7 Secrets to Successful Marketing

Today I am bringing you my top 7 secrets to successful marketing. I will admit that I had trouble sticking to only 7 so I am going to assume that you have read previous issues where I have stressed how important it is to have defined your target market; why you should always keep it simple (business does not have to be complicated); know the importance of building relationships with prospects; and why you are the only person who can write any advertising and promotional material for your business.

You must have a database - this will prove to be the key to your success.Your database should contain as much information about your clients and prospective clients as possible so that you can contact them with details of new products and special offers. Of course having a database alone is not enough, you must be constantly following up with leads and building relationships so that in time prospects will choose to buy from you.
Attract new clients and keep the interest of existing clients by using PR. Public relations does not have to be expensive or difficult and you can do it yourself without employing an expensive PR agency. What you need to remember is that every interview you give or article you write, must contain your contact details. Other great ways to raise your profile include writing a book or publishing a report.
Offer promotions that give people the chance to try your product or service and make your company stand out from the competition. These promotions must be exciting in order to make potential customers want to take immediate action - for example, there are not many people who can resist a 'buy one, get one free' offer. Here it is important that you have higher priced products to up-sell in order to make it financially worthwhile offering promotions. What you need to remember is that the promotional offers that are the most successful are those that have a time limit so tell prospective clients what they need to do and how little time they have in which to do it.
Get your clients to do your sales and marketing for you by asking them for referrals and testimonials - if they are impressed with your product or service then they will want to tell others. The easiest way to do this is when a customer compliments you on your product or service, ask if you can quote them. Write down what they said and ask them to agree it and then use it.
For your marketing to really be successful, you need to show your target audience that you are an expert in your field and there are many ways of doing this - one of the quickest is to be a published author.
Effective marketing is far more important and cost effective than a large sales team. A well worded direct mailing to targeted customers can produce great results especially when accompanied with a time limited promotion. If potential clients want more personal contact then you could try offering a teleconference but be sure to follow up afterwards.
This should probably be up at number 1, you must niche your product or service if you want to succeed. The 80:20 rule also applies in marketing. It is highly likely that 20% of your income comes from 80% of your customers. This means that since most of your income comes from 20% of your customers, it is this 20% that you really have to focus on even if it is to the expense of the other 80%.

And of course, if you really want your marketing to be a success, your reason for being in business must be more than just taking money from people in return for your products of services - you must provide outstanding customer service that people will not find elsewhere!

As with the last issue of my Inspirational Toolkit, these 7 tips are taken from a new program ("Effective Marketing Strategies to Get You More Clients") that I have recently developed in an attempt to demystify the sales and marketing process and help my clients succeed.

If you wish to discuss any of the above or would like more information about this new marketing program then please contact me.

"The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself."

Peter F. Drucker

And now I would like to invite you to sign up to receive your free copies of my Inspirational Toolkit delivered direct to your inbox when you visit, http://www.power-to-change.eu/ where you will find even more free advice and tips to help you put the fun and passion back into your working week.

From Anne Galloway, "The Inspirational Coach" at power-to-change

View the original article here

So You Want to Be a Successful Web Designer? 7 Things You Need to Know

There are certain things you need to do to become a successful web designer. I'm talking more about the non technical things, as it's assumed you already know your bread and butter HTML, CSS, etc...

1 - Play nicely with others
Playing nice - Teamwork - will be important for a number of reasons. Bigger projects will mean a bigger budget, but you'll need to spread out your workload and 'manage' the project. Sometimes you may be asked to work on things which are outside of your skill set, such as editing an intro video of a website, or writing the content of a website. In which case it makes obvious sense to hire an expert in that field.

2 - Leave the ego with personal projects
Be selfless, think about your client and their website visitors. How can your service benefit them? It's not about how fantastic or jaw-dropping you can make their website look. Nor is it about making a portfolio piece. Don't get bent out of shape if your client picks the least appropriate layout or design choice. You can influence their decision, sure, but if they're adamant then don't spit out your dummy. Criticise their design choices, but do it constructively and with reason. Inform them on the best decision to make. Don't simply state because it looks 'crap'. Aesthetic value alone is subjective, they might actually like what you think is 'crap', and vice versa!

This also holds true to working with other experts in your field, such as designers working with coders. Read 'Play nicely with others' above, and appreciate the perspective and ability of others.

3 - Don't let yourself go stale
Keep up to date on what's going on around you, be aware of what your competitors are doing. Sign up to newsletters, buy magazine subscriptions, follow the experts on Twitter. Trends are always changing, as well as technology. You might think you're the best thing since sliced bread, but the problem is there's always somebody in the background, sharpening their pointy stick, ready to pick you off your pedestal. So don't become complacent and keep your skills fresh and up to date.

4 - Learn when to say no
It's okay to say no sometimes. If you're simply too busy to take on another job, you'd be foolish to add another to the list. Negotiate with your potential client, being seen as busy is good. If the really want your service they will wait until they have your undivided attention.

If a job isn't very well paid, consider other benefits. Will it result in a lot of positive publicity for you? Are you helping a good cause? Low budget projects can be acceptable, if it's for the right reason. If your client says 'it's all I can afford/I want something cheap', then that's clearly not a good enough reason - unless they're the kind of client you're looking for. Don't devalue yourself. But on the other hand, don't be ridiculous and charge too much.

5 - Learn to be flexible
I'm always asked, 'how much does a website cost?' You and I both know that we really can't answer that question on the spot. But you can estimate based on the needs of your client. Say they want a standard one page website design. Do they need design and/or HTML? Do they have good content ready? Will they need a customised form or any other special features? Will the website be mobile compatible? Explain to your client the benefits of the extras, and give them a price range from no frills to all-inclusive. If they want to go for everything, but are struggling with finance, offer to break up their payments into installments. Or roll out the extra features gradually when payments can be made.

Sometimes it helps to be flexible in your skill set. I'm not saying, 'be an expert of all things', just have an understanding of other disciplines within the field Web Design. If you're a coder, get to know a little design common sense. If you're a designer, look at the basics of web programming. Not necessarily how to code, but get to grips with the terminology. If you're a non coding designer and you know what LAMP and OOP are, you're halfway there! Which brings me onto my next point...

6 - Keep some business cards on you at all times
It's always funny how you hear that a 'mate' built a website for somebody. It seems everyone has a friend who does a bit of web design. I'm the worst culprit for not business cards around with me, but you'd be surprised how many people know somebody who's been involved with a web designer in some capacity. You need to get in there, show that you're more professional than the 'mate' who does it in his spare time as a hobby.

7 - Believe in yourself
A famous American businesswoman once said she believes in P.I.G. Not really sure how 'pig' relates to anything, but 'P' is for Persistence. You'll need a lot of this, as you'll get a few knock backs when starting out. Especially in the Web Design trade, where you can get the rogues and the cowboys. Nobody quite trusts a newcomer.

'I' is for integrity. Do right by your clients at all times - even if they screw up. So this does not mean holding your customers domain name to ransom when they decide to leave you. Don't leave them in the lurch or disappear off the radar when things go wrong. If the worst case scenario happens, make sure they're taken care of by another 'good' web designer! And so on, you get the idea.

'G' is for guts. You'll need it when trying to gain new clients. You'll need it for chasing up unpaid invoices and closing sales. You'll certainly need it if you decide to hold presentations and training seminars. Who knows where your career could take you, with a bit of guts!

View the original article here