This Torch Generated Prospects Like Crazy!

One of the features that all our listeners to Business Marketing love is the Letter of the Month because we continually get reports on how they have used the letters in their own businesses with great success.

Recently a good mate of mine, Tim Arrowsmith from The Financial Centre, created a fantastic letter that he mailed with the torch and it generated him an outstanding response… the first 5 letters he mailed generated him 3 appointments. Wow!

Have a look at the torch letter and then go visit Great Ideas and Browse This Great Collection at our website to see more of the stuff that Business Marketing listeners get every month.

By the way, if you’d like to contact Tim either about the letter or his innovative financing packages email him on tim@thefinancialcentre.co.nz

Building Your Personal Brand

Of recent times it’s become fashionable for companies to talk about the value of their brand, which is the image you summon up upon hearing or seeing a company’s name. For example, the BMW brand immediately conjures up a fine piece of German motoring machinery generally driven by exciting people who live a fabulous lifestyle coupled with overtones of great looking vehicles and safety. Contrast that with the image that the Mercedes Benz brand conjures up. It’s another fine piece of German motoring machinery too with the same smart looks and safety features but you’d probably perceive it as driven by older, powerful, more solid and serious wealthy citizens who live a more subdued lifestyle.

So the brand is everything a company does that impacts on the minds of their target market and therefore everything from the way they go about employing staff, their labour practices, their support of charities, the way their dealers behave, their advertising and promotion and the product itself will contribute to how their target market feels about the product or service. Companies work hard to ensure that the perception of their brand in their consumers’ mind is strong, positive and vibrant.

If the impact a company makes upon its market is important how much more important is the personal impact you make upon your market? In other words how important is your brand? Read more...

Books to Catch Up With

There are a couple of great books I’ve read over recent times and they’re worth the investment of your time and dollars. Remember, the only difference between you today and you in 5 years time is the people you meet and the books you read. Try to get into the habit of building your brain with a book regularly.

Getting all the senses working for your business : In the book Brand Sense you’ll discover why Singapore Airlines patented a scent that is party of every flight attendant’s perfume and is also blended in the hot towels served before take off. You’ll learn that that new-car smell comes from an aerosol can and that Kellogg’s created and patented the crunchy sound of someone eating Cornflakes. Most importantly you’ll find out how you can apply touch, taste, smell, sight and sound to your business to make more money. Find out about the book.

Great lessons for you: Colin Pearce has authored a book and CD called The Fox Proof Chook House. It’s all about how to make sure little things don't mess up your life and the advice comes from an unusual source… a motivational chicken!

In the style of TV’s Jerry Springchicken the chicken, Parson Snows, tells how it ought to be. You peek in the old farmhouse window as Parson Snows gives a 20 second talk to chickens about keeping their houses safe from foxes. You will think that the feathered sage is speaking directly to you… about your life, the things in which you take pride and cherish most, even your disappointments and failures, your business, your relationships, your family and your future. You won’t believe that so much wisdom can be learned in only a few seconds from a mere chook!

Its must-read-must-listen-to material. The book’s available for $15, and the two CDs are $40 and you can order them here.

How to give great customer service: Author and customer service expert Phil Slater highlights various aspects of customer service and eleven rules to turn customer service around in his book “Customer Service from Hell”. What I particularly like about the book is that he gives a whole lot of real life examples of bad, real bad, customer service that you can discuss at your team meetings so that they see the simple mistakes others make and discuss how to correct them. Its great stuff and if you’d like to buy a copy you can do so here.

Great Retailing ideas: Jurek Leon is a retail whiz and contributes an article every month to my business Marketing program. If you're in any sort of retail, then he has some veryhandy stuff to help you get the most out of your people and your business. For example, his terrific manual "52 Terrific Tips Guaranteed to Improve Your Selling and Service" is packed full of sensational ideas for you and your team for every week of the year that'll have your business making mega bucks. Go have a look at what he's produced.

Another Great TV Commercial

You may have seen this one, but even if you have, it's worth another look because I reckon it gets the message across beautifully.

Creating Ideas and Lousy Web Sites

On the March edition of Business Marketing I talked about thinking outside the box. You can listen to an excerpt and subscribe to the program here. In that edition I also discussed what people hate about web sites along with what they do when something on a web site bugs them. You'll find a list here.

Pete's Business Card

You may have caught up with the news that Peter Gosden, my business partner of 20 years or so, is easing into retirement. So we had to make sure that his business card reflected that, and you'll see his new card here.