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Blitz
Ezine # 166 June 3, 2002
Note:
This is an archived issue. Some links and/or content
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The
Blitz-Promotions News Letter.
Issue no. 166, June 3, 2002
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In This Issue **************
Comments
Food for thought
Guest Article
Search Engine Summer - Lesson 1
The Classifieds
Next Issues
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Food for thought
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“Whether you believe you can or you can’t – either way
you are right” – Henry Ford
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Guest Article
Promoting your business from within.
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Most
businesspeople focus on promotional opportunities outside
of their business, overlooking the less expensive and
more effective opportunities that exist on the inside.
One
advantage of implementing the ideas in this article
is that once you have your promotions in place they
don't require a lot of money to keep them working for
you. The second advantage is that you are promoting
to already interested prospects and current customers,
and that's half the battle.
One
very powerful way to promote your business from within
is to educate your customer. It gets them thinking and
interacting with you, and they become comfortable doing
business with you. More importantly, when they have
information about your product/service they feel they
are in control of the buying process.
For
example, just the other day I was getting an oil change
at one of those quick-change specialty shops. While
I was in the waiting room, I noticed many car magazines
on the table and racecar photos on the wall. I then
noticed how they used handwriting on a white bulletin
board to promote their specials.
I
thought to myself, "This is a nationwide franchise,
I think they can do better than that!" Why don't they
use a video system and create short video clips explaining
the importance of maintaining your vehicle? The clips
could show the importance of changing your engine oil,
transmission fluid, and engine coolant, etc. Most drivers
don't know the importance of all this stuff.
Let
me ask you this: if you were waiting for an oil change,
to what would you be more likely to respond?
1.
A message on a bulletin board that says
Special - Cooling System Flush $39.99
Or
2.
A short video clip explaining how a cooling system works,
how a poor cooling system will drastically shorten the
life of your engine, and how, in traffic, you could
have a breakdown because that's when your system works
the hardest. Near the end of the short video clip, the
host tells you to ask the automotive technician for
a free inspection of your cooling system and urges you
to ask about for any specials that are currently in
effect.
If
you chose the second scenario, you are like most people.
This small idea doesn't cost millions of dollars to
implement. But, if done tastefully, it should at least
double customer responses. All the hard work has been
done. The customers in the waiting room already do business
with the shop, are there to maintain their vehicles,
and their minds are already on what is being promoted.
All this company would have to do is take their promotions
one step further than they already have.
What
I realized from this experience is that businesspeople
miss out on a lot of very effective low-cost promotions
that exist within their business. They just have to
be aware that they exist and start focusing on them.
What
could you do in your business to gain exposure? Here
are a few examples to get you started.
Phone
Instead of just having the radio on when someone is
on hold, create a message about benefits, products,
services, or special announcements and promotions.
Booklet
Create an information booklet related to your industry
and be sure to educate the customer about your product
or service. Avoid making an obvious advertisement about
YOUR business. Instead, have a blank area in the booklet
where you can include an offer of some sort.
Audio
& Video
Create a free informational audio or videotape about
your industry or your business. Be specific, clear,
and focused.
Pamphlets
If you have a brochure or plan to create one, make sure
it is easily accessible. In other words, don't have
your brochures stacked away where people can't get them.
Mailing
List
Give customers and prospective customers the ability
to sign up for a newsletter or mailing list so that
you can inform them about new products, services, and
special announcements.
Web
Site
Your business should have a web site, even if you don't
plan to sell from it. web sites are essential for getting
any message out. Be sure to include your web site address
on all your stationery, and in all of the promotions
mentioned above. Promotional Products Create promotional
products such as pens, mouse pads, pins, T-shirts, etc.
that will advertise your name, USP (Unique Selling Position),
and your web site address. Promotional items such as
T-shirts are particularly effective because when people
wear them they are increasing your exposure.
Promotional
opportunities may be closer than you think. Keep an
open mind. Your current customers are your best prospects
for more business. The habit of looking for and implementing
ideas to promote your business from within will bring
you profits for years to come.
Acey
Gaspard Operates A Touch of Business.com, dedicated
to providing you with valuable products to keep your
business operating at peak performance. Visit:
http://www.atouchofbusiness.com/FreeTuneUp.html
And receive your free download of "The 9 Hour Business
Tune-up."
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Search Engine Summer
Lesson 1 - An Overview
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The
first Lesson in our Search Engine Summer is easy - and
there is no homework. In this lesson we'll be giving
a brief overview of the topics that we'll be discussing
this summer.
Lesson
2
June 10th - The benefits of Search engine promotion
Why even bother with the search engines - real stats
will show you why.
Lesson 3
June 17th - Types of search engines
What are the different types of search engines - complete
list of the 'good' search engines.
Lesson 4
June 24th - Keywords and your niche
Defining your keywords and niche is the most important
thing to do before venturing into SE promotion.
Lesson 5
July 1st-
Submitting to the directories
The best method for submitting to the directories. Time
frame, tips, and a pre submit checklist.
Lesson 6
July 8th - All about spyders and how they work.
Which engines use spyders - there names, how they travel,
how to get them not to index your site.
Lesson 7
July 15th - Getting ready for the spyders to visit.
Your Content - Your Tags
Making it easy for the sypders to visit and get the
information they need to list your site.
Lesson 8
July 22nd - Submitting your site to the search engines
- that use spyders
The best way to submit your site.
Lesson
9
August 5th - Links - getting good links
How does page rank work - how bad links hurt
Lesson
10
August 12th - Checking your rankings
Methods to check how you rank.
Lesson
11
August 19th - Tweaking for better results Part 1
Don't like your ranking - learn how to tweak.
Lesson
12
August 26th - Tweaking for better results Part 2
More tweaks.
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Quick Link
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You
should read the following two articles - these will
help you to get an understanding of what not to do during
your search engine promotion.
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/02/sd0529-spamcops1.html
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/02/sd0530-spamcops2.html
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