You may consider writing an article about the evils of mice infesting you home You could write to the local newspaper about how mice cause more damage every year than termites If the number of mousetraps sold every year is sharply declining, is it because there is something better out there killing mice? If not, building a better mousetrap, with dwindling demand, is a sure way to go bankrupt

3) The world will beat a path to your door? Really? How will they know that you even have a better mousetrap? If there are any paths that are beaten here, it\’s you beating a path to the marketplace First you have to identify the people who would buy a mousetrap at all What causes mice to invade a home? Are there demographic biases to where mice like to live? If there are no mice in California (for example), marketing your better mousetrap there would be a total waste Is there a mouse-outbreak anywhere? Do floods give rise to more mice? Hurricanes?
Is there a type of home where mice are more of a problem? One story? Basement? Fireplace?

4) Do people really want to kill mice? Would a more accepted product be one that repels mice? How about something that repels mice, and gets rid of the smell (assuming that dead mice smell) at the same time? Is that something people want? How about a way to treat the wood or insulation so that mice hate the taste, and won\’t come in at all?

5) The biggest problem I see with the quote "Build a better mousetrap " is that it assumes that the right way to sell something is to just decide what you want to build, make it good, and then let people figure out that you have it, that it will do the job they want, that it\’s worth the price, and that a mousetrap is what they want That\’s got everything in marketing in reverse
Great marketing is : Finding out what people want (what problem they have), making sure that there is a demand in place for this solution, seeing what else is out there to solve that problem,
Figuring out if they will like your product better (not they should like it better, but actually will)
And then how will you market the new solution? What type of advertising and marketing works now to sell a comparable solution? Can you find list of people that already need and want what you have? Who else is building a better mousetrap, and how do they sell it?

"Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door? Maybe, but that\’s not how I would bet
Small business advertising expert Claude Whitacre is author of the book The Unfair Advantage Small Business Advertising Manual. You can download a complete free copy at http://www.local-small-business-advertising-marketing-book.com or you can just buy a copy at http://www.claudewhitacre.comSubmitted By ArticleUnited.com Submission Services

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Author : Margaret JamesSpring is here, and you may be feeling sick and tired of running the same promotions year after year Sure, you can expect your promotions to bring a base line of customers onto your lots each season, and we all know that a dealership should never get rid of classic promotions that ensure strong sales each year Tax Time Promotions

At the same time, you may be wishing for promotions to use with your dealership that could increase your bottom line exponentially The more flexibility you have to test a variety of promotions, the more you can find ways to increase revenue and make your dealership successful

Below are some tips you can consider when looking for ways to market outside your normal yearly promotions
Tax Time

Many dealerships are already running spring promotions around tax refund time, so they don\’t bother to give special deals to folks who may be getting a larger tax refund

Any opportunity you can give a customer to use money that is burning a hole in their collective pockets can translate to greater sales for your dealership Feel free to add gas or oil change deals to sweeten the pot if you have those capabilities

Automotive direct mail services are a great way to let people know about your services before or around tax time
Weather-Related Accidents

Everyone knows that when bad weather is a factor, driving capabilities go downhill Visibility, hail, wet roads that lead to hydroplaning, snow or other bad weather issues can lead to damaged or completely totaled cars Someone who\’s been in an accident is going to be looking for a new car

It\’s always a great idea to anticipate bad weather, and be ready for a promotion that will get a driver into a new car 2-3 weeks after the storms have hit It\’s hard to have dated materials ready for a situation like this, but you can really make the most of it if you have printed materials on hand when bad weather hits your community

Age Milestones

Traditionally, May and August are months filled with birthdays Younger high school students will be getting licenses, and 18 year olds will be graduating and heading off to college Running special promotions that coincide with age milestones can be very profitable for your business, if the deal is sweet enough and the promotions are timed right Consider creating automotive direct mailers that will go out on months with these types of milestones

New customers are ready to receive special promotions and get in on the best deals Using automotive direct mailers and other advertising tools will ensure clients see your message Consider planning smaller promotions for your dealership in addition to the larger annual promotions - you may be surprised at the amount of revenue your dealership can bring in with smaller promos!http://blog.adsautomarketing.com has great tips and marketing tricks for dealerships everywhere.

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Author : Margaret JamesI think that most people are probably waiting on some sort of windfall to help them help their credit debt, but things simply don't work that way Most of us are between jobs right now, looking for a better job, or confused about the best ways to save money to pay off debt
I found the best way to pay off debt is to make a savings plan and executed over time There's absolutely no substitution for that group Since it's fairly likely that you're not going to win the lottery, you have to take care of yourself and your finances somehow Knowing what the state of your finances is, and having the ability to address each of your financial problems one situation at a time can be really beneficial to your overall financial plan
One of the first ways to take advantage of knowing what's going on with your finances is to make a long list of your debts, what's owed, and to be aware of any negative items on your credit report People who don't have negative items can simply make a list of all credit card, student loan, and other debts they may have Most people have plenty of debt, and some people aren't even aware that Dr bills another individual debts of added up to create a large amount of debt that no one can afford
If you're looking for debt relief and you can't seem to find it on your own, you might want to consider credit counseling or another form of bringing down your overall credit bills and making everything manageable This is really only advisable for people who find they can't make payments or get checks sent out on time for their bills The longer you put off paying credit cards and other such debts, the more you're going to find yourself in trouble with banks and finance companies Even paying your credit card just a few hours after the due date can actually cause your minimum payment to go up, and your credit score to go down over time
Making sure that you understand when you need to pay your debts off and how much you will also be helpful If you can develop a savings plan that will help you pay more than the minimum amount on your credit cards and other bills, you'll find yourself in better shape when these bills are due You'll also find that the amount you owe on the bills decreases over time because you're taking the incentive by paying more than the minimum payment owed
When it comes to debt relief, you have to take charge of your financial future and be willing to do what's needed to decrease your debt over time
http://edebtrelief.net is a great way to read up on relieving debts and paying off bills.

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Author : Margaret JamesIn many cases, missed deadlines or low-quality products are something that clients might even come to expect from marketing companies Automotive mail service companies often talk the talk when it comes to being competitive and delivering customer oriented, quality service, but fail to walk the walk in delivering a timely, professional marketing campaign to clients When it comes to automotive direct mail services, it isn\’t just about receiving the campaign on time - it\’s about how your marketing company chooses to deal with you and how they treat your business Consistency and stellar service are important in this industry, and your automotive direct mail service professionals should be willing to deliver great service without taking shortcuts or giving you excuses

Late direct mailers

An automotive direct mail services company should never blame the client Last-minute changes are one thing, but it\’s just bad customer service to understand that last-minute changes will make mail or deliveries come late without informing the client If your automotive direct mail pieces are late in getting to customers for any reason, your automotive direct mail services company should be offering apologies, not excuses Too often in this industry, marketing companies blame the client for missed deadlines or things that go wrong at the last second Your marketing company should be accountable enough to communicate with you if a deadline will be missed by even a few days

Bad customer service

Any type of automotive direct mail service marketing can involve a large financial investment, so it makes sense that you\’ll want to know what phase of the campaign your marketing company is working on, and how the campaign is moving along over time If you can\’t get a rep on the phone when you have questions about your marketing campaign, you\’re probably not dealing with the right automotive direct mail marketing service You shouldn\’t be left wondering how your marketing campaign is going - your marketing company should be proactive in communicating with you about approaching deadlines, campaign efficacy, and any other details of your account If you find yourself in a situation where your automotive direct mail company isn\’t delivering, don\’t waste time There are far too many automotive marketing companies who would love to give you a quote, and would love to prove to you that effective, customer friendly service is available without putting up with missed deadlines and a bad attitude Go with an automotive direct mail service company, like ADS, that\’s willing to go the extra mile for you as a customer, and you\’ll see more customers coming on to your lots Margaret James writes for http://blog.adsautomarketing.com/ to give you more
information on finding the best automotive direct mail marketing company.

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