Category Archives: Branding

Look to the Past in 2012: How to Put Referrals Back on the Table

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Many companies are focusing on the 2012 trends and new developments in business, but some should be thinking more along the lines of a New Year’s resolution. In other words, the New Year is a great time to improve upon what your company is already doing (or should already be doing). Many of those old marketing tricks still work just as well, but companies have slowly been pushing them to the wayside. While methods like social media and QR Codes are great, my advice is this: Make improving your older marketing methods your New Year’s resolution.

One of my favorite “classic” marketing tricks is the referral. Getting a referral is so important to a company because it has a very good chance of actually bringing in a profit. This is the case for because a referral means that your company is being talked about on a level of trust. The person getting the referral trusts the person giving the referral. This yields better results than if someone was just looking at a website.

If you think your company could benefit from more referrals, it’s time to start making this a priority. Consider a few of the ways your company can increase its number of referrals in the New Year:

Top 5 Ways to Improve Your Number of Referrals in 2012

1. Co-Marketing – Part of a co-marketing strategy is giving referrals. For those who are unfamiliar, many companies create partnerships with other, complementary companies for marketing purposes. For example, if you work at a day care center you may want to have a partnership with a pediatrician. If you refer customers to his/her practice and they refer their patients to your business, you will have an entirely new audience very quickly.

2. Social Media – You don’t need to resort back to traditional phone systems if you’re hoping for a referral. Contrary to what some may believe, old marketing tactics can coincide with new age methods. If you love social media, be sure that you have sharing buttons for all of your readers. This makes it easy for customers and clients to send an online referral to all of their friends and family.

3. Compensation – Even though giving a referral is very easy, people will be more likely to do so if there is an incentive. If you can give someone five dollars off their next visit or a free consultation just for bringing in a friend, your referrals will skyrocket. This is probably the easiest way to bring in new customers and clients (while making your existing clients happy).

4. Simply Ask – It’s never a bad idea to remind existing customers and clients that referrals are appreciated. This can be as easy as reminding them when they leave—just put it into your “goodbye” spiel. If you have a good relationship with a specific customer, ask them directly if they know anyone who may be interested. You might be surprised how something so little can go such a long way.

5. Testimonials – Gathering testimonials is great because it allows those who want to help to do their part. Many customers will tell you they simply do not know anyone in the area or anyone who would need your products or services. The solution to this is to ask for a testimonial for your website or brochure. Have them sign a document saying you can use their words on your website, and you’re good to go. This is an indirect way to give a referral, but a referral nonetheless.

In the end, people will not blame your company for trying to step up its referral statistics. It’s an inexpensive and successful way to grow a brand. In other words, looking to the past may benefit your company more than looking to the future in 2012.

Photo Credit: servicebusinessreinvention.com, mylot.com, blog.marketamerica.com

Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to telemarketing. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including customer referrals to small businesses and entrepreneurs for Resource Nation.

Originally posted on December 14, 2011 @ 11:13 am

Why Branding is For Everyone

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What do you think of first when asked about brands?

If you’re like most people, big name brands will probably come to mind. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll think of some relatively obscure product or company, no matter how often you use their product or service. This isn’t surprising since it’s exactly how branding is supposed to work. The very purpose of branding is, after all, to get people to remember the brand (and the business/products behind it) and remember it in the way they want us to remember. With big name brands putting millions of dollars into branding, it is no wonder that their brands are among the first that pops into mind when thinking of brands at all.

What you should realize though is that branding is for everyone. No matter how small your business might be, it is still important to invest your resources in branding. The same is true for personal brands. As a publisher, you cannot afford to neglect your personal brand. Yes, your reach might never that of the conglomerates, but it will matter for the audience that you reach. Your business may be small now and your name may not be known, but if you have plans of growing your small business, then by not investing in branding now you’re missing out not only in establishing the kind of reputation you want with you present audience, but a way to get out a POSITIVE image about you to your target audience. Not only that, but you’ll also end up having to start from scratch in the future, when you could have started all the hard legwork right now.

So if you think that branding is not for you, think again, because branding is for everybody.

 

Image via Under30CEO

Originally posted on January 15, 2012 @ 11:08 pm

Writing Articles for a Living

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People are under the belief that being self-employed is a great way to make a living. There are many ways to make a living as a self-employed person but if you expect it to be easy, you are mistaken. Any job takes work and when you are self-employed you must be strict with yourself. You are your own boss and you will have to be able to get motivated every day to do your job.

Some people write articles for websites. Some make a good living at this while others struggle. The same is true of people who do website host review for a living. They must push themselves every day to get up and plan a long day. It is true you can set your own hours but it you want to make a living at it you are going to have to put in long hours. This is especially true when you are starting out. When you write blogs in the beginning you will have problems finding steady work. As you get better you will get more work.

You may have to settle for lower pay when you first start writing for someone. People who do cheap web hosting have the same problem. Once they get a name for themselves they will be able to charge more for their hosting. The same is true of writers. They must start off with lower pay and build a good reputation.

Originally posted on August 13, 2011 @ 12:42 pm

The Friendly Behaviour of Web 2.0

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The term web 2.0 is concerned with the interaction of the users. For this it makes use of the small applications concerning the software employed. The best thing about this application is that it is compatible with a lot of platforms like Java, Ajax and Adobe. There are many website hosting companies which make use of web 2.0 to get more accessibility to different software’s. The developers find it to be easier and safer as they can work according to the request of the end user.
Through internet you can look for the best website hosting companies who have experts to guide you. You can even send your requirements to them and they will work according to it. Some organizations offer plans which are based on the different needs so you can pick a plan which will go with your website. But at the same if the available resources are not fully utilized then there is no point in putting money in to it. You can try any platform to work with your website but it should look awesome and worth trusting companies.

There are lots of features which are given by web 2.0 and that includes searching for respective keywords. For people who are authorized by the web can make the information dynamic and offering the updated content to the people. Though online option you can share your views and thoughts about any topic via social networking websites. Tags, RSS and extensions are the other characteristics which you will come across. Hence you can get a variety with higher version of web 2.0.

Originally posted on February 28, 2011 @ 12:03 pm

Are you lost in the world of Web 2.0

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Many social sites are coming up each day, and though it is good to open an account on every one of them, be sure you are not wasting your time on these sites as the contacts made by you are valuable, not the sites themselves. These sites try holding your fascination and attention for as much more time as possible by offering all kinds of things for you to do while these sites paste advertisements all over their page, hoping that you may click on any one of them.

Most of such people who are always on the web have already become tired of such unlimited web hosting sites, and they are not using them for much time as before due to the realization that these sites were not providing anything valuable.

Even if you have account on the Web 2.0 sites, which are supposed to be” cool” but still instant messaging or e-mail or phone and visiting people in person is a much better way of having a real both way communication. This two-way communication happens to be the key for developing relationships with other people, and Twitter and any other such sites cannot truly provide the fulfilling experience that makes requirement by everyone.

So, remove such sites from your phone, and stop logging into these sites such as Facebook. Instead, focus on making relationships with people in real not hiding behind unlimited web hosting sites whose only aim is to attract more people to join their sites to make more money.

Originally posted on February 10, 2011 @ 12:23 am