Success Secret: Sell Your Value, Not Your Service or Product

March 11, 2011 1 Comment

The clients are out there, you just need to reach them.  And the best way to get them to take notice, is to sell your value not your product or service.   But, before you can present your value, you have to understand exactly what it is.  Your product or service is what is most apparent, that’s what people see, but your value is generally a bit more hidden.  If you own a beauty salon, your service is pretty straightforward, you cut, style and color hair.  But what is the value you’re offering?  You help people feel younger, more attractive, happier, or more successful.  Your value depends on your client, but your value is more the emotion than the actual hair you cut or style.

What is it you’re selling? And I don’t mean what product or service.  Are you selling health, wealth, beauty, success, fun?  What is the value or effect that your product or service offers your customer?  Focus on that.  Sell your value not your product.  This can be trickier than it seems.  I’ve worked with several companies that understood the product they were selling, but not the value.  Take some time and figure out who your target market is and what your product or service truly offers.  What is the core value?  When you’ve figured that out, the next step is to find the best avenue(s) to reach them.

Once you know exactly what value you’re offering your clients, find the unique marketing mix specific to your needs.  Then you’re set to reach and land more clients – now!

Most businesses are looking for clients or customers. The trick is to reach them and then to effectively communicate with them.  Even in a shifting economy, people still spend money, buy products, and use services.  The economy may take a downturn but it will eventually start to go up again.  You not only want to be prepared for the upswing, you want to use strategic marketing and promotional tools now to find your clients and build your business, even during the most challenging times.

Consider all of the possibilities including advertising, direct marketing, public relations, Internet marketing, networking, etc.  Make a list of them as well as a list of how your business can benefit from each.  Pick two promotional avenues to start with.  My favorite approach is a mix of PR and specific forms of Internet marketing, since each helps reinforce the other.  You can create a buzz on the Internet and then launch a PR campaign around the phenomena you created, or you can post your media coverage on the Internet and multiply the amount of potential customers who see it by thousands, potentially millions.

Once you understand what you’re really offering your customer and can effectively articulate it, you’ll be able to define your most effective marketing venues.  Then, you’re set to move forward.  You’re ready to reach and land new customers- now!

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

 

Filed under business, internet marketing, sales, Sell YOur Product, selling Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Successfully Marketing via the Internet

October 12, 2010 Leave a comment

The entertainment and the information industries have never encountered times like these.  The internet changed all the rules without bothering to inform anyone.  Even the sex industry, which initially saw the net as its cash cow is hemorrhaging money at record rates.  The two most obvious victims are the newspaper and the music industries.  As a generation came of age believing that content and intellectual property was free – everything changed.

According to the Economist, since 2000, 72 American newspapers have folded and circulation has fallen by a quarter since 2007.  But that pales compared to the thrashing the music industry has taken.  According to some accounts 95% of all music downloads are illegal.  95%!   What industry can survive that?  The book industry is following suit and the film industry is playing with new models in hopes of hanging onto as many dollars as possible.

So does this spell the end of these industries?  No, that’s not happening, but these are trying, difficult times as everyone from CEO’s to new artists are trying to figure out models that work.  And those models are there.

In India, the number of daily newspapers has surged by an amazing 44% according to the World Association of Newspapers.  The Times of India with a circulation of 4m is the world’s biggest English-language newspaper.  As publishers shift from English language and focus more on regional and local language publications, there will be an even greater growth.  The situation in India is a very different one compared to that in the U.S.  The internet has yet to take hold there as it has here.  But there is still a lesson to be learned.  For example, the newspaper industry in India is slowly moving from the English-language monolithic model to a more segmented, niche approach.  Therein lies one of the main secrets to success in this brave new world.

This is no longer a time to throw out as wide a net as possible; this is a time of specialization and niche marketing.  Find your market, focus on your target, and define who your viewers, readers, listeners or buyers are.  Now market to them specifically; use the internet which has created these challenging times as your ally.  The net offers you some amazing opportunities and avenues to communicate with your consumers and clients.

Develop a marketing strategy based on traditional public relations and social media.  Create free content that visitors want to read that will then lead them to content or products you can sell.  Have them join with you, become part of your tribe (so to speak).

A targeted media relations campaign can help establish you via magazines, newspapers and TV, you can then utilize that press coverage by amplifying it online.  Have your PR work for you.  It can separate you from your competition and establish you in your field Post your media hits on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, and YouTube.  Post them on your site and your blog.  Create a targeted offline/online media relations approach.  You’ll soon discover that the internet (the culprit that caused all these problems in the first place) can become your most effective marketing tool and your number one ally.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

 

Filed under Entertainment, information, Internet, internet marketing, Media, Media Relations Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How To Create A Niche Market For Your Business

September 8, 2010 1 Comment

It’s tempting to think that your product is perfect for… everyone.  Now, there is a broad market sector.  Generally when a company markets to everyone it’s listened to by no one.

Not only that, if you want to market to everyone, that means your marketing has to be everywhere, which generally means you need to invest millions in your campaign.

There are times where your product or service will define your market for you.  For example, if you produce golf clubs you have a pretty good idea of who to market to, although even within such a defined market you can generally drill down quite a bit and define a variety of different markets within the overall target audience.  Let’s get a little more general, let’s say you develop a line of lipstick.  You’re primary market is female, that is somewhat safe to say, but that still leaves you a rather large terrain.  Is your primary market teenage girls, women in their 20s to early 30s, women over 40?  Are you focusing on women who shop at Wal-Mart, Nordstrom’s, or trendy boutiques? These are just a few of the questions that you’d need to answer before you launched your line of lipstick.

Let’s broaden the scope even more.  Let’s say you’re selling a new brand of bottled water. Everyone drinks water.  Your market is infinite, right?  Wrong.  What you need to discover is who drinks your brand of bottled water.  Are you targeting men, women, teens, seniors, athletes, moms, who are your customers?

Finding a niche market does not mean that you will only focus in that arena, it means you will create a following a loyal group of buyers who know and trust your product or service.  Once you establish yourself in a niche market, you can then branch out and develop customers in other arenas.  By targeting your approach, your odds of success are also much greater and your risks are reduced.

But how do you know what your market is?  First and foremost know your product or service.  What does it offer? What problems does it solve? Whose life does it make easier?  If you truly know and understand your business it will lead you to your customers.  Be honest with yourself. Don’t develop a product that is perfect for college students that are on a budget and then market it to private jet owners.  That is an exaggeration, but I’ve seen companies who refuse to see their true customer base because they had a preconceived idea of the market they wanted to capture.

To start, you need to be sold on and passionate about your product or service.  If you don’t believe in it, don’t expect anyone else to.  Know your business.  As I mentioned, if you truly know your product or service it will help define your market for you.  Take some time to research that there is a need for your product.  Don’t create a business solely because it interests you.  A hobby is not always a business.  In some cases it can be, but make sure you have researched the need and demand for your business.

Now if the demand is there, you’re onto something.  Create the best product or service that you can and go forward.  Figure out exactly who your potential customers are.  Where do they buy?  What magazines or newspapers do they read?  What TV shows do they watch? What sites would they visit on the internet? Once you have that information, you have your direction.

If you’re working on a limited budget start with a targeted PR campaign combined with a social media/blogging campaign.  If you have the funds hire a public relations firm, otherwise, do some homework, learn the basics and start by launching your own targeted niche marketing campaign.  You can broaden your scope and target other markets as you grow, but to start, find a niche, develop your marketing and media relations campaign and grow your business.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under business, internet marketing, Marketing, Media, PR, PR Campaign Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Experts Solve Your Toughest Business Problems

June 10, 2010 Leave a comment

Want to learn how to attract more clients, make more money, turbo charge your marketing campaign, and have your clients come to you.  Brand builder/communications expert, Ann Convery, best known for her Speak Your Business in Thirty Seconds or Less, has asked me to join with her in her upcoming teleseminar series.  We’re kicking it off with a free one-time teleseminar entitled: Impossible Inquiries—Superb Solutions! Join Ann and me, along with business experts Patrice Barber, President of Taylor Made Small Biz and Beverly Bergman creator of the Money Matrix Hourglass™.  I’ll be addressing how to use traditional PR to build your business, how to meld PR and social media and how to use article marketing to create an inbound marketing machine, which has clients come to you.  Learn more at: http://www.impossibleinquiriessuperbsolutions.com/

Filed under Authors, Branding, Build Your Business, business, internet marketing, Marketing, marketing strategy, Media Relations, PR, small business Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Why PR Is Such An Effective Marketing Tool: Expecting The Unexpected

May 14, 2010 Leave a comment

What makes public relations so fascinating is the unexpected. You develop a campaign, write a press release, develop a media list and have specific objectives that you want to achieve.  But one of the more interesting aspects of a media relations campaign is that it can result in totally surprising and unanticipated results.

As I mentioned, you always want to start with certain, specific objectives in mind.  Have a target market you want to reach and some defined objectives that you want to achieve. Meeting those goals and aims is where you put your focus.  But, because of the powerful nature of the media, I have witnessed some amazing results that neither I nor my clients envisioned.

I have seen companies and careers built in record time. I’ve had clients offered book deals, TV pilots, new business ventures, larger companies have offered buy-outs or mergers, and new avenues of financing have appeared. One client was offered complete financing on a new business venture after appearing on one talk show.

Any public relations firm would love to say that they had intentionally masterminded all, of these results, but the truth is one never knows who is going to be watching, listening or reading. That’s what makes it so fascinating. You never know where that last story or interview will lead you.

Those unexpected results are not the cake, but the icing.  The primary job of an effective PR campaign is to stay targeted and meet the campaign’s outlined objective.  Unlike advertising, direct marketing, and many forms of online marketing, public relations is a more subtle, more stealth form of marketing. You are not overtly selling a product, but telling a compelling story that is newsworthy.  You are not actively pitching like the proverbial used car salesman, but are presenting your self as an expert in your field.  You are educating, sharing useful, needed information.  Which is why, when you do receive coverage, you are positioned as a news story, not an ad or a commercial.

That’s worth repeating – you are the news! You are part of the reason that hundreds, or thousands or millions of people are watching that program, or reading that magazine. No other form of marketing can offer you that kind of legitimacy or validation, which is what makes media relations such a remarkable tool.

And it is precisely because you’re being positioned as a news story, or as an expert in your field, that other opportunities will often come your way.  People will be reading about you in planes or trains, watching you in their living rooms or bedrooms, discovering you on online media sites or in blogs and social media discussions.  Once you begin to land media coverage you never know who you’ll be reaching, or what amazing opportunities will come your way.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under Build Your Business, Internet, internet marketing, Marketing, Media Exposure, Media Relations, PR Campaign, Public Relations Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

An Organic Approach to Internet Marketing

March 30, 2010 Leave a comment

Social media, blogging and article marketing offer effective ways to generate interest, establish a presence for your brand and your company, and create a powerful inbound marketing funnel without spending a lot of money.  As with all forms of Internet marketing, online tracking and analytics help make this type of outreach accountable.  They keep you on track, letting you know if you’re utilizing the most effective approach.  Moreso than with other types of marketing, the key to success here is relevancy.  In this case you are truly shooting for quality, not quantity.

Relevancy comes down to creating and posting effective content that your readers and customer base are interested in.  Content is king when it comes to the net.  You can’t overestimate it.  Once that most important element is in place, there are various ways to package and deliver your content.  The more organic avenues include blogging, article marketing and social networks.  According to Ken Saunders, President of Search Engine Experts, “…studies have shown that 100%of searchers are willing to click on an organic result while only 10% to 30% are willing to click on a sponsored link.”  The more commercial-oriented avenues include Adwords, pay for clicks, placing ads on social media sites email marketing, etc.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the jury is still out on the success of ads on social media sites.  There are certain risks by association that advertisers are not comfortable with.  An ad on Facebook or Twitter could be placed next to some very controversial post or image.  It is a risk the advertiser takes.  The sites themselves are developing new revenue models that are not ad-oriented.  Some offer games on their platforms, others sell customized digital items to their members, and others such as LinkedIn offer premium services for a monthly fee.  Twitter will be charging for different analytical tools.   One thing that’s clear is that the revenue model for social media sites is not yet clear at all.

But, social media sites offer outreach to a huge number of visitors, followers, friends, and potential customers.  Utilizing them is a major component of any organic inbound marketing campaign.  The organic approach is less expensive and generally offers more authenticity and relevancy, but it does take time and a well-thought-out game plan.  You need to know your target market and where they look for the type of information you’re offering.  If your approach is a combination of article marketing, social media and blogging, you need to develop a consistent, cohesive message and offer relevant content, but you also have to build relationships.

Once you have content based social media and blogging approach in place, now is the time to separate yourself from your competitors.  Add traditional public relations to the mix. Use press coverage to give you and your company the reach, validation and credibility that only media can offer you.  Turbo charge your inbound online campaign with a strong media relations campaign and watch your company grow.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under Inbound Marketing, internet marketing, Marketing, marketing strategy, Media, Public Relations, social media, Your Target Market Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Social Media, Marketing and the ROI Dilemma

March 3, 2010 1 Comment

Can social media sites develop business models that can generate even a fraction of the billions that Google is racking in?  To this point the answer is a resounding no.  Sites such as Facbook and Twitter are growing at an astounding rate, but are they primarily relationship sites, or will they turn into marketing and business building powerhouses?

There are those who insist that MySpace is yesterday’s news and that Facebook and Twitter are basically fads that will soon be seen, as far as marketing is concerned, as interesting but failed experiments.   According to this reasoning, these sites will remain as vehicles for social interactions, but when it comes to helping build businesses or generating ROI, they will be seen as monumental failures.

Google has more than proven its ROI capabilities.  Adwords alone is reported to generate up to 95% of its revenue stream, which is more like an ocean.  But unlike Google, which serves as a basic (if the term basic can ever be applicable when describing Google) search engine, Facbook, Twitter and other social media sites have markedly different formats and face very different marketing challenges.  Originally developed for friends and acquaintances to interact, the posting and images on social media sites can often be confrontational, controversial and at times obscene.  Therein lies the marketing problem; do companies want to take the risk of having their messages, ads and brand equity positioned next to such possible loose canons?  Does a chain that sells children’s clothing want to risk having its ad positioned next to a sexually explicit post?

Add to that the question of user’s perceptions.  How do those that utilize social media sites feel about ads?  According to studies many find them annoying and intrusive at best.  According to eMarketer, a marketing research firm, social networking revenues rose an extremely modest 4% last year.   Click through rates on Facebook and others sites are minuscule compared to those on Google.  Because of that, many companies choose to have a presence on social media sites, but only a small fraction choose to buy ads.  But in order for social media sites to thrive and come of age as business sites and marketing avenues that can compete with traditional media outlets such as TV and print publications, they need to attract advertising revenue.    To be sure many large corporations are giving social media ads a shot.  But it’s a slow build.  The very quality that makes social media sites so attractive, the free flow of content, is precisely what makes advertisers so very cautious.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under internet marketing, Marketing, social media Tagged with , , ,

Making Small Business Big: The Social Media/PR Effect

February 19, 2010 1 Comment

Social media can be the great leveler allowing small and midsized companies to compete head to head with the big guns.  Not only do social media networks offer a unique way to reach a company’s target market, they also offer tremendous way to gather feedback and information.  Combining social media and traditional PR is a unique two-pronged approach which results in more followers, more buzz, more customers and more business.

A recent article in the Economist reported that a Citibank survey of 500 small businesses last October found that very few of them had utilized social media or online networks because they thought it would be a waste of time.  On the one hand they could be 100% correct.  Companies that go on various social media sites without a plan or a specific agenda could spend a great deal of time with virtually no ROI to show for it.  For example a company that goes on Twitter and uses it simply as an online ad billboard is going to most likely see very little in return for the time spent.  On the other hand, used strategically, Twitter can be a great leveler allowing small and midsized companies to compete head to head with the big guns.  The companies that fair the best offer useful information create relationships with their followers and use giveaways and deals as incentives.  In 2009, the advertising agency Razorfish did a study.  It showed that 44% of those following companies on Twitter reported that they did so because of the exclusive deals that were offered to users.

Small and midsized companies that are utilizing Twitter, Facebook and other online sites with a strategic, organic approach are finding a new effective way to reach their target market.  But social media’s not just about small, Starbucks, Dell, Sony and most of the big players are there.  They see the value offered by these sites.  Not only do social media networks offer a unique way to reach a company’s target market, they also offer tremendous ways to gather feedback and information.  For companies that can’t afford focus groups and expensive studies, this can be a godsend.

Awhile back, Kogi BBQ became the Twitter poster child.  Kogi is a mobile Korean food serving company in Los Angeles, which uses Twitter to tell its customers where they can find the trucks each day.  This garnered traction on Twitter, but once the mainstream media picked it up is when the story grew exponentially.  The media amplified the Twitter story bringing more followers to Kogi and more users to Twitter.  And there is the true secret behind how small and mid sized companies can turbo charge their social media campaign.  Companies that combine their social media outreach with a traditional PR campaign are the real winners.  The buzz initially grows online, traditional media then picks it up, turns it into a news story and the online factor is amplified.  The result of this two-pronged approach is more followers, more buzz, more customers and more business.

Social media was not initially created as a business tool, but companies that don’t realize what an important marketing tool it has become, are going to suffer for it.  The good news is that it’s never too late to learn and utilize this unique marketing approach.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under internet marketing, Marketing, marketing strategy, Media Coverage, Media Relations, PR Campaign, small business Public Relations Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

The Internet’s Marketing Silver Bullet

February 17, 2010 3 Comments

Social media and blogging can immediately establish a company’s presence and deliver its message online.  Business owners and entrepreneurs can now find specific communities that they can target and deliver their message addressing specific interests and concerns.  But for most companies, the Internet’s capabilities and outreach are limited.  There are countless businesses with websites, blogs and social media campaigns that are not effectively reaching the public, much less their specific target market.  The Internet is an amazingly powerful communication tool; it offers everyone with a computer and online accesses a voice and an outlet, but that is also the net’s downside.  There are millions upon millions out there trying to deliver their messages and competing for eyeballs and visitors.   Nearly every competitor is trying to get his or her message out to the public using the same basic approach, which creates a daunting marketing dilemma.  The Internet is a marketing must, but how does a company effectively market online?

The smarter companies use a targeted approach, utilizing SEO and SEM techniques; they create and market their blogs and develop targeted campaigns on the various social media sites.  But, even for the savviest online marketers, the competition is still fierce.

This is where traditional PR becomes the Internet’s silver bullet; the most important marketing tool available.  Appearing in the Wall Street Journal, Time magazine, Oprah, CNN, or even in a local or regional media outlet can immediately separate you and your business from all of your competitors.   Effective media relations offers your company the validation and credibility that very few of the competition can match.  Appearing in the press, either in a TV segment, or print feature story, positions you, your product or your service in a unique way.  It can also establish you as an expert in your particular field.  Appearing in the media is transformational.  You go from being simply one of the many online businesses, to being a topical story with a buzz.  Suddenly you and your business are positioned in a very different manner.  You become the news.

Now that you have news coverage you can take that TV segment or magazine or newspaper article and post it on your blog, post it on your Facebook page, Tweet about it, talk about it on Linked in.  You can use that validating news story and now magnify it online.  The combination of traditional public relations with social media and blogging is revolutionizing the world of communication when it comes to reaching your target market, delivering your message, creating your brand and growing your business.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under business, internet marketing, PR Campaign Tagged with , , , , , , ,

The New Tools for Successfully Landing Media Coverage

February 12, 2010 Leave a comment

This truly is a new age in the public relations and media world.  The Internet has turned the communication world on its head.  Many say it heralds the end of traditional media, but I believe what is actually happening is not the death throws of one form of media, but a morphing of different forms of communications.  This new media world is still young, but, when the dust settles, it will result in the advent of a new, more exciting and more robust media and communications world.

One of the upsides of the net, social media, and blogs is that you can now learn so much about writers, editors and producers that you are pitching.   You can learn their interests and study their writings   Now, when you pitch a story, you can have a much better take on whether your pitch is appropriate or off-base.  You can still call or email to make sure you’re making an appropriate pitch, but the information that the Internet now puts at your fingertips, makes it much easier to be prepared and go in with the right pitch.

This type of homework does take some time, but that is one of the major changes in the world of PR and media relations.  Instead of sending out hundreds of emails and packages hoping that a few hit the right target, which, sadly, is how things happen much of the time, the savvy approach is to pick a small number of media contacts, do your research and make more focused targeted pitches.

With That In Mind The New Rules For Pitching The Media Are:

1) Develop a strong pitch for your product or service.

2) Don’t just make it a sales pitch, come up with a story

3) Study various media outlets that would be appropriate to pitch your story to

4) Find specific writers and producers that work at those media outlets

5) Go online, find articles, blogs or segments they’ve done and study their work.

6) Make a list of between 25 to 30 journalists to pitch

7) Tailor your release and cover letter to each particular journalist’s needs and interests

8) Send out our pitch via email or mail.  Sometimes snail mail is more effective.

9) Wait a day or two and make follow-up calls.

10) Don’t use the calls to sell, but to build relationships.

Effective PR is all about communication.  If you communicate your story and pitch effectively and appropriately, you might not land a story with each pitch, but you will build strong relationships with the media.  They will see you as a resource who understands their needs and their market.  Take the time to understand what the media is looking for and you’re positioning yourself for success.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under internet marketing, Media, news, PR, PR Campaign, Public Relations, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , , ,

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