Fund Management, Business and Marketing Resources at Pubdef Weekly

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Social media has quickly become one of the most popular platforms for brands to reach out to their consumers. More and more brands are scrambling to ensure that they have a social media presence, so they can get ahead of their competitors and get their share of the market.

The thing about social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter is the fact that it’s so easy for brands to create their accounts there and start getting likes and followers. But the question is, do consumers really want to engage with brands via social media?

According to a recent global study done by TNS Digital Life, 57% of people in mature markets are just not interested in connecting with brands through social media. Americans (60%) and Britons (61%) are particularly disinterested in having brands occupy their social space – so should brands continue using these platforms to connect with consumers?

The answer is yes, of course, but the challenge for brands is to offer social networking users value and engagement, not just simply adding to the vast noise that can be found online. When you simply add to the digital waste that can be found on the Internet, it’s not really going to help your campaign in promoting your brand and increasing your sales.

Social media is slowly becoming a congested market, where brands are jockeying for position to ensure that the content they offer is seen by consumers. But the problem is, many brands are treating social media like traditional media even though the platform is completely different. They think of social media as a place to broadcast content and promote their products, but these aren’t what users are looking for when they follow your brand.

You need to ask yourself why people are using social media. And that’s why you need to go beyond broadcasting and marketing to connecting and engaging. You want to communicate with your consumers, understand what they want, and view your offerings from their perspective. You have to learn to identify what tickles their emotions, what starts the conversation going, and what makes them respond with conviction and passion.

One of the very simple ways you can do this is to make sure that your brand doesn’t hide behind a logo – nowadays, consumers want to know with whom they’re interacting with. They don’t want to talk to a faceless, nameless entity on Twitter or Facebook. They want to see the face behind who’s talking, they want to like and get to know you, not just interact with a business. This may be a bit impossible to do with large, multinational brands, but SMBs can definitely utilize this effectively to help consumers identify with their brand better.

This is because people enjoy forming personal connections in these social networks. This is the main reason they sign up – to connect with friends, families, colleagues, meet new people and get to know them, etc.

Having a friendly, smiling face in your Twitter profile is definitely going to be a lot more personal than a logo.

Brands need to be authentic in social media. They need to offer value first before even attempting to sell something. Though many people may be disenchanted with connecting with brands through social media, it is interesting to note that TNS Digital Life also reported that 47% of people comment about brands online. Consumers are open to talking about brands in social networking sites and they enjoy sharing their opinions. The key thing to note here is that people want to be heard – they’re tired of the monologue of traditional media. Social media allows them to engage brands in meaningful, two-way conversations.

So stop hiding behind your logo, and stop adding to the endless barrage of noise on the Internet that doesn’t really resonate with consumers and simply adds to the digital waste online. Be personal and interactive – listen and collaborate with your audience. Encourage the building of a community around your brand where people can share their opinions and be heard.

Award your most loyal followers and brand advocates with rewards and special offers. These are the people who can really influence others through their personal interactions with them.

Make sure that your social media pages offer your audience something that’s mutually beneficial to you both, not just simply what’s best for your brand. You need to celebrate what people are doing, and collaborate with them about content to be shared in your pages. Truly, the more personal you are with your interactions via social media, the better for your brand.

Produce Advertising Miracle Along with List Publishing

Lively colors as well as sharp pictures can definitely provide your company list publishing alive. They are fundamentals towards the method with regard to making advertising miracle together with your styles. Once the issue is actually about the high quality as well as general effect of the list styles, the secret would be to believe away from container as well as proceed which additional kilometer in order to draw everything collectively.

List publishing supplies a mattress associated with innovative likelihood for the personnel to think about which is essential that every item suits to accomplish styles which will completely appeal your visitors in to patient regarding your own services and products. With regards to list publishing, you have to think about the number of WebPages you would like these phones end up being, exactly what regular dimension you need to select, the kind of document as well as shipping techniques, bindery choices and so forth. However all that will not imply a lot with no stunning style, therefore that needs to be your own very first issue like an organization.

Your own list publishing ought to be packed with your company personalization as well as aesthetically spectacular in order to lure visitors to take the actual functions as well as providers you are able to offer all of them. Daring different as well as a good eye-catching color plan are very important to incorporate in the look of the catalogues.

An additional facet of the look to consider critically may be the pictures as well as pictures you decide to make use of. Without having the best digital photographer or even appropriate images, your own list designs may drop toned. You do not would like your own list publishing to possess all of the correct style components, however fall short due to pictures, therefore commit period as well as cash to the ideal digital photographer to complete your company rights within the advertising globe.

Right now you have the actual pictures in position for the list publishing; it is period to pay attention to what. That which you state as well as the way you state this, you may already know through marketing as well as making additional security, may be the point-of-sale bit of the look you do not wish to be cheap upon. As soon as individuals are drawn to the actual pictures as well as colors they’ll go back their own focus on what. Don’t allow your own item explanations as well as slogans function as the factors individuals choose to not precede company along with you. Fill up your own list publishing along with topic factors as well as listings as well as easy-to-read snippets associated with info that’s created as well as offered appropriately.

They are the fundamentals associated with list publishing. If you’re able to obtain all this right down to your own preference, the next action would be to turn away the actual publishing purchase particulars in order to find the printing company that best suits you. There are lots of available on the internet as well as or else, therefore take time to discover the one which may printing your own catalogues in a sensible cost along with high quality outcomes.

Electronic Ink jet printers: Cost-Effective High quality.

Electronic ink jet printers tend to be ideal for little tasks which have to be performed inside a brief period of time. This means that you simply nevertheless obtain the vibrant, obvious colors that you will get along with litho publishing along with a really small turn-around period. What this means is a person just printing around you’ll need and you will usually ask for much more duplicates should you therefore desire. Obviously the standard isn’t because ideal because ways of publishing such as litho publishing however electronic duplicates arrive a detailed 2nd. Litho publishing is extremely costly however completely really worth the price should you need top quality as well as several duplicates. Electronic ink jet printers are extremely economical and you ought to certainly seek advice from a number of ink jet printers prior to going forward together with your task to find the best cost.

Numerous electronic ink jet printers tend to be more compared to pleased to get a materials back the identical day time. Be it company credit cards, customised printing or simply easy photocopies, the actual publishing technique is extremely effective and may consider virtually no time whatsoever. It’s usually less expensive since the inks on their own do not permeate to the document around additional publishing techniques obtainable. Instead, these people just type the slim coating which rests about the document, developing a really sleek consistency. Electronic publishing isn’t limited in order to merely a small amount associated with images — you could have big amounts associated with materials imprinted away from anyone period. They’re usually much more eco-friendly provided the actual durability from the inkjet printer toners as well as cartridges.

Electronic publishing is extremely good for any kind of company or even company that require materials imprinted rapidly as well as effectively. Color isn’t restricted as well as there’s also electronic ink jet printers that may manage publishing associated with envelopes, letterheads, booklets along with other supplies that you might need for the company. The main one primary benefit of electronic publishing which sticks out more than additional publishing techniques that are offered is actually it requires much less time for you to perform the actual images. Should you all of a sudden require start up business credit cards for any last second company conference or even you’ve overlooked in order to printing that essential demonstration away electronic ink jet printers may effort to operate all of them away for you personally rapidly as well as in a cost that will not break your budget. Numerous electronic ink jet printers provide a number of providers such as easy monochrome photocopying, electronic color photocopying that is operate on laser beam technologies as well as checking. Therefore any kind of essential paperwork which may be delicate could be scanned as well as imprinted therefore you’ve got a top quality duplicate for the information, that is really useful for just about any lawful paperwork or even company paperwork.

Improve Your Business Success With Effective Marketing

Graphic design is one of the core factors in contributing to the success of your business. Here are 5 ways you can improve your business’s graphic design

Integrated and Consistent Approach

One of the key strategies to building a valuable and profitable brand is to have integrated branding across all your sales and marketing materials. This includes consistency across the graphic design of your business – business cards, sales quotes, product catalogues, annual report design, website, brochure design and more. Anything and everything that represents your business needs to be consistent with your brand positioning and style. This means same logo, same colours, same styles, same type of images, writing/copy styles and more.

What’s in it for your prospects and customers

Often, businesses are guilty of focusing on themselves and what they have to offer, rather than focusing on how the prospects and customers can benefit from with the business’s products or services. For all your graphic designs, remember that these are designed to attract and appeal to your prospects and customers – so make it about them. For example, focus on product benefits, not product features.

Your call-to-action is your hero

There is no point in launching a campaign, distributing sales flyers, and even having a website, if your prospects or customers can’t easily see the call-to-action. For brochures, flyers, catalogues, the call-to-action might be to contact you to make a purchase or make an appointment. For websites, the call-to-action might be to fill in the online enquiry form now, or make a purchase with a simple click on a button. Whatever it is, ensure it is one of the most prominent elements.

Measure your ROI

It’s true, you can measure the effectiveness or ROI on your business’s graphic design or marketing campaigns. And the value of knowing your ROI is priceless. If, for example, you hired a new graphic designer to redesign all your brand identity and sales/marketing materials, you can measure the effectiveness of this by looking at the uplift (in percentage) compared in the same time over the last 5 years – taking into consideration other external and internal factors to help you make an assessment.

Look at the big picture, don’t micro-manage

Training yourself to be strategic and looking at the big picture goes a long way. For example, rather than focusing on the tiniest element in a brochure design – take a step back and look at the overall objectives of the brochure to ensure all the most important critical factors have been accomplished in the design and in the execution. For example, prominent call-to-action, consistency with the brand, how your customers perceive the look and feel of the brochure, quality of the print (this needs to also be consistent with your brand positioning) and more.

The Unforgettable Thank-You Note – An Affordable Yet Underused Marketing Strategy

A “thank-you” note should not be a yearly ritual reserved just for the holidays but it should be used to show appreciation throughout the year. Even more importantly, if you are going to take the time to thank anyone, you should consider ways to show appreciation that are welcomed and remembered. Just going through the process of sending out a generic card at the end of the year will most likely produce a card that will end up in the trash bin with all the other cards received. This is a waste of your time, your money and certainly not the best impression to leave your customers.

However, a well-written note that genuinely expresses your appreciation will garner you increased customer loyalty. These advocates will not only be more likely to use your products and/or services again, but they will talk about you and your business again and again.

Whether you write a thank-you note using the old-fashioned approach with a pen and paper, or use the now more common method via email or social media, there are certain elements you should always include in any appreciation correspondence.

• Use your opening paragraph to thank your contact. Describe what you are showing appreciation for. For example, did this person provide you with a referral? Did you have a networking meeting? Did this person share information with you? This letter is NOT a sales or marketing letter. You are expressing appreciation and this letter should not be perceived as having any kind of ulterior motive. Simply summarize your discussion and state your gratitude.

• Use the second paragraph if needed to include any promised follow-up materials or to confirm details of any next step that was defined during your conversation.

• Finally, close the letter with an offer to reciprocate or return the favor. Once again, thank the person for his/her willingness to assist you.

The note does not have to be overly long, but it should be personal and sincere.

And finally:

• Don’t forget to proofread your letter before sending out for misspellings and grammatical errors. Especially the person’s name and company name!!!

• Follow-up with the recipient within a reasonable time after sending your letter if a next step has been established.

• Document your correspondence in some sort of contact management system. (a contact management system just happens to be one of the many components contained in the BD-PRo Marketing
Toolkit for small business owners to do marketing on their own with no experience required….just in case you are interested).

• It is important to remember, a thank-you note does not have to be a one-time event like after a sale or at the end of the year. Any time you want to show gratitude, just go ahead and send a note, it will be appreciated and remembered.

Local Business Marketing – Earn Income While Helping Local Service Businesses Get Online

Local business marketing is an excellent way to create a business for yourself that will earn you full time income for part time work. Small service businesses in your local community are desperately wanting to have more of an online presence, but just don’t know who to trust and where to turn. Even if your skills are not as good as you would like, you already know enough to help them get set up on the Internet. You will want to set up a blog for them, start handling their social media, and also use what you know about article marketing and SEO – search engine optimization – to help them reach new prospects and customers.

More than likely you already have a blog of your own, so setting up a WordPress blog for your new business clients will not be too difficult. Help them to choose a domain name that tells what they do and what city they serve. This is the most important first step they can take. You can then do a one click install of WordPress through their hosting account. If you need a refresher on setting up a WordPress blog, that information is readily available on the Internet, through sites such as YouTube, as well as on technology blogs.

Social media will also be important to them, so start an account under their name at both Twitter and Facebook. This will give you the opportunity to connect them with their prospects and clients through their keywords. You may be surprised to know that many people now search for plumbers, dentists, and other service professionals by first locating them on social media. Establishing a presence for the small companies you will be working with is essential to local marketing success.

The Internet is all about keywords, which are the words and phrases people use when they are searching for information and help on the Internet. Using these keyword phrases in the blog posts, social media postings, and anywhere else you are submitting information for the small business will help ensure that they will be easily found by their prospects.

By now you can see that you do have the skills necessary to help businesses in your community. I recommend that you attend some local events to connect with the business owners to let them know that you are available to help them. The Chamber of Commerce is an excellent place to start, as well as local service organizations such as the Rotary Club, Lion’s Club, and Kiwanis.

Business Card Software

Project a professional, unified image with affordable business card software. Here you will find marketing and print products easily ordered online. Save your business time and money when marketing your services. You will also find the highest quality cards online. Browse from the thousands of templates included, or upload your own design for free. It must be professional, and inspire confidence and brand loyalty.

Create and customize your business’ identity in 4 simple steps. Get noticed with a unique and professional looking, slim or square business card that defines your business. The best way to create the right first impression. We understand that business cards are your front-line image and therefore need to be professional, eye-catching and memorable. In short, they have to get you business. Create the right first impression with a business card.

In just three days your business will feature its very own high-quality custom designed, corporate card to advertise your business. Even if you are just starting out, you will have a more professional image, and inspire confidence and brand loyalty.

Consider these attributes when determining if Logo Design Guru is right for you: Award winning, affordable, experienced (Over 20,000 logos designed!), great service, caring, fast, tech savvy, credible and great designs. For a list of the best sellers in business card software, visit Amazon’s web site. With customer reviews, system requirements, details, a description and additional features of the business software application products.

Try Vista Print’s premium business cards 250 for only £8.99. Choose from over 300 business card designs. Printing is free. Pay only for processing and postage. See the free offer details for more information. The most powerful online interactive and user friendly service on the Internet! Our professional desktop publishing editor and superior commercial printing let’s you create and manage your business image and brand.

Get the professional edge you need to set your business up above the rest, with computer software and concentrate on creating the best enterprise you possibly can. Allow the professional card designers to do what they do best.

How to Create a Strong Call To Action

Helen Murdoch is a someone I rate very highly for her marketing expertise so I follow her on Twitter and get her enewsletters. She has a practical take on marketing and in the run up to Christmas is offering a daily ‘Advent Calender of marketing tips’. Today’s is ‘Create a strong call to action in all your marketing’ – including online! So please remember to apply Helen’s pearls of wisdom to your adverts on the guides.

Have a Strong Call To Action

Here’s how….

On every piece of marketing you do, make sure you tell people what you want them to do next and how you want them to do it.

If you want them to call you, include a big “Pick up the phone and call [telephone number] now.”

If you want them to visit your website, give them the link – “Click on [website URL] to order today”.

If you want them to come into your store, say “Call in to Jane’s Cafe on the High Street for your free coffee today”.

Leave nothing to chance. Include a strong call to action on adverts, in emails, in direct mail and sales letters, on posters, on postcards and leaflets, in presentations, in brochures, on every page of your website…. in fact on every piece of marketing you do, even your business cards!

Tell them exactly what to do step-by-step. You know, we love having instructions and, what’s more, we generally follow them too. You could ask them to “Order Today!” “Get This Before Christmas” “Respond by…” “Send Now For Your Free….” “Call Immediately”.

Now it’s your turn….

Pick up your brochure or leaflet. Ask yourself “Am I making it crystal clear what I want the reader to do next?” Write down one phrase that improves your call to action.

Figurines For Your Own Home

When you enter a house, you automatically roam your eyes around the living and observe the style of the house, the furniture that it has and the figurines that it has been adorned with. Sometimes you get amazed by the figures that you see, some maybe expensive and have been collected from all over the world by the home owner. Figurines either locally made or imported are great ornaments to have in a house. You can have it for your home and you can also create a perfect thematic, natural or religious theme in your home through your displayed figurines.

Figurines are great to have in any room of your house. It can also be a good hobby for you. Collecting figurines while you are travelling is a nice remembrance to keep during a tour. When choosing the right figurines to display in your home, below are some of the tips that you need to consider.

You have to decide first what design and style you would like to purchase. There are many to choose from. If you are a person who loves nature, you can look for animal and flower figurines. Religious items are perfect if you are a religious person. You can choose a variety of religious items that will best suit your need.

You should also decide on what material your figurine will be made of. Ceramics, plaster, polyresin and clay are just some of the materials. More so, you should also make up your mind whether you like to have a traditional design or conventional style for your collectibles.

You can search and purchase figurines of your choice over the internet. The World Wide Web will give you a lot of options to choose from plus the fact that it is the most convenient way. If you like to travel, collecting items to adorn your house would be as easy as a pie for you. You can collect different figurines from the different places that you have visited. Look for something that will remind you of the place you have been to, say for example you went to China, and then you could collect some items which signify this country. Items abroad such as figurines are very cheap, so you can purchase some to add into your collection which you can display in your home. If you purchase some figurines abroad just be sure to pack it properly to prevent it from damage when shipped into your home country.

The Superb Writing of a Lost and Found Promotional Prodir Pen

Every now and then a big cleanup is necessary to get rid of all the clutter that has accumulated over the year. And so it was – I found myself the week before Christmas out in my cold garage getting rid of all the things I don’t know why I kept in the first place. In my tool box I came across a Prodir pen that must have been placed there years ago. I say this because I am lacking in the DIY skills department and rarely go near the box of tools.

The Prodir in my forgotten tool chest was the popular DS3. It was printed with the logo of a customer who has placed many orders for Prodir pens over the years. This pen must have been from his first order as he has since changed the clip and barrel colours. All Prodir pens are made to order so you can choose the colours of the clip, barrel and other trim to match your corporate colours.

I placed the pen in my pocket and continued doing what I was doing.

At the end of the day I took the pen out and started writing with it. After years stashed away in a cold garage, it still wrote like new! Prodir do claim that their pens are guaranteed to write up to 5000 meters. That’s just over three miles.

I thought this is the kind of pen I want to represent my company. I have used many different promotional pens over the years but few come close to the stylishly designed, smooth writing Prodir pens.

Prodir pens do cost more than most plastic pens but you can count on them to represent your business in a positive way. Believe me, I have tried promoting by own business ‘on the cheap’ with low cost imported pens and it is not something I like doing!

As I am a promotional pens supplier I am in the fortunate position to know which pens achieve the best results. Often I am offered free logo printed pens from different manufactures to promote their brand.

The pens from the Far East that look fantastic are quite often poor writers. Scratchy writing pens that dry up fast do not promote a business if a good light. This is made even more obvious by the enquiries and sales I receive after a pen promotion.

If I send out 1000 Prodir pens to my customers, I know that I will receive orders for the pens from customers who love to write with them. This simply is not the case with low cost imported pens I have used.

Just a little food for thought.