Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
In last week’s blog Are You Chasing Away Clients, I talked about the rule I learned in telemarketing training back in my college days, “three no’s and you go”. I discussed how in your third attempt to get in contact with a non-responsive client that you should define that you will not be following up with them again but that they can contact you.
But what if you are actually speaking to the client over and over again and you are not getting a “yes”? On our recent teleclass Relationship Marketing with Donna Smallin she shared with us that she called someone 7 times over two years before they agreed to have a meeting with her and then they hired her for a two year time period. Wow! The key to her success was persistence and permission. Each time she called this person she asked him “would it be okay if I check back with you in a couple of months?” Each time the prospect said “yes”. When you get permission to call someone back you don’t feel bad about calling them because they told you it was okay. In last weeks article Are You Chasing Away Clients, that situation pertains to a non-responsive client, or someone who you keep trying to contact and never can get through to them via phone or e-mail. In Donna’s example the situation pertains to a client you are actually speaking to who is telling you that they are not ready to use your services right now. These are two very different situations.
To sum it up, if you have a non-responsive client use the “three no’s and you go” rule of thumb or if you have a client who is not ready to commit you can use the “would it be okay if I check back with you in a couple of months?” technique.
Don’t forget, we’ll be learning more on How to Sell Without Being Salesy from Helen Graves on our August 3rd teleclass.
Do you have a favorite tip? We love to learn and share.
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Audio recordings, Christa Wagner, Continuing Education of Professional Organizers, Donna Smallin, Helen Graves, Marketing, Professional Organizer Business, Red Bench Program, Sales, Teleclasses
Posted in Marketing, Sales, Teleclasses | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
Being an entrepreneur requires you to wear many hats and the sales person can be the most intimidating hat of all. Why is this the case? Probably because in sales we have to promote ourselves and we aren’t always very good at self promotion. We don’t want to feel like we are selling and being pushy right. 
Well there are many selling techniques that are extremely effective and you won’t feel like a pushy sales person. Listening, for example is key and often overlooked. If you ask the right questions and genuinely listen to what people have to say, they will tell you what they want. Give your customers a chance, and they will tell you what you need to know. The key is talk less and listen more.
Attend our next Teleclass called “How To Sell Without Being Salesy” with Sales and Marketing Expert Helen Graves, and learn what to say if you hate to sell and selling techniques tips you can use right away. Click here for more info and to register.
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Effective Selling Strategies, Helen Graves, Sales
Posted in Grow Your Business, Marketing, Teleclasses | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
People ask us all the time if they can get a hold of past teleclasses. All A Red Be
nch teleclass on available for purchase on our website. We recently had a fantastic call with fellow Organizer, author and relationship marketing guru Donna Smallin. It was fantastic. She is so willing to share information and is just a true giver. Her call was called Rise Above the Rest With Relationship Marketing and is now available for purchase.
On the call Donna give listeners the opportunity to trial Send Out Cards for Free.
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Donna Smallin, Managing a business, Red Bench Program, Relationship Marketing, Teleclasses
Posted in Marketing | 1 Comment »
Monday, July 6th, 2009
We are thrilled to announce that Helen Graves will be our August 3rd speaker. Christa and I had a call with Helen two weeks ago and in 45 short minutes Helen was able to offer us some fantastic advice! We put some of her tips into place immediately. Thanks Helen!
Helen is dubbed the Grand Poohbah of Crackerjack Online Marketing Strategy. She has a fun approach to sales and says “the most important belief to nurture is that marketing can be fun!” Now that is a shift in mind set! Have you been thinking that marketing is fun? Don’t miss this call to learn how you can make marketing and sales fun AND increase your business. Personally, I can’t wait!
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Wagner, Helen Graves, Marketing, Sales, Teleclasses
Posted in Grow Your Business, Marketing, Teleclasses | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
I will be the first to admit that I was reluctant to get a Facebook account, but after a few friends (and you know who you are) peer pressured me into it, I took the plunge. It’s now been six months using this tool and I have to admit I really like it and am enjoying it. Now, just like anything else Facebook can take over your life and it has for many people. You have to monitor the amount of time you are dedicating to Facebook and have some idea as to why you’re using it. Is it just for fun? Are you using it for business too?
So we all know Facebook can kill productivity if you keep it open all day, so I’m not going to even go there. From an organizer’s perspective close FB when you’re not using it and use a timer to avoid overuse. On the flip side it has helped me in a few areas that I think are important to mention:
- It has greatly reduced my email. Thank goodness for small favors, something has decreased the amount of emails coming into my inbox. Of course I love to hear from friends via email, but who has time to email back and forth all the time. Using FB I can touch base with them as often as I want in a much more social way. I can comment on something they said and its appropriate to only say a few words rather than go on and on.
- I can check as often or as little as I want. With email, because its in my inbox, I feel obligated to respond to everything. Don’t you? Using FB, its not the same and I can check in and out with much less pressure.
- Staying in better touch with friends and family. Of course, this is obvious, but when you live as far away from home as I do it’s so nice to be able to connect with people on a regular basis. Just yesterday I was “IMing” with my cousin who is in New York. I can see what she’s up to for the summer and we started chatting. It was great and I feel connected to her and others in a much more genuine way.
Like anything else, FB can become one more thing to do so if you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it. If you want to learn to use Facebook more effectively, be on the lookout for the Audio Recording being released fro our Social Media TeleSummit. And if you are going to embark on this new phenomenon, keep a watchful eye on the clock. 10 minutes can turn into two hours in no time. Give yourself some guidelines and have fun with it!
Click here to find me on Facebook.
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Facebook, social media
Posted in Marketing, Time Management | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
Is anyone else’s head swirling when trying to figure out which marketing tactic will work best for you? How do you keep connected to your clients or potential clients? There are e-mail newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, networking events, blogging, e-mail, phone calls and even sending clients a card or hand written note. Christa and I recently interviews 8 experts for our Embrace Social Media TeleSummit and as expected each expert has their own take on which tool is the BEST way to draw new clients.
After interviewing many people on marketing here is what I have come to realize:
1. There is no magic one size fits all solution. What works for one will not work for everyone. You can’t just copy what someone else is doing and expect to have a successful marketing campaign.
2. Find your sweet spot and embrace it! One of the biggest learning’s I had from the TeleSummit is that most of our speakers did all forms of social media marketing a LITTLE bit, but they did one of them BIG. They had their favorite and that is where they put most of their attention and that is where they saw their best results.
3. Use other types of marketing to support your main marketing effort. Again, most people use many different types of marketing, but they simply use it to supplement their major focus area. Of course you are going to practice multiple marketing efforts, but you don’t have to dedicate equal amounts of time to each of them.
So what will you focus on? Internet marketing, face to face marketing, relationship marketing? We would love to hear your thoughts.
Tags: A Red Bench, Angela Ploetz, Christa Wagner, Embrace Social Media, Maximize your marketing
Posted in Grow Your Business, Marketing, social media | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
We kicked off the second day of the Social Media TeleSummit with Facebook expert Shama Hyder of Click to Client, LLC. Her t
opic was Fruitful Facebooking: How to Leverage the Social Giant to Further your Biz and Brand.
I was really looking forward to this call, because as much as I resisted Facebook and was forced into using it, I really like it. I have gotten back in touch with so many friends from high school (North Allegheny, Pittsburgh, PA) and college (Indiana University, Bloomington, IN) and its been really fun. That said, I could spend hours on Facebook and I have a business (two of them actually) to run so I was anxious to learn how to more effectively use this powerful tool
Just learning how to automatically post my blog on Facebook was enough, but I learned so much more on this call. I learned some techniques to using Facebook in just 15 minutes each day and the difference between groups and fans. Very helpful for me!
Thanks Shama for a great call. You certainly understand the big and constantly changing world of the social media giant.
Continue to check our website and blog for more information regarding social media tools. If you missed the Embrace Social Media, a TeleSummit, be on the lookout for Nancy’s presentation available from A Red Bench.
Click here to follow me on Facebook.
Tags: Angela Ploetz, Christa Patchen Wagner, Christa Wagner, Facebook, Marketing using Facebook, Maximize your marketing, Red Bench Program, Shama Hyder, Teleclasses
Posted in Grow Your Business, Information Products, Marketing, Teleclasses, social media | No Comments »
Monday, June 15th, 2009
Rise Above The Rest Using Relationship Marketing
Relationship marketing helps people remember who you are and what you do. It sets you apart and lets your clients know you care about them. It helps you drive more repeat business and referrals, so you can spend more time doing what you love. Unlike traditional marketing, it’s easy to incorporate relationship marketing into your daily schedule. And it yields a high rate of return on your investment, which is little or nothing. To grow your business, you simply need to remember one thing: Everyone you meet wants and needs to be appreciated. Attend this teleclass, with expert organizer and author
Donna Smallin, and learn how to implement a simple strategy for staying connected with clients and prospects, how to maximize the impact of your current networking, advertising and sales activities and how to enjoy more repeat business and referrals. You may even have more fun marketing!
Click here for call details.
Tags: Angela Ploetz, Christa Wagner, Donna Smallin, Teleclasses
Posted in Grow Your Business, Marketing, Teleclasses | No Comments »
The first day of the