By Sean M. Lyden
Warning: Reading This And The Following Sales and
Marketing Articles May Cause Your Business To Grow Beyond What You Are Presently
Able To Handle.
Are you willing to take the risk and put in the
effort to build and grow a home-based business? Then read on and prosper! For in
this issue of HOME BUSINESS® Magazine, we will tell you what you need to know
to launch and maintain a winning sales and marketing campaign for 1998.
The Problem
Many home-based entrepreneurs don't know how to
best market their products and services. Some neglect proactive marketing all
together, praying earnestly and waiting for prospects to fall through the
ceiling. Others market full-force, but produce shoddy publicity materials or
other key marketing mistakes that kill their business credibility, pushing
clients away. Either approach will keep you from achieving your business
potential and financial dreams.
The Bottom Line
Whether you've been thinking about starting a
home business or you're already a seasoned home-based entrepreneur, the
principle remains the same — your business' survival and success hinge on how
effectively you penetrate the marketplace. There fore, examine how the following
marketing strategies and tools can help you boost your home business profits in
1998.
The Home-Based Advantage
Low overhead costs, no commute to work, the
ability to be home with the kids — these are just a few of the advantages for
the home business owner. Gear your marketing efforts to capitalize on these and
other home-based strengths including:
• Adaptability. The Information Age has
escalated the rate of change in the marketplace. To survive and thrive, you must
be prepared to act — and act quickly. As a home-based entrepreneur, you can
make adjustments instantly, without having to cut through the red tape of
bureaucratic decision-making procedures of larger business.
• Technology. Computers, the Inter net, fax
machines, and emerging video-conferencing can take home businesses to a more
level playing field with bigger companies, empowering entrepreneurs to
accomplish tasks that used to require hiring staff to perform.
• The Part-Time Option. Unlike conventional
store-front businesses that require full-time attention and high overhead costs,
home businesses can be operated part-time, at low cost, and — depending on
your financial goals — can be phased into full-time operations.
Taking Your Business To The Next Level
A common reason home businesses fail is because
owners neglect the up-front planning needed to position their ventures. Once you
have defined your market position — where you want to take your business in
the next year — you will have moved one step closer to success.
Begin by taking inventory of where your business
is right now. What specific goods and services do you provide? How do you set
yourself apart? What is your business' reputation? How are you perceived by your
customer as far as your prices, reliability, and other elements of your products
or services? If you already have a business, seek feedback from existing
clients.
The next step is to project where you want to
take your business in the next year. What market position do you want to occupy?
Is the niche market you want large enough? How will your benefits outsell those
provided by the competition? Do you have the ability, capital, resources and
support to make your market position a reality? Your answers will give you the
information you need to begin designing or updating your marketing plan.
Planning For Profit
Once you have determined where you want to go,
outline the essential steps to get there. Begin by writing a one sentence
purpose (mission) statement for your marketing campaign. The rest of your plan
should include a brief description of each of the following:
• Benefits of your products and services.
• Your target market.
• What marketing tools will best help you
achieve your mission.
• Your market niche — what sets you apart in
the market place.
• Your marketing budget.
Keep your marketing plan brief. The more concise
you make your marketing plan, the more effective it will be in evaluating your
marketing efforts throughout the year.
Finding Your Niche
This is often the hardest task for a beginning
home-based entrepreneur — but also one of the most crucial. In order for your
venture to survive in a competitive marketplace, you must distinguish yourself
from other businesses and find a niche. What makes your business unique? Why
should someone choose to buy from you over a competitor? Prospective clients
want to know. If you can give them a compelling answer, you will position
yourself as a leader in your industry — boosting your profit potential.
Marketing Tools That Hit a Home Run
No matter how you choose to publicize your
business, one principle should guide your promotional material: Get to the point
— fast. You're vying for the attention of consumers bombarded each day with
advertisements from countless companies — some being your competitors. Don't
waste any time getting your message across.
Ad — Vantage
You have determined your market position and
drawn up a marketing plan; now you're ready to proactively spread the word about
your products and services. One effective tool is mass-media advertising. You
have a variety of media choices — depending upon your target market and your
advertising budget — including magazines, newspapers, television, radio, and
the Internet.
Start by evaluating how and where your
competitors advertise. What's working for them? Take their best ideas; then
design your own winning layout, positioning yourself as having the best offer.
Seductive Headlines
As the first phrases seen in advertising copy,
headlines should arouse enough interest in the reader so that they will want to
read or listen on to learn more about your product, price and offer. To get
ideas about what headlines will work best for you, scan different types of ad
copy, particularly those from your competitors. Effective headlines:
• Capture the customer's interest
• Build business credibility
• Highlight the most important benefits
• Are always positive.
Testing Your Ads
Advertising can be expensive, but for just about
any business a mandatory investment. To get the most out of your ads, test them
by the following criteria:
• What is the quantity of leads or prospects
that the ad generates? Compare this amount in terms of a unit cost of
advertising (dollars in advertising per leads generated).
• How many of these leads convert into sales?
Different advertising media — due to the audiences they target — will vary
in the numbers of actual closes.
Continually check the response from your ads,
make changes or run a new ad if necessary.
Regional & National Exposure
Magazines and trade journals are the Energizer
Bunny of the advertising tools — they keep going and going and going. Not only
do magazine ads have the longest "shelf-life" of any advertising
medium (giving your business exposure for as long as that issue is in
circulation), but you can make reprints of that ad that will last you forever.
You could run an ad in a major national magazine (a cost-effective option for
home-based entrepreneurs to build credibility and compete with larger companies)
and then order reprints of that ad to use as powerful credibility pieces in
sales presentations, direct mailings, or whatever promotional means you choose.
To find out if a publication will give you the
exposure you want and fit in your marketing budget, call and ask for their media
kit. Not only will you find out a magazine's ad rates, but you'll learn about
its circulation, demographic focus, etc.
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
Newspaper ads are very effective for home-based
businesses that market their products and services locally. Not only can you
reach a large number of people in specific metropolitan locations, but you can
also target prospects via their interests (e.g. sports, lifestyle, and business
sections).
Go to your local library to study back issues of
the newspaper in which you're interested in placing an ad. What would be the
best day for you to run an ad? If you were running a catering business, for
example, you would choose Wednesday or Thursday because those are the days most
newspapers print their food sections. What section of the paper would be best
geared to your target market? If your offer is directed toward males, the sports
section would be one for you to consider.
Advertising costs depend on a number of factors
including: the size of the ad, where in the paper it's placed, the day it runs,
etc. As with magazines, call and request a media kit from the newspaper to
determine what advertising steps you can take that will fit within your
marketing budget.
Making Waves With Radio
Radio advertising enables you to home in on your
target market depending upon the type of station, time of day and day of week
you run an ad. The advertising costs for the large, more popular stations are
out of reach for most home-based entrepreneurs. However, smaller stations
provide less expensive options.
When deciding whether or not you can afford to
place a radio ad, determine how many times you need to run the ad in order for
it to be effective. Initial placement may fit well into your budget, but the
true test is to consider the overall costs of running an effective radio
advertising campaign.
For many home-based entrepreneurs, radio is not a
cost-effective medium for home business owners, especially those who market to a
national audience. However, if you target a local market and have the funds to
run your ads consistently on a number or stations throughout the year, radio
advertising may very well be the ticket you need to take your business to the
next level.
Now You Too Can Be on TV!
A television commercial — when done properly
— is the most powerful way to get your message across. The combination of
video and audio appeal to more senses than any other advertising method. Historically, be cause of television's drawing power, only the big-name companies
could afford to use it to advertise. However, with the dawn of satellite and
cable TV, more affordable options are available for the home-based entrepreneur.
As with radio, consider how often you need to run
a TV ad for it to be effective. Then add up expenses. Placement costs have
plummeted significantly, but if you purchase only one or two thirty second
segments, you won't likely make enough impact on your target market. Therefore,
decide how much of your marketing budget you're willing to devote to television
advertising. If you cannot afford a significant number of runs, invest your
advertising dollars elsewhere, such as magazine advertising. If you can, take
full advantage of this powerful medium.
The Power Of Printed Material
Once your ad has generated interest, how do you
keep your prospects hungry to know more about what your business can do for
them?
Brochures To Generate Closures
Whet their appetites with a compelling brochure
that showcases your business' features and benefits and promotes your business
expertise. Add attractive graphics and attention-grabbing headlines to give your
brochure a professional appearance and build your business credibility.
Home-Based Basics
Your brochure is just one component in you
marketing arsenal. Don't overlook the sales-generating potential of basic
business printed materials:
• Letterhead and Stationary: Use high quality
paper. Consider including your mission statement and a brief listing of
services. Incorporate all ways to contact you, such as e-mail and fax.
• Faxes: A fax cover sheet should mirror the
letterhead. Include your company name and number across the top of the page.
• Business Cards: When meeting a potential
client, the business card is your first introduction. Put a headline on it that
defines your mission. Fill the blank space on the back the card with the top
three benefits your business has to offer.
• Invoices, Statements & Miscellaneous
Correspondence: In all correspondence you have with a client, even sending a
bill, use these as opportunities to market your business. As an example, an
invoice to a client might contain a special discount only for previous
customers.
• Flyers: Less formal and shorter than a
brochure, flyers are used for impersonal promotions targeted to a time-specific
event (special discount, sale item, etc.). Home-based entrepreneurs who market
to a local audience can tack them up on utility poles and bulletin boards, place
under car windshields, insert in newspapers, or deliver through carrier route
mail. For national marketing, flyers can be send through the mail.
Catching Clients With The Web
Imagine! You can have a salesperson working for
you 24 hours a day, seven days a week — even while you sleep — for nearly
pennies a day. A web site and effective use of e-mail can make your small-time,
home-based operation into a major international force — truly putting you on a
level playing field with the big companies. And now with web page design
software available, getting a web site up and running by yourself has never been
easier.
How can you best use cyber-technology to boost
your business image and profits? See Jeffrey Spencer's article, "Cyber
Malls: 7 Criteria for Selecting a Successful Provider," on page 68, and
"E-mail: The Most Important Online Communication Tool in Your Marketing
Toolbox" by Terry Williams on page 28.
Direct-Mail Marketing
For the price of a stamp, you can home in on
almost any target market, be as detailed or brief as you wish, and expect
relatively high response. "All other forms of marketing can help you
immensely," comments Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the best-selling
Guerilla Marketing titles, "but direct marketing can help you more."
What can direct-mail marketing empower you to do?
• Generate inquiries with potential clients.
Mailing lists targeted to high probability contacts, home-based business owners
can generate interest in their product or service. Following up the direct
mail-letter with a telephone call or personal meeting will increase your chances
of closing the sale.
• Maintain communication with current clients.
So many businesses, particularly larger ones, neglect ongoing client
communication. Contact gets to be centered only on conducting business.
Home-based businesses can bridge this gap with a letter in the mail.
Making Direct Mail Work
Here are the time-honored tips for effective
direct mail (See also Hilton Johnson's article, "Ace Components of Good
Direct Marketing," on page 34):
• Mail to a person. Avoid mailing blindly to a
company. If you cannot get an actual contact, address the letter to the
appropriate department or title (i.e. Marketing Director).
• Grab the reader's attention. You have about
five seconds to generate interest before the letter joins today's junk mail in
the trash. Use headlines and highlight benefits.
• Write the way you speak; maintain a
conversational tone to your letter.
• Start the sales process. In most cases,
direct mail is used to start the sales process with a new or present client.
Make it easy to continue with the sale, such as explaining what to do to learn
more about the product (i.e. phone number to call).
• Future Action. As the direct letter starts
the sales process, show the recipient how he or she can take further action.
• Study your audience. Learn as much as you can
about your prospect before sending the letter. You will come across as having
the reader's best interest in mind.
• Follow-up. Follow up. Follow up! Often four
or five letters are needed to clinch the sale or generate a telephone response.
Techniques for Designing a Direct Mailer
• Use the estimated date that the recipient
will receive the mail
• Use first names for the "Dear"
block.
• Within the first few sentences of the letter
describe key benefits, mention any businesses or points of contact who you can
reference, and explain your purpose for writing
• Deliver credibility by including customer
testimonials. You want to show the recipient why he or she should continue to
read your letter.
• Provide a strong incentive for the recipient
to act.
• Ask for action.
• Include a guarantee (if soliciting for a
direct sale)
• Reference any enclosures you have in the
envelope, such a brochure or flyer.
• Postscripts (P.S.): Use postscripts to
maximum effect. Postscripts al most always get read, and provide an excellent
place to make a written offer.
Tele-Power!
The telephone is an often overlooked tool for
home-based marketing success. You can qualify prospects, generate interest in
your business and even close sales — all with the touch of a few buttons.
Imagine how much time and money you can save when you use the telephone to your
advantage.
Generating Incoming Telephone Calls
If a prospect calls you first, the chances of you
closing the sale greatly increase. So how do you get the phone ringing?
• Create an incentive, such as offering a
benefit for making a call.
• Have a toll-free number. This can increase
your response rate by 30-700%. However, if you're dealing exclusively with local
clients, a toll-free number is not necessary.
• Use telephone numbers that are easy to
remember.
• Find ways to get people to hold-on to your
telephone number (magnetic stick-ons, memo pads, business cards, pens, etc.).
Maximizing Telephone Calls
Making calls takes time — and as you know —
time is money. How do maximize you profit potential with your phone time?
• Call only prospects who are pre-qualified,
either through being a referral, a response to a direct mailer or other
marketing promotion, having a "gatekeeper" to whom you can refer, etc.
• Know who you are trying to reach. If you have
to ask for a department head, such as the Director of Sales, you are not
targeted enough for home-based telephone sales.
• Ask the caller if it is a good time to call.
Besides making sure that you do not irritate the prospect, you will appear
considerate.
• Be specific and get to the point. When you
reach the client, state the reason why you are calling within the first 30
seconds.
• Establish a relationship with the prospect
before making the sales pitch.
• Keep the sales process moving.
Telephone Tact
You have one chance to make a good first
impression, increasing your chances of a sale down the road. Here's how to do it
on the telephone:
• Answer the phone. Your telephone advantage as
a home-based entrepreneur is that the client can reach you, the decision maker,
without having to cut through secretaries and other buffers found in larger
companies. You can't do that if your phone is busy or rolls into voice mail. Put
callers on hold — no more than 15 seconds — to take call-back messages from
other incoming calls. If a call goes to voice mail, call that person back
immediately. Keep phone conversations brief. If using a Personal Information
Manager (PIM) on your computer, time the sales call.
• Be goal oriented. Know what you want to
accomplish and what information you need before you pick up the phone.
• Speak slowly, concisely and clearly. Avoid
rambling.
• Be enthusiastic. The biggest hurdle to
staying enthusiastic is making numerous phone calls at one time. Pace your phone
calls out, a little bit each day.
• Speak in terms of benefits, not features.
• Solicit feedback but avoid direct questions.
Keep inquiries open-ended so that the caller has the option to make answers if
he or she feels comfortable doing so.
• Thank the person for their time.
• Follow-up with a letter. Computerized form
letters can be easily personalized and even started while you are talking with
the person on the telephone.
Tantalizing Testimonials
Satisfied customers can be one of your best sales
forces. Request that they write a testimonial on their letterhead. Include these
in advertisements to lend more credibility to your offer and in a professional
portfolio to show prospective clients during a sales presentation.
You may also want to request permission from a
client to have prospects call that person about your products and services. This
shows that you build relationships with your clients and you are confident in
the quality of what you offer. (see "Add a Personal Touch to Dealing With
Customers", page 45)
Network To Boost Your Net Worth
Use networking to leverage existing business
contacts into new customers. Networking is particularly critical in local
service businesses. For certain types of specialized professional consulting
fields, such as engineering or accounting, networking makes the difference
between success and failure.
Start with your family and friends and expand
into business, civic and even political groups. If your company has a local
focus, build relationships within the Chamber of Commerce.
Free Marketing! Public Relations And Publicity
Favorable publicity in mass media is an excellent
way to build credibility in the marketplace. But how do you get media people to
notice you? Think of how you can make your business newsworthy. What kind of
"hook" will generate interest with journalists? Then consider the
perspective of the audience. What kind of story will interest them?
To achieve results, public relations often
requires long-term persistence. Spend time to evaluate and compile a list of the
best candidates likely to print or report on your business. For example, if your
local newspaper tends to focus on regional and national business activities,
then to send them a news releases on your business will probably be a waste. A
smaller community newsletter is a better publicity option.
Press Release Power
Unless your business is new and unique, the most
common way to generate publicity is to weave a human interest story around your
business. For example, write a press release that tells the trials and
tribulations of starting up the business.
You often have to submit several versions of your
press release to the same media representatives, such as a local business
editor. Try to develop at least some telephone familiarity with the individual
with whom you are trying to gain publicity.
The best tactic to capitalize on press releases
is to start small with your local newspapers and newsletters. Talk personally
with the editors. Upon getting a local press release printed, use it to put
together a new press release to submit to larger publications, perhaps even a
national one.
The objective of a press release is to get a news
editor to report on your business activity. Keep in mind that the editor's goal
is to appeal to the widest cross section of their readership. Therefore:
• Get to the Point. The press release must be
able to be read and comprehended in less than a minute
• Watch the current events. What are the hot
topics? What are people talking about? Try to weave your press release around a
current event.
• Be an Expert. The way people usually become
experts in any field is that they have received publicity that recognizes them
as an expert. (For example, a professional consultant gets written up in his or
her respective professional journal.) Determine on what you can be an expert and
then sell yourself as that authority. It works.
• Provide Facts and Data. News editors build
credibility for their stories by weaving in facts and figures. If you can
provide credible information, your chances increase dramatically of being
included in a news story.
• Form a Group. The news media love to report
on the activities of new organizations, because new groups are of natural source
of interest to readers.
Get the most mileage out of any favorable
publicity that comes your way. Publicity is a game that builds upon itself.
Small press releases bag the bigger ones.
Broadcast Your Business — For Free
Although not common for home-based entrepreneurs,
radio and TV can offer a way for a home-based business to gain exposure. See
Gregory J.P. Godek's article, "14 Tips for Promoting Your Book on TV and
Radio" on page 44.
Penetrate the Market with a Service Edge
Any seasoned business person knows that it costs
five times more to sell to a new prospect than to an existing client. Studies
show that each satisfied customer will spread the good word about your business
to at least one other person. On the flip-side: a dissatisfied customer will
complain to between five and ten potential customers. Your mission in getting
customer referrals is to turn passive satisfied customers into actively
enthusiastic supporters who will promote your business. The best way to do this
is through superior performance, and it goes beyond just providing a product or
service:
• Deliver your product in a timely manner,
always beating the deadline.
• Solve your customer's problems. This means
going beyond what they tell you to discover new problems that they need to
conquer.
• Seek out questions and provide intelligent
answers.
• Maintain regular contact with the customer.
Don't let more than six months slip by without dropping a customer a quick note
or phone call.
• Follow up. After you have delivered a product
and service and have been paid, follow-up with a call to ensure everything is
still OK. Often a disgruntled customer will fester like a cancer, without having
the nerve to talk with you about their dissatisfaction. Follow-up calls
facilitate constructive dialog to smooth over any problems.
• Long-term perspective. Work to establish a
long-term relationship with customers.
• Act immediately on complaints. Jump on any
sign of dissatisfaction by your clients. This requires "active
listening" and the ability to read behind the lines, because most people
have difficulties confronting someone when they are dissatisfied. But they have
no problem gossiping with your other customers about their complaints.
• Personalize your service. Treat the customer
as if they are family.
• Walk away from business if it is in the
customer's best interest. Forgoing a sale that is not right for your potential
client is one of the most powerful ways to generate favorable word-of-mouth
publicity.
The Close
Whether you're just launching your home business
or have been building one for years, don't allow lack of information keep you
from achieving your financial dreams. Study your marketing options and decide
which ones will best position you for long-term success.
Originally Published at http://www.homebusinessmag.com/
