Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

First of all what's a Power Team?

Basically 8 – 12 complementary businesses who work together to create a complete interrelated marketing system.

For example in the wedding industry a Power Team could consist of a photographer, a wedding dress designer, a cake shop, a travel agent specialising in honeymoons, a marriage celebrant, a wedding planner, a limousine hire company, a florist and a reception centre.

 The result is synergy on steroids. What is synergy? The definition I like the best is "synergy is when one plus one equals three". In other words, when a team produces more than the sum of each individual's efforts could produce if they worked on their own. So what happens with the POWER of 8 - 12 Business owners?

The members of a Power Team operate three distinct but interrelated marketing systems.
   

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A host beneficiary program is an alliance strategy where one business owner (the beneficiary) supplies another business owner (the host) with the offer of something of value to pass on to their clients.

As a new business owner you would typically be the one passing on the gift offer to a more established business owner to pass on to their clients or data-base. It's a great way to get exposure for your business. And the only costs are the ones that apply when the new customer actually walks in the door.

Host beneficiary programs can take many different forms and open up almost unlimited possibilities for business owners with a creative streak.  However typically they fall into four main categories. Read the rest of this entry »

Business Cards Virtually Guaranteed To Increase Sales
 
It was a ‘bingo’ moment I had a few weeks ago as I was sifting through over 1,000 different business cards I’d collected from clients, prospects, and the many individuals I’d met at business networking meetings this past year.

While I was sorting these business cards a prospect phoned to request a couple of testimonials, with contact details, from some happy clients. She wanted to speak with two or three of our satisfied customers, who were from her district, before she processed the final paperwork and completed her purchase.  

I said “no problems,” emailed a few to her, and the deal was finalised that afternoon.

We often receive these requests, and so we’re always collecting testimonials.
And it’s an indisputable fact that testimonials are the single most powerful influencer in the sales process....... if they’re worked properly. Good testimonials are pure gold. Just look at the large number of companies that use endorsements and testimonials in their television advertising.

Pal dog food seems to have an endless supply of dog breeders willing to tell us how shiny their dog’s coats are now they’re feeding them canned food.

Or we have smiling, happy families telling us how fantastic their bank loans are!

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Writing articles is a well known and highly effective marketing strategy.  You hear people talking about having built entire businesses using article marketing.

They are certainly one strategy that I often recommend when talking about ways small business owners can work together.

On the other hand one comment I hear really often when discussing article writing as an alliance strategy is

“I’ve tried writing articles but they just don’t seem to work.”

In my experience there are four key reasons for this:

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Have you ever thought about entering an award, or perhaps nominating someone you know?  There have certainly been heaps of benefits for Networking World from our success in the Home Based Business Awards last year. So in this article I wanted to talk about how small business owners can take advantage of business awards as a marketing, networking and business development opportunity. And you don’t have to be a winner, or even an entrant to win… Read the rest of this entry »