15/09/2009
Are you participating in an EXPO? Here are some important and vital tips to make the most of your investment…it’s a heafty activity any way so learn this up…
25 Expo Do’s and Don’ts
1. Don’t:
Pass up the chance to visit other industry events before you exhibit for the first time. Make note of what exhibitors worked for you and what turned you off. What did you find to be effective? Can you incorporate those items into your own exhibit?
2. Do:
Make a list of goals and objectives for the show. This list should be very specific. Do you want to generate $X in new sales, start a certain number of new business relationships, or spread the word about a new service offering you’re introducing to the market?
3. Don’t:
Get sidetracked by what everyone else is doing – or by what people tell you ‘have’ to do at a tradeshow. You’re at the show to reinforce your expert identity and achieve your goals and objectives. Anything else is off-target.
5. Do:
Be open to creative and new ways of presenting your services. Tradeshow attendees see hundreds of exhibits in the course of one day. You need to be unique and engaging for your display to be memorable.
6. Don’t:
Be afraid to be enthusiastic about your services. If you’re genuinely jazzed up about what you do, attendees will sense that. Enthusiasm is contagious — and more importantly, it sells!
7. Do:
Learn the 80/20 rule and take it to heart. The best exhibitors are those who listen 80% of the time and talk 20%. Focusing on attendees’ wants and needs is a surefire route to success.
8. Don’t:
“Throw Up” on attendees. This very common practice occurs when nervous exhibitors can’t stop talking, and keep up a constant barrage of facts, figures, and sales spiel. Attendees are quickly turned off by this, and your chance to form a profitable new business relationship walks away.
9. Do:
Remember you’re on display. What you’re selling at a tradeshow is, primarily, first impressions. Be professional, well-dressed, and mannerly at all times. You never know who’s watching.
10. Don’t:
Eat, drink, or chat on your cell phone on the show floor. When you need refreshment or a break, leave your exhibit booth. Remember, the eyes of the public are on you at all times, so you’ll want to conduct yourself well.
11. Do:
Be realistic. Tradeshows are long events. You’re on the floor for anywhere from ten to twelve hours at a go, often several days in a row. This is a lot for any one person to do on their own, and most Nichepreneuers are solo operations. Ask for help. Recruit friends to work the show with you. If nothing else, they can spell you while you grab a quick bite to eat.
12. Don’t:
Forget! If you have friends help you at the tradeshow, it behooves you to provide them with some training. Make sure they understand what your services are, how you’re different from your peers, and what the marketing message is. Also, have a plan in place to cover what they should do when they run into a question they don’t know the answer to.
13. Do:
Ask qualifying questions. You want to know who you’re talking to, who they work for, and in what capacity. This will help you determine if the attendee is a prospective customer or not.
14. Don’t:
Be afraid to encourage people to move along if they’re not interested in your services. Some of the people who attend tradeshows are ‘tire-kickers’ — they like to discuss everything, but buy nothing. You don’t want to waste your time with them.
15. Do:
Take notes. Take time before the show to create a lead-card system, in which you’ll record pertinent information to facilitate post-show follow-up.
16. Don’t:
Depend on your memory — no matter how good you are, a few words scrawled on the back of a business card won’t be enough after the show’s over and you’ve met with literally hundreds of people.
17. Do:
Be polite and nice to everyone. The junior executive today can be a senior executive tomorrow.
18. Don’t:
Forget to read the Exhibitor’s Service manual. This is the thick packet of materials you received when you registered for the show. Inside, you’ll find everything you need to know about exhibiting at that particular show — and discover important deadlines for ordering services. Don’t miss those deadlines or you’ll pay more for everything!
19. Do:
Reach out to the media. Have a press kit available in the media room. Be open to interviews — reporters and freelancers often walk the floor looking for stories. If you have something truly newsworthy to announce, schedule a press conference at the show.
20. Don’t:
Forget to advertise your tradeshow participation. Make sure your target audience knows they can see you at the show, where you’ll be, and what they can expect when they visit you.
21. Do:
Follow Up! The most important part of any tradeshow takes place after you leave the building. You see that big pile of leads you’ve gathered? Send them all thank you notes for coming to see you — and follow up with them the most promising prospects quickly. You’ll be glad you did.
ActionCOACH Business Coaching at the Bizzone Expo
22. Don’t:
Hesitate to include hands-on, interactive demonstrations into your exhibit whenever possible. People love to participate. They love to try new things. Most of all, they love to have fun. If you can integrate fun into your exhibit, you’ll have more attendees than you know what to do with.
23. Do:
Use giveaway items that enhance your expert identity. You want items that your attendees will use regularly and reinforce their impression of you as the expert.
24. Don’t:
Get caught up in trendy giveaway items pushed by promotional salespeople. You want to stand out from the crowd, not merge with it.
25. Do:
Give your tradeshow participation a fair chance to work. Results may not be immediate. Rome wasn’t built in a day. But the business relationships you start at tradeshows today can steadily blossom into profitable partnerships tomorrow.
….Do you want more information…tips, systems, strategies….
… at ActionCOACH Business Coaching New Zealand, we will help you develop systems like this…practical and easy to implement to get the results that will directly affect the turn-over of your business.
Give us a call now and book yourself and your business a COMPLIMENTARY COACHING SESSION…yours for FREE TODAY! (valued at $375.00)
17/06/2009
10 Ways To Get Your Ads Or Messages Noticed
Do you post to message boards, e-mail discussion
lists, classified ads sites, FFA sites or newsgroups?
People will usually read the subject line before they
read your ad or message, so it’s important they get
noticed. Below are ten simple, but powerful tips to
get your ads or messages noticed.
1. Use extra white space creatively in your subject
line. You can add extra blank spaces between your
words or letters.
2. Combine capital letters with lower case letters.
Use all capital letters in every other word or use a
capital letter between every other lower case letter.
3. Add text symbols in your subject line. You could
use them between words and letters. Start and end
your subject with a text symbol. ( *, $, >,{,] )
4. Begin your subject line with the word “STOP!”.
People have been trained their whole life to stop
what they are doing when they see that word.
5. Ask people a question in your subject line. We
all went to school and were repetitively branded to
answer questions.
6. Use the word “FREE” in your subject line. Your
offer should be attractive to your target audience.
It could be free information, software, trials, etc.
7. Begin your subject line with an “online smile :)”.
People use smiles offline to gain people’s attention
and to win their trust, why not use them online too.
8. Don’t use unbelievable claims in your subject line.
People have or know some who has been ripped
off and trained themselves to ignore those claims.
9. Don’t use all capital letters in your subject line.
It is hard to read, looks unprofessional, and on the
internet it’s considered a symbol for shouting.
10. Test different subject lines to see which ones
draws the most traffic to your web site. Also, read
the FAQ before posting a message or ad anywhere.
**10 Ways Articles from PlugInProfit**
______________________________________________
Russel Clark of Renovations, shares how Marti Amos from ActionCOACH has helped him systemize his business and take it to the next level .
Click Here to read more.
09/06/2009
6 Things you need to know when advertising on radio…
Along with press and television, radio is one of the most popular forms of advertising. It can also be one of the most effective. But before embarking on a radio campaign there are a few points you should keep in mind.
1. Target Market… In most markets there will be a number of stations you can choose from. Generally these stations will each attract a different listening audience. For example, the music played on your local FM station may be aimed at people aged between 25 and 39, while the AM station may attract listeners aged 39+. When considering which station to use, it’s important to keep in mind who you’re trying to reach. Don’t simply choose a station because it’s the one you listen to. Choose the one your customers prefer.
2. Costs… There are 2 costs you’ll incur when advertising on radio. Obviously you have to pay for the time your commercials are actually on air (airtime). You’ll also need to pay to have the commercials produced (production costs).
Prices may vary between metropolitan and regional stations, but as a general rule of thumb you can expect to pay between $50 – $100 to have your commercials produced and production by an advertising agency can cost substantially more. Whilst you can make substantial savings by dealing directly with the station, it’s important to remember that an expensive commercial that works, is better that a cheap one that gets little or no response.
Unlike other forms of advertising you need to spend a minimum amount before you begin to see any worthwhile results. You can expect to spend approximately $2000 per week in a regional market, and around $3000 with a metropolitan station. To spend any less on your campaign is a waste of money. You simply won’t be able to get the repetition required to get you a result. Repetition is important in radio advertising, so you need to make sure that your commercials are played on a regular basis.
3. Schedule… Now that you’ve had your commercials produced you need to decide when you want them to go air. There are 2 basic types of schedules that you can choose from.
The first is ‘run of station’. This simply means that the station will decide when your commercials go to air, in other words the specific time of the day that each commercial will be played.
The second type is ‘target placed’. Using ‘target placed’ commercials gives you the opportunity to decide when each commercial is played. Normally ‘run of station’ placements are less expensive than those which are ‘target placed’. They are also far less effective.
Your local station will have survey figures that indicate the most popular listening times for your potential customers. You need to find out which are the highest ¼ hour listening shares for your target demographic rather then pay for your commercials to be played at a time when your target market is not listening. Your station sales representative can tell you which times will suit you best.
4. Number of words per commercial… As a rule 65 – 85 words is the limit for a 30 second commercial. This can vary however depending on how many sound effects you use. Remember that radio is back ground medium. Most people will listen to the radio whilst doing something else, such as driving or working in the garden. Understanding this it’s important not to put too much information into your ads. You should only focus on one theme, the one “big idea” that you want to get across.
5. Choosing the right sound… If your commercial is to standout from the rest you need to consider 3 main points. The first thing you need to consider is who you want to voice your commercial.
You may be tempted to voice the commercial yourself. However unless you have a good voice for radio you’re better off getting someone else to do this for you. You need to keep in mind who you’re trying to reach and the type of person they’ll find believable, a voice they can relate to. If you decide to use a local announcer, keep in mind that they probably won’t be able to use terms such as ‘us’ and ‘we’. If you want the reader to sound like a representative of your company you may need to source outside ‘talent’.
Sound effects are another important consideration. Used effectively these can help create a mental picture for your clients. For example the clutter of dishes in a kitchen setting or the sound of a lawn mower in the background while two neighbours talk. Your local station will have a number of different effects that you can choose from. You may even decide to have your commercials recorded “live” in store. This allows you to create the impression of your business being a popular, vibrant place.
You also need to give some thought to the type of music to be used. Music is optional, but if you decide to use it in your commercial, keep in mind that it must suit the mood you’re trying to create. Whilst music can help attract your prospects attention, it should not distract them from your selling message.
6. Some radio myths… Having considered all of the above you need to be mindful of certain myths that radio sales people would have you believe.
One of my favourites is that of ‘image advertising’. This is a tactic used to get you to spend vast sums of money without being able to gauge the effectiveness of your commercials. Your advertising dollars should only be spent on specific promotions, services or products. This allows you to test and measure the results.
Package deals are another method of milking money out of the unsuspecting business owner. This typically occurs late in the month when the station is behind on budget. These can sometimes be worthwhile providing your commercials are aired at a time that suits you and not simply placed ‘run of station’.
Because radio is a background medium, your target market will not be able to remember things like 8 digit phone numbers. If yours is the type of business that relies on customers phoning you, then you should consider other forms of advertising. Alternatively you can instruct them to look for your advertising in the Yellow Pages.
Radio is at its most effective when it creates a sense of urgency on the mind of the consumer. Using terms like ‘hurry must end soon’ or ‘today only’ will generally give you the best results.
**Article from bradsugars.com
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