Global Marketing Plus

Having an online newsletter could be a nice little way to build your subscribers and potentially sell products to them in the future.

Online newsletters usually aren’t difficult to start up, as there are very few aspects that need to be completed. With just a few steps, you can be gaining plenty of subscribers within days.

How to start your own online newsletter.

The first thing you’ll need to do is sign up to an email marketing manager account to some of the best companies.

Most internet marketers know just how important social networks are but it seems like most of them tend to overlook the importance of Twitter.

A lot of people have been focused on Facebook and Twitter tends to be looked at as a lesser version of the website. However, if you are serious about taking your marketing strategies to a higher level, then it is a good idea to learn how to get more Twitter followers.

Twitter is all about being able to send a short message to all of your followers and so it is a good idea to try and get as many followers as possible.

In order to get more followers, you will simply need to increase your presence online through different websites. For example, your Facebook, YouTube and even LinkedIn profiles will have your Twitter name exposed so that you will be able to gain more followers.

Another good way to get more followers is by actually “buying” followers online. Though this may seem like cheating, it is a strategy that a lot of people use. This enables you to have more followers and greatly increases your company’s reputation.

When you look at a business, you will often give more respect to the companies that have more followers. Even if you have no idea what the company is about, you can often “assume” that it is a trusted business. This is why it is very important to try and get as many followers as possible because this is the best way to expand as a business.

If you are serious about trying to get followers, you have to be patient as you will most likely not get a big boost of followers right away. With just a little patience, you will surely be able to gain more followers on Twitter.

Want to get started online but don’t know where to start?  Email me (ron@globalmarketingplus.com) or call me at 801-298-2336 and I will help you get started!

Most people will admit that they will often go towards companies that have more fans because they feel like it is a great way to determine if they are a trusted brand or company.

If you are looking to learn how to get more Facebook fans, then you will need to take these things into consideration.

Make Contests

This is a strategy that has helped other companies that are trying to get more fans. These contests will help you stay connected with your fans and to create a relationship that will help build your online presence.

You can give away little items like t-shirts or you can even give people discounts. The only thing that they will need to do is share your Facebook page and to tag a photo to your fan page. This causes their friends and family to see your page and thus gaining more fans.

Use Other Sites

Do not just focus on Facebook as this is not the best strategy for internet marketing. You will need to go over to websites like Twitter as a different source of traffic. You will then need to post about your Facebook page and have people join you on Facebook as well. Most people are members on both social networks and so it is a good idea to target them on both sides.

These are just simple ways to get more Facebook fans and to really increase your overall presence on the internet. Do these two things and you will start to see a big increase of fans on Facebook.

Want to get started online but don’t know where to start?  Email me (ron@globalmarketingplus.com) or call me at 801-298-2336 and I will help you get started!

Blogging is a way for people to express how they feel on the internet but it can also be a great way to make money. Though you may not see it as a way to make money, it is still something that you can do as a fun hobby. Here are some of the blogging basics and how you can get started with your blog.

Find A Niche

To define your niche means clearly identifying a group of people who need a product or service that you are able to provide. The best niches are those that no one else can fill or don’t fill adequately. If you have a product or service that is in high demand and you may not need a niche. But the more competitive the field you are in, the more important it is for you to find what you are uniquely qualified to do.

Your niche needs to be small enough that you don’t have a lot of competition and can reach most of your potential clients within the limits of your time and budget. And the niche needs to be large enough to provide sufficient customers to support your business.

Gold Leaf Printing, for example was in the printing industry, which is highly competitive. In fact, it was so competitive that to earn bids and clients, some competitors were willing to bid below cost just to attract new customers. One competitor told people to find the lowest price and they would beat it by 10%! Now how do you compete with that???

However, when I created a new company called Medi-Forms which specialized in medical printing, there was no competition! Sure, all the other printers in the area could print the same things we printed, but none could say that they specialized in medical printing and didn’t print anything else. (Yes, we printed other types of printing on the printing presses that we had, but all the other printing was printed by Gold Leaf Printing, not Medi-Forms!)

I formed a new company, registering it with the state and had loose leafs printed with Medi-Forms logo on the front and the most popular medial forms and printing inside. Our business cards were for Medi-Forms and stated that all we did was print forms for the medical industry! Since I and one other person performed the sales function, we both learned all we could about the medical industry and the forms they needed. When we visited a doctor’s office or hospital, we could talk in their language about their needs.

The other printers thought it was too much trouble to create a new company to specialize, so they didn’t fill the niche that Medi-Forms filled. Printing orders came flying in. And, to make it even better, we could charge a price that made a fair profit and when our competition gave pricing that was lower, our new customers still ordered from us because we “specialized”!

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine started a new business in February. And his new business was started with a bang!

He invested all of his personal savings and retirement in a luxurious office that was furnished. He bought the most advanced office equipment and computers. He also invested in equipment he felt he needed to run his business, including a laptop, etc. He joined the Chamber of Commerce and had a ribbon cutting and a huge lavish party.

Although it seemed he had everything a business could need, he was closed by Easter. The one thing he didn’t have was clients!

I also have a friend that started a business with nothing more that business cards. Because she knew what to do to find clients, her business flourished!

This means one important rule: You aren’t truly in business until you have business!

Since I first went on my own with a business in 1974, I have learned that having plenty of business is not a matter of luck! The magic is marketing! Marketing refers to all the activities involved in making sure you have enough business flowing through your door and that it keeps flowing in.

Since my first business, I have read almost every book on marketing. I still read 3 or 4 marketing books every month to stay on top of new trends! I have learned that much of what has been written or taught about marketing and how to get business simply does not apply to me. I did not have a big business or retail location with funds for market research, a sales force, and advertising budget!

Over the years I have found that many self-employed individuals feel as I did. They have a small business, maybe out of their home, but still need to bring in customers on a shoestring, without a staff of professionals or the help of an advertising agency!

And even though much of the information available about marketing is excellent, applying it to what we need to do to make sure we have work to do on Monday mornings is like trying to make a good impression in a hand-me-down suit that is too big: it is not a comfortable fit!

But there is marketing techniques that work fantastically well for the self-employed!

In this blog, I  share what actually works to bring in more customers.  The marketing tools and ideas were developed over years of trial and error and blood, sweat, and tears!

I hope you come back often to learn these techniques that bring customers and learn to avoid those things that do not work!

Failing to watch and take care of your finances can kill your business!  Whether it is accounts payable,  accounts receivable, taxes, or day to day bookkeeping, small mistakes can hurt!

Yet if you do it right, you can produce reports that help guide you and make correct decisions about your business.  Forms like profit & loss, income projections and balance sheets.

This information can help if you ever need to go to a bank or other souce and borrow money. 

This is one area I dislike the most.  I find that doing financial tasks take a lot of my time away from actually doing business.  And when I am done, I worry it was done correctly!

Usually at tax time, I find I did do some things wrong! 

I have always done my own taxes using some of the popular tax software choices from the local office supply store.  This is the first year I decided to use a professional bookkeeper and tax man.  One reason why I chose to not do my own is that I have heard that, especially this year, the IRS is auditing a higher percentage of returns on those who do thier own.  I guess the IRS thinks the do-it-yourselfers will probably make the most mistakes!

Today, take your form you downloaded last week (business hats) and work in the column called “Financial”.  List all the things you personally do on a weekly basis in your business that deals with financial tasks.

Items could be accounts payable, accounts receivable, taxes, banking, bookkeeping, or payroll.  There are dozens more!

If you hire someone to do this, you still have lots of tasks you personnally do.  Or traveling to and from the bookkeeper.  But list all the things you personally do.

When you have your list completed, put the hours to the right of each item that you spend each week.  Then total the items and write that in the bottom corner and circle it.

Tomorrow we will work on Production.

How often when you are on the phone with a receptionist at a real company does she say “That’s ok, I’ll just let it ring”?

I bet never!  That call from a potential customer is too valuable!

However, if she says, “Could you wait a moment while I put that other call on hold?” I understand and it is no big deal.

Our focus groups results showed that once you missed the call, your odds of creating a good first impression with the caller are nill.

Plus, what is the caller doing? He has gone to the next call to find his information! We found that many times when you call back the call you missed, you get a busy signal because he is talking with your competitor!

When you do reach him, we found he has already found the information he needs and is satisfied with the information and will probably buy from the first person he talked to!

The best thing to do is be the first one to talk with the customer by taking the call!

Most successful brochures and other marketing materials we have created begins by hitting a potential sore spot with the prospect.

One of the main reasons an individual chooses to take action is that he is facing some sort of problem that what you are offering can solve.

Businesses that solve problems succeed!  Businesses that don’t know what the problems are won’t get business.

So find your prospects problem and then solve it!

The most effective brochures and flyers are designed to obtain one of these actions:

1. an order
2. a request for more information
3. a call for an appointment
4. make the prospect receptive for a future contact

A brochure should have only one of these purposes as it’s reason for existence.  If you do not make a choice as to which response you want and keep that goal firmly in mind as you prepare your material, you are simply wasting your money.