The 30 Second Pitch: How To Make The Most of Every Opportunity

By
handshake

The 30 second pitch is an essential marketing tool. Also known as “the elevator pitch,” the idea is to explain who you are and what you do in the short amount of time it takes to ride an elevator from the ground floor to the top floor. The way we do business today has evolved so while you may never actually use your 30 second pitch in the proverbial “elevator”, there are plenty of places where you will use it; both expected and unexpected places. Every person you meet is a potential client. Whether you’re at a tradeshow, getting a latte or at your daughter’s soccer game, a business opportunity can present itself anywhere. Be prepared with your 30 second pitch. Here are some tips for how to craft your pitch to make the most of a first impression.

Filed Under: Guest Articles, How To, Marketing Insights Tagged With: , , , , , ,

14 Ways To Make The Sale Instead Of Giving It To The Competition Tip 14: Give It Away

By
gift

If you’re reading this, it means you care about your business and are willing to do what it takes to make it great. This tip is not for the faint-of-heart. It’s not for the lazy, the unmotivated or anyone who just wants the paycheck and the ability to go home afterwards. It’s for those of you who – like me – take personal responsibility for and pride in making your businesses succeed. What I’m about to tell you to do may seem counterintuitive to the very idea of running a business but if you’ve got the passion, dedication and expertise, it can be the fastest path to winning loyal customers. I’m about to tell you how giving away your best ideas can win you more loyal customers than you could’ve imagined.

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5 Ways To Market Your Business Online On Zero Dollars A Day

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piggy bank

If you’re short on budget you’ve still got something you can invest in the ongoing success of your business: time. With time, dedication and some know-how, you can get your business in front of people and attract prospects and new customers without investing a single cent in professional marketing services or advertising. The most shoestring startup can generate business by leveraging the power of web, search and social marketing with only the investment of your time. Here are 5 ways to market your business online with no budget at all.

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The Biggest Marketing Mistake You Could Be Making (And What To Do About It)

By
money falling off tree

I’m about to make your life easier and your marketing better by sharing one of the most overlooked, underrated yet most powerful allies you have as a web, search and social marketer: content. If you’re not creating, using and promoting content as part of your marketing strategy, it’s such a huge mistake that you should stop what you’re doing and start counting those lost dollars now. Here’s what makes it so important and how you can turn what might sound like a scary concept into your business’s new best friend.

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Public Speaking for Fun and Profit Part II: You – Yes, You – Can Do It!

By
man hiding

During the Great Depression, there was a public figure who showed no talent for public speaking. I’m talking about a woman who began as an embarrassingly bad public speaker, uttering high pitched giggles and wiggling her hands, distracting the audience. She later became a noted speaker and the first American woman to make money as a lecturer. Find out how you, too, can improve your public speaking with expert tips from two sought after speakers.

Filed Under: Branding & Design, Marketing Insights

Buttered Popcorn Syndrome: Why Two Directives Are One Too Many

By
Popcorn bucket and movie ticket

Any marketer will tell you that your call-to-action should be the central piece of a good marketing strategy. Define what it is you want your customer, website visitor or Facebook fan to do and prompt her to take action. This is sound advice. But rarely is it emphasized that a call-to-action is singular. It is an action, not actions. If you ask your customers to do too many things at once, much like I asked a concession stand employee to do too many things, the entire exercise will be lost.

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The GPS Generation: Why You Need To Give People Directions If You Want Them To Find You Online

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gps-generation-featured

I was flipping through a local publication that comes free to residential households in my town. It’s got color stories interspersed by advertising for local businesses. As I flipped, I noticed that many of the businesses had Facebook icons in their ads but no actual Facebook address. And so I counted. Out of 40 ads with a Facebook icon, exactly 5 listed their actual Facebook address beside it. Only 12% of businesses in my local area thought to let people know where to find them online.

Filed Under: Marketing Insights, Social Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

14 Ways To Make The Sale Instead Of Giving It To The Competition Tip 13: Define Your “Je Ne Sais Quoi”

By
one tall sunflower

Very few of us are that different from our competition. That’s why we have competition. There are probably a lot of qualified people who do the same things that you do. But they are not you. And your job is to figure out what it is that makes you not them.

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How to Get a Reporter’s Attention, Part II: How To Lose It

By
photographers and flashes

Negative stories that won’t die are what keep public relations people up at night. Reporters are tenacious creatures who compete with each other to keep a juicy story going. Not out of malevolence, but because it’s their job to be watchdogs. As I wrote previously, journalists are accountable to readers and editors, not to you.

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Small observations: Quotation marks are for conversations, not for marketing!

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quotation marks

Today, I would like to discuss the senseless, often absurd and regularly contradictory use of quotation marks in advertising, product displays and marketing in general, so your marketing does not become as senseless as others who have transgressed against reason.

Filed Under: Copywriting, Marketing Insights Tagged With: , , ,
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