Cold callers get the cold shoulder 29 November 2007

Companies that employ cold-calling tactics are wasting their time and should be rethinking their marketing strategies, according to Rob Deutrom, managing director of BestQuote Europe, an online specialist in sales lead generation.

Most companies at risk are those who continue to flout established rules and regulations surrounding cold calling and door-step selling.

Rob says: “With cold calling becoming less and less effective, companies have had to come up with new ideas. One solution is to take a ‘quality’ approach to new sales leads. By investing a small sum in good quality leads, companies can get access to consumers who are considering buying a product, who want to be contacted, and want to be quoted. This tactic can help boost companies’ reputations, improve sales and, ultimately, make them more profitable.”

There are methods and technologies available these days enabling new methods that deliver far more effective sales techniques for the industry, he adds.

One of which is the word-of-mouth approach to acquiring new business.  

Source: Creative Match

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Related Posts:

• The Difference Between PR & Marketing 

How Buttons Drive Up Sales 27 November 2007

The latest issue of Communiqué for Success is out. It answers such questions as:

• How do ‘hot buttons’ impact on your business?

• Which ultimate resource can increase your sales by as much as 70%?

• How can you make your business words magnetic?

• What is the easiest way to get free advertising?

• How can you ensure your networking pays off?

• What should you do when business slows down?

All the answers (and more) are in the latest newsletter.

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Word count for this issue: 1,911
Approximate time to read: About 8 1/2 minutes
Suggested props: Winter Detox Juice or Hot Chocolate

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You can see the current and most of the past newsletters in full colour on the web by clicking here To take advantage of subscriber specials, etc, I would highly recommend you sign up to receive your very own copy – which will be sent ahead of public notification. Simply go to www.mediaminister.co.ukand click on the “F*REE stuff” link on the top menu.

And it’s all freeeeeeeeeeeee.

Enjoy!

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Win Champagne With the Work-Life Balance Survey 26 November 2007

Calling all working mums – can you spare a moment or two to partake in an important survey? There are only firve easy questions to answer, and there’s a bottle of champers up for grabs…

Motheratwork.co.uk aims to use the collated survey results to drive forward a better work-life balance for all, in particular working mothers.

As an incentive, there’s a case of Moët & Chandon champagne to help one lucky reader get their Christmas off to a fizzing start!

Be quick, though, all surveys must be completed by 5pm (GMT) today – 26 November 2007.

Enter here.

Good luck!

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Blogging IS Big Business 23 November 2007

Blogging generates new business, and is becoming the marketing tool of choice for businesses of all sizes, according to a new survey.

Inferno PR carried out a recent survey of 300 businesses with 250+ employees. The results were promising for blogs and bloggers alike.

Fifty per cent of those surveyed had undertaken blogging in some form. Of those, nearly 90% said it had generated new business.

Other findings included:

• 64% of UK corporate blogs have been launched in the last six months
• 66% of managers in the survey have visited blogs in the last 12 months
• 80% of blog users visit blogs during working hours
• 33% of blog visitors will access a blog on a daily basis

Blogs even influence decision-makers: those working in the purchasing sector said that blogs were their second best source for influencing buying decisions. Industry reports are the chief resource.

Inferno PR’s managing director Grant Currie commented:

“The research shows that blogging in the UK is fast becoming a serious business tool…UK companies are now beginning to adopt blogging as part of their business strategy and those that have done so are pointing to specific business success and opportunity being created. It seems the hype is over and the real business of blogging is on its way.”

Positive findings, yet many businesses still need to learn that they need to regular, useful content geared towards their target audience, rather than using blogs merely as a direct sales tool.

Blogs are, after all, primarily about customer-relationship building.

Source: The Marketing Blog

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Related Posts:

• Is a Business Blog Worth It?

• Reader Q&A: Blogs vs Ezines

• How Important is a Website?

• The Real Secrets of Success Are…

• The Importance of Good Copy

• The Importance of Appealing to the ‘Right’ Clients

Top Advertising & Headline Words 23 November 2007

I’ve been a busy bee this months, and have just released another ‘can’t-do-without’ marketing tool…

The Top Proven 50 Advertising and Headline Words that WIN Business is a valuable resource that I refer to again and again to kick start my creative juices.

All the words in this handy checklist have been shown to be effective in just about any advertising, marketing or PR campaign. Words that have helped many businesses increase their sales by as much as 70%.

Order your copy now for just £3 (approx 4 euros, 6 dollars); the promotional price ends on 2 December.

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Fast-Track to More Profitable Advertising 21 November 2007

Advertising is BIG business. Each year 1-2% of ALL gross national income in the UK is spent on advertising. That’s a turnover of around £3.5 thousand million. A huge amount.

Unfortunately, a lot of that is wasted with ill-thought-out campaigns –leaving a negative ROI and a bad taste in the advertisers’ mouths. Which is why I have recently launched The Fast-Track to More Profitable Advertising.

This handy marketing resource should help you turn around your advertising efforts so they bring in big bucks.

At just £3 (approx 4 euros, 6 dollars), can your business afford to be without it? Order your copy now; the promotional price ends on 2 December.

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Five Tips to Jump-Start a New Business 19 November 2007

1. Create a brand. Print up small but important things such as business cards with a professional logo to present a good image.

2. Ramp up online. Websites today are one of the most important tools when creating a business. Make sure you establish yourself on the internet so that customers have somewhere to learn about you.

3. Make your first sale. The first sale is always the hardest, but once you have the ball rolling, there will be no stopping you.

4. Customer testimonials. Start building the credibility of your business from day one. Get customers to write up a testimonial. And be sure to seek permission to use any unsolicited praise.

5. Build a campaign. Be creative. Quantify on any good opportunity that comes your way; anything from a special promotion to a big event can be used in the campaign to get your name out there.

Source: Start Your Business magazine, issue 14, June 2007, p28

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New (& Cheap!) Business-Building Resource 13 November 2007

I have just released the Business-Building Matters ebook: Issues 1-12 of Communiqué for Success (the critically acclaimed monthly online newsletter). It’s all assembled in one easy-to-navigate e-publication, and is ready to help streamline your business and increase profits.

We’re talking about every single feature article, success strategy, resource, and tip from the first October 2005 issue right through to the September 2006 issue. That’s 70 info-packed pages. All available for instant download.

Business-Building Matters is about advertising, marketing, promotion and publicity. But most importantly it’s about helping you succeed in business – regardless of which industry you are in.

For a limited time Business-Building Matters is just £7 (approx 9.5 euros or 14 dollars). (NB: This special introductory price will go up to £17 after the first 500 copies are sold.)

For what you get, and will get out of it, that’s almost a joke. Especially when you consider the time and effort that went into compiling it. Indeed, the effort I make every month to craft a FREE publication of real value — driven by practical content that works, NOT hype or endless promotion.

Ordering is easy and secure.

Find out more here:

> http://mediaminister.co.uk/BusinessBuildingMatters.htm <<< CLICK THIS

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7-Second Test Could Boost Profits 9 November 2007

Copywriting master John Carlton is renowned for obsessing over every single word he writes, especially when it comes to headlines, which are key to any marketing campaign’s success.

Is he paranoid about using the wrong word? No. Just smart. Because it can take just one word change here and there to boost the responsiveness of your advertising or marketing efforts –– doubling, tripling or even quadrupling your sales or opt-ins.

Professional copywriters know this and, in order to truly understand what makes consumers ‘tick’, will therefore test their headlines, pre-heads, lead sentences and paragraphs, etc, in the market place. Of course, they will only test one change or ‘variable’ at a time.

If you’re not testing your copy, and that includes website content, then you should be. Start by making small improvements to your copy today, and then test each variable to see which pulls best.

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Creative Departments Need More Women 7 November 2007

“Eight-five per cent of creative departments are made up of men, and as a result of this, advertising campaigns alienate women. Adverts are lazy, clichéd and stereotyped and the creative industry itself doesn’t believe the campaigns it creates for women are any good.”

Just some of the comments made by Jane Cunningham, co-founder of Pretty Little Head, an agency specialising in marketing to women.

Some of the central points made at an IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising)strategy debate as to the role of women in the creative industry were:

• Most award-winning ads contain themes that target or motivate men only. These include game playing, workmanship and competition.

• Creative departments don’t know how to reach women. This is because the majority of them are made up of men. Consequently, they don’t how to talk to women, so they try to scare and undermine them, instead of trying to empathise with them.

• Much of the advertising targeted at women will pit one woman against another, yet women respond best to ads driven by empathy, rather than competition.

The event was sponsored by Times Media.

For more information, visit:

• http://www.ipa.co.uk

Source: Creative Match

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