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Archive for Lead Generation

Do I Need Online Marketing?

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on December 29, 2015 2 Comments

Online Marketing is Important to Your Small Business Marketing Strategy

do i need online marketing as part of my plan
This is a question that comes up time after time, when I talk with a small business owner, that has a primarily offline business. Do I need to be online? My answer is YES! Yes, you need to be ONLINE and you need to do it well.

Online has several components to it and depending upon the industry your online presence may be limited by regulation, but you still NEED to be online.

There are billions of good reasons to be online. The billions — are potential customers and clients. Each business whether local or global should have an online presence that does a few things for them.

1. educates potential customers and leads
2. captures potential leads
3. engages with customers
4. communicates with leads and customers about the company, events, special offers, new services or products….
5. is a resource for customers and leads.

I hear people tell me, “well my business is all referrals” or “I don’t need online marketing, my business is all local” or “I hate being online” or “my customers aren’t online”.

I love these.  They each may be true to a point, BUT what about the customers that are online, that are searching for what you offer, that are using their cell phone to find a local business of your type?

Do you really have all of the business that you need?

Most small business owners that I talk with are talking with me because they NEED more business. It’s not just a want, its a NEED.

So, do you NEED to be ONLINE?  YES!!

You Do NEED To BE ONLINE!!

To get there, there are a couple of things I recommend first:

  1. A blog!  Just like this, a blog can be the hub of your marketing.
  2. From a blog you can syndicate your content to several social media sites.

With this ONE step you are building an online presence.

The next key to building an effective online presence is your listings on key directory sites.  This is especially important for local businesses.  You MUST be listed on Google Local Listings….it is here that people that are trying to find you, will.

These sites link back to your website, your phone number and often to directions to your place of business.

With the growth of smart phone usage, this becomes even more critical. AND, you need to be sure that your site is mobile friendly or responsive so that it works on different devices.

Get started with your online marketing with our Landing Page package.

Categories : Lead Generation, local marketing, Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Vision, Websites/Blogs
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Local Search — What’s YOUR Score??

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on November 9, 2015 No Comments

localsearchAre You Showing Up In The LOCAL SEARCH?

Local search for local businesses is critical in being found online.  It means that you need to have your business properly listed in all of the relevant search engines.  When you do, then your business can be found by people looking for what you sell.

Local search is important especially for locally based businesses such as restaurants, chiropractors, dentists, massage therapists, retail stores, lawyers, accountants, electricians, contractors, painting companies, roofers etc.  If you do not come up when your prospects are looking for you: ie…. YOUR BUSINESS TYPE + LOCATION, then you are missing many new clients or customers.

Check YOUR LOCAL SEARCH Score:

I just added a new local search evaluator.  You can enter your business and zipcode to run a complete report on your business.  Almost every business we have checked needs work!!  That is probably you too.

The report is totally free so don’t be shy.  We all are working to be found and now you can see what is helping and what is hurting your local listings.

10 Facts You Need to KNOW about Local Directories:

  • Searches within local directories account for a whopping 10 billion of the searches that are made every month. (GetListed.org)
  • YouTube is the second-largest social networking site in the world. While it’s still behind Facebook – the largest networking site with 1.2 billion active users – YouTube surpassed Twitter in 2014. (businessinsider.com)
  • At the end of 2014, Google+ Business had 540 million users. 240 million of those were active in any given month. (nydailynews.com)
  • 90 per cent of users on Yelp say that if a business has a positive review, they are more likely to buy from them. (mashable.com)
  • 79 per cent of users say that they treat positive reviews just as they would getting a personal recommendation from a friend or family member. (localvox.com)
  • Yelp currently has over 47 million local reviews. (localvox.com)
  • Despite that, there are still 87 per cent of small businesses that don’t use review sites such as Google+ Business or Yelp. (mashable.com)
  • When online consumers shop online, 73 per cent of the time they were also searching for a store location. (online-behavior.com)
  • Half of the users looking for an online purchase do not start their search with a search engine, but rather through a local directory. (AT&T Small Business Technology Poll 2013 – yola.com)
  • 90 per cent of customers who look for a local business through their smartphone call or visit that business within 24 hours. (online-behavior.com)

Checking your local search results can change your business.  NOW — it is of course important to have a lead capture system on your site as well as a compelling offer and the right messaging…. Effective online marketing is a combination of tactics.

What’s Your Local Score?

Enter any business name and zip code and see how optimized it is for local search.

Categories : Business Building Strategies, Lead Generation, local marketing, SEO
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Could Your Marketing Be Wrong?

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on August 31, 2015 2 Comments

Could There Be More To Marketing Than What You Know?

What if what you have LEARNED about marketing was all wrong?  What if the money you are spending, the time you take to carefully build your brand and your exposure — just wasn’t cutting it?  Marketing is like reminds me of my sailboat — a hole in the water that I threw money into….BUT, it doesn’t have to be that way.

When Marketing Is Set Up Wrong — Then The Results DO NOT Happen…

There are systems that DO work for small businesses.  They are different from what works for BIG corporations.  The “BIG BOYS” have a lot of money to play with. They CAN throw money into the hole.  they can afford to market over and over again, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on their marketing.

There are several strategies that work well for small businesses. The first key is strategy.  It needs to be complete.  Not just a one off tactic, but a complete strategy.  From beginning to end… lead generation —>> through the buying process and to the close or acquisition of a new customer.

For instance — if you are using a website and there is no opportunity for the prospect to become a lead, then the website is not an effective tool for adding new customers.  Websites should have more than a phone number or a contact us form. There needs to be an informational offer and a way to request that offer.  Then the website becomes a lead generation tool.  BUT, it doesn’t stop there.  Because you also want to have a follow up system.  For leads on the web, it is easiest to have an email system that provides the informational report and then continues to follow up with the person.

Multiple Touches Are Needed in Marketing

Remember it takes 7-10 touches or connections before an individual is ready to buy.  That means that your email system needs to provide additional ways for the person to get to know you.  Follow up articles, resources, tips and strategies are each good ways to continue to connect with the individual.

If you are using networking in person as a strategy, then you need to be sure that your USP or 30 second elevator pitch is solid and gets people talking to you.  Your business card needs to be a lead generation tool just like your website.  Your business card should offer people your informational offer (on the backside).  Then it gets people onto your email list and now you are following up with them via email.  Because you met them in person, you can also follow up with a phone call, a post card, or personal note and other media forms.

Multi step follow up is a key to an effective marketing strategy. It does not work to just run an ad.  You want information from the person in order to continue marketing to them.

Learn more about how to market your business at our upcoming webinar:

REGISTER HERE

Can’t make the webinar?  Then schedule your 45 minute business turnaround.

MEET WITH DONNA

Categories : Business Development, Lead Generation, Small Business Marketing Resources
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Using Business Cards To Generate New Business Leads

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on August 14, 2015 1 Comments

The Business Card Challenge!

Offline Marketing Success Strategy – Hand out your business card! BUT, BUT —>>> Make SURE You Have a Call to Action AND a Strategy!

Many business owners order business cards, then they never hand them out. Amazing isn’t it? Why waste money on business cards if you’re not going to use them. Even if they are the “free version” (which by the way you probably should not use those for anything anyway) you still pay postage, so why not give them out to appropriate people.

Business Card Design Mini Primer—

  1. Be sure your cards incorporates your brand
  2. Make it professional and memorable – being full color can make your card stand out. (I use an orange card with a compass – people remember it and keep it!)
  3. Use both sides – the back of the card is valuable real estate.  Send people to your free report or offer. Or get carried away and use a folded card.
  4. Include your contact details—your name, company name, address, phone, website and email address.
  5. Redesign it if it doesn’t seem to work for you! Download our business card template!

In order to make sure that you actually use these valuable marketing tools here are some rules to follow:

Keep them with you always — Get a nice carrying case, get one for your cards so they are simple to find in order to give out, and also get one to house cards given to you. If you have a nice case for both sets of cards people will be impressed that you’re not going to lose their card and will be less likely to ignore yours.

Insert one in every mailing — Every time a letter, a bill, or other information leaves your office or home put a business card in. Usually someone, a gate keeper, opens the mail and you never know when what your business card says will attract them.

Ask for other people’s cards — Always ask, in every chance meeting, if an acquaintance has a business card. There are two reasons: It gives you a chance to give them yours, and every contact you make, even if they’re not interested might know someone who is interested.

Give out two at a time — Give everyone you give a business card to, two cards, and ask them to pass the second one on if they ever have the opportunity. Tell them to write their name on the back and you’ll give them a discount off your service or you’ll know to send business their way too if they’re referring you. Tell them if they ever need more, just ask.

Talk to strangers — Always talk to people in front of you in line, or in back of you, or at the bookstore, or before and after meetings. These are always networking opportunities. Ask them what they do, and listen. They will ask you too, then, you can exchange cards.

Follow up — Once you’ve given and received cards make sure to follow up with them. Most cards have email addresses, send them a friendly email, which of course has your signature to your website. Likely they’ll click it, and join your mailing list if only out of curiosity at first. If appropriate don’t just say you’ll “do lunch” with someone you meet, actually do it. Likely it will have to be you that initiates it, so go to it.  Follow-up is where most business owners fall down.  They fail at the follow up.  Don’t miss this valuable step.

Be sure to check out my video about follow up plans:

 

Be creative — Lastly, try to create a business card that is creative enough that someone is interested when they read it. Today it is not very expensive to have very artistic and effective cards made that truly get the word across of what you do. Remember there is a front and a back to the card. This little card needs to help the receiver remember who you are and what you do for a long time.

The Business Card Challenge!

Now for the challenge – how many cards can you hand out in a day? In a week?  In a month?  Make a log and note who you give them to and how many go out.  Track it for a week and the increase the number by 20%, meet your challenge and the increase another 20%.  If you follow up with each of these new contacts you should see an increase in your business volume.

Challenge your friends and colleagues too!  Share the challenge and see WHO gives away the most!!

Come back and leave your numbers…

Think about it — you hand out 5 cards per day. That’s a total of 35 cards in a week.  If you have compelling offer that generates a 10% conversion rate — which is conservative, that’s 3.5 new leads per week.  If just one converts to a new client — that is 52 new clients per year from handing out your business card.  If your new client is worth typically $1000 per year —-(drum roll) –> yes, that is increased business of $52,000 per year.  That might be a high estimate for some, but for others that is low.

I talked with a business owner the other day that had an average client value of $4500.  Now if she adds one new client per week that is an increase of $234,000 per year.  You can see the value of handing out business cards.  But this only works if you have created a complete marketing strategy – Learn the complete strategy.

Categories : Lead Generation, Marketing Strategies, Networking
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Blogging Is Your Marketing HUB

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on July 13, 2015 No Comments

When you create a blog you can show case YOU.

crc how to write a great blog
Blogging is a key element in marketing, it is the HUB.

You can also syndicate your content to other platforms such as your social media platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr etc. Knowing HOW to write a blog post is key.

How to write a great blog post

Many business owners fear blogging. But you don’t need to because you have a lot to say! Your knowledge and expertise is what you blog about.

Follow the blog post guide step by step to put together your first blog post and get your blog started.

Headline— attention grabbing– here is where you INTERRUPT. You need to get your readers attention.

Picture— you need to have a picture. People are more likely to read your blog and your syndicated posts if you have a picture. A great resource for pictures is: Dollar Photo Club You need to be sure that you can legally use the picture that you choose.

Intrigue— why do they want to spend time with you reading your post. Will they get what they need from it?

Compelling Content— this is where you get into the meat of the topic! There are different styles of blog posts or articles. Most folks will not spend a great deal of time reading a long rambling blog post.

Engage— reply to all comments both on your blog and social media. Add plugins to your blog that improve your social engagement– allow people to share your content, add related posts etc. Plugins can add all sorts of functionality to your blog.

It is where you send people back to from your social media to get more info or to read the entire blog article. Your blog is where the real meat is. You can share YOU, your expertise and your personality right there on your blog.

Not sure how to get going: Schedule a 10 minute laser coaching session to review and I will give you the quick start challenge to get you going!!

www.MeetWithDonna.com

Knowing HOW to write a blog post is key. This will give you a lead generation platform.

Let me know what you think!  Leave your comments below!

Categories : Lead Generation
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Happy Friday! New Marketing Videos For YOU!

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on May 15, 2015 No Comments

New Business Leads(1)I don’t know if you have had a chance to check out the new marketing center that I just launched!! I am still tweaking a few things. So bear with me. And now we are totally revamping Compass Rose Consulting site as well. It is all exciting!

Anyway — over at Compass Rose Marketing Center — I have a series of 3 GREAT videos for you!! www.CompassRoseMarketingCenter.com — scroll down just a bit and sign up for the videos. They can totally CHANGE your business and INCREASE your income.

Next week on Tuesday I will be hosting a hangout — “Everything You Learned About Generating Leads is WRONG!!” Watch for my invite email. I didn’t have a chance to get it done– the registration page — that is. So will finish it over the weekend and send it out to you.

I know — it is a BOLD statement. But, being an entrepreneur is BOLD and I have some incredible things to show to you.

Save the date and time — Tuesday at noon EST.

It’s bike to work month. Since I primarily work from home I had to get creative. So I have a couple of times, driven the kids to school and then biked home, and then back to school in the afternoon to grab them. Today, I had a meeting and biked to the meeting. Great client that was totally okay with a biking marketing consultant arriving for the meeting!! Thank YOU.

So, be sure to figure out one day this month that you can bike to work or to home or to the grocery store. Biking is a great exercise but it is also where I have some of my best ideas!

Remember to pick up the videos:
Visit: www.CompassRoseMarketingCenter.com — scroll down just a bit to sign up for 4 videos — all about YOUR marketing strategies.

Then — sign up to meet with me for YOUR 45 Minute Business Turnaround. I am doing these 45 minute turnarounds and finding people $10,000 in their business (minimally), in fact last week I found over $60,000 for a local business owner.

To sign up for your business turnaround — visit:
http://www.compassroseconsulting.acuityscheduling.com

Last week’s webinar is available here:

www.CRCOnlineMedia.com/lead-generation-webinar

I look forward to talking with you soon.

To Your Success!

All the best,
Donna

Donna Price
Business Success Coach

p.s. I also have a new book in the works!! coming in just a month…
watch for it. It is all about marketing, lead generation, making more money and other strategies for improving your business.

Categories : Business Building Strategies, Business Development, Lead Generation, Websites/Blogs

Stop Wasting Your Resources!

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on May 6, 2015 No Comments

Today you’re going to learn how to find a target market of potential customers so you aren’t wasting precious resources on blitz marketing. So, the two questions you have to ask yourself are:

  • What do people really want to buy from me?
  • What related products are they already buying?

Once you figure this out you will know who is more predisposed to purchase your products/services. Then, you find other businesses with the same customer base who you can customer share with. Come up with an incentive and great arrangement to encourage both of your customer bases to shop at both of your stores.

The basic concept is this:

You want to find existing businesses who have the customer profile that you are looking for to market your products/services to.

Then strike up a relationship with those business owners to work out an incentive for customers to purchase from both businesses.
Read More…

Categories : Lead Generation
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Generating New Leads: Creating a Reliable System

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on October 20, 2010 No Comments

Lead Generation is a Key to Building a Thriving Business

Entrepreneurs need new leads coming into their business regularly.  Leads or prospects are what turn into customers.  Customers, of course, are the life blood of business.  But what many business have not mastered is the art of creating a reliable system of generating new leads.

There are many lead generation strategies that can be used.  The first step is to systematize your approach.  By creating a system you can track your results more easily.

 

First, identify the Lead Generation approaches you will use:

  1. Networking (List the groups that you network with)
  2. Speaking
  3. Tele-Seminars/Webinars
  4. Social Media:
    1. Facebook
    2. LinkedIn
    3. FastPitch Networking
    4. E-Cademy
    5. MySpace
    6. Twitter
    7. Merchant Circle
    8. Niche Specific Groups/Forums
  5. Forums
  6. Local Government Records
  7. Writing Articles
  8. Natural Networking through your personal contacts, church, clubs or other organizations, where does natural networking happen for you.
  9. Trade Shows
  10. Website
  11. Email Marketing
  12. Referrals/Word of Mouth
  13. Internet Advertising
  14. Cold Calling
  15. List Buying
  16. Coffee Meetings
  17. Joint Venture or Affiliate Referrals
  18. Advertising (Print, Radio, Television, Cable TV, Info-mercials)

 

Second create your process for the approach or strategies that you select.  Write out the process so that you can follow each and every time.

Implement each step of the process and track each new lead and contact.

Develop a strategy for what happens with a lead once you have the lead.  What are the follow up steps that you follow?  Document at what point a lead becomes a customer.  Does the process happen predictably?  Evaluate your process and make determinations about what is and is not working.  Make necessary revisions to the process to maximize your results.

When you have a predictable process for generating new leads and converting those leads into clients or customers, THEN, you have a business that you can grow at a rate that you desire.  In essence you can turn the water on and off, or up and down.

You don’t want a pipeline that is overflowing and unmanageable.  That is a waste of time and money. Save the money and the time for when you need the new leads and your business can handle them.

Systematizing your operations gives you a stronger foundation for growth.  When the systems are in place and working well, then you are able to add staff, train staff easily or outsource tasks.  When everything is stored in the head of the owner it makes it very difficult to grow the business in the way that you desire.

Creating a System for Generating Leads

Entrepreneurs need new leads coming into their business regularly.  Leads or prospects are what turn into customers.  Customers, of course, are the life blood of business.  But what many business have not mastered is the art of creating a reliable system of generating new leads.

There are many lead generation strategies that can be used.  The first step is to systematize your approach.  By creating a system you can track your results more easily.

First, identify the approaches you will use:

  1. Networking (List the groups that you network with)
  2. Speaking
  3. Tele-Seminars/Webinars
  4. Social Media:
    1. Facebook
    2. LinkedIn
    3. FastPitch Networking
    4. E-Cademy
    5. MySpace
    6. Twitter
    7. Merchant Circle
    8. Niche Specific Groups/Forums
  5. Forums
  6. Local Government Records
  7. Writing Articles
  8. Natural Networking through your personal contacts, church, clubs or other organizations, where does natural networking happen for you.
  9. Trade Shows
  10. Website
  11. Email Marketing
  12. Referrals/Word of Mouth
  13. Internet Advertising
  14. Cold Calling
  15. List Buying
  16. Coffee Meetings
  17. Joint Venture or Affiliate Referrals
  18. Advertising (Print, Radio, Television, Cable TV, Info-mercials)

Second create your process for the approach or strategies that you select.  Write out the process so that you can follow each and every time.

Implement each step of the process and track each new lead and contact.

Develop a strategy for what happens with a lead once you have the lead.  What are the follow up steps that you follow?  Document at what point a lead becomes a customer.  Does the process happen predictably?  Evaluate your process and make determinations about what is and is not working.  Make necessary revisions to the process to maximize your results.

When you have a predictable process for generating new leads and converting those leads into clients or customers, THEN, you have a business that you can grow at a

Creating a System for Generating Leads

 

Entrepreneurs need new leads coming into their business regularly.  Leads or prospects are what turn into customers.  Customers, of course, are the life blood of business.  But what many business have not mastered is the art of creating a reliable system of generating new leads.

 

There are many lead generation strategies that can be used.  The first step is to systematize your approach.  By creating a system you can track your results more easily.

 

First, identify the approaches you will use:

  1. Networking (List the groups that you network with)
  2. Speaking
  3. Tele-Seminars/Webinars
  4. Social Media:
    1. Facebook
    2. LinkedIn
    3. FastPitch Networking
    4. E-Cademy
    5. MySpace
    6. Twitter
    7. Merchant Circle
    8. Niche Specific Groups/Forums
  5. Forums
  6. Local Government Records
  7. Writing Articles
  8. Natural Networking through your personal contacts, church, clubs or other organizations, where does natural networking happen for you.
  9. Trade Shows
  10. Website
  11. Email Marketing
  12. Referrals/Word of Mouth
  13. Internet Advertising
  14. Cold Calling
  15. List Buying
  16. Coffee Meetings
  17. Joint Venture or Affiliate Referrals
  18. Advertising (Print, Radio, Television, Cable TV, Info-mercials)

 

Second create your process for the approach or strategies that you select.  Write out the process so that you can follow each and every time.

 

Implement each step of the process and track each new lead and contact.

 

Develop a strategy for what happens with a lead once you have the lead.  What are the follow up steps that you follow?  Document at what point a lead becomes a customer.  Does the process happen predictably?  Evaluate your process and make determinations about what is and is not working.  Make necessary revisions to the process to maximize your results.

 

When you have a predictable process for generating new leads and converting those leads into clients or customers, THEN, you have a business that you can grow at a rate that you desire.  In essence you can turn the water on and off, or up and down.

 

You don’t want a pipeline that is overflowing and unmanageable.  That is a waste of time and money. Save the money and the time for when you need the new leads and your business can handle them.

 

Systematizing your operations gives you a stronger foundation for growth.  When the systems are in place and working well, then you are able to add staff, train staff easily or outsource tasks.  When everything is stored in the head of the owner it makes it very difficult to grow the business in the way that you desire.

 

 

 

rate that you desire.  In essence you can turn the water on and off, or up and down.

You don’t want a pipeline that is overflowing and unmanageable.  That is a waste of time and money. Save the money and the time for when you need the new leads and your business can handle them.

Systematizing your operations gives you a stronger foundation for growth.  When the systems are in place and working well, then you are able to add staff, train staff easily or outsource tasks.  When everything is stored in the head of the owner it makes it very difficult to grow the business in the way that you desire.

Categories : Business Building Strategies, Business Development, Lead Generation, List Building
Tags : , , , , , ,

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