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Actual for You - 5 Biggest Wastes of Marketing Money You Should Avoid as an Entrepreneur
Research indicates that we retain only 10% of what we hear; 20% of what we see; 65% of what we hear and see; but 90% of what we hear, see, and do.Every day at work we demonstrate Hear-See-Do when we use a combination of our knowledge, wisdom and skill to perform a task or plan what we will do at a later date. This combination of intellect, insight and ability is called experience.ExperienceOne of my favorite sayings is, “It’s not what you know that counts; it’s what you do with what you know that counts.” In other words, knowledge by itself is useless and unproductive. It’s
Most people, including a lot of the self proclaimed “marketing experts” (who are really nothing more than graphic artists) approach direct mail completely wrong:
Here’s how that process typically flows
1. You're desparate for sales
2. Someone sells you on the need to do direct mail
3. They tell you how they can make it look really cool
4. Message? What message? Call to action? What call to action?
5. How many names do you want to s
Wells Fargo announced Wednesday that it will purchase Washington Mutual's government mortgage servicing portfolio. Wells Fargo will also purchase a portion of WaMu's conforming, fixed-rate portfolio.The total servicing portfolio after the transaction is complete will be $692 million, and affect 4 million customers with outstanding principal balances.Wells will additionally acquire WaMu's Milwaukee servicing operation. No terms of the deal were disclosed.Washington Mutual has expressed an interest to focus on more profitable products and businesses, and not on the slowing mortgage industry. Mortgage servi
Sure we have. You're the entrepreneur that's passionate about your business, an expert in your field but decidedly NOT a business development expert, and certainly NOT a salesperson. Right?
Prior to our meeting one another some marketing "experts" told you that you don't need to "sell" anything you simply need to market your business. This sounded great to you because you're not really comfortable with the idea of selling.
So, as we discussed some of the issues that were holding your business back you shared with me what so many others have also shared with me... what I have come to call:
The 5 Biggest Wastes of Marketing Money
Biggest Waste # 1: The Yellow Book
Want to spend a lot of money on a dying medium that ensures that you are not differentiated from all of your competitors? Look no further! This medium is totally passive and relies entirely upon a prospect stumbling upon your name amongst all the other suckers who have also spent their precious cash. Chances are you've spent thousands for this priviledge and received next to nothing in return. The one positive? If the prospect happens to find you more than likely they are in need of your product or service.
Biggest Waste #2: Newspaper Advertising
Again, another dying medium. Funny thing though, as circulation and relevance fall, print advertising rates have remained stable or even gone up! Such a deal! Some other considerations include:
- You're never sure who sees the Ad
- You're never sure if it is reaching your target audience
- Not a bad way to build brand awareness...if your a multi-billion dollar corporation
- How do you know if it's consistently reaching your target?
- How compelling is your ad? Are you giving something away?
Biggest Waste #3: Poorly Targeted Direct Mail
Most people, including a lot of the self proclaimed “marketing experts” (who are really nothing more than graphic artists) approach direct mail completely wrong:
Here’s how that process typically flows
1. You're desparate for sales
2. Someone sells you on the need to do direct mail
3. They tell you how they can make it look really cool
4. Message? What message? Call to action? What call to action?
5. How many names do you want to se
When working on bricklaying you will see that it is an operation that repeats itself a lot and also is very challenging physically speaking. This being the case you can imagine that somebody, someday would have though of a solution, an automated solution. Also, another problem that appears is the lack of qualified workers and because of these facts the automated bricklayer was invented.The newly designed machine is called the Mobile Bricklaying Robot and is said to help a lot. It can take bricks from a prepared pile, will apply material and will lay the bricks in an appropriate manner. The technology behind it has bee
The 5 Biggest Wastes of Marketing Money
Biggest Waste # 1: The Yellow Book
Want to spend a lot of money on a dying medium that ensures that you are not differentiated from all of your competitors? Look no further! This medium is totally passive and relies entirely upon a prospect stumbling upon your name amongst all the other suckers who have also spent their precious cash. Chances are you've spent thousands for this priviledge and received next to nothing in return. The one positive? If the prospect happens to find you more than likely they are in need of your product or service.
Biggest Waste #2: Newspaper Advertising
Again, another dying medium. Funny thing though, as circulation and relevance fall, print advertising rates have remained stable or even gone up! Such a deal! Some other considerations include:
- You're never sure who sees the Ad
- You're never sure if it is reaching your target audience
- Not a bad way to build brand awareness...if your a multi-billion dollar corporation
- How do you know if it's consistently reaching your target?
- How compelling is your ad? Are you giving something away?
Biggest Waste #3: Poorly Targeted Direct Mail
Most people, including a lot of the self proclaimed “marketing experts” (who are really nothing more than graphic artists) approach direct mail completely wrong:
Here’s how that process typically flows
1. You're desparate for sales
2. Someone sells you on the need to do direct mail
3. They tell you how they can make it look really cool
4. Message? What message? Call to action? What call to action?
5. How many names do you want to s
Ever think about advertising online websites using print ads? No? Don’t fret. Most people haven’t thought about it. Most people don’t do this. But if you have a website that’s well written (contains great sales copy, that is) then maybe you should.Before we discuss the specifics of advertising online websites using print ads, let’s talk about why you’d want to do it. All websites like to see traffic. But simply advertising so you can attract more people to your site actually misses the point. You want to draw more potential buying traffic. You want to draw people to your sites that are interested in what you
Biggest Waste #2: Newspaper Advertising
Again, another dying medium. Funny thing though, as circulation and relevance fall, print advertising rates have remained stable or even gone up! Such a deal! Some other considerations include:
- You're never sure who sees the Ad
- You're never sure if it is reaching your target audience
- Not a bad way to build brand awareness...if your a multi-billion dollar corporation
- How do you know if it's consistently reaching your target?
- How compelling is your ad? Are you giving something away?
Biggest Waste #3: Poorly Targeted Direct Mail
Most people, including a lot of the self proclaimed “marketing experts” (who are really nothing more than graphic artists) approach direct mail completely wrong:
Here’s how that process typically flows
1. You're desparate for sales
2. Someone sells you on the need to do direct mail
3. They tell you how they can make it look really cool
4. Message? What message? Call to action? What call to action?
5. How many names do you want to s
With the U.S. economy still slumping and unemployment numbers barely moving forward, many workers may be considering what their employment future could be like if they were to lose their job. If you’re in a healthcare field, or possess computer skills, you don’t have much to worry about, except explaining why you left your last job. On the other hand, if you’re employed in production or manufacturing, you may be asking yourself, “when should I update my job skills?”If you’re lucky enough to still have a job in this economy and you’re pondering the future, you should consider updating your job skills immediately. Your
- You're never sure who sees the Ad
- You're never sure if it is reaching your target audience
- Not a bad way to build brand awareness...if your a multi-billion dollar corporation
- How do you know if it's consistently reaching your target?
- How compelling is your ad? Are you giving something away?
Biggest Waste #3: Poorly Targeted Direct Mail
Most people, including a lot of the self proclaimed “marketing experts” (who are really nothing more than graphic artists) approach direct mail completely wrong:
Here’s how that process typically flows
1. You're desparate for sales
2. Someone sells you on the need to do direct mail
3. They tell you how they can make it look really cool
4. Message? What message? Call to action? What call to action?
5. How many names do you want to s
The financial services industry is moving at a great pace. Every day there is a new equation in the financial scenario. It might be market fluctuation, bull and bear markets, policy changes, new laws or regulations - all have an impact on the life of every citizen, particularly his personal finances.Thus, managing finance has become important for everyone. Be it investments, tax issues or insurance, money matters have become too complex from the perspective of an ordinary citizen. Thus it has become mandatory to seek the support of a professional to analyze the financial situation and make the right decision. As most
Most people, including a lot of the self proclaimed “marketing experts” (who are really nothing more than graphic artists) approach direct mail completely wrong:
Here’s how that process typically flows
1. You're desparate for sales
2. Someone sells you on the need to do direct mail
3. They tell you how they can make it look really cool
4. Message? What message? Call to action? What call to action?
5. How many names do you want to send this to? You know, it only costs a little bit more to print a few thousand more...
Hello 0.05% response rate!
The correct way to approach direct mail is:
1. Who is my target audience? What niche within this broader target do I want to reach?
2. Can I build/buy a list to reach this niche effectively?
3. What is my message? What are my prospects' pain points?
4. What do I want the piece to look like?
Most of your time and energy should be spent on building your list and crafting your message.
If done correctly, direct mail can deliver targeted results but it remains a passive activity.
Biggest Waste #4: Radio Advertising
By now all of you can probably tell me what the disadvantages of radio are, right?
- Expensive
- Is it reaching your target audience?
- Is your message/business one that is suited to radio? For example, if you are a Lean Manufacturing consultant do you really think the average listener to the radio is going to be compelled to pick up the phone and call you?
- Totally passive
5th biggest waste: Complicated, beautiful brochures
Here's a wake-up call for you ...brochures don’t sell business!!
Exception: if you are a restaurant, oil change shop or some other B to C business that is offering coupons as part of your brouchure in order to get people to take action.
Before you waste your money on a brochure:
- Think, How am I going to use this brochure?
- Mail it to prospects? We’ve already talked about the deficiencies of direct mail? Do you want to throw good money after bad?
- As a leave behind? Why not save the money and create a decent website for a few hundred dollars or a good website for a couple of thousand dollars?
- Your expensive brochure will be likely be innaccurate, forgotten in a f
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