No Apologies, Please

In order to be successful in business, you must portray confidence. If you aren't confident in your abilities or the quality of your products and services, why should a prospect or customer have confidence in you?

The words you choose in sales and marketing are very important and should portray a positive, confident image of your business. That's why you should never start a marketing or sales pitch with an apology. If what you have to say is important, you should always say it confidently, with no apologies. Starting a conversation with an apology ("I'm sorry to both you...") suggests that what you have to say isn't really important and may influence prospects or customers to think the same. Rather than apologizing or downgrading your approach, try showing confidence by saying, "I have an exciting new product I'd like to share with you, and I need a few minutes of your time. Do you have a moment to discuss this now, or can I make an appointment with you at a later date?" If you're promoting a product or service of value, you should never apologize for getting in contact with prospects or customers to promote it. So, if your sales pitch isn't important, don't use it. If it is important, don't apologize for using it.

Why You Need to Use Pattern Interrupt in Your Marketing

From the time you wake up until the moment you close your eyes, you're bombarded with marketing messages. You may even have dreams of the ads running in your sleep! Most of the messages you see during the day just blend together without much notice. Many are of the "me too" variety. Either the owner or the advertiser is practicing the lazy marketing technique of simply copying a competitor's ad with very little real change. Maybe the original ad had some creativity to it, but now it's lost in a sea of similarity. For your ad to have any chance of succeeding, you must use "pattern interrupt marketing" as one component of your message. What's pattern interrupt marketing? As the name implies, it's marketing that stops a prospect in their tracks and engages them. Your message must be able to capture a prospect's attention if it's to have any chance of being noticed. Imagine you're driving down a street looking for a place to eat lunch. The street is packed with similar looking eateries on both your left and right. The buildings all look the same and have signs with business names on them. The business owners have all copied each other in building design, colors, and layout so much that it's very difficult to tell them apart. But one smart business owner has hired someone with a colorful costume and given them a professional-looking sign with delicious-looking food photos and a message that clearly states all the benefits of their restaurant; in addition, if you come in today, you'll receive a great discount. The guy holding the sign interrupts your attention, and the offer lures you in to try the food. That's what pattern interrupt marketing is all about. Now, you could try any number of gimmicks to grab a prospect's attention, but there are only a few things that will truly capture their interest and hold it long enough for you to make an impression. Here are three steps to get you started: Make a list of problems your product or service can solve. Pick just one as the focal point for your marketing message. Think about the types of language and visual cues your customers would use to best understand this message. With those elements in place, you can better plan your marketing. Pattern interrupt marketing can be used in every type of business and in every type of marketing communication. Whether on a billboard, through direct mail, via email marketing, or even at a trade show, pattern interrupt marketing can be very effective. The goal is not only to capture the prospect's attention by doing something different or unexpected but also to encourage them to take further steps with you once they're engaged. Pattern interrupt marketing is only the first step in a process, but in some ways, it's the most important step. After all, if you can't capture their attention, the rest won't matter.

Know When to Hold 'Em... and When to Fold 'Em

While business generally isn't the place for gambling, you could benefit from some of the tools and lessons learned playing cards (or other games). Here are a few strategies that can help your business grow:

Create allies. Every business leader needs a strong business associate or partner they can talk to, bounce ideas off of, and count on to keep them focused on the task at hand. Think strategically, and keep an eye out for game-changing possibilities that may await you. Hone your interpersonal skills, which you'll need for negotiations, business meetings, and day-to-day communications. Control your emotions. The cards we are dealt aren't always fair, but you need self control to deal with unfair or frustrating situations. Rank your status in comparison to your competition. If your competitor is sweeping the game and overflowing in confidence, you may start to doubt your own abilities, as will others. Learn how to take risks. Just as one decision could ultimately make or break the game, decisions you make could affect the fate of your business or the rest of your life. Face the odds. Sometimes the cards are stacked against you, and the chances of coming out ahead are slim. If you're up against a challenging hand, either put forth a good fight until the end or learn to walk away. Experience is still the best teacher. While books, DVDs, and classes can help you learn faster, the experience of making good and bad decisions can't be found in a book or movie. Double down on what works. If you've found a business or marketing strategy that works, keep using it strategically to reap even greater rewards. Start over. Whether you win or lose, no game lasts forever. Don't be afraid to start fresh and put your lessons to good use on the next game.

Be a Drama Queen!

Yes, being a drama queen is typically a negative. But there is one instance where it is actually a big positive.

Imagine you are in a stadium filled with your most ideal prospects. You have one chance to present and pitch your product or service. Say the right thing, and every one of them will become a client. Say the wrong thing, and you'll lose them all. That's the potential power of communication. There are many ways to get your message across. You can bore them to death, or you can entertain them. The chances that a prospect will stick around and listen are much better if you do the latter. People are drawn to those who can share, teach, and even sell something useful. They are most attracted to the ones who can entertain them while presenting. Like it or not, we live in a society that needs and wants to be entertained. If you want to stand out and succeed, you have to be able to give them what they want. This is where injecting drama into your sales copy, blogs, direct mail, social media presence, and sales presentations has a powerful and magnetic effect. The best drama has some action and intrigue to draw the audience in. The same is true in business communication. If you take the time to package your thoughts and ideas in an entertaining way, you will be better received. Your audience will want more. The cycle of attraction, conversion, and consumption will begin. And it will continue as long as you are able to inject enthusiasm and some drama into your messages.

What Declining Sales Really Mean

Many businesses are currently experiencing a decline in sales. Some owners and executives believe this is due to outside economic conditions. Although the economy may have some bearing, perhaps the real reasons for the decline are more fundamental issues that no one in the company wants to face. The economy has only masked the issues and helped sweep them under the rug. Many in this predicament think, "If only we could increase sales, everything else would take care of itself." Oftentimes, the declining sales pattern is not the real problem; it's just a symptom of other underlying issues. Perhaps the issues are in management, staffing, or a lack of effective marketing and sales. If your company is experiencing a sales slump, it may be time to do a little soul searching to find the real issues. If you decide to take this head on, here's a four-step plan to help you lick the problems. Step 1 -- Assess your current situation. What strengths do you see? What weaknesses? Are there opportunities you might be missing? And what are your threats? The more honest you can be at this step, the better the foundation for the rest of the process. Step 2 -- Now that you have an outline of the problems, it's time to make a diagnosis. What are the causes behind the problems and issues you're facing? Look beyond the surface issues, and try to get to the root causes. Step 3 -- Now that you have the assessment and a diagnosis of the situation, it's time to make a plan that addresses your diagnosis by taking advantage of the strengths you identified and establishing ways to correct the weaknesses. Step 4 -- This is where the rubber meets the road. All that analysis will lead to no good unless you follow up with action. It's time to follow through and act on the plan by implementing the changes outlined in the previous step. By following through on these four simple but powerful steps, you can not only turn around sagging sales but also position your company for long-term growth.

Effective Lead Generation From Your Local Business Chamber

Your local business leads group and Chamber of Commercecan be great sources of leads for you and your company. Whycan and not are? Because many business owners join and expect the leads to just fall in their laps without much effort on their part. Then they quit and decide that this type of lead generation simply doesn't work for them. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Paying the monetary dues is only the first step in joining a chamber or business group. Showing up to the events regularly and showing your face is the next basic step. Being friendly and helpful is another basic prerequisite for success. But none of these are guarantees for bringing you prospects and customers. They are the entry ticket. Sadly, many stop with these steps and drop out before giving it a real chance. What does work? Consistency -- The long-time members and those you would love to have as clients will quietly decide for themselves through your actions whether you're someone they can trust. Caring enough to show up and be active will go a long way in building that trust. If you can't commit to doing these basic steps, save your money and don't join. If your sole purpose for joining is to find leads and someone to sell to, you've missed the main point of joining this type of organization. Sure, those are important reasons and by-products of joining, but they cannot be the sole or even the primary reasons. Attitude -- Go in with a truly helpful and positive attitude if you want to succeed. Proactively seek out opportunities to help other members in every way you can, through referring and introducing them to other members, even if those actions don't directly benefit you. Do this, and you'll be on the right track. Active participation -- One of the secrets to being successful with your membership is to join committees. Every group will have sub-committees for various needs and functions of the chamber. These may include groups like education committees or new member committees. Not only will you get to interact with other dedicated members in a smaller setting when you join these committees, but you'll also get recognition and notoriety for your efforts, which will lead to more chances to get to know other members better. This takes time and is a sacrifice, but it's extremely important to do. To have real success from your membership, remember that you must give before you get. The more effort you can put in, the more success you can expect. It's a long-term strategy that has a proven track record for those who can practice one of life's golden rules.

What is Your Customer Hiding From You?

In order to sell any kind of product or service, you first need to know the challenges your prospects face, so you can offer the best solution. On the surface, this seems like an easy problem to resolve. You send out a few surveys and questionnaires. You dig and do your research. You think you've found the answers. Yet when you build your pitch or presentation around what you think your prospect wants and needs, it falls flat. Why? Because the prospect is hiding the truth from you. It's not done with malicious intent. They're not even necessarily lying. They simply want to be liked and don't want to hurt your feelings by telling you things they think you wouldn't like to hear. Also some prospects don't really know what they want. Emailed and online surveys aren't the best at this type of information gathering. That's the reason most surveys don't reveal many helpful answers. The problem isn't with the surveys themselves, but with the questions and how they're presented. Most survey questions don't get to the heart of the matter in order to pull out the answers you're looking for. What can you do about this? Pick up the phone! The best way to get the answers you're looking for is to call your prospects and engage them in a conversation. But before you do that (and if you don't want the phone slammed in your ear), do your homework first. The responses will only be as good as your questions. Your questions need to be open-ended. You must be able to tap into the emotional and/or logical reasons why a prospect would (or wouldn't) buy your product or service. The more you're able to get them to open up and give you honest answers, the closer you'll get to the heart of what you're looking for. Keep good notes on the data you gather, and review it so you can make the next call even better at intelligence gathering. Start your call with a very brief description of why you're calling, then quickly turn your attention to the prospect. Let them know you're not trying to sell them anything (so it brings down the wall and barriers they automatically put up). State that you respect and value their opinion, which is why you chose them to call. Make them feel respected and special before you dive into your questions. Once you have your answers, take the time to carefully review all the information. Look for common themes or threads in the answers. If you don't find any, go back to your questions and reword them to get better answers. Yes, this takes real work. But the end result will be well worth your time. After you analyze the information, it will make your job of creating an irresistible offer that your prospects can't refuse much easier.

Deadline Lessons from Saturday Night Live

It's 11:30. Are You Ready? Saturday Night Live (SNL) producer Lorne Michaels once said, "I say it every week: We don't go on because we're ready. We go on because it's 11:30." He went on to say that being "ready" is a state of mind, one you can condition yourself to overcome with regular deadlines. SNL is a long-running late-night live television sketch comedy created by Lorne Michaels. The live aspect of the show requires an absolute commitment to being ready to go on air at 11:30 eastern time every Saturday. It's a hard deadline. No excuses can be accepted or tolerated. The show begins with a topical sketch, at the end of which someone breaks from the skit and shouts: "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" But before the show airs each Saturday night, an entire week's worth of preparation has gone into making that episode a reality. Monday starts with a production meeting where ideas for the following week's skits are pitched. On Tuesday, the ideas chosen are turned into skits, and on Wednesday they're reviewed to pick the best ones to move forward. On Thursday, the skits are tweaked and adjusted as needed. The winning skits are rehearsed on Friday and then once more before a live audience on Saturday at 8 PM before the actual live performance at 11:30. Whatever project you're creating -- whether large and elaborate or small and simple -- you likely follow a similar process. Your ideas are put on paper, the best survive, an action plan to move forward is chosen, and deadlines are given. Everything is ready, so then why do some ideas and projects never get done? Over-thinking, doubt, procrastination, and perfectionism are the enemies of deadlines. Each one can play the role of devil's advocate in your head to delay and destroy deadlines. The cure might be to learn from SNL and Lorne Michaels. Take imperfect action when necessary. When you delay, nothing can move forward. You can always correct course and improvise as you move toward your goals, but nothing can happen unless you make that leap of faith to take the first steps. SNL has aired some 730 episodes since its debut and began its 38th season this year, making it one of the longest-running network television programs in the United States. It has produced countless stars, created immense wealth for the creators, and entertained several generations of audiences over the years. The live aspect of the show creates a certain drama that most other shows lack. Some of the jokes fall flat, and there are unexpected surprises in many shows that had not been rehearsed. But the actors improvise as needed, and the show always goes on. SNL doesn't go on air at 11:30 every Saturday evening because they are ready. It goes on because it's 11:30. You may never be "ready" enough if you don't commit to a deadline to go live. Set aside your fears and worries. Time is wasting, and you may never get another chance to go live again.

Sometimes Less Really is More

"There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant."  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your mother probably admonished you as a youngster: "You need to finish that plate of food because there are children in Africa starving right now." So we have been conditioned to eat even when our stomach is full or even if we don't really like the taste of the food. The negative side effects surround us everywhere. Living in this age of access to unprecedented amounts of information, we must be careful not to overindulge there, too. Just as it is harmful to overeat, it is perhaps even more detrimental to consume the incessant amount of unrelated and useless information that fills the web, the airwaves (TV and radio), and print. Just because it's free to access doesn't mean it comes without another kind of cost. This type of cost is more precious than the monetary kind. It's your valuable time. Unlike money, time can't be replaced once it's gone. Like the youngster who becomes conditioned to eat too much, we are becoming conditioned to consume too much information, most of it the useless variety. Many of us need to go on an information diet! How many minutes and hours are wasted daily on email, Facebook, and various news/entertainment websites? Too many. "Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking." -Albert Einstein Not all reading or information is harmful, of course. But it is time to stop reading negative and time-consuming information that is not helping you advance toward your goals. If you start reading an article that turns out to be less useful than you thought, no need to keep reading it. Do you have to constantly check your email? Not really. Start taking your time back by going on an information diet today. You will be much more productive and will like the new you the next time you look in the mirror.

Loyalty Marketing... or We HEART You!

Customer loyalty programs are an easy and effective way to keep customers coming back to your business. Here are a few tips to help you create a loyalty program with a simple yet important goal: rewarding repeat customers. Offer custom-printed punch cards or stamp cards for customers who frequent your business. A simple reward (such as "buy five car washes, get the sixth free") may be enough to keep customers from visiting your competition down the street. Utilize the back side of your loyalty-marketing promotions to advertise upcoming events, highlight exclusive offers, share helpful tips, and more. Celebrate! Be sure to recognize customer birthdays, holidays, and even the date your customer joined your loyalty club. Provide loyalty club members with special coupons for free upgrades, such as "upgrade to a premium deluxe XYZ for the same price as our standard XYZ." Reward customers who buy ahead. For example, if you own a repair shop, you might offer a year-long package of oil changes for a discounted rate. Not only will the customer be happy to save money, but you can ensure the customer will return to your business all year long. Invite loyal customers to join a review panel group, and offer free products or services in exchange for their valuable feedback and input on how to improve your business. Develop creative ways to show your company's reciprocal loyalty to customers. Send "thank you" campaigns, for example, with exclusive discounts or promotions. Give us a call if we can help you create loyalty program marketing materials your customers will love!

Promote Your Company’s “EST” Factor

In today's competitive marketplace, it's important that you determine your company's "est" -- the differentiating factor that gives you a competitive edge. Whether your business strives to be the biggest, fastest, strongest, lowest, or oldest at something, the "est" factor will help you push to be the best and become the go-to business for that area of expertise.

Here are a few ways to find your "est": Ask your customers. The customer voice is a great way to pinpoint areas where your business truly shines. Encourage customer feedback through comment cards, surveys, testimonials, or simply by asking customers their opinions when you meet with them. Identify and enhance your strengths to add greater value to your business. For example, if your business is known for the fastest delivery services in town, you may consider opening a second location, adding additional delivery drivers, or upgrading your computer system to ensure you continue providing the fastest services possible. Accept your weaknesses, and don't become discouraged by areas where your business falls a little short. For example, if your prices aren't the lowest, you might say, "We may not have the lowest prices in town, but we offer the longest warranty in the industry to provide greater value for your dollar." If you'd like help spreading the word about your "est" factor, we'd love to help. Our professional team can help create some of the greatEST marketing materials with the fastEST service you've ever seen!

We Want Your Vote!

With Election Day fast approaching, why not take advantage of the voting spirit by creating a few fun polls for your business? Here are some clever ways to gather opinions and reward your loyal customers in the process: Ask customers to vote for their favorite products or services. Send a postcard campaign or statement stuffer with a web link to an online ballot. Distribute campaign flyers. Post information on your Facebook page, website, or other social media channels. And have a ballot box at the main desk of your business, where customers can vote by paper ballot if they prefer. Encourage customers to learn more about your products by creating a game-like quest. Provide clues through various communication channels (email, direct mail, social media), and reward those who complete the quest. Inspire participation by offering a grand prize drawing, as well as a guaranteed coupon or smaller thank-you to all who vote. Create an "Election Day" sale to encourage extra traffic, and consider offering an additional discount to any customers who come from the polls wearing an "I voted" sticker. If you're creating an in-house promotion, remember that food is always a crowd pleaser. Consider offering cookies, cake, donuts, or simply coffee, hot chocolate, or cider. Provide a follow-up marketing campaign to announce the winner, and consider running an exclusive special on that particular product or service following the election. Maximize your promotions by offering combo specials that include your most popular products with lesser-known or newer products. Our creative experts are here anytime you need help spreading the word about an upcoming sale or promotion. Give us a call today!

Printing Is a Responsible Choice

In lieu of a "Think before you print" email tagline, we encourage you to consider adding something like this to your emails:

"It's OK to print responsibly. Not using paper in order to save trees is comparable to not eating salad in order to 'save' vegetables. Managed timberlands are similar to agricultural crops which provide clean air, clean water, and wildlife habitat, as well as millions of jobs nationwide." While there are many misconceptions about the paper and printing industries, we proudly stand behind them both, and we encourage you to check out these resources to learn more about why printing is a responsible choice: www.paperbecause.com -- Domtar's Paper Because campaign highlights the key role paper plays in our lives and the reasons why it's environmentally friendly. www.chooseprint.org -- Choose Print is an educational campaign designed to promote the effectiveness of print as a sustainable choice. www.rediscoverprint.com -- Rediscover Print is committed to searching out credible information, case studies, and statistics on how print makes a positive impact in our daily lives. www.twosides.info -- Two Sides promotes the responsible production and use of print and paper. The site provides information on why print and paper remain a versatile, sustainable communications medium

Is Direct Mail Really Dead?

Is Direct Mail Really Dead?

You may have heard the hype that direct mail has died and gone to junk mail heaven. Don't believe it. That talk comes from people who have never learned how to use direct mail correctly and effectively or who have a vested interest in spreading false and misleading information.

Why use direct mail? Because it works.

• It works in getting clients.
  
• It works to get your foot in the door.
  
• It works for lead generation.
  
• It works for growing traffic at brick-and-mortar (and even online) businesses.
  
• It works at differentiating your company from those who rely strictly on online communication.

Direct mail marketing is extremely reliable and extremely precise. It can be inexpensive and personalized. In fact, direct mail arrives more personally than any other medium and can deliver a message with 100% exposure.

In addition to all of this, direct mail...

• Requires virtually no tech skills
  
• Can be leveraged using shared advertising space
  
• Is what nearly all recipients prefer for unsolicited advertisement
  
• Can bring in business without someone actively searching for it
  
• Can be scaled infinitely
  
• Has worked for over a century without fail
  
• Has always been the king of all advertising
  
• Can take almost any business to any level of success desired
  
• Can be felt and not just seen
  
• Has an infinite shelf life

To be clear, "junk mail" is NOT what we are referring to as effective direct mail. Some companies with large marketing budgets can afford this type of "spray and pray" mailing.

Effective direct mail marketing takes some thought, planning, and strategy. It needs to be memorable, and it needs to stand out. Businesses of all size that are utilizing this powerful tool are still reaping the rewards.

No, direct mail isn't dead. It's alive and kicking. If you haven't tried it in a while, try it again. You won't be disappointed by the results.

Invite Them and They Will Come

Some companies think that a beautiful new website will instantly attract visitors like a moth to a light bulb. However, unless you turn the light on and direct them where to go, your visitors may wander aimlessly into your competitor's backyard. 

Here are a few mixed media marketing tips to draw visitors to your website: 

• Create a "web card" that highlights your site's benefits and entices readers to visit. Mail them as postcards, hand them out at trade shows, distribute them with purchases, and so on.
• Create videos and post them on YouTube. Not only does Google index your content, but viewers can embed your videos on their blogs and share them via social media.
• Offer free original content or blog postings to other publications in your niche market. Be sure to include a link to your website to draw new visitors from these high-traffic sources.
• Distribute news releases to print and web periodicals in your industry. Your website link will remain in news databases for several months and may improve traffic to your site and increase link popularity.
• Create a short but sweet email signature that encourages readers to visit your new website.
• Ask partnering or non-competing businesses to link to your site, and do the same in return.
• Post your website on trade sites and in specialized directories.
• Include your URL on everything you can think of, ranging from business cards, stationery, and marketing materials, to pens, shirts, hats, mugs, and more.
• Promote an exciting contest or giveaway, and direct people to sign up on your website.
• Encourage customer feedback through a survey on your website.
• Increase your SEO by editing existing content, removing barriers to the indexing activities of search engines, and increasing the number of links your website receives from other web sources.
• Create a Facebook or Twitter post announcing your website, and offer prizes for the first XX people who visit your website and sign up for your newsletter.
• Encourage repeat visitors by offering a bookmark button on your website, such as AddThis, a free content-sharing platform that helps you integrate sharing tools into your website, spread your content, and increase social traffic.

Educated Customers Are Your Best Customers

One of the biggest marketing mistakes many businesses make is failing to educate buyers about the unique advantages of their products and services, as well as their industry in general. Educated customers are not only more satisfied with their purchasing choices, but they are also more likely to share their wealth of information and tips with other information-savvy buyers. Here are a few ways to increase sales by educating your audience:

• Educate about pricing. If you're offering a special discounted price because you purchased in volume, let your customers know, so they understand why your prices aren't always so low. The same is true if your prices are higher than the competition -- explain that your products are of a higher quality, that your warranty is longer, or whatever other reasons you might have.

• Offer information on industry trends, developments, and new products via newsletters, blogs, social media posts, and the like. Provide webcasts, seminars, and guest speaking engagements at area events. Recommend helpful industry resources, such as books, magazines, and blogs.

• Use your background or experience to become involved in industry forums, where you can share your enthusiasm and knowledge. Offer valuable contributions, such as useful answers or tips that demonstrate your expertise. Back up your information with trusted sources.

• Provide reasons why you do business with select manufacturers or vendors, such as if they provide unbeatable quality, industry-leading warranties, or have been a dependable partner for several years.

• Offer a comparative analysis of your products versus the competition. Define the differences between your company and the competition with factual, credible information. Back it up with customer testimonials and references.

• Consider using on-hold messaging to educate and inform callers while they wait on the phone. This brief time slot offers a perfect opportunity to tell your audience something they may not know.

• Include educational content on your website, such as a "tips" section, an archive of blogs, e-newsletters, a glossary of industry terms, or other types of industry resources.

The more you can teach someone something they don't already know, the more they will trust you and gravitate toward you as an expert in your field. If you'd like help creating marketing materials that will not only impress but also educate your audience, give us
a call.

Bounce 'Em Back to Your Site

After all your work hard and marketing efforts enticing prospects to visit your website, it can be frustrating to see high bounce rates. Bounce rate is an Internet marketing term that represents the percentage of visitors who enter your website and bounce -- or leave the site -- rather than continuing to view other pages within your site or complete a desired action.

Here are a few common website mistakes that are often responsible for driving away potential customers:

• The basics. An unattractive design, spelling errors, broken links, images that take forever to load, and other annoyances will quickly cause visitors to lose trust and confidence in your business.

• Poor navigation. If visitors can't tell where they are, where to click next, or how to get back to your homepage, they will likely just exit.

• Complicated, lengthy web pages. Instead, provide information that is brief and organized with headlines and sub-headings, bulleted lists, and short paragraphs.

• Too many distractions. Popup ads, flashing information, and similar devices can easily frustrate or lead visitors away from your site.

• Dated content. How will visitors know if anything is the latest and greatest information if you don't take the time to update key areas on your website?

• Music or sound effects. These are not only annoying, but also embarrassing for visitors viewing your site from a public place. Users will likely close out of your site as quickly as possible.

• No contact information. While a "contact us" form is helpful, your website should also include your telephone number and physical address. The more contact information you include, the more visitors will be reassured you are legit.

• Asking too many questions. Requiring too much information from visitors may scare some away. Make it easy for visitors to request additional information by simply asking for their name and basic contact information. Also provide quick turnaround in response to show you respect their time.

Our creative team would love to help you develop outstanding marketing materials to supplement your website. Give us a call today!

Break the Barrier

During the mid 20th century, the one-mile run was a centerpiece event in track and field. In its illustrious history, no one had ever broken the four-minute time barrier. For years, doctors, scientists, and the general public believed that it was physically impossible for humans to run that fast. Then in 1954,Roger Bannister came along and proved all the experts wrong by running the race in less than four minutes.

What's more amazing is that within one year of Bannister's record-breaking race, 16 more runners broke the four-minute mile as well.

How could it be that all of a sudden so many athletes were able to break a seemingly impossible record that had stood for so long? There hadn't been a new technological breakthrough, nor could it be explained in any outward way.

One possible explanation is that none of those athletes truly believed it was possible to run the mile in under four minutes. Roger Bannister not only broke the physical barrier of running a sub-four-minute mile. He also broke a mental barrier that had been holding runners back for years.

We all have these types of mental barriers in our lives. We all have reasons in our minds why something can't be done. Most are self-made inner doubts and excuses.

Isn't it time to break through your four-minute-mile barrier?

Marketing with Posters

Poster marketing has been a popular way to spread the word for more than 200 years, dating back to posters for everything from World's Fairs, recruitment, and war propaganda to bicycles and bullfights. Today, posters continue as a flexible marketing tool for publicizing upcoming events, promoting ideas, and advertising new products and services. 

Here are a few benefits of poster marketing:

• Versatility. Posters can be printed on a variety of surfaces, protected with UV coating or laminating, and mounted or framed. As a result, they can be used either indoors or outdoors in any number of ways.

• Simplicity. Because posters are created for viewers on the move, some of the best posters don't say much. Effective posters capture the viewer's attention immediately -- often with large, eye-catching graphics, a catchy headline, and a web address that is easy to remember. You can then provide more detailed information on your website and entice readers to join your mailing list for additional updates.

• Any size you need. When creating posters, think about where you plan to display them. While the most popular posters are 24"x36," this large size would be overpowering on corkboard displays (which would be much better suited to an 11"x17" poster).

• Fresh factor. Because posters offer a high-quality, low-cost marketing solution with fast turnaround, replacing posters frequently with new content is a great way to prevent your advertising efforts from going stale.

Give us a call if you need help creating posters that will make an exciting addition to your marketing materials. Our creative experts specialize in bringing great ideas to life!

Business Card Etiquette Tips

Business cards are an inexpensive, yet valuable way to introduce yourself and your business. Here are a few etiquette tips to keep in mind the next time you exchange business cards:

Be prepared by having business cards on you at all times, including weekends. Never distribute tattered business cards that show wear from being stuffed in your wallet. Instead, use a hard business card case to keep your cards clean and crisp. Offer your card during informal conversations if the person you're talking to expresses interest in your products or services. Distribute only one card to each new contact (unless more are requested), rather than expecting them to distribute your cards for you. Exchange cards at the beginning of meetings to have the names and titles/rank of everyone involved readily available.

Show respect when receiving a business card by briefly looking it over (front and back) and placing it in a portfolio, notebook, or card case. Never fold or crumple the card, and don't stuff it in your pocket or bag within eyesight of the card giver. Reading over or commenting on the card right away may also help you build a better association between the new contact's name and face for future reference. Be aware that foreign countries have different business card customs. If doing business in a country that speaks another language, consider translating one side of your card into their language.

Let us know if we can help you print customized business cards that will make a lasting impression with every exchange.