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Marketing isn't just about creating that new ad or making a web site or a brochure to hand it…really good marketing consists of being aware of the many ways you actually reach out and touch a customer.

And, the hands-down best marketing is a simple concept that I talk about all the time…it is personal. It can be felt.

The thing is that when you take the time and energy to really think about the different ways you actually touch your customers and make those as personal as possible, they will remember you. They will recommend you to their friends, family, co-workers. And THAT viral word of mouth marketing is exactly what you want.

Ever heard of the Nametag Guy?

Stick with me, this is word of mouth marketing, right here, right now…I'm about to tell you why this guy is so cool - in essence I'm helping him further his brand, build his credibility which could ultimately boost his bottom line and the coolest thing (for him) is that I'm doing the work for him, for free. Now, understand, I'm not doing this because I think he needs help, not because I know him, not for any reason OTHER than he had an understanding of how to touch a potential customer in a way that is personal and can keep them talking about his business.

Isn't that what YOU want for YOUR business?

Ok, here are ten tips to remember (this is his philosophy for what he calls "approachable service")…

1. People buy people
2. Friendly always wins
3. Make the mundane memorable
4. Be unique, not different
5. Interaction, not interruption (In other words, INTERACT with your customers, don't make them feel they are INTERRUPTING you)
6. Be That Guy (or That Girl)
7. You want FANS not customers
8. Don't sell; allow people to buy
9. Consistency is far better than rare moments of greatness
10. If you don't make a name for yourself, someone will make one for you

There you have it. Not so complex, really. Just a simple shifting of perceptions and how you interact with your customers.

But if you do all these things your marketing will become more personal and you will, in the minds of your customers, be more approachable. Then the snowball effect will kick in. Your potential customers will remember you for your approachability and personal touch and if you've done your job really well, they will pass on how truly fabulous you, your service, your product is to their friends, family and co-workers.

If you didn't see it on Twitter from Celebrate Green…here's an awesome article from the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur on Women Business Owners.

Check it out!

"Why Women Entrepreneurs Are The New Face For Small Busness"

So here's the deal…

It's time for change.

Yep, it's a simple concept a one word thingy that makes people literally quake in their shoes.

Grown men (and grown women for that matter) seem to have the same reaction. It's that OMG batten down the hatches, rollercoasterish feeling you get waaaaaaay down in the pit of your stomach because you know we are going…somewhere we've never been…AND things are gonna change.

Simple yet powerful - change.

It is (as the sages throughout the ages predicted) the only thing that is actually constant in life.

Ok, so one of the changes (not so big, yet we think powerful) is the look and feel of this site. We are moving toward a more user friendly design that will better showcase what we do and how we do it. Elves and faeries are busy right at this very second tweaking and tuning and converting it into a sleek new skillfully honed kickin' site that will (we think) make you drool. So keep checking back regularly to get a gander. We will be implementing the site changes slowly over time so as not to run the risk of shocking our regular readers…yeah you know who all you cool people are out there…we love you guys…

Another change is the type of work we are taking on…lots more design and lots more web development along with online and offline marketing - we've been doing some logo design work, branding and of course web site design and development. Our little firm is growing - quite happily growing.

What won't change is our usual way of doing things, here in the land of blog. We will still throw it ALL out there to see what sticks. You know, what works what doesn't - the snafus, dramas and happy endings. And we'll walk you through the process from beginning to end.

So this is our big fat WELCOME to change and to you to watch us grow, participate and play along with us in the big sandbox of life.  

"If all the world's a stage, I want to operate the trap door."

-Paul Beatty 

I'm just sayin…

We all have days where we want to operate the trap door. Mine happens to be today.

1.    Write a Compelling Headline — The goal of a headline is to grab the reader’s attention and make them want to know more. So always use benefits-oriented headlines and subheads that speak directly to your ideal customer’s wants, needs, problems or goals.

2.    Write like you speak — The best copy writing reads like a one-to-one conversation between the reader and the writer. Read it out loud - that's what I do…you'll also pick up any grammatical errors or funky sounding verbiage. 

3.    Keep it simple — This one is pretty straightforward. Don't alienate your readers by using long suspicious sounding words that aren't commonly understood. Keep it to an 8th grade level (any professional copywriter will tell you this) and write simply and clearly.

4.    Make it skim-able — Paragraphs should be brief (four to five lines max) and most sentences short (18 words or less). And use bullet points to explain separate pieces of information.

5.    Use Active Voice — Whenever possible, always choose to use active voice in your writing. Avoid passive voice. This basic grammar rule will keep your writing more lively and…well…active!

6.    Sell the Benefits — Promote benefits, not just features. Benefits are what the features can do for your customer. It’s why they should care about, or want, those features. Here’s a quick tip to get you thinking about the benefits…Make your list of features, then for every feature put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask, “What’s in it for me?” The answer every time is the benefit. That's what you want to promote!

7.    Call to Action — Always, always, always include a “call to action” and ask for the sale. This is not the place to be shy. You want to make sure your customer has an open invitation and knows it. And it needs to be easy - always include your contact information, phone, email, link to a page…whatever way you want them to contact you, be sure to list it here within the call to action.

Ok…I've been talking a lot lately about dreaming while awake and really thinking hard about what is to be accomplished in 2009. I believe wholeheartedly that when you dream out loud (while you are awake) you are actively taking a step toward creating and solidifying what it is you want to accomplish. So, in that same vein of thought…here's a happy Friday quote to inspire you to dream and dream BIG!  

"All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible."

-T.E. Lawrence

On the fly…

A few quick and easy blog tips to remember for 2009! 

1. Post items to your blog at least three times a week. Scheduling a specific time of day to blog (like at 9 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) will keep you focused.
   
2. Find content for your blog by setting up one or more Google Alerts. You can do that here… http://www.Google.com/alerts. Set up the alerts for topics you want to write about or are a part of your niche. Google will email you when it finds content online that is of interest to you and it will serve as a continued source of inspiration.
3. Commenting at other blogs is a great way to pull traffic back to your own blog. This is an awesome thing to do but how can you possibly keep up with reading the gazillion blogs that you are interested in where your particular brand of expertise (your comments) are needed? Those Google Alerts will include many blog posts that are just ripe for your comments!

So, as MANY of you know I love biznik for a variety of reasons but mostly because of the tag line…"business networking that doesn't suck."

I mean, it just doesn't get any more perfect than that.

It sums up what every one of us in business wants in any type of business networking. Plus, the interface of the online application is set up in such a way that it not only do you get exposure to top shelf entrepreneurs and indie professionals (independent business professionals) in creative and exciting fields but your participation also leads to better search rankings, better blog exposure, more traffic to your site, etc. etc…very cool stuff.

But wait, there's more!

The most recent addition to the super cool web 2.0 business networking group are live interviews with experts in the field of entrepreneurship that we all know and love. 

Drum roll please…

Here's a new one that will be of interest to anyone in marketing. I encourage to to take a listen and check it out. It's FREE…yes, free. We all love the freebies.

We love (I mean, really LOVE) those fun little tips and tidbits that help move our business in the right direction. Plus you know we believe it’s all about sharing so here’s an easy marketing task.

The kicker? It’s free. F-R-E-E!

Yep.

Every online business needs to be found in the search engines but we often forget that one of the easiest most obvious places to promote ourselves and our businesses is locally. Google, Yahoo and MSN have local searches and your odds of being found there are pretty darn good so come on and let’s get to it.

Here’s what you need to do.

Step 1: Check to see if you/your business is already listed.

Follow each of these links. Look for your business name or general category in your zip code. This will also give you an idea of what the local search listings look like.

• Google Local link: http://local.google.com
• Yahoo Local link: http://local.yahoo.com
• MSN Live Local: https://llc.local.live.com/BusinessSearch.aspx

***Note – Your business may already be in there (even if you didn’t actually put a listing in) and if that’s the case, click the “edit” link or the “add it” link in Yahoo to update the listing with the information you are compiling in step 2.

Step 2. Get your info ready

This just makes it easy because you have all the pertinent information at your fingertips when it comes time to fill in the blanks to get your business listed via local search. We recommend using a simple text file to store your information so you can easily copy and paste.

• Your business name
• Address
• Phone number
• Web site address (URL)
• A brief description of your business – always include your keywords (the search phrases you want to be found for in the search engines).
• Gather together your logo and photos (Google allows you to upload 10 photos)
• Think about categories where you’re business fits…For example, do you sell services or tangible items? Do you maybe own a pub, a laundromat or an online retail store that sells eco friendly items?

Step 3: Create Your Listing

Create an account for each search engine. If you have one, you can just use your current account. No need to make a new one. And, remember, if you get stuck, you can always come back later to edit your listing.

• Google Local https://www.google.com/accounts/ManageAccount

Once you've created an account, go to "Local Business Center" and just follow the instructions to add a new listing. Yeah, we know, we know….easy!

• Yahoo Local http://listings.local.yahoo.com

After you create your account with Yahoo, just enter your details Yahoo keeps it all pretty straight forward and doesn't require confirmation which saves a little time and is a nice perk.

• MSN Live Local - With MSN you first have to check to see if your business is listed. https://llc.local.live.com/BusinessSearch.aspx

If your business isn’t listed you’ll be prompted to enter your information. From here, just follow the instructions…again, easy!

That's it - three steps, three F-R-E-E- and easy steps to move you along. 

Now, here’s a little trick for you.

Use local reviews to get yourself some added exposure. You’ll notice (if you are even only a bit observant) that some of the Local listings contain ratings via stars and customer reviews.

You want reviews.

Wait.

Let’s say that one more time to make sure you will remember….YOU WANT REVIEWS…preferably good ones.

Here’s why.

The reviews make your listing stand out and the search engines love reviews – they are content that is easily indexed and listed so the more reviews the better. Plus it helps in the decision making process that is happening in the potential customer’s head. You’ll go for a business that has rave reviews over one that has no reviews any day of the week and so will your customers. Word of mouth referrals give you a slight advantage over your competitors because word of mouth is the strongest type of business referral you can get especially if it’s from a trusted source.

Now, here’s a little hot tidbit to get you some reviews.

Contact (oh, let’s say) 10 of your best customers just for starters and ask for a review.

Yes, that’s it. ASK. Most people will be flattered you want their opinion.

But do make it easy.

Give them the link to go do a review. And give them a demo question to answer like…did Our Company help you with X, Y or Z?

Um…in the off chance you are wondering, X, Y or Z would be some kind of benefit to the customer like saving time or bargain pricing or fast customer service or a high quality product.

You are probably getting the picture by now.

But, when you ask, be sure to give something back to the customer. Give them some tangible thing be it a free service or discount or maybe offer to review their business for them and always, always, (did I say always?) remember to say THANKS!

Oh and one last (but very important) thing.

Do not write your own reviews. Fake endorsements have a really bad odor. People can smell them from a mile away.

Ok, so I've gotten a few emails asking about the ins and outs of green marketing and I figured it might be helpful to line up our top ten tips. So to kick of the week…here goes!

Green Marketing Tip #1

I get a lot of traffic to this blog for search terms about 'green' and 'eco friendly' marketing.
And, if you read this blog somewhat regularly, you'll know that I'm taking a web site and transitioning it into being 'green' and adding a blog component. It's an ecommerce site and the goal is quite lofty. You […]

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Green Marketing Tip #2 - Know Your Market!

The green market is booming and FAST. Determining who your audience is, who the market demographic is can't be stressed enough.
Right now, everyone (and I mean everyone) is trying to figure out who these people are and what they want. I've talked a lot about eco-chic and luxury green. But Alex Williams over at […]

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Tip #3 Participate in Green Events - Think Globally, Act Locally!

Participating in Green Events like Live Earth on July 7 is an absolute must for any business going green. Whether it's hosting an event locally in honor of an event like Live Earth, or creating your own event, a big part of being green and reaching the green audience is about "thinking globally and acting […]

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Green Marketing Tip #4 - Participate in Online ‘Green’ Communities!

It is an absolute must to participate in community. After all 'green' is grassroots. And, using technology (that whole web 2.0 idea) to socialize and increase awareness of your company is not to be overlooked.
Communities have long been an internet staple but with the increased socialization of the web, it's important to find […]

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Green Marketing Tip #5 - No Greenwashing

WARNING – No Greenwashing Allowed…
Greenwashing is a term used to describe companies that are pretending to go ‘eco’ in an attempt to cash in on the green market trend. In effect, they say they are green, create a couple of green educational resources or throw up a few eco friendly products and shout to the […]

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Green Marketing Tip #6 - Purchase Ads On Green Blogs

Okay this is an obvious one. You've probably already thought about it but I have to throw it in, just in case it's slipped your mind.
Purchase online advertising where your green community frequently visits to collect information. Yes, for this particular tip, I'm talking about green blogs. Here are a few, but I encourage you […]

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Green Marketing Tip #7 - Make New Friends…

This isn't a tip, exactly. It's more of a helping you in the right direction. You know, sharin' the love.
Remember the song that goes…"make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold?" Well, here's your starter list of new friends in the green blog arena.
This is not the […]

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Green Marketing Tip #7.5 - Why You Need Friends

Okay, okay…I really couldn't justify this as a full blown tip. It really just explains tip #7 so it's kind of an add on to yesterday's post about making new 'green' blog friends.
This is the WHY of making new friends in the 'green' blogosphere.
First off, these bloggers are people who really know a lot about […]

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Add to Your List, More Green Blog Friends

We aren't quite to #8 but we'll get there, I promise…
Here's an add-on to #7 - more green blog friends to add to your list. If you don't know about making new green friends, check out green marketing tip #7.
JetsonGreen - green building, sustainable architecture, and eco-friendly development with a modern perspective.
Inhabit […]

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Green Marketing Tip #8 - Be a Green Resource

Okay, this tip applies to you if you are selling a product or service. Once you know who your market segment is and hopefully pinpointed WHAT they are looking for product-wise. You can further establish your positioning and branding by being a resource.
Providing resource information to your customers is extremely important. It legitimizes who you […]

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Green Marketing Tip #9 - Speak to the Senses

There are many products that are not geared to an online environment. However, with the growth of the web and online purchasing by consumers there’s an increasing need to speak to the senses. Seeing, smelling, touching a product are all important but don’t lend themselves, obviously, to an online shopping environment.
So, what do you […]

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Green Marketing Tip #10 - Throw Away Stereotypes and Be Real

Yeah, I know, you’ve been waiting on that last tip for green marketing. Just sitting on the edge of your seat in silent mouth-watering anticipation. And, believe me, I recognize the fact you probably feel like you’ve been waiting…
and waiting…and waiting…
And then, maybe wondering if I dropped off the face of the planet.
Luckily, no, […]

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