Marketing Ideas From a Leather Clad Vampire Hottie

I have to tell you... there are worse ways to spend a Saturday night than sitting down with a bottle of wine and a bowl of ice-cream and watching a skin-tight-leather-clad Kate Beckinsale dealing death and destruction.

I'm talking, of course, about Underworld 4, the latest film in the Underworld saga. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing 2 and 3 yet, but that didn't make the plot any harder to follow... although "plot" is probably a fairly optimistic way of putting things.

Why?

Because they're all pretty much the same: hot Vampire Chick slays numerous bad-guys and werewolves in various ingenious, inventive and improbable ways, and ends up in a humungous fight scene at the end where she invariably triumphs.

High art, it ain't.

But who cares?

After all, it's entertaining and it doesn't exactly take lot of effort to work out what's going on -- it's Kate Beckinsale in skintight leather.

Need I say more?

But here's a question: how many films like this can Hollywood make before everyone gets bored and stops watching them?

The answer is...

... as many as they please.

Because the public never tires of them and never is going to, because it taps deeply into our human psyche. Like I said: it's Kate Beckinsale in skintight leather.

So... what does this have to do with marketing your business?

Oh, just about everything, that's all.

Because a lot of my clients come to me and ask me to help then write new ads, web-pages and sales letters.

And I ask them why.

The answer?

Because they're bored of them and want something new.

Wrong answer.

It's perfectly valid to be testing new material against existing ads to see if you can improve response; but it's folly to take something that's working and replace it in toto, just because you are bored with it.

The only time to do that is when it's stopped working and is no longer making you money. And since your market will get bored long after you do, you ought to forget about how you feel about your marketing pieces and see what the numbers are telling you (because the numbers cannot lie).

To put it another way... writing your ads to please your own tastes is like Hollywood making a film to please the critics rather than the people who make the whole thing worthwhile: the cinema goers.

So rather than changing things around because you're bored of them, focus instead on putting your existing material in front of more people.

That'll pay you back big time.

Look... marketing success really does not have to be a struggle.

But it can be, if you don't know the easy way to do it. Jon McCulloch is perhaps Europe's top direct response marketing expert (and he's definitely the most irreverent and Non-PC one you'll ever meet).

So if you're feeling brave and you're not easily offended, then feel free to help yourself to his regular marketing tips by email, and a whole heap of free marketing goodies besides.

But be warned: these tips are NOT for shrinking violets or the faint hearted.

They're waiting for you here: http://www.jonmcculloch.com/free-email-tips

Five Marketing Mistakes Small Businesses Make Which Keeps Them at a Competitive Disadvantage

Mistake #1

Act like a salesperson and you'll be treated like one!!!

I have seen this over and over again in my career and have actually worked for companies which train on exactly how to be treated like a salesperson.

They will recommend calling a prospect and asking permission to talk to them. Something like: "Hi, how are you today, It's Me from XYZ Company, do you have a minute???" Or, "Hi, it's Me from ABC Company, have I caught you at a good time??"

In most cases the answer is of course "No, try me back another time." Followed by the "Click" of the phone being hung up....

It's the exact same when a secretary/administrative person answers. Most people are trained to say something like "Hi it's Me from ABC Company, is Pete Theboss available?" What's the typical response here? "No he's not available, may I take a message?" or "What is this in reference to?"

By using this wimpy approach, you are giving the prospect the opportunity to shut you down before you ever get a chance to say why you're calling or how you can help them. The entire approach just screams SALES CALL.

Whether you own the business or are a salesperson, you need to put yourself on equal or superior footing with whomever you are calling. Do not give them the opportunity to take control. You must be the one in control. Your prospects will respect you more if you let them know that your time is just as valuable as theirs is and give them a great reason to stay on the line with you.

While working for a major marketing consultant and dealing with business owners all day every day, our inbound telephone call script never even used the word "Hello". We identified the company name, our name, asked for their name and got down to business. We immediately put ourselves in a position of authority and not just some phone peon.

When calling someone for the first time, try to sound as if you are already familiar with them, even a friend of theirs, and them with you. Particularly if a receptionist/secretary answers try something like: "Hi, it's Me calling for Him"....and just leave it at that....

Mistake #2

Sounding just like your competitors

I was recently consulting for a company and what they were most proud of with their new company and what they felt differentiated them from their competition was that they "have a lot of experience, offer personalized customer service and they make the process easy. "

Yeah, I'm sure their competitors are calling and saying, "Hey we're brand new, we have no idea what we're doing, our customer service stinks and working with us is really difficult!!"

Virtually every business, big or small, which I encounter seems to have a similar approach. That they're:

Experienced Will save you time Make you money Have great customer service Blah, blah, blah....

You need to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

I've always believed in an education based marketing approach to differentiate myself. I remember in the early 1990's while working for a major publisher who was migrating from a print publishing format and was starting to add CD delivery of their information. Computers in offices were just starting to be used and frankly most people weren't all that good with navigating around these new tools. So I went around to my clients and prospects offering them "10 Tips on Using The Computer". These tips had nothing to do with the services I offered. They were general tips which anyone could use to learn how to do common tasks on their new computers.

This offer of FREE and VALUABLE information got me in the door, built respect and rapport, and earned me the right to then discuss why they should consider the products/services I was selling.

You should create something similar. The approach of calling people to introduce yourself and your company by stating how you've helped many people just like them and will save them time and money is stale and weak.

As Chet Holmes, author of "The Ultimate Sales Machine" would say, "you will attract people much more quickly and in much greater numbers by offering to teach them something of value to themselves rather than just trying to sell them something".

Call them and offer to teach them something that they will find valuable. "Hi, it's Me. I'm a specialist in X and I've created a free report outlining the "The X Mistakes That People in Your Industry Make" and I want to stop by and give you your FREE copy of this valuable report"....

This approach works even better if you have a book or are working on a book. My Mentor Gerry Robert calls this the "interview" technique. It goes something like this: "I'm the author of the upcoming book "The 7 Dangers That People Like You Should Avoid" and I am interviewing respected business people in the area for possible inclusion in my book. You are a highly respected business owner in your industry, and I would like to interview you."

They'll likely invite you to visit with them within a couple days.

Prospects will be much more open to meeting with you if they don't believe that you're just trying to sell them something, but that you are sincerely interested in helping them.

Mistake #3

Not Building TOMA

TOMA you ask?? TOP OF MIND AWARENESS.

It wasn't that long ago that growing a company was fairly easy. Business was booming for everyone and there was plenty of room for more companies and more competitors. That just simply isn't the case anymore. Markets are shrinking. Companies are scared to part with their money. Competition is intense for the few companies willing to do business and spend some money.

The way to avoid being crushed by your competitors is to be the one doing the crushing. Be THE definitive expert in your field. Be THE go-to authority. Be everywhere that your clients and prospects are likely to be found. BUILD TOMA!!

Whenever your clients/prospects turn around they need to bump into you. They need to know that YOU are the person in the industry that they NEED to do business with. This should be done both offline and online.

Piece of cake right?? Actually, it's really not that difficult if you're committed to taking regular action and spending time on this regularly. You need to be devoted to marketing yourself and your business. This requires you to attend local functions within your area, perhaps via the local Chamber of Commerce, trade organizations for your target market, or other similar organizations.

When I worked for a major publisher of tax information, I used to attend virtually every meeting sponsored by the state CPA Society; whether the meeting was tax related or not. If there was a room-full of accountants somewhere, I wanted to be in the room also.

Mistake #4

Not Participating

Whether it's online or offline, the problem with most companies is that they don't actively "work" opportunities to get the most out of them.

They attend networking events and spend the whole evening talking with one guy who isn't even a prospect for their business or with people they already know. They don't actively participate, mingle with as many people as possible, or gather cards and names. Go to events with a strategy and understand exactly what you are trying to accomplish and with whom you are trying to connect with.

It's similar online. You can connect with a lot more people more quickly without ever leaving your office. You can make excellent contacts and create wonderful relationships. It's really just about PARTICIPATING. I recently had a situation where I was working for a company and helping them to enhance their web presence and social networking strategies. I created a blog, and LinkedIn and FaceBook pages. Within just a few weeks, I was driving massive traffic between all of these different pages and generating interest in what I had to offer.

Simply because I participated. I joined LinkedIn groups and PARTICIPATED in the conversations. I posted Polls and made many new contacts. In one of the groups, which has over 2,200 members, within a week I was one of the top contributors. In another, the editor of a magazine liked one of my posts and wanted to do an article on me.

Mistake #5

Margins are too low

This one is totally your fault. Your margins are too low because you allow them to be. You have likely made the previous mistakes in this report and are therefore fighting for business at the bottom of the pond with the other bottom feeders. If you want to compete on price, you will always have margins that are too low. Your business will have customers rather than clients as there will always be some other company willing to do the work for even less. DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN!!

Customer Vs. Client: a customer is someone who just once or occasionally buys from you. A client is someone who comes to you over and over again and with whom you have a relationship.

If you want to increase your margins you have to give your clients a reason to spend more for your expertise. You have to create an aura around you that YOU are the authority and that it would benefit them to work with you; and not the other way around.

One of the best ways to build an atmosphere of expertise is by using the written word.

There are many ways to do this. You can write a book; author a great blog; offer to write articles for free in your local newspaper; submit articles to industry magazines; create a monthly newsletter; prepare eye opening FREE reports; and the list goes on.

If you show or give away your book to a prospect or show them your articles from a newspaper or magazine, you will instantly be looked at in a different way. You will gain in stature in their eyes and be much more credible.

Another way is to offer free training sessions on your area of expertise. At your business location or even at a hotel or some other meeting place have a regularly scheduled free meeting where you share your expertise with others. For instance,

if you are a hair stylist, offer a monthly free session on how to best take care of hair. CPA?? Offer a regular class on taxes, bookkeeping, financing options, etc. Real estate agent?? Offer a class on how to get the most money when selling your home or how to get your dream house for much less.

Get the idea?? You can also tie some of these ideas together. Write a free report or book on a topic and then give live sessions to deliver the content and answer questions. Although not quite as powerful as a live event, you could use webinars as well.

When you do it right, you can even get other people to pay for your marketing by sponsoring your event or book.

These are inexpensive yet extremely powerful ways to grow your business faster and easier; crush your competition; gain in credibility in the marketplace; create more loyal clients; and to get higher margins.

Differentiate yourself. Be THE authority. Give of yourself. By avoiding the mistakes in this article, you will attract prospects who are predisposed to wanting to buy from you and willing to pay more for your expertise.

I'm an author, firewalker, and education based attraction marketing specialist. I help small business owners learn how to dominate their marketplace, crush their competition, get others to pay for their marketing and become THE authority in their field.

http://teammaz.wordpress.com/about/

Is Content Killing Content Marketing?

For years we've heard that "Content is King," and businesses around the world have been listening. The growth of social media has provided a platform for distribution of content like never before, and companies are churning out articles, blogs, white papers and other content at a record pace.

So what's the problem?

Not too many years ago, content was produced by analysts, researchers, writers and journalists who spent a great deal of time developing well-written, thoughtful and provocative material. This material was published for readers who had a deep and genuine interest in the topic at hand.

Whether it was exploring new vendors and service offerings or researching competitors and market opportunities, consumers of this content could be reasonably confident that what they downloaded would be worth their time - and the price of their email address or contact information.

Not so much these days. Cranking out content has become an end in itself.

For many content marketers, content is simply a sales hook designed to capture email addresses (aka leads). There is less concern about offering a quality product, as long as the goal of building that email list is achieved.

The result is a whole lot of noise.

It's becoming more and more difficult to find quality content within the cacophony of the web.

People who are legitimately researching a topic must wade through mountains of low quality, bait-and-switch content in order to find a few gems of information. Even then, stats can be suspect and must be verified through multiple sources (and not just those that blindly quote the same data or "facts").

I'm not saying there is no great content out there. There is plenty of good content. The problem is finding it.

Short of paying big-ticket prices for analyst reports or subscribing to established media outlets, the average person doesn't have a lot of options. Finding quality content can be a huge task. Wade through the web, find resources you trust, and spend more and more time filtering to find the needle in the haystack.

The wave of mediocrity sweeping the web will eventually kill the intense demand for content that made content marketing so popular in the beginning.

It's kind of like the kid that loves chocolate until he has the chance to eat all his Halloween candy at once. He soon discovers that getting too much of what you want can be worse than not enough.

Are you part of the problem?

As a marketing consultant, I often advise clients to publish content as part of their thought leadership efforts. I tell them to write white papers and press releases that attract links and SEO karma.

The difference is that what I suggest is publishing valuable content. Items of interest that can't easily be found elsewhere. If you don't follow this advice and randomly push out materials without thinking twice about what value they add, you could be part of the problem.

What's a content marketer to do?

As you develop content for your business, make sure you are adding something of value to the universe of existing materials. Think about your audience, and what they need.

What will your reader get in return for the time they spend with your content? Provide a unique perspective, some fresh insights or real data. Think about what information will help your audience improve their situation, be more informed or better educated.

If you're just regurgitating something you read elsewhere, stop. Instead, use items you like as inspiration to offer your own unique spin or position.

Avoid contributing to the clutter. Blindly sharing can be dangerous to your reputation, as Jordan Kasteler points out in this post on Social Sharing and Personal Credibility.

Before you retweet, share or post content from other sources, review it. Yes, that means take the time to actually click that link, read it and think: Is it really good? Would you recommend it to a friend or client you were meeting with face-to-face? If not, hold off for something better.

A little restraint in curating the content you share will not only slow the spread of mindless stuff, if will also reflect positively on you. Carefully picking what to share - whether you write it yourself or promote content from other sources - will establish your position as an intelligent thought leader, a "go to" person who knows what's of value, and what's not.

What do you think? If you're a marketer, especially one who uses content marketing in your own business, I bet you have your own thoughts on the issue of content overload. Where do you stand?

Joellyn "Joey" Sargent is principal of BrandSprout LLC, an Atlanta-based strategic marketing and management consulting firm. Joey brings fresh perspectives to challenging business issues, helping her clients succeed by building brand awareness, engaging customers and increasing market share.

A passionate advocate of entrepreneurship, Joey has founded 3 companies, was a key executive with two start-ups and has worked for Fortune 500 companies including UPS and BellSouth (now AT&T). With global leadership experience in branding, strategy, and communications, Joey advises business owners on strategies for dramatic growth, building high-performing marketing teams and leveraging technology for maximum impact.

How Lawyers Can Use Marketing To Identify And Sift Out Hot Prospects

One reason why many lawyers don't like marketing or think it is not worth the effort is because they have not done it properly in the past.

This could be for a whole lot of reasons, but more often than not it is because of a lack of time and expertise.

There is also the confusion many lawyers have about marketing and sales - i.e. should marketing result in new clients signing up immediately or should it be separated totally from the sales function?

I want to answer these questions by focusing on what marketing should be...

Marketing should help lawyers identify prospects that are looking for specific legal services and have the money to pay to achieve their desired goals.

Given this, any marketing by law firms should focus on sifting out hot prospects as soon as possible so that the appropriate communications and resources are directed to them.

This does not mean prospects that are more likely to buy later should be ignored. Marketing for these means nurturing them until they are ready to buy, as they should be handled differently because they are at a different stage of their purchase cycle.

When people get confused about marketing and sales, a simple way of differentiating them is this...

Marketing identifies the hot prospects, and sales converts them into clients.

They are linked - to be honest, many successful lawyers don't even bother to separate them out as marketing and sales fall into one 'business development' function with defined steps to guide prospects through sales funnels.

One reason why lawyers need to identify who is most likely to buy their legal services soon is because it stops them blanketing everyone with the same message, something that is pretty useless and wastes money.

So how can lawyers identify the hot prospects in the first place?

There are some key steps they have to go through to get this right consistently:

First of all, think about your sales funnel - what are your goals and what would the ideal sales funnel look like?
Identify a niche to focus on - marketing to everyone is less effective and wastes resources;
Provide information that you know your market is looking for and make it easy for readers to find - blogs, articles, free guides, webinars or seminars are a fantastic way of getting yourself top of mind within the minds of prospects;
Capture your prospects' contact details and create calls to action so that those who need your legal services sooner are forced to act and follow steps you have outlined, or they simply self-select themselves to take the steps necessary to contact you first;
Have well-defined touchpoints and communications so that you guide prospects through your sales funnel according to their readiness to buy your legal services. This means having a mix of offline communication tactics that are integrated with your online / social media ones.

The key thing is to make prospects with an urgent need for your legal services to put their hands up and, based on the free information you have willingly and consistently provided, make an educated decision to select you above all other options available.

If you have developed effective authority marketing strategies, then you stand out from your competitors and the prospects that know they have a problem that needs to be solved will want to choose you.

Eria Odhuba helps lawyers implement social media and new online business models to attract more clients to their practices, giving them the chance to be successful and enjoy the things they would like to do but can't because they have no time or money.

He helps lawyers position themselves as leaders within their target niches and creating platforms to increase their visibility despite the competition they may face. He creates messages that answer the questions going on the in the minds of prospects and, when combined with an effective lead capture system, helps lawyers develop a winning platform from which they can develop trust with prospects and win new business without the need to do any hard selling.

If you want to know how to put a new online business model in place to prepare your law firm for more effective social media, online and offline web marketing strategies that help you attract an endless stream of clients or prospects to you, please sign up for the FREE 7 day video series.

Telehealth: The 7 Deadly Sins of Telehealth Marketing - Are You Guilty?

Do you experience any of these challenges with your telehealth program, product, or service?

* Painstaking process of getting people to buy-in to your telehealth or telemedicine program?

* Slow uptake for your telehealth technology or service?

* Difficulty getting hospitals or other customers to join your telehealth network?

While you could cite a variety of reasons for these struggles, it's highly likely that you have a marketing problem.

This article covers some fundamental marketing mistakes ("sins") that are common to many industries in addition to telehealth and telemedicine. If you find that you are guilty of any of these sins, you have a golden opportunity to eliminate them from your marketing strategy, so that you can edge out your competitors and get the PR, patients, and profits you deserve.

Marketing Sin #1: Field of Dreams

The movie Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner is built around a central premise that if the character played by Mr. Costner builds a baseball field on his farm, then legendary baseball players who have long since died will emerge from the cornfield in their youthful form to play on his field. "Build it and they will come" says his advisor played by James Earl Jones.

Let's face it. "Build it and they will come" only works in the movies.

Yet too many people are guilty of thinking that if they start or build the next great thing, everyone will be lining up to use it. Marketing is a fundamental requirement for the success of any "business" or "venture".

Even Apple doesn't subscribe to the Field of Dreams. They put a lot of time and money into market research, strategy, developing market buzz, etc. before the launch of the iPad 3 and its predecessors.

So if you are a telehealth company, telehealth consultant, or telehealth program, you absolutely need to market and promote your offering in order to attract and win customers, patients, participants, etc.

How do you know if you are suffering from the "Field of Dreams syndrome"? Just answer these questions...

1. Do you find yourself wondering why everyone just doesn't get what a great solution you have to offer?

2. Did you put out a single press release about your new product or program and get surprised by the lack of response?

3. Do you find yourself procrastinating about putting together a newsletter, sales letter, promotion, etc. for your telehealth solution?

4. Are you "uncomfortable" selling yourself or your services

Marketing Sin #2: Random Whim Marketing

Statistics have shown that a potential customer has to see your ad an average of 7 times before they even notice it. Assuming they are even interested in what you're selling, they have to see the ad another 7 times before taking action.

That means you have to get your message in front of the potential customer an average of 14 times before they might even think about getting in touch. This is why ad agencies typically suggest that you run ads for 13 issues.

So your #1 goal is to make sure people recognize and remember your solution. This is why consistency is key.

While you may not have the budget to run an ad 14 times, the real lesson here is that your marketing materials need to create consistency in several forms:

* A consistent look and feel, so people learn to recognize you and your brand

* A consistent message, so people remember what you do, who you do it for, and why you are better than your competition

* A consistent delivery schedule, so people see your name and message often enough to recognize you, remember what you do, and have you at the top of their mind the next time the problem you can solve hits a critical point for them

Are you guilty of Random Whim Marketing?

1. Do you tend to market primarily when business is slow or an opportunity happens to present itself?

2. Have you avoided putting together any formal marketing plans, strategies, or goals?

3. Are you putting together advertising and marketing materials at the last minute?

Marketing Sin #3: Me Too Marketing

If you are guilty of Me Too Marketing, potential customers don't have a compelling reason to do business with you instead of your competitors.

You need to define your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) by answering the customer's question (which may be spoken or unspoken): "Why should I do business with you among all the choices I have in your category, which include doing nothing?"

What is it that makes your products, services, or business different from everyone else's? Search online or in your region (if it applies) to see what your competitors are saying in their marketing.

If your marketing materials and sales promises sound just like your competitors, then you are guilty of me-too marketing. That's OK. Now spend your energy figuring out what's different or how you can be different.

Marketing Sin #4: Being Ego-centric

Humans are egocentric by nature.

We approach everything from our own perspective. And we spend most of the time thinking and talking about what's important to us.

It's only natural since we all spend our time dealing with our own life, family, health, and body.

But guess what? Your customers are no different.

While you, by your nature, want to talk about yourself and what you do in your marketing materials, your clients really want to talk about their issues so they can get some resolution and move on. What your clients really want to know from your marketing materials is "What's in it for me?"

If you came across a website whose message was something like this:

"Acme Telehealth is the premier developer of robust tele-presence applications for small to mid-sized hospitals to practice telehealth. Our company is made up of fifty of the nation's top engineers who specialize in creating powerful tele-presence technology and decision-support software for telehealth in multiple disciplines..."

- you'd likely click away.

But what if you end up on a page that says:

"Hospitals... Get started with your telehealth solution in 30 days and become the clinical center of excellence in your region. Designed for small to mid-sized hospitals, this full function solution takes all the mystery out of telehealth and enables you to get started with a complete playbook, equipment, and tools."

If you didn't have a telehealth solution already and were thinking about it, you'd at least want to take a look.

Marketing Sin #5: Focusing on features

This is absolutely the worst way to talk about your offering and ties into the ego-centric nature of most of the unremarkable marketing that is out there.

Unless you're talking to IT staff who assume the benefits of specific telehealth features, the worst things you can do are talking about the technical features of the solution: technical protocols, bandwidth, security, software and hardware specs, etc.

The basic formula is this:

1. Choose a product or service (or your business as a whole) and list all of its feature

2. For each and every feature, ask yourself, "So what? Why would someone want this?" The answer to this question is the benefit.

To put it another way, don't just tell what it is; tell what it will do for your client.

Marketing Sin #6: Missing the target

The basic question is this: "Who is your target market?"

If your answer is like any of the following...

* "I don't know"

* "Anyone with money"

* "Anyone who will listen to my pitch"

* Something really broad like "hospitals" or "physicians"

... stop all your marketing and advertising right now! And don't spend any more time, energy, or money marketing your business until you've found the real answer.

Why? Because you are definitely guilty of "Missing the Target".

People buy products or services that solve a problem, fill a need, or help fulfill a dream. And everyone's problems, needs, and dreams are different.

If you try to speak to too broad a market, chances are that you won't be speaking to anyone with any specificity that makes sense.

Marketing Sin #7: Marketing Insanity

What's the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting to get different results.

If you answer "Yes" to any of the following questions, you are probably guilty of Marketing Insanity:

1. Do you do marketing or advertising without tracking results?

2. Do you have several months' data showing you that you are not on track to reach your goals, but you haven't done anything about it?

3. Do you find yourself complaining about the same problem three or more times without making a change

4. When you are presented with a new idea or system for your business, do you hear yourself saying "I don't want to change anything", or "it will never work for my business"?

The Last Word

It's clear that these 7 deadly sins of telehealth marketing can apply more broadly to many industries and areas. That is because the tough job of marketing has many common pitfalls, regardless of industry.

And because marketing is a tough job, you have a potential edge over your competitors who are likely guilty of one or more of these sins as well - and unaware of it. You could be one eliminated sin away from edging out your competitors and getting all the telehealth-related PR, patients, and profits you want.

It is a fact that in virtually every industry, better marketers win!

Great telehealth marketing strategies can have a powerful impact on the growth of your telehealth program, product, or service.

In addition to superior marketing, there are a number of other strategies that are absolutely critical to being successful in telehealth and telemedicine. That's why it's important to make sure you address them all.

To learn more about these winning telehealth strategies, download the free eBook "The 10 Secrets of Telehealth Success" at http://www.handsontelehealth.com/freebook

A few testimonials -
"A must read for both the novice and the experienced involved in telemedicine."

"Clearly and succinctly articulates the key points that every telehealth program should follow point by point. His experience, knowledge and analysis display an outstanding insight into how a successful telemedicine program or network should work."

"Very Good resource, practical, easy read and has captured most of the issues that one needs to consider for Telehealth. I will be referencing it for some documents I am creating internally"

http://www.handsontelehealth.com/

Fitness Marketing Strategy: What Is The Easiest Way?

For gym owners who want to acquire more customers and raise a considerable amount of profit, it is essential that they first need to think of the right fitness marketing strategy to make it possible. It would only become possible for a gym to expand its services and purchase better equipment if they have the right funding. And in order to get funding, a gym must first get the attention of potential customers and entice them to use its services. Using a good marketing strategy will make it possible for you to highlight the services given in a way that is distinct from other local competitor's gym business. Be creative with your strategy. Find ways on how to make customers want to use your services. There are many ways in which you can use a marketing strategy to effectively entice local customers.

Most gym owners nowadays include free membership for those clients who are interested to join in a given time. This results to clients feeling the urgency to join since they can only avail of the free membership for a limited time. Clients would soon then realise the benefits of going to the gym and they may even bring along more customers with them when they come back. Discounts on referrals are also among the most popular marketing strategies being used by many gym owners. In order for customers to avail of discounts, they need to bring along two or three of their friends to join your gym. You can provide incentives to loyal customers and this could inspire them to come back more. You need to be prepared for visits from clients. You need to be there to greet them when they enter as well as when they leave. You need to make them feel welcome. You need to guide them properly on how to use the equipment without getting hurt in the process. These are only some of the popular ways used by many owners who want to get more customers to join their gym. You can choose to follow these tips or you can create a much better strategy. Just make sure that you highlight your services in a unique way. Gain a competitive edge against the other competitors by using a fitness marketing strategy that's different from the others.

You do not need to have a lot of money in order to come up with a good way to entice potential customers. You only need to be creative with your strategy. Highlight the services that you offer, but don't forget to include the incentives, free membership and other gym promotions to lure customers into your gym.

The author writes for http://marketingforgyms.com/ which provides information regarding fitness marketing.

How Online Video Content Marketing Can Help You Win Enterprise Deals

More and more case studies are being published on how online video content marketing is driving action to improve conversion across all points of the sales cycle - from getting found on search engines to providing information on what distances your company from the competition and closing the sale.

If you are selling into enterprise level clients you know that there is more of a diverse set of busy decision makers out there than ever before. With decision makers having access to a ton of information and the ability make their own assessment in the buying process keeping all the decision makers engaged enough so you can navigate and overcome any objections is the key to winning more deals.

A Forbes Insight Study reveled that 59% of C-level decision makers prefer video to reading text because it helps them make deeper connections with your company and better understand your product / service, team and value propositions. However, most sales peoples till use white papers, case studies, websites and other pieces of paper. Because paper does not provide a personal connection, it is no wonder why decision makers don't "have time" to sift through the information your marketing department spent so much money on. Thus, these decision makers, may not be educated on how you can support their business objectives.

Because online video content marketing reaches out, informs and builds trust with your customers quicker, easier and more effectively than any other marketing medium, a well thought out plan for using online video marketing content in your enterprise deals will differentiate your organization, give you a competitive edge to drive sales.

Here are a few areas for your organization to get started using online video marketing in your enterprise level sales process.

1. What paper is used the most? Look at your company's brochures, product specs, case studies and white papers. These are widely used in the sales process and can have a greater impact using web video content marketing. Keep them engaged and win the deal!

2. What do you find your sales team repeating? An Invodo webinar reported that 66% of buyers watch product informational-intensive videos two or three more times. Which means they are going back multiple times to get more information to make informed purchase decisions. Get them informed and win the deal!

3. What is easy to show but difficult to explain? You have product/service information on your website... you talk about your products and services with video production just like you do everyday! You are the expert, show your stuff. Get them to understand and win the deal!

4. Who makes your company the best? Enterprise buyers know sales people only represent the team that will be executing your solution. Arm your sales team with video marketing content that allows these buyers to connect with your team. From your tech, project management, support to operation. Get them to connect with your team and win more deals!

5. Post presentation objection handling - Record answers to the top three objections your customers have about post-presentation. Tell your clients that you know what their problems are and which products or services you have created and why you have created them. This will build trust and credibility without directly selling to win more deals.

6. Thank you videos - Send a thank you video after every meeting. Remind customers about your value propositions and insert testimonials from other clients to win more deals.

Just like 10 years ago when your needed a website, you will soon need professional video marketing content to drive your messaging. Getting stated sooner will distance your organization from the rest by giving your clients easy to consume content that they will enjoy. And thus giving your company a competitive advantage.

And corporate online video marketing with a quality online video production company to create your online video can serve greater benefits to larger businesses that work hard to shape public perception. Marketing with online video for larger corporations can support their sales teams with content that differentiates them in all parts of the sales process. Simply put, online marketing with video can become a useful everyday tool in the life of a long sales and marketing processes.

In addition to providing your sales team with innovative sales-tools that distances your product' and services business value, you will be adding excitement to the buying experience to your customers.

Visit our website at http://www.nyccorporatevideomarketing.com/ for free downloads on Getting Started with Video Marketing and YouTube Marketing Tips

Core Values for Marketing Success

"Increased competition is driving marketers to find ways to improve customer loyalty." Everyone has heard this statement before, but you don't need to completely overhaul your organization or copy everything your competition is doing to beat them at the loyalty game.

To beat competitors to the punch, follow three simple keys to success. First, ensure you uphold the highest standards of service to your customer and employee communities. Second, make sure you attract the brightest minds, recognize achievement and promote an innovative culture through diversity. The final key to success is to celebrate the individual, yet rely on the team. Understanding these important issues is your first step in creating a model organization that others will strive to emulate.

So how do you get started on this journey? Adopt and adhere to the time-tested core values that bring success to all marketing organizations. The following five core values will drive your growth and will challenge you. Every day.

Take Ownership and be Accountable to Team and Community
Employees must embrace the company's vision and be prepared to deliver on their commitments, while operating in a culture of trust, quality and integrity.

Weave in your mission, core message and brand voice into every marketing campaign. It is always better to be upfront with customers, as they will always remember how you present yourself.

Show Respect
Listen to your community and take time to understand each other's experiences, opinions and values as you promote, encourage and recognize unique contributions by all.

Empathize, understand and respond to the customer's needs. Listening for the customer's emotional state and the actions the customer has already taken is extremely important as this shows a genuine interest in what the customer has to say. Also acknowledge customers by thanking them for their business.

Do What It Takes
Do what it takes, not whatever it takes! Doing whatever it takes implies that you are not balancing the needs of the customer with the needs of the company. You must find this balance in every campaign. Employees should stretch their boundaries while maintaining a healthy balance between customer and company.

During campaign strategy, take the time needed to ensure customers will understand your solution, and provide the information in a manner they can easily understand. Educating the customer should be a top priority.

Inject Energy and Passion
Inspire your colleagues to excel by focusing on the positive and demonstrating your enthusiasm through actions and attitudes.

By doing this, you can confidently demonstrate your value proposition while reassuring customers.

Innovate to Lead
Promote an environment that encourages employees to challenge operating norms, seize opportunities and create optimal solutions that advance the company to the cutting-edge position in your industry.

Think out of the box, but focus on what you can do, and how well, and not on what you can't do.

Incorporating these core marketing values into all that your organization does can give you a head start on the journey toward increased growth and better customer loyalty.

Marketing Ideas for Small Business - What Farm Animals Can Teach You About Marketing

Never mind bats in the belfry -- we've got avians in the air-vent.

It seems the external shutters have been broken at some point, and the sneaky starling has made a nest in there.

That's cool. It's rather neat, actually. Kinda brings the tally up -- we've got a hare in the field behind us (with four leverets), a fox who comes wandering by from time to time, and, of course, umpteen bullocks behind and to either side.

But here are a few funny things.

First, Mother Starling. Every time one of us leaves the house or walks towards the house from the gym or the other outbuildings, she rushes out of the nest and flies away from it... but not too fast.

Because she's obviously wanting us to follow her away from her babes. And the daft thing never learns. She never seems to get used to the idea we're no threat. She's just repeating the same old pattern of behaviour and is unable to break out of it.

And the bullocks?

Well... the other day as I left on my cycle ride, they were gathered by the fence running along the lane.

A couple of them saw me coming and gazed uncomprehendingly as bullocks are wont to do.

But most of them were head-down munching away.

And when I shook, rattled and rolled past them?

It startled them into charging away across the field.

Nothing particularly interesting there, right?

Right.

But what IS interesting... the ones who'd already seen me charged away, too. They, like the bird, it seems, are bound by their own programming.

But before you giggle too much and congratulate yourself on your superiority, just ask yourself how many behaviour patterns you're repeating for no good reason, and how many herds are you following just because everyone else is?

The guy who prints my newsletters told me yesterday he's had his best month for FOUR years. My guess is it's partly to do with putting his prices up -- in the middle of a Double Dip recession - after I told him that was the quickest and easiest way to increase his cashflow (and didn't anyone ever tell you increasing your prices is a genuine marketing strategy, because it sends a very clear message to your market?).

No dumbass herd-following there, Thank Glub.

And as with the clients I spoke to last week, it's no One Big Thing he can put his pinkie on, but whatever it is... it really IS.

I reckon... every month you're NOT following your own direction and instead are following all the other business owners out there... you're probably losing money. And that's not a claim I make lightly.

Earl Nightingale once said, "If you're in a situation and you don't have any clear way forward and want for clear advice, look around and see what everyone else is doing and do the opposite"

Sound advice.

So give it a whirl, and prove it to yourself.

I dare you.

Look... marketing success really does not have to be a struggle.

But it can be, if you don't know the easy way to do it. Jon McCulloch is perhaps Europe's top direct response marketing expert (and he's definitely the most irreverent and Non-PC one you'll ever meet).

So if you're feeling brave and you're not easily offended, then feel free to help yourself to his regular marketing tips by email, and a whole heap of free marketing goodies besides.

But be warned: these tips are NOT for shrinking violets or the faint hearted.

They're waiting for you here: http://www.jonmcculloch.com/free-email-tips

The Importance of Pinterest in Online Marketing

There's a new marketing powerhouse in town: Pinterest. If you haven't heard of it yet, it's an image sharing board, and is currently the fastest website to ever break the 10 million unique visitor mark. The community is largely female-dominant (in 2012, 83% of U.S. users were women), however, so not everybody will be able to successfully market there.

The site is based around user-made boards that they "pin" content to. The content is generally high-quality, aesthetically-pleasing images. Some popular categories on Pinterest include food, interior design, fashion, and crafts. When a user sees a pin that they like, they can choose to "re-pin" it to one of their boards, and everybody following that user will then be able to see it as well.

Working at a Missouri SEO firm, I have a few clients that I feel fall into this niche market. With some original content and Google analytics, I decided to do some research. I chose four images that I felt would appeal to Pinterest and posted them on a board. Keep in mind, I currently have no followers on Pinterest, and somebody with a large fan-base would be far more successful.

When you share an image on Pinterest, the image links back to the site it was originally hosted on, so it's great for sharing original content from your website. The first three pictures I posted failed to generate any traffic. However, the fourth image received over 100 re-pins in a matter of a few hours. I repeated this test a few more times and came up with some interesting data.

For every 100 re-pins an image received, my website would see about 16 unique visitors. While this may not seem like a lot, keep in mind that popular pins can receive multiple thousands of re-pins, and creating a pin takes virtually no time at all (in theory) and is completely free.

This also tells me that there are at least some users interested in where the content originated. Convincing other users to feel the same may just be as simple as creating some incentive in the image itself (ie: Click here for more details!).

So, if you're trying to market something that you think Pinterest would enjoy, I suggest giving it a try. Etsy stores have been getting a lot of success from it.

I plan to learn more about pinterest in the near future, so stay tuned!

If you would like to learn more about SEO, please contact me at my Missouri SEO firm.

The Hype in Digital Marketing

There are a number of successful marketing tactics that tap into our mobile phone craze. Some of these tactics include mobile coupons, mobile videos, mobile display ads, branded smartphone apps, scannable codes and text message marketing. Text message marketing has become the number one most used tactic when it comes to marketers implementing a mobile marketing strategy.

Text Message Marketing or SMS Marketing allows businesses to short message service (SMS) text messaging as a medium of direct advertising. An SMS Marketing campaign involves collecting mobile phone numbers usually by customers. Once numbers are collected, you can prepare special promotion and send a mass message to all potential repeat customers.

When a company is considering the use of SMS text message marketing they should weigh all the pros and cons, including the cost of SMS marketing and how their target market will likely respond. Compared to traditional forms of advertising like billboards and radio, the potential audience for SMS marketing is a bit more limited, but this form of advertising can build a loyal customer base that will help advertise and build business through word-of-mouth and social media. SMS text messaging may give the impression that your business is technologically savvy, which will greatly appeal to some customers.

Scanned coupons or sometimes called Quick Response codes are another route within the mobile marketing industry. It's a bit more tricky than SMS text message marketing. These are encoded barcode image resembling a square-like maze. Unlike a UPC code, these 2-dimensional barcodes store data in both directions and can be scanned vertically or horizontally to be decoded.

One of the positives involved in Quick Response scanned coupons is that these barcode images can be printed on nearly any surface like newspapers, TV ads, billboards, product packaging and more. This enables you to drive traffic from anywhere. The digital marketing believes an even bigger advantage is the increase in user engagement. Digital barcodes create a more enticing, personal experience for users that is can't be replicated in other forms of marketing. They also have the ability to quickly show the success of a campaign based on the number of scans per location. Additionally, digital barcodes can drive quality traffic to a company's website, which was the ultimate goal.

To ensure campaign success, consider consulting with a mobile barcode and SMS marketing expert, especially if you have never ran a these types of marketing campaigns before. Technology, trends and tools in this arena are rapidly changing. A few hours of expert consulting can bring your team up to speed and give you a better chance at campaign success. You don't want to be embarrassed from poor implementation.