RISMEDIA, March 26, 2008-Spending more on marketing during a recession has been proven to build momentum and stabilize sales, but with so many options, what specifically should small business owners spend their precious marketing dollars on?
Believe it or not, Executive Business and Marketing Coaches Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller say, “Junk Mail is the answer.”
With mailboxes brimming with junk and a postage rate hike slated for May, business owners wouldn’t think that spending money to send “junk mail” could be the cornerstone of their survival strategy. The fact is though, sending offline communication to your customers and prospects may be just the thing to set you apart from your competitors and keep your market share strong during the slumping economic climate.
“Junk mail is just a slang term for advertising sent in the post,” explains executive business and marketing consultants Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller. “But most business owners don’t realize that one of the best tools for keeping their customers in the loop, strengthening relationships and stimulating business and referrals on a frequent and perpetual basis is sending a monthly customer newsletter.”
It’s not just about sending any old newsletter warn Vee and Miller. It is possible to make common mistakes that lump your would-be sales savior in with all the other junk mail headed straight for trash.
“Most business owners think that product quality and price are the two main factors a customer defects to their competition. But our experience and research proves otherwise. The two big reasons businesses really lose customers is because they ignore them or display an attitude for indifference toward them,” says Miller.
A newsletter can be that personal touch that keeps a customer close and your coffers full during hard times. Vee and Miller offer five Gravitational-Style Newsletter tips that any business owner can use to avoid the junk mail pile and create a recession-proofing success tool that connects with customers and attracts business.
1. Make your newsletter personal. A personal newsletter is more than junk mail. It’s personal. Talk about yourself, your life and let people in. People want to know what you’re up to. They want to know, what’s new? They want to know you as a person. People do business with people they know, like and trust.
2. Put yourself out there. You have to make a caricature out of yourself. Exaggerate what makes you different than everyone else. Take what’s unique about you and showcase it, embrace it and show everyone that you’re not afraid to be you. Same is lame. Bird cages are lined with boring marketing pieces.
3. Make it interactive and fun. Put in contests, quizzes, jokes, games, cartoons and give away prizes. Don’t be so serious. The more fun it is the more your customers will look forward to getting it and reading it. Don’t make it about your business. Make it relevant to them and their interests not yours.
4. Put it in the mail. A real newsletter strategy requires that you actually print, stamp and mail the newsletter every month. Not bi-monthly or quarterly. That’s too much time between mailings. You’re customers have short memories.
5. Ask them to buy and to refer. Not only do you want to connect and keep the lines of communication open, you also want to do some business. In order for business to occur, you have to ask your new found friends for their help and dollars. Ask and you shall receive. Don’t ask and you get squat.
“The bottom line is business is personal and personal is business. You have to mix business and pleasure because your customers don’t know the difference. If doing business with you isn’t a pleasure, your customers are going somewhere else or keeping their pennies to themselves,” says Vee.
Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller are experts on attracting customers and specialize in helping small business owners, entrepreneurs and sales professionals generate a steady stream of highly qualified clients who pay more, stay longer and refer repeatedly. They believe that every business should be ESP -Enjoyable, Simple and Prosperous. Vee and Miller are the co-authors of Gravitational Marketing: The Science of Attracting Customers (Wiley).
For more information, visit http://www.gravitationalmarketing.com.
