Time to re-examine your marketing

As we enter the new year, it's time to take a look at what we did last year, and what we should do this year.

Out with the old! In with the new!

But first, examine what worked and what didn't. Check out Tune Up Your Web Pages for the New Year, then tell me what you're doing new and better this time around.

Did You Move With Me?

It's been a while since I moved my blog to wordpress so it could be part of my website. I hope you've followed me over, but just in case, here's a sample of what you might have missed:

How Your E-mail Links Can Drive Customers - AWAY!

How to Promote your business with Articles

A Big Telephone Mistake that Drives Customers Away

There's more - check the archives!

Marketing to the right crowd

Everywhere we go lately there's someone crying about the economy, predicting that times are going to be even tougher than they are now, and predicting nothing but doom and gloom.

And yet... the steady flow of tourists to our nearby lake hasn't slackened a bit. Friends of mine spent Wednesday on the lake, and said the number of people burning gasoline pulling water skiers and driving personal watercraft just for the sheer joy of feeling the wind in their faces was amazing.

And... a new restaurant opened in our small town about a month ago. Their prices are far higher than anyone else around, and yet every time you go by you can see people seated inside. It's hard for me to believe that this "depressed area" can support $10 burgers and $30 steaks, but apparently it can.

So, the fact is, some people do have money. Or if they don't have money, they're willing to go further in debt to have fun.

Then too, our neighbor visited the John Deere dealer this week to buy a new oil filter for his tractor. He asked how business was going and got an answer that would startle the gloom crowd: "Great. We're far busier than last year, and it was a good year."

So folks aren't just spending money to escape for a few days - they're also spending plenty taking care of their yards and their small farms.

Think about your product or service. Then look around your own community and see how people are spending money. What are they after? Is it fun, or could it be vanity? Or are the people near you spending only on necessities? If so, look a little farther afield and see what they're looking for. (That is, of course, unless you sell necessities.)

How can you position yourself to appeal to the people who are still spending? Do you need to reach farther than your community? Should most of your marketing be done on the internet? Can you turn whatever you offer into a necessity - or position it as "fun?"

This is a question all of us need to address. Because the fact is, while some are out of work and barely scraping by, others are spending. And they're spending a lot.

Yours for prosperity,
Marte

I guess no one knows John Reese

And that seems to be pretty normal. Marketing gurus are teaching people that the way to break into the business is to "Do a launch" and create a lot of hoopla over it by offering extremely attractive affiliate payments.

Does that mean that what they sell is going to be good? Does it even mean that the affiliates who promote it have seen the product? Maybe. But not necessarily. I remember an instance several months ago that underscored that thought.

One of the big affiliate marketers promoted some new biz op launch - along with about 2 dozen other affiliate marketers. And then, just a few days later, he mailed out an apology to everyone on his lists.

It seems he had fallen for the hype, promoted the product without testing it, and it turned out to be so lame that he was ashamed to have endorsed it. He encouraged everyone who felt as he did to request a refund immediately - just as he had.

But the damage was done. From then on, when he endorses a product, people will wonder. I kind of doubt if he'd do the same thing again, since he was so embarrassed over the incident. But you never know for sure.

Be cautious - try to learn something about a biz op product before you find out that the person writing it didn't know anything more about the subject than you do. Writing is easy - all you have to do is take 4 or 5 other people's material, compile it, and presto! A new program guaranteed to make its buyers rich.

I belong to a copywriter's forum, and checking things out ahead of time is one of the big benefits. When some member is considering joining a mentoring group or buying in to one of these expensive programs, he or she asks the group for their opinions - and the group gives them. You might try finding and joining a similar group.

And... if you buy a program and it isn't useful, don't be afraid to return it. Just remember to keep a copy of the guarantee, in case you have trouble. I bought something once and tried to contact the sellers to no avail. They did have a phone number on their site - but it was permanently attached to an answering machine.

I got a refund that time by contacting my credit card company.

By the way, if you buy through Clickbank you have a set number of days to easily request and get a refund with no questions asked.

Yours for success,
Marte
writer@marte-cliff.com