My apologies for not consistently blogging the past couple of days- I was proving a point actually! The purpose of the little study was to see if anyone forgot me or more importantly remembered my blog if I stopped doing it every day. Well, the answer is..........forgotten! Regardless if you are creating a blog, social media campaign, personal events, networking etc. if you are not consistent you will be forgotten. You cannot blame clients, customers and prospects for not having you on their mind every day all day, we are inundated with so many advertisements and stress that many times thoughts of your business do not exist. Creating events repeatedly result in consistency which results in higher response which results in brand recognition which ultimately results in higher PROFITS!!!
Homework: Do something to stay in your clients minds right now!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
BY DEFINITION!!
According to www.businessdictionary.com/definition/event=marketing.html
Event Marketing
Is Designing or developing a 'live' themed activity, occasion, display, or exhibit (such as a sporting event, music festival, fair, or concert) to promote a product, cause, or organization. Also called event creation.
Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/event-marketing.html#ixzz104yM8ksu
So why is this relevant? It proves that I did not make up the idea or term 'event marketing' it is a business term that many industries rely on in order to launch new products, promote their services and bring awareness to their target audience. Join the crowd and challenge me to create an event for your specific business!
Homework: Think of a really hard question regarding your marketing plan and then ask me!
Event Marketing
Is Designing or developing a 'live' themed activity, occasion, display, or exhibit (such as a sporting event, music festival, fair, or concert) to promote a product, cause, or organization. Also called event creation.
Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/event-marketing.html#ixzz104yM8ksu
So why is this relevant? It proves that I did not make up the idea or term 'event marketing' it is a business term that many industries rely on in order to launch new products, promote their services and bring awareness to their target audience. Join the crowd and challenge me to create an event for your specific business!
Homework: Think of a really hard question regarding your marketing plan and then ask me!
Friday, September 17, 2010
MORE BILLABLE HOURS!
We are revisiting an amazing article that I posted two blogs ago and explaining it in further detail to the average business professional!
Article states: In any marketing strategy the objective is to change consumer behavior in a way that benefits your bottom line. Event marketing is one of many tools for doing that. If planned right, event marketing can give you many of the benefits of door to door/word of mouth sales, at a fraction of the cost per exposure – and uncertainty – of these familiar standby methods. However, since it is usually a fairly expensive and little-understood venture, event marketing deserves to be explained in some depth here
Alistè states: How many hours do you spend a day working? How many on your own business vs. client projects and product manufacturing? Let's take myself as an example. I usually wake up fairly early and begin my morning with a networking event to get my business juices flowing, meet some great prospects and peers and kick start the work day! Around 9am I start answering all my many e-mails and then create my projects for the day ahead. I break my client projects into hourly chunks so that I can focus on one project at a time and not be lured to working on another. With this organization I can finish my work day satisfied with what I accomplished around 5pm leaving a half hour open for happy hour!
Now, out of that long work day from 7am to 5pm I did not personally have the time to go meet every prospect I met that week or client that I am working with to build a personal relationship. Many times that is an afterthought to the time spent on what is billable. However, including an event in your marketing plan even if it is quarterly, annually or monthly events will get your face in front your ideal audience which will lead to soooo many more billable hours!!! So think about that next time you feel that events will not work for your specific business, it can and should be on you’re To Do list!
Article states: In any marketing strategy the objective is to change consumer behavior in a way that benefits your bottom line. Event marketing is one of many tools for doing that. If planned right, event marketing can give you many of the benefits of door to door/word of mouth sales, at a fraction of the cost per exposure – and uncertainty – of these familiar standby methods. However, since it is usually a fairly expensive and little-understood venture, event marketing deserves to be explained in some depth here
Alistè states: How many hours do you spend a day working? How many on your own business vs. client projects and product manufacturing? Let's take myself as an example. I usually wake up fairly early and begin my morning with a networking event to get my business juices flowing, meet some great prospects and peers and kick start the work day! Around 9am I start answering all my many e-mails and then create my projects for the day ahead. I break my client projects into hourly chunks so that I can focus on one project at a time and not be lured to working on another. With this organization I can finish my work day satisfied with what I accomplished around 5pm leaving a half hour open for happy hour!
Now, out of that long work day from 7am to 5pm I did not personally have the time to go meet every prospect I met that week or client that I am working with to build a personal relationship. Many times that is an afterthought to the time spent on what is billable. However, including an event in your marketing plan even if it is quarterly, annually or monthly events will get your face in front your ideal audience which will lead to soooo many more billable hours!!! So think about that next time you feel that events will not work for your specific business, it can and should be on you’re To Do list!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
EVENTS AS AN INVESTMENT?!?!?
Since my post yesterday, which was a link to an AMAZING EVENT MARKETING ARTICLE!!! Proving how important including events in any marketing plan truly is! For the next couple of posts I will be going through that article and dissecting it to every day terms and making you true believers that events are the way to go!
Article states:
A jazzy display at a popular event is not enough, in itself, to give you noticeable results. Too often businesses invest a goodly chunk of change in a booth or a sponsorship and are disappointed when their passive purchase brings them few – if any - new customers. No matter what form it takes, follow-up is essential to building lasting relationships with the leads generated at your event.
Alistè Comments:
This is very important what the article is stating. Anyone can construct an event and slap their logo on it, however will it be worth the money? When you take the leap and bring events into your marketing plan you are making an investment!!! Designing an event to either educate clients or bring new prospects into your office should not be a onetime deal and then that's it. It is a process, just like planning the event. You need to make a list of the tasks at hand for the before, during and post event. By doing this you not only include your clients in a face to face event but continue the relationship long after the 'last call'. Use your networking skills to follow up with every attendee and continue building those relationships so that when you are ready for the next event those relationships that you built will bring in new prospects that you can then FOLLOW UP WITH!
Article states:
A jazzy display at a popular event is not enough, in itself, to give you noticeable results. Too often businesses invest a goodly chunk of change in a booth or a sponsorship and are disappointed when their passive purchase brings them few – if any - new customers. No matter what form it takes, follow-up is essential to building lasting relationships with the leads generated at your event.
Alistè Comments:
This is very important what the article is stating. Anyone can construct an event and slap their logo on it, however will it be worth the money? When you take the leap and bring events into your marketing plan you are making an investment!!! Designing an event to either educate clients or bring new prospects into your office should not be a onetime deal and then that's it. It is a process, just like planning the event. You need to make a list of the tasks at hand for the before, during and post event. By doing this you not only include your clients in a face to face event but continue the relationship long after the 'last call'. Use your networking skills to follow up with every attendee and continue building those relationships so that when you are ready for the next event those relationships that you built will bring in new prospects that you can then FOLLOW UP WITH!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
NO BRAINER!
I am going to ask everyone a no brainer question, ready?!?!?
If I asked you what would be your ideal audience, where would you like to meet them and what main point would you talk to them about?!?!
This should be on the tip of your tongue if you are a true entrepreneur and business professional- always think of the ideal situation and then CREATE IT!
Events can accomplish your ideal situation. If you are a financial advisor and you would like to try a different audience- for example new mom's, wouldn't it be in your best interest to research and connect with mompreneur groups, pto groups etc. and then begin a relationship with these individuals? Of course it makes sense but do you have the time to call, connect, meet for coffee and then follow up weekly to maintain that relationship with the hundreds of new mom's that you just researched?
NO! If you have that type of time call me because I have tons of work that I can use an extra hand on! This is why incorporating events into your marketing/business plan accomplishes your goals with half the time that cold calling and 1-1's take up.
Solution: Research new mom groups and obtain an e-mail list, from the e-mail list break it into groups of 25. Each month e-mail/call 1 group and invite them to an open house that will benefit THEM not about YOU! The following month do the same for a different group and so on. See what I am trying to paint for you?!?!
Monthly Events that keep on giving!
Homework: Create your problem and brainstorm a solution- if you need teachers assistance contact me at 508-596-9081 for hourly consulting- your business could be the highlight of 2010!!!!
If I asked you what would be your ideal audience, where would you like to meet them and what main point would you talk to them about?!?!
This should be on the tip of your tongue if you are a true entrepreneur and business professional- always think of the ideal situation and then CREATE IT!
Events can accomplish your ideal situation. If you are a financial advisor and you would like to try a different audience- for example new mom's, wouldn't it be in your best interest to research and connect with mompreneur groups, pto groups etc. and then begin a relationship with these individuals? Of course it makes sense but do you have the time to call, connect, meet for coffee and then follow up weekly to maintain that relationship with the hundreds of new mom's that you just researched?
NO! If you have that type of time call me because I have tons of work that I can use an extra hand on! This is why incorporating events into your marketing/business plan accomplishes your goals with half the time that cold calling and 1-1's take up.
Solution: Research new mom groups and obtain an e-mail list, from the e-mail list break it into groups of 25. Each month e-mail/call 1 group and invite them to an open house that will benefit THEM not about YOU! The following month do the same for a different group and so on. See what I am trying to paint for you?!?!
Monthly Events that keep on giving!
Homework: Create your problem and brainstorm a solution- if you need teachers assistance contact me at 508-596-9081 for hourly consulting- your business could be the highlight of 2010!!!!
Monday, September 13, 2010
UNDER THE HOOD?!?!
I meet many different people who own diverse businesses that either sell a service or product it is not until you sit down with these individuals that the creative juices start flowing. Meeting with a mechanic I developed a strategic event marketing plan that would be fun, exciting and succeed in building awareness and bringing attention to his shop. So what did I do? Well, I will give you a VIP glimpse of the project. What do so many people want to know before they invest or spend money?
They want the behind the scene information, why it takes you two hours to fix an exhaust, how you can charge so little for the same service that costs twice as much down the street etc. The main solution that small businesses can learn from major companies is to INVITE YOUR AUDIENCE INTO YOUR BUSINESS! Bring them in to see exactly how EVERYTHING works, no secretes just honest work that people appreciate. Inviting a mechanics audience into his shop allowed people to ask questions, see how things are fixed in a certain amount of time and why sometimes things to do not go exactly to plan and most importantly get to meet the individual who is responsible for making sure your vehicle is safe and ready to go. This event was not meant to increase profits, although it may result in that. The main goal was to build a strong, trusting client base so that they continue using the same mechanic, bring their friends and family to their trusted mechanic and continue referring new business to this trusted business.
Homework: Think of a business that you would like to see under the hood. Submit your answers!
They want the behind the scene information, why it takes you two hours to fix an exhaust, how you can charge so little for the same service that costs twice as much down the street etc. The main solution that small businesses can learn from major companies is to INVITE YOUR AUDIENCE INTO YOUR BUSINESS! Bring them in to see exactly how EVERYTHING works, no secretes just honest work that people appreciate. Inviting a mechanics audience into his shop allowed people to ask questions, see how things are fixed in a certain amount of time and why sometimes things to do not go exactly to plan and most importantly get to meet the individual who is responsible for making sure your vehicle is safe and ready to go. This event was not meant to increase profits, although it may result in that. The main goal was to build a strong, trusting client base so that they continue using the same mechanic, bring their friends and family to their trusted mechanic and continue referring new business to this trusted business.
Homework: Think of a business that you would like to see under the hood. Submit your answers!
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