Archive for the ‘Business Development’ Category

With all the competition and endless chatter on the Internet you may be wondering the best ways to get new business. The answer has many parts including developing your marketing and sales skills, but the one that may be the most important is this…

Connect with your prospects and customers on a personal level.

“The highest form of public relations is human relations. People buy from friends, so it’s crucial to make the human bond before you can make a lasting business bond”.  Jay Conrad Levinson, author of Guerrilla Marketing

Always Develop The Human Bond Before The Business Bond

Have you ever been left on hold just a little too long and vowed to never patronize that place of business?

Ever felt uncomfortable because someone was “selling” you their service before listening to what you really want?

Have you ever been greeted in an indifferent manner?

Well if you’re like most of us, it doesn’t take long before you start thinking about another place to do business.

It’s amazing how many businesses spend a fortune on advertising not realizing that a key to turning a prospect into a client may depend on something as simple as the way the receptionist answers the phone.

Keys To Remember:

• Good marketing is about building relationships.

• It’s always about listening to what the customer wants and needs.

• It’s the small things like smiles and greetings.

• The outrageously good service you give

• And the  close and personal follow-up with your clients and prospects.

Why Do Customers Choose One Business Over Another?

Consider the research done by the Forum research corporation. They have analyzed 14 major service companies in terms of customer satisfaction. Their results follow:

*15% of customers switched to another business because of
quality problems.

*15% left because of price

*70% departed because they didn’t like the human side of doing business with the prior provider of the product or service!

Building the human bond means treating clients and prospects with the utmost respect, offering the most valuable information and always giving them the very the best service. If you do they will become customers for life and your very best sales force.

Are you Ready To Become a Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach?   Next program is starting soon.

www.GMarketingCoach.com

by Lou Bortone, Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach & Video Whiz

As a former television producer and video editor, I’ve got some deep-seated beliefs about video quality. After 20 years in TV, old habits die hard. To me, a “jump-cut,” or video where the scene or frame “jumps” or cuts without a smooth transition, is the cardinal sin of video. In traditional television, jump cuts or bad transitions are simply unacceptable. That’s why we use devices like cut-aways and B-roll (background footage)

But online video is totally different. Anything goes. Quality takes a distant back seat to content. Even those dreaded jump cuts seem to be tolerated. I can’t fight back the tide any longer. I give up! I guess I was wrong to insist on broadcast quality when it comes to online video. After all, sometimes I just use a $35 web cam. And my only “real” video camera is a cool, little $150 “Flip” cam. (OK, so my video partner has a professional $15,000 camera!) Still, I’m finally willing to drop the quality argument and join the online video masses.

The thing about web video is that it’s easy and accessible – so anyone can play! The medium is the message, as sixties scholar Marshall McLuhan once said about traditional television. And when it comes to online video, only the message matters.

It’s not easy for a former TV producer to say this, but don’t worry about the quality of your online video. Just fire up your web cam and join the party. Jump in. Upload to YouTube. Put your face on facebook. Online video is guerrilla marketing at its core: Fast. Easy. Inexpensive. And driven by imagination more than technology.

Want an even cooler, easier way to send and receive video postcards at the click of the mouse? Stay tuned and watch this space for a really big announcement about a new environment that leverages the best of Web 2.0 innovations like online video. It’s going to change the way we collaborate and communicate!

Lou Bortone is an author and entrepreneur with extensive experience in marketing, branding and promotion. Before starting his own company, Lou was an award-winning marketing executive in the media industry. Lou served as National Promotion Manager for E! Entertainment Television, and later as Senior VP of Marketing and Advertising for Fox Family Worldwide, a division of Fox, in Los Angeles. Today, Lou helps entrepreneurs and solo professionals navigate their online businesses with services such as copywriting, video production and creative services. Sign up for Lou’s free mini audio course about using Online Video at http://www.TheOnlineVideoGuy.com.