This furniture store is well known for its hand-crafted Amish furniture and has customers who not only live locally, but also up and down the East Coast.
The Predicament: Even though the store has a loyal following of customers, the client was unable to find the right method of promoting its semi-annual sales to customers living outside the area. Local radio and newspaper advertising certainly wasn’t reaching those customers. The client didn’t want to spend a lot of additional money, but he knew that there were sales lost because he wasn’t reaching out to his past customers.
The Solution: Knowing there was an existing and accurate database of loyal customers made it easy to see that the solution was direct mail marketing. TWWS worked with the client to develop an eye-catching, oversized postcard that was mailed to these “preferred customers”; the postcard announced the upcoming storewide sale. The client saved money by mailing a postcard instead of a letter and also reaped the rewards from those sales made by reminding these loyal customers of the event.
The primaryconcept is that online marketing works best when you email people who already know you. Therefore, successful online marketers build their "house file" or "e-list" (lists of prospects and their email addresses) using the process outlined below, and then sell to those people via email marketing.
Here’s how it works.
1. Build a website that positions you or your company as an expert, guru, or leader in your field or industry. This is the "base of operations" for your online marketing campaign.
2. This website should include a home page, an "About the Company" page and a page with brief descriptions of your products and services (each product or service description can link to a longer document on the individual item).
3. You should also have an "Articles" page where you can post articles you have published on your industry or area of specialty, and where visitors can read and download these articles for free (e.g., a home improvement contractor would have tips for small do-it-yourself home improvement projects).
4. Write a short special report or white paper relating to the problem your product or service addresses, and make this available to people who visit your site. They can download it for free, but in exchange, they have to register and give you their email address (and any other information you want to capture).
5. Consider also offering a monthly online newsletter, or "e-zine." People who visit your site can subscribe free if they register and give you their email address. You may want to give the visitor the option of checking a box that reads: "I give you permission to send me email about products, services, news and offers that may be of interest to me."
6. The more content (useful information) on your site, the better. More people will be attracted to your site, and they will spend more time on it. They will also tell others about your site.
7. The model is to drive traffic to your site where you get them to sign up for either your free report or free e-zine. Once they register, you have their email address and can now market to them via email as often as you like at no extra cost.
8. The bulk of your online leads, sales, and profits will come from repeat email marketing to this "house" list of prospects. Therefore, your goal is to build a large e-list of qualified prospects as quickly and inexpensively as you can.
9. There are a number of online marketing options that you can use to drive traffic to your site. These include social media marketing (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and blogs), free publicity, email marketing, banner advertising, affiliate marketing, search engine optimization, and direct mail.
The key to success is this: try many different tactics in small and inexpensive tests, throwing out the ones that don’t work and doing more of those that are effective.
Posted
on July 1, 2010, 8:57 am,
by Tess Wittler,
under blog, social media.
By Tess Wittler
In the last few years, blogs have become an indispensable tool for many businesses – including home builders, remodelers, subcontractors and even suppliers. When done smartly, blogs incorporate well into a company’s overall advertising and marketing plan.
Good Business Blogs Mean Good Business
Yes, good business blogs can definitely increase your business value by bringing you the most loyal of customers; at the same time, blogs can help you build trust among potential customers. A blog can play an integral part in garnering visibility for your business, keeping your website “fresh” with new, useful information. Plus, over time, they can be an important aspect of positioning you as an “expert” in your industry.
It is important to understand, however, that a blog will only bring value and desired benefits to any business if done in a strategic manner. Conversely, if blogs are not nurtured, they can actually be destructive to your business. Here are a few helpful tips to consider when setting up a blog for your business.
Take Good Care of Your Customers
Take care of your readers as if they are old and loyal customers. How do you do this? Make it a point to reply to every comment and email promptly and courteously. Furthermore, if you have to do some research to answer your readers satisfactorily, do so. This will ensure you create a blogging environment that is personable, customer oriented … and trusted.
Edit Before Posting
In the construction world, the term goes, “Measure twice; cut once.” Make sure you apply this to the blogging world, too – edit twice; post once. Before you post what you wrote onto your blog, make sure that you’ve edited it for grammar, spelling and readability. This way, you will appear sharp and knowledgeable to your potential customers – which will surely reap the benefits of credibility and loyalty in the future.
Clear and Concise is Critical
Blog readers don’t want to read a novel, so don’t turn your blog into long, drawn-out posts of information. You have less than a minute to capture readers’ attention and convince them that your blog post is worth their time reading.
So how do you do this?
Keep your sentences short and sweet.
Break paragraphs frequently (this makes your post easier to skim and ultimately read).
Use bullet points.
Use bold and/or italics to draw the eye to key elements in your post.
Use illustrations, photos and graphs to help demonstrate points in the post.
By keeping these points in mind, your blog will come across as professional and will allow busy customers to skim through and get the general idea of your posts without having to read the entire post.
Be Personal and Yet Not Too Personal
Storytelling is very helpful in capturing readers’ attention. It makes your blog funny and interesting, and one that projects your friendly and cheerful spirit. Be sure to pick a story that is appropriate to your blog’s topic.
Additionally, infuse bit of yourself into your writing to establish a personal relationship with your customers. In doing so, you will be able to build a sense of trust between you as the business owner and your clients; this will eventually translate to good business.
With regards to adding your own personality to your blog posts, advice will range the entire spectrum. Personally, I write my blog posts in a conversational fashion – as if I was speaking to you in person – yet, I try to keep my posts and points short and sweet. It took a bit of work to perfect my point of view, but over time, you’ll find your voice as well (see post on this subject).
Posted
on June 28, 2010, 9:14 am,
by Tess Wittler,
under blog, social media.
By Tess Wittler
Every day, millions of people turn to the Internet to gather data. They are looking for information on everything from sports scores to what’s happening in news, to doing research on new products and services.
With the multitudes of information available, it can be tricky for people to find YOU in cyberspace. Furthermore, once you are found, it can be especially difficult for people to develop a trust with your company. A blog can help build that trust among potential customers.
What is a Blog?
A blog, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is a website that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.
When integrated into your overall marketing plan, a blog can be essential in gaining visibility for your business, keeping your website “fresh” with new, useful information. Plus, over time, it can be an important aspect of positioning you as an “expert” in your industry.
Blogging for Builders
Builders can use blogs to promote new neighborhoods or highlight a particular spec house on the market. In doing so, you’ll generate more web traffic to showcase your products and services and ultimately attract more customers.
Same goes for blogging for remodelers. Remodelers can take past projects and “tell a story,” breaking up the larger remodeling project into smaller blog posts. This has the potential for weeks of information that visitors will want to “tune in” for.
Both builders and remodelers have a real opportunity here to not just write content, but also “show and tell” by posting photos of their homes and then describing what’s seen in each photo.
Contractors, on the other hand, can use a blog as an avenue to educate others in the field, by instantly informing existing or prospective customers on any new product features or developments in the business. These continued updates will enhance your reputation as a reliable supplier or a stable business partner.
No matter your expertise, a blog is a great forum to discuss decorating trends and green building practices, to name just a few. The possibilities truly are endless!
How to Increase Traffic and Improve SEO Rankings
The challenge for bloggers is to be able to increase the ranking of their blogs. Many social scientists have observed that the period we are in is no longer the “information age”; it is labeled the “age of attention.”
To survive in this new age, you must ensure that you develop high-quality content that will capture people’s attention. And with millions of pieces of information bombarding readers every day, it’s crucial that your blog tops the search engine optimization (SEO) rankings.
Consider these methods to increase traffic to your blog and improve your blog’s credibility:
Post new content regularly. Your content should be interesting, relevant and informative. Remember, content is the meat that will make your readers come back for more.
Connect your blog to an RSS Feed, which automatically “notifies” other sites and individual subscribers that new content is now available.
Participate in relevant and related forums. Leave interesting comments to engage readers and solicit their reactions. When you do, there’s a great chance that they will link to your blog site – which drives new viewers in your direction.
Read other blogs and post comments. By commenting, you are also exposing yourself to others (i.e., potential customers). This will help you generate more followers of your own blog.
Blogging will definitely increase your products’ exposure, attract new buyers, and sustain the interest and trust of your existing customers. If you want a better edge over your competitors, blogging is a great option.
Posted
on June 23, 2010, 9:25 am,
by Tess Wittler,
under marketing, newsletters.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “You get what you pay for,” right? And for the most part, this phrase is true. It comes back to haunt us when we’ve made a bad purchase- sending us into a spiral of buyer’s remorse (or at least a fit of grumblings).
I was reminded of the “you get what you pay for” principle last month when I purchased dishwasher detergent. Like my mom, I have been a Cascade user for years, but I had a coupon for a cheaper product, so I picked it up – not really thinking about it.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I noticed a white, gritty film on my dishes. The dishes appeared to be coming out of the dishwasher dirtier than when I’d put them in. It was actually quite gross, and I ended up doing most of the dishes (again) by hand. My husband and I started to assume that our dishwasher was dying.
We dreaded the thought of forking over the money right now for a new dishwasher; it just wasn’t in the plan. So before we went shopping for a new appliance, we decided to go back to the tried-n-true brand, Cascade. It is more expense than the other stuff, and I didn’t have a coupon, but we needed to try this alternative first. And guess what? It worked! No more lipstick marks on my coffee mugs or crusty, caked-on mysterious “things” on my plates. My glasses now look and feel clean. All is right again.
Trying a cheaper product was a small error and minor inconvenience that only cost us a few dollars.
But business is different. Business purchases – whether products or services – cost much more. And in this economy, you may be tempted to cut corners.Perhaps you used to outsource the development of your newsletter (print or electronic), and now you’ve internalized the process.
I ask you: Is that move really saving you money … long term?Think about it and ask these questions:
How much is your time worth? How much time are you spending on marketing these days? It takes time to write, edit, design and distribute your newsletter? Calculate those hours with your hourly rate and determine if this really makes sense.
Are you now writing your copy to include keywords (aka triggers) to truly get your marketing message out there? Or are you simply slapping a few points together and calling your newsletter “good enough”?
Is your newsletter being edited, or is it being distributed with spelling and grammatical errors?
How does the newsletter design look? And how frustrated are you (or your staff) in laying out the newsletter and making sure it all fits?
Is your newsletter being printed by your trusted printer? Or did you decide to turn to the cheapest printer or just run color copies at the local office supply store (or worse, on your desktop printer!)?
I can’t make this stuff up. These are all “solutions” I’ve heard over the last few months as a response to the economy.
Although the economy is recovering, but it is also still tough; I get that. But in this tough economy, you also need to consider that this probably isn’t the image you want to portray to your potential customers. You don’t want them to think that you are cheap, unpolished, and unprofessional, do you?
You may think you are saving money by no longer outsourcing, but even if the frustration of extra hours in completing the task doesn’t get to you, you may find that long term, your new image may not pay dividends.
Remember, skimping on your image will only make your potential customers think twice about turning to you when they are ready to buy.
This furniture store is well known for its hand-crafted Amish furniture and has customers who not only live locally, but also up and down the East Coast. 
