June: Free Book Contest!

This month's free book contest features, "Good to Great-Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't" by, Jim Collins.

Each month clueless marketing & the folks at Quest Marketing Solutions will be giving away one book for free... We do this in the spirit of continuing education. We feel that everyone should be lifetime learners, especially if you are engaging in the marketing arena.

Click on the link below, and submit your entry by June 30th. All entries must register their:
▪Name
▪Company name
▪Email address
▪Phone number
▪Current website
▪Also type, "Book contest," along with your mailing address in the comment section.

Each entry will be placed in a magical shoebox for random drawing. (Our book contest begins the first week of every month, and the winner is always picked the last week of the month.) Feel free to comment on the book if you have already read it!

Free Book Contest

"To: Potential Customer"

To: Potential Customer... buy from me!

It's rather obvious that direct mail will be around for a long while, but would you please make them a little more personalized! People want connection, they want to be valued, cuddled, loved.... OK. Enough warm and fuzzy talk. If you are planning on sneaking into people's homes via their mailbox, at least you can try to know their names. You have to slice through all the junk mail that they get.

Have you ever heard of using variable data for direct mail marketing? Also known as one-to-one direct mail marketing. This is the process of personalizing all marketing pieces to specific individuals and their needs.

Compare these stats: (click link below to read more)
With traditional direct mail marketing your company may reap a 1-2% response rate. By simply using variable data in your direct mail campaign you can reap 5% to 10% to then even 15%+ depending on certain circumstances! Staggering thought isn't it?!

Still don't understand what it means to use variable data?

Let's say you produce a direct mail piece... Now let's say that you establish changeable fields on your marketing piece that adapts to the varying segments of your target market. Your clients receiving the piece may read, "Thank you for choosing us! We value your business." A prospect may read, "We're here to help! Call us today!" A lapse client may read, "We miss you! Come back and we will give you 50% off your next purchase." On top of this, the pictures change accordingly, as well as personalizing each piece by using the contact person's name on each card... "Dear John, thank you for choosing our company over the rest. We are committed to showing just how much we value you. Please bring this card in for $100 off your next purchase."

Now do you get it? Let's personalize our marketing efforts and reap the rewards after doing so. Don't waste your money involving yourself with advertising schemes that don't provide this personalization. Unless, of course, you enjoy being a clueless marketer!

Free Book Contest

This month's free book contest features, "The Likeability Factor" by, Tim Sanders. "If you raise your L-factor, you will harness one of life's most powerful forces."-Sanders

Each month clueless marketing & the folks at Quest Marketing Solutions will be giving away one book for free... We do this in the spirit of continuing education. We feel that everyone should be lifetime learners, especially if you are engaging in the marketing arena.

Click on the link below, and submit your entry by May 29th. All entries must register their:
▪Name
▪Company name
▪Email address
▪Phone number
▪Current website
▪Also type, "Book contest," along with your mailing address in the comment section.

Each entry will be placed in a magical shoebox for random drawing. (Our book contest begins the first week of every month, and the winner is always picked the last week of the month.) Feel free to comment on the book if you have already read it!

Free Book Contest

Super Dell is No More!

For those of you who don't know, Dell Schanze was the owner of Totally Awesome Computers located in Utah. He grew his computer retail business largely through BUZZ marketing and good computers. He was known for his, "over-the-top personal style and t.v. commercials."(-kutv.com) Whether they liked his style or not, he definitely made a name for himself in Utah area. People not only talked about him but they bought his computers. But now he is no more! He was entangled with legal issues relating to driving too fast, a gun, and a whole lot of attitude. You can hear more about his downfall by clicking on the video link below.

Enough about Dell...Do you use Buzz Marketing Tactics for your small business? (To read more click the button below)
Buzz Marketing is the art of "getting people to talk about your stuff"- Mark Hughes. Often times we think that buzz marketing is a technique used only by the big boys... Well, Dell Schanze used it and was successfull at it... (Just be careful, the media may pounce on you if you make any stupid mistakes.)

Have any of you marketers used buzz marketing for your business? If so, please share your comments for all to learn from...

In the upcoming weeks we will share more about buzz marketing, and how you can use it effectively to hit your target.

video

Tell-Tale Signs of Clueless Marketing

A marketer can always tell when a small business isn't doing all that well. There is this 8-9 month old children's play center tucked away in the business district of a growing suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio (where the average house is being sold at around $280K.) This business houses a huge inflatable playground area for birthday parties, and sells gigantic wooden playsets to wide-eyed children whose parents have deep pockets for such monstrosities. My son loves the place, but unfortunately, they're showing the tell-tale signs of clueless marketing...
▪First, it started with placing one of their playsets outside of their warehouse facility. All in all not a bad idea. How else are people going to know what's inside the facility?
▪Second, they began placing a sandwich board sign a couple of miles away from their location on a busy road hoping to attract a loving mother or father who is just wondering what to do for the evening to entertain their bored children.
▪Third, they decided to wrap their service vehicle with their advertisement and parked it in their parking lot for all to see.
▪Fourth, after realizing the burden of setting up and tearing down their sandwich board sign (Mason has a zero tolerance for any signage too close the road,) they have now placed a 12"x20" full-color sticker of their logo on the traffic light control box. What an ingenious idea! ;)