Turning bad buzz into good takes fast, creative thinking, a sense of humor, and a willingness to happily eat virtual crow. Best Buy could put everyone who ordered the TV into a drawing then give away 10 of them. Or 100. Then they could even deliver the sets, with TV cameras rolling, and have their Geek Squad members install them for free.

How much would Jackie’s suggestions really cost Best Buy? The cost of surprising and delighting customers is nothing in comparison to what the negative publicity will cost.  The difference, the positive, proactive expense is controllable, the negative cost isn’t.

When things don’t go as planned, how do you react?

In each of those product categories, we understood the power of the limited offer, private or invitation only sale, or door-busters as effective tools to encourage consumers to come in and BUY NOW!

I was reminded of these strategies when I read a post by Alexandra Samuel in which she discussed three social media ideas.  The one which caught my attention, she called the “Deal of the Day”.  She suggests:

Create an online presence that lets people know about a special, time-limited offer. It could be a product available in limited quantities, a discounted service, or donation matching. Update your offer regularly so there’s a reason for your audience to check
back frequently.

As I read her notes, I realized this type of promotion  isn’t very different then the KMart Bluelight specials which let people know there is a special on Aisle 9 for the next 10 minutes. It is an effective strategy for KMart, and it can be for you as well.    Joe’s Butcher Shop in Carmel routinely sends special coupons to customers via email, and Tuchman’s dry cleaners lets you download coupons right from their website.

Alexandra also suggests you:

Create a Twitter feed or Facebook page that you update once a day (or even once or twice a week) with a special offer. Promote your feed or page to fans or potential customers so they can track deals in real time.

Promotions are a great way to boost sales.  Don’t just sit there, Sell Something!

 … don’t confuse being an entrepreneur with being an inventor. Great ideas are a dime a dozen. Action is what differentiates an entrepreneur from an inventor. If you want to focus on ideas, become an inventor — not an entrepreneur.

As an entrepreneur, committed to a course of action, and ready to start a business, a business plan is a integral part of that process.  The trick is to focus on planning – the process of thinking through your alternatives, but not the plan itself.  If you get hung up on the plan it is harder to change direction.  Successful entrepreneurs, are flexible, willing to change direction if the path you are on isn’t working.

Do you have a business idea but not sure how to convert it into a business?  Start with a Plan!

Here a few examples I have seen recently:

Jackie Huba writes about the The Alamo Drafthouse in Texas will ask noisy patrons to leave because they destroy the experience for others.  If they allowed it to continue the other patrons would chose not to return.  She says:

If you stand with your best customers at the expense of the bad ones, you’ll win bigger. The customer is always right — if it’s the right customer.

The same day I read Jackie’s column, I found one by Erik Deckers about another  Texas company,  Southwest Airlines.  They are known for doing everything possible to make the flights comfortable and fun, but a screaming child just isn’t fun.  So on a recent flight, they booted Pamela Root and her 2-year-old son Adam off their flight in Amarillo, Texas, after he continually screams “Go! Plane! Go!” and “I want Daddy!”

And before you begin beliving this trend is just a “Texas” thing, check out the case Seth Godin makes for focusing on your best cusomters. he says:

Every industry has people who are worth more, buzz more, care more and buy more than other people. Don’t treat people the same, find the ones that matter more to you, and hug them.

So have you hugged your best customers lately?

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PROMOTION: Have your structured your marketing budget to focus on your best clients and referral sources?   Learn how in our 90 minute workshop: Marketing by the Numbers Tuesday, November 10

That is why I am so excited to be team teaching Marketing by the Numbers with Howard Cox of .Somerset CPA.  We will look at building an ROI based approach to marketing.  We will focus on using the relationship between leads and closing rates, referral percent and advertising targets to determine how much you can afford to spend on marketing, as well as where you should be spending your money!

The class will be held at the offices of Somerset CPA 3925 River Crossing Parkway, Indianapolis, IN 46240 on Tuesday, November 10th from  8:30 – 10:00.  The fee is only $35 for members and non members of Rainmakers. Seating is limited to reservation are required.

]]>There is a common misconception that marketing people can’t add.  People assume we view numbers as graphic elements, simply using the prettiest one.  But that is not true, good marketers know it is all about the numbers. That is why I am so excited to be team teaching Marketing by the Numbers with Howard Cox of .Somerset CPA.  We will [...]http://www.roundpeg.biz/2009/11/marketing-by-the-numbers/feed/0http://www.roundpeg.biz/2009/11/marketing-by-the-numbers/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BusinessNotesFromRoundpeg/~3/eia9kUdHKFw/Websocial mediaSearch Engine OptimizationSEOLorraineWed, 04 Nov 2009 02:47:38 PSThttp://www.roundpeg.biz/?p=4205Yesterday I wrote about moving from a Frame-Based to CMS driven site.  Once you do, it is time to introduce the world and specifically search engines to the wonderful new content you have created.

How?  Just as you need to get out into the community to introduce your business, you need to get your website into the larger community as well.

Darren Rowse wrote a terrific post, specifically for bloggers, but his suggestions on joining communities and submitting your site make sense with minor modifications for any small business.

For example, Darren suggests joining blogging communities.  While it may not make sense for the local butcher to join a blogging community, he probably is already a member of the chamber of commerce or other business association. As a member,  there is an opportunity to be listed on their site, with a link back to his.

He also suggests joining social sites, like Facebook and Twitter.   While you may never have tones of fans for your Dry Cleaner, the page does create viable links to your site, and offering an occasional coupon on those sites may create more than a few loyal customers.

Just like in traditional networking, consider building a referral business for your website.  Promote your  referral partners with links to their site and ask for links back in return.   Become active in the community online, and make it easier for people to find you.

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PROMOTION: Discover how visible your site is to search engines and how attractive it is to people.     Request a Free Website Evaluation

Along the way, we discovered other benefits.  Our Wordpress  sites seemed to perform better in searches then the old style, frame based sites.  At the time, we didn’t really know why, but assumed it was because Wordpress  presented information to search engines  in a way which enabled indexing.

Turns out, we were right.   At the MBO conference a few weeks ago, I had a chance to listen to my friend John Nichols talk about web design.  He clearly explained why Google ( and other search engines) have a difficult time categorizing information presented in old style Frame-Based sites.

And while Flash and lots of pictures may appeal to live human beings, the search engines prefer text, with important information in bold and headlines.

So take a look at your website?  Is it time for a change?  If you are still living with a frame based site, which requires significant technical expertise to make even the slightest change, you are missing huge opportunities to present new information to search engines.  And with no new information you will find yourself dropping in search rankings.

Wordpress is not the only CMS solution, but for small business owners, we have found it to be extremely effective.

In both instances the target has more choices.  If you want your ad to be watched or email promotion to be opened it needs to be bundled with good content, relevant to a smaller, but more concentrated market.

Pro Blogger Darren Rowse argues that the most successful bloggers use both! If used properly, email will drive traffic and build community.    He says:

I’m arguing is that bloggers take a 2nd look at email.  My personal approach is to have multiple points of connection with readers which reinforces what I’m doing on my sites and maximise the impression that I’m able to make upon them.

At Roundpeg, we have been using email marketing, with Constant Contact for almost seven years for our business and our clients.  We have seen open rates decline from a high of 60% to 15% for good programs.  Recently, we added more targeted emails and have seen a reversal of that trend.  

For example we work with an optomitrist who sends an email reminders to patients to come in for their annual eye exam.  These small lists perform significantly better.  Patients who ignor his monthly newsletter, open an email with a subject line which says. schedule your annual eye exam. His open rate was over 30% on the targeted email, and more than 15% clicked through to the scheduling form on his website.  We have seen the same type of performance on our Business Plan list.  Small ( 100 business owners) in comparison to my primary list ( 3,600 business professoinals and owners) the open rate for email to this group is around 60%, with strong click throughs as well.

So mass email may be dead, but focused, relevant, PERMISSSION BASED, email is alive, productive and powerful!

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Looking for help with your emal marketing program?  Contact Roundpeg, and we can help you get started today!

• How it compares to the sites of your competitors?
• How it looks to search engines?
• What if any Buzz exists in the online community about your brand?

If you don’t know the answer to these questions, we can help with our Free Web Site Evaluation.  Simply submit your request today, and we will send you an evaluation by tomorrow.

This week, Barb Jones, of Stellar Infusionsoft Coaching explains how CRM tools allow a small business to do just that!

Barb explains that contact management software lets you keep track of prospects and clients, but a CRM system allows you to automate the process.  Now you can stay in touch with clients, while you are sleeping or working on other projects.  It also allows you to send relevant content to a small group, with common interests. 

At Roundpeg, we are experimenting with CRM tools, and have found the results to be very positive. Our How to Write a Business Plan in Ten Weeks program is fueled by a CRM tool.   We have several people a week enrolling in the program and each person enjoys the benefits of the entire program regardless of when they start.

We are going to look at other applications as well. What about you? Do you use a CRM tool today?