4 Signs Your Customers Hate You, and What You Could Learn From a Fairy

Here are 4 questions to ask yourself when it comes to your relationship with your customers:

1. Are your most profitable customers those who have the most reason to be dissatisfied with you?

2. Do you have rules that you want customers to break because doing so generates profits?

3. Do you make it difficult for customers to understand or abide by your rules, and do you actually help customers break them?

4. DO you depend on contracts to prevent customers from defecting?

If you answered “yes” to any of the four questions, your company may be engaged in what an article, “Companies And The Customers Who Hate Them” in the Harvard Business Review calls “adversarial value-extracting strategies.”

Can Microsoft Bring the Love Back for Consumers?

You’ve likely already seen the clever movie put out by Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions that illustrates the divorce that is currently happening between consumers and traditional advertising. People have learned to hate it. Nothing could better illustrate the disconnect that…

Giving Away Free Information as a Marketing Strategy

“Content is king.” You’ve heard this a dozen times over the last few years. But what does it mean to you as an entrepreneur, and for your marketing strategy?

People hate advertising.

People love free information.

Today, there is virtually unlimited information on any given topic. But do you realize how much of it comes from businesses trying to get exposure for their company? A lot. Information is becoming the new foot in the door for small businesses who don’t have a big marketing budget.

5 Ways to Maximize Your Business’ Personality and Image

What’s in a name? Everything!

The first encounter people have with a company is its name. Just like anything, a business name evokes certain ideas and images, as well as your business personality. Make sure the image you’re portraying is one that you want!

Here’s the story of my company name. I was starting a marketing and public relations firm and wanted to have a fun name that showed we were creative, yet dedicated to the projects we received.

The Element of Surprise as a Marketing Strategy

Where has the element of surprise gone? We spend so much time meticulously planning out marketing campaigns. Subscribers know when to expect our emails. How can you shock and amaze your customers in an era of knowing what’s coming next?…

Networking on Steroids: More Ways to Market Your Business with Networking

If you’re not getting the results you want with the typical marketing and advertising channels, here’s another idea that can generate a lot of business for you: networking.

Networking involves regularly attending meetings or events with other business people, with the intent to connect with a group of like-minded individuals. You may find that you need services or products that these people can provide, but your ultimate goal is to find potential customers.

Dive Into Networking

First, do your research. There are likely numerous groups that meet in your area and each may have a slightly different focus. Some meet weekly, but most meet monthly. Some networking groups cater to either men or women, while others include both sexes. Find one you’re interested in, and attend a meeting. Be sure to bring business cards, samples of product or services if you’re able, and a notepad to take notes.

Try Meetup.com. There, you’ll find groups that meet that cater to every interest, industry, and demographic under the sun.

Get the business card of everyone you talk to, whether they seem like a future client or not. Sometimes networking relationships take a while to cultivate, and while someone you meet may not need your services that day, they very well may call you down the road.

Marketing Your Business with Creative Networking and Volunteering

If you’re like me, you’ve just about exhausted the usual channels for networking. While networking groups are good for making contacts, those contacts don’t always translate into sales. Attending too many meetings with different groups can sometimes do nothing more than drain your pocketbook. So how can you meet people in your community that will be interested in your product, and bring you steady sales?

Volunteering as a Marketing Strategy

Think about it. You’re working with a diverse group of go-getters for a cause. While you will all be like-minded in the sense that you want to help a particular organization or non-profit, you all work in different parts of the city and do different things. Without having a specific agenda to sell, you will build relationships with these people, who will then think of you when a need arises that you can fill.

How Will Volunteering Help My Marketing Efforts?

Think about the people you have met at church, at your children’s school, in the community. You probably know where they work, and if anyone mentions needing services or products, you immediately think of the people you know can provide them.

Article Writing as a Marketing Strategy

You’ve probably come across websites that have articles on everything under the sun. While you may not have considered this, these sites are great resources for you as a business owner. By writing and publishing content on sites like this,…

Customer Appreciation as a Marketing Strategy

Customer appreciation? How is that a marketing strategy, you ask?

Think about it: your business wouldn’t exist without your customers, so why not build that relationship with them by putting a little effort into nurturing it?