The Marketing Outsider Blog

Barter for more business

2010-04-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

baarter.com

bartersbiz.com

itex.com

barterbucks.us

joebarter.com

tradeafavor.com

barterquest.com

swaptreasures.com

u-exchange.com

Fashions Around The World

2010-04-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

This weekend, Sat, April 24th 2010 come to Colonial Downs for a great evening of fashion, music and dining.

The Not-For-Profit Itz A New Day is putting up the EVENT as a fundraiser for their home for the victims of domestic abuse.

I was fortunate enough to have been of help to this group.

Go to http://itzanewaday.org/ for more ...

See you at the track..

Customer service - Lost Innocence?

2010-04-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

This past week, me and the family flew over to Orlando for a quick trip to Disney World.

Overall we had a great time, and we did really enjoy this brief break in the day to day run around.

But our journey was not without its hiccups. I love these issues because it gives me more fodder to write about and help you avoid giving a hard time to your customers.

We arrived at the Orlando Intl. Airport a little after 12.30 midnight. After an interminably long walk to the Dollar Car Rental office at the airport, we were the only ones at the desk.

While the clerk was taking down our details, he was interrupted by his manager who called them in for an improptu meeting.

He left us standing there; with a 7 year old tired, sleepy and cranky child waiting while he held his meeting! There were two other clerks with no other customers.

I don't see why he couldn't have waited for a minute more while our work at the counter was finished and we were on our way. Probably some people do think that their "meeting" was more important than a paying customer!

After watching the 4 people huddle and talk for a few minutes, the meeting broke up and our clerk returned to his counter. His manager walked by on his way out, and guess what happens?

The clerk stops the manager to ask something about him having a day off and how to put that in the system or something like that! And we are still waiting for him to enter us and give us our car!

And then I ask him about the possibility of an upgrade, and he says with a grin: "This is the U.S.; you don't get free upgrades here!"

And this may be common business practice at some places; but I've never heard of it before - He then asks me to fill up the gas tank on my return within 10 miles of the airport; and submit a receipt as proof.

And when the business loses money, they wonder why!

I'll spell it out to you - clueless people - it's because you dont pay attention to your customer!

Your customer did not give you his hard earned money to stand and watch you while you guys are having an intra-office meeting. Nor does he want to hear smart ass answers designed to make the customer feel stupid.

Your customer expects top quality service, no matter what time of the day.

If you can't do that, and the customer finds another business that offers comparative prices, he is gone!

How I Topeka'd it before moving to Google.

2010-04-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

Leave it to Google to make a great April Fool's joke. And they've pushed it in full tilt too...

What's in a name?

Social Media Tools

2010-03-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

Social Media Tools that come in handy when growing your online business.

howsociable.com – Social visibility score
knowem.com – Profile building tool
Social Media for Firefox – Build a powerful social profile on social news & bookmarking sites
semrush.com – Find competitor organic search rankings
Google Insights – Keyword demand trends
Page Inlink Analyzer – Analyze inbound links, their Delicious bookmarks & keyword tags
majesticseo.com – Historical back-link tracking
trackur.com – Social media monitoring
socialmention.com – Real-time social search & scoring, social keyword research
bit.ly – Search friendly URL shortening with analytics
analytics.postrank.com – Track social engagement with combined Google & social analytics

Reasons why small businesses fail

2010-03-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

Its almost a cliche in the business world. "95% of small businesses fail in the first 5 years."
Nobody ever says anything beyond this.

So why do most businesses fail?

I've decided to identify why this may be true and write a series of articles on this.

Here is Article #1 on : Why Small Businesses Fail : Not Having A Good Startup Reason.

http://www.nobleriver.com/Articles/ArticleDisplay.aspx?Article=Why-Businesses-Fail-Wrong-Reason-For-Startup.htm

Hope you can learn from this.

Deep Janardhanan.

10 Things My 7 Year Old Knows About Selling

2010-01-29T18:43:00.000-08:00

Let me tell you a story. This really happened at my daughter's day care.

My 7 year old and her friends at day-care decided to collect some money for the Haiti earthquake victims fund. So they set out to sell hand made bookmarks. She and the other girls made bookmarks that said "Boys Rock!" and offered it to the boys. The boys would bring some money and hand it over the next day.

The next day she came home and told me this story. "Daddy", she said. You are a marketer. Can you tell me why we couldn't collect any money?

Needless to say, I was flattered and just a little proud that my little one was taking marketing advice from her dad.

So I sat her down and gave her tips on how to market her little - ahem! - operation.

The next day she implemented my suggestions and had collected $12/- in under 5 minutes and much more before the day was done...

Here is what she did not do.

0) When she failed once, she didn't give up. She didnt try the same plan.

And here's what she did.- She got expert advice.

Here is how she collected the money.

1) She started targeting parents rather than her classmates.

2) She changed the product to speak to the parent than the classmates. " My son rocks".

3) She waited until the parent was close to the son or daughter and they had exchanged their hugs before starting her pitch.

4)She used emotion in her pitch by starting with "For the victims of Haiti earthquake, can you please..."

5) She clearly stated that she was looking for $1/- or more.

6) She found a rather large open box to hold the money because they could not find a money jar.

7) She started with $1 in the box; so parents could see that someone had already given.

8) They let each parent pick out their choice of available bookmarks.

9) After the parent had given the money, they made each person write their name on a piece of paper and wrote the amount of their donation against it.

10) When each parent gave, they all sang "Thank you" in chorus and clapped their hands loudly.

11) And when she got home, she gave Daddy a big old hug.

And in this true story, my dear entrepreneur are the 10 Golden Nuggets of Sales Wisdom.

We wouldn't be interested in anything like that...

2010-01-21T14:20:00.000-08:00

How many times do we say this without really knowing what we are saying it to?

Do we really know what it might mean to us? Do we take the time to understand what the offering is?

What if it might mean the difference between survival and thriving in a bad economy? What if the person who spoke to you was offering something that was an answer to all your questions?

Don't ever say NO without seeking details. If you pressed for time, ask him to call back later. Or send you an email ..

The Goddess of Wealth may knock only once. Be ready to invite her in!
-- Old Indian Saying.

How small business can build brand loyalty

2010-01-20T08:31:00.000-08:00

How can a retail establishment build loyalty?

Stand out.

People like to root for the underdog. A rebel always get more love. You want the smaller dog in the fight to win.

Take a stance.
Do the unexpected.
Make her visit memorable.
Choose a cause and relentlessly fight for it.
You will see that sooner rather than later, you will build up quite a following.

Once you have a following, remember why you have a following.
Keep doing what your customers came to you for in the first place. Do what you've been doing.

And, provide exemplary service.

Increase your productivity with lists.

2010-01-01T04:44:00.000-08:00

A new year; new beginnings.

First of all, let me wish all my readers a grand new year of greater profits.

Then I exhort you to start a new habit this year. The habit of making lists.

Make a list of everything. First thing you do at work, make a list.
A list of everything you want to accomplish today, this week, this month and this year.
Then prioritize it. Then set a date against each item.
See, now you have goals.
Then start achieving it.

Often, you start with your goals, then your list out your action plan. This works too if you see each item on your list as a mini-goal to accomplish.

Here are a few lists you may want to try.

My business lists.
1) Products I create and market in 2010.
2) Clients I will work with in 2010.
3) Marketing methods I test in 2010.
4) Non-profits I will work with in 2010.
5) Joint-venture partners I work with in 2010.
6) Niche markets I may want to test in 2010.
7)...

My personal lists.
1) New things I want to try with my kid.
2) New habits to develop to stay healthy/improve my health.
3) New practices to adopt to perform better at work.
4)...

Often, a few items on your list can be accomplished simultaneously. Club them together. For example, you are working on your book. When you are doing research for thie book, you can also use the material to write a few articles.

Lists are the best way to tackle your to dos and get to your goals faster.
When you have ordered your list by priority, your brain feels more able and more at easee because you have a system and you are tackling it on priority basis.

When you work off lists, often you need to add new things that may be more important. Keep your list flexible.

Try this for a month. See how much more you are able to achieve.

Deep Janardhanan - The Marketing Outsider is an online marketer, traditional and web-marketing evangelist. He is Chief Idea Man at Noble River Ventures. http://www.nobleriver.com/services/growth-services . He publishes articles for business and personal development at this site. He uses his blog as a stream of consiousness white board and to satisfy his craving to write.

2009-12-30T13:18:00.000-08:00

Here is wishing all my readers

A Pleasant, Joyful, Prosperous New Year 2010.

Cheers,

Deep Janardhanan.

Goal Setting

2009-12-30T13:17:00.000-08:00

Hi guys,

New article on Goal Setting and how to Achieve Goals..

Hope you set some awesome goals for 2010.

And achieve them too.

Cheers,
deep.

Small Business Reacts To Tough Times

2009-12-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

Question: What is the #1 reaction of the average small business person when times get tough?

If you said "Smarter Marketing", or "Rethinking Strategy", you are wrong! The most common reaction exhitbited by most retailers in the small business arena is - get this - to work harder!

Case in point:
One of my regular haunts is a hole in the wall place that has quite a cozy feel to it. Over the years, the owner has been quite complacent about marketing/growing the place. I for one was quite happy the way it was.

Recently he got a wake up call when a competitor opened up shop nearby. I suggested he talk to a marketing expert who specializes in his field to identify ways to improve his business by way of building loyalty from his long-time customers.

Oh, well, you know the value of Free Advice.

He has just put up notice that the shop will be open an additional day during the week, that is all 7 days of the week.

The root of misfortune is not the lack of opportunity, its the lack of ability to recognize available opportunity.

I remember a prayer I came across a very long time ago.:

God, I don't ask for more opportunities that I may prosper, just the ability to recognize the opportunities that you send my way!

Deep 'Keeping my eyes open' Janardhanan.
The Marketing Outsider - www.nobleriver.com

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

We buy because we are comfortable.

2009-12-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

We buy because we are comfortable.

We buy because we are comfortable with the product OR the person selling it. The "or" is not accidental. We sometimes buy even if we don't really know the product. Sometimes we are buying the promise. At other times, we know of the product or a similar one or just because we are comfortable with the seller.

We are comfortable with the seller because we have seen his work(read your book, articles,blog etc.), have bought his product or because someone has said something good about the seller.

If you are in business, figure out how to meet any of the criteria here and your sales will improve.

Your success will depend on how much you can play on the comfort factor with your reader.

So remember, we buy because we are comfortable ...

Except when we buy to become comfortable. But that's another post for another time.

Herd Mentality - Who me? No way !

2009-12-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

Are we all subject to the herd mentality?

I would like to believe that I am not. Especially not me!

But, its often our actions that teach us more about human behaviour than what we learn from elsewhere.

Case in Point.

I had signed up to join a meetup group, but what with my crowded schedule and extra activities, I found it difficult to go to the meetup. So, when the meeting sponsor sent out an email to everyone enlisted to confirm if they wanted to meet again for a Christmas party, I ignored that email; eventually deleted it and then completely forgot about it.

Until; about 7 days later, I received a "Reply All" message from someone else in the group. This lady said that she would love to go the the party. I didn't know her, in fact I don't know anybody in the group as I have never been to this meetup.

But in the next few minutes, I had also logged on and signed up for the party.

It was not until I had send the message that I started thinking about my actions and its causes.
The only conclusion was that I had just followed someone quite mindlessly.

In the words of Friedrich Nietzsche, a philiospher who coined the phrase, I had joined the herd and displayed herd mentality.

Read a full definition of Herd Mentality on Wikipedia here.

So, its more prevalent than we thought. More people are susceptible than we earlier understood.

Now the question is: how do we make use of this fact in our marketing?

Simple:
Provide lots of testimonials in your copy.
Give case studies of successful companies.

Anything that your reader can identify with. Once the user can identify with someone in the testimonials, he or she is almost inclined to have what the other person is having. It will be his instinct to go where the herd goes.

And if you are able to channel that powerful instinct, you just made a sale.

What you can learn from Michelle Obama about Marketing

2009-11-25T06:40:00.000-08:00

Michelle Obama appears to be an expert at staying in the limelight. Not that she need to, but we have a habit of marginalising our First Ladies.

Her latest trick is to appear at a State Dinner wearing a strapless gown, which is needless to say, a surprising departure from the conventions. She is sending a message that she is different from his predecessors. Also that she is a strong personality to be reckoned with; whether you like it or not!

Mrs. Obama may have won a few detractors, but at the same time, she has also won quite a few hearts with her attitude and poise, and willingness to try something different.

Love me- hate me but don't forget me!

- Which is exactly what you want for your business.

How do you make sure that your business stays fresh in the minds of your customers? Are you communicating with them on a frequent basis? Do you surprise your customers once in a while by going above and beyond?

Everybody sends cards to customers at christmas. And we are accustomed to seeing that from businesses. Doesn't take too much effort, or thinking for that matter.

But how can you go above and beyond? How do you bring that smile to your customer's face when he/she thinks of you?

Think about how you can be different from the countless others who provide the same products and services. Are you making an effort to stay fresh in the minds of people. If you do something shocking to get your customers to notice you, it just may be worthwhile.

================================================================================================

Deep Janardhanan helps small businesses find their growth spurt with efficient marketing.

He calls himself the Marketing Outsider as his contrarian views place him firmly outside the establishment on marketing thinking. He writes about various aspects of online as well as traditional marketing; but definitely leans towards shock and awe marketing. He is a strong proponent of the effectiveness of Direct Mail for small business.

He is the author of The SEO User Manual which takes a newbie on a step by step guided tour into the world of do-it-yourselves websites, online marketing and Search Engine Optimization. His website is at http://www.nobleriver.com. He can be reached at deep(at)nobleriver.com.

SEO for the startup online business person

2008-11-21T13:15:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Note : Currently we are awaiting the second edition of The SEO User Manual. We have an interest list created.

Just email me at deep@nobleriver.com?subject=SEOUSERMANUAL2-Interestlist and I will add you on there. Just make sure your subject line says SEOUSERMANUAL2-InterestList .

Back to the Article.

If you are just starting up your business, then you may already be familiar with the need to optimize your web site for Search Engines.

May be you tried your hand at it, and decided it was too time-consuming.

May be you are still learning and are confused by all the information out there.

Stop wasting your time in doing stuff that may not be as important as you think. Focus your efforts on what provides a good ROI and leave the rest for a later day.

My name is Dave Janardhanan and I operate a marketing help/support/counselling service at http://www.nobleriver.com/.

I also have accumulated some of the information a startup marketer needs and made them available to you in a very structured manner as THE SEO USER MANUAL. http://www.seousermanual.com/ . This is definitely the most easiest way you can go about optimizing your website.

Along with the SEO USER MANUAL comes 60 days of FREE SEO TRAINING and support. This will help you to not only understand the different aspects of Search Engine Optimization, but also get all the help you will ever need in actually implementing what you learn.

Yours in greater profits every day,

Deep Janardhanan
THE SEO USER MANUAL
http://www.seousermanual.com/

Noble River Marketing Ventures,
http://www.nobleriver.com/