It's all about the offer. It doesn't matter what kind of advertising you're talking about. If you don't have a good enough offer people aren't going to care about you.
So what are you offering people?
The exact nature of the offer is likely to change quite a bit depending on what type of industry you're in, but it will always depend on the customer base. You're offer needs to be centered completely around what their needs are and what you can do to best provide for them.
The form of color printing you use will also have an impact on your advertising. Take for instance a postcard. By nature a postcard is small and has to have a very short, to the point message. You simply don't have much room to tell people more.
That means your offer is likely going to be a discount of some kind. If you're sending out postcards to generate more sale leads, tell them that they'll get a discount on the first purchase or first service they buy.
For the longer styles of color printing you'll likely go with something a little different. Take a brochure as an example. Often the thing you're offering a person with brochures is information rather than a discount on something.
A good example of this is a tax service. You can give people an offer that is two fold in order to promote your services.
Send a brochure explaining some of the more complicated tax laws to them. Taxes are something that everyone has to deal with, so you'll grab their attention by giving them some simple, easy to understand details about them.
But what this also does is gives them reason why they should use your services. By laying out what all those different tax laws are like, you're informing them while also saying this is why you need to hire an accountant, because this stuff is complicated.
The best offers are going to be the ones that work twofold by providing both you and the customers with something helpful.
Every kind of advertisement you print needs to have a worthwhile offer. And you can be creative with what that offer is. You might give away some free items or if you sell a popular kind of clothing you're offering to give them a great new style that will appeal to them.
Take the time to do the research into your customers to know what kind of offer will resonate the most with them. You need to know plenty about your customers before you'll be able to give them anything they'll need.
If your offer is good enough, people won't be able to help but give you some business. You just need to be sure that the situation is a win for everyone involved.
Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of developments in color printing industry and how these improvements can benefit small to medium-scale business.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kaye_Marks
Sunday, August 17, 2008
5 Essential Ingredients That Make Straight Commission Compensation Appealing
In a recent piece I outlined 5 tip-offs that reveal when straight commission jobs are rip-offs, or at least "opportunities" you should decline.
But that article left me feeling I created a vacuum. I didn't disclose the five ingredients we should look for, so here they are:
(1) There needs to be a SUBSTANTIAL payoff for success. You're taking on a lot of risk, and of course the primary one is that you'll invest your time, talent, effort, and ego in an utter loser and emerge with zilch. There is a simple balancing formula that investors use for evaluating an opportunity: Does the reward substantially outweigh the risk? If not, then pass.
(2) The ultimate compensation must be greater than that being offered for a safe, no-risk sales job. Imagine at Company A they're offering a commission-only job that has the potential of yielding $100,000 per year. At Company B, they'll stake you to a guarantee, to a draw or a salary of $100,000. It's a no brainer; you'd have to go with B. The realistic earning potential of A has to add up to, minimally, 150% to 200% of what is being tendered by B.
(3) Management at the commission-only outfit has to be seasoned and trustworthy. Have they met a payroll, before, or are they in a seat-of-the-pants, gee-golly-gosh start-up mode with no financing? Are you working with a Fortune 1000 company, which is image conscious and aspires to earn a berth on one of those "Best Places to Work" lists, or is it a firm run by a lone wolf or by a partnership that couldn't care if it is sued right and left for unpaid wages and for stiffing vendors? The burden of proof is on novices to demonstrate that they are NOT flakes.
(4) There needs to be a short sales cycle, preferably measured in days or a few weeks. If you're self-financing, which is what a straight-commission arrangement requires, you need to see cash flow and fast. You can't go out on a limb and invest months in the hope that you'll make your first sale.
(5) Ideally, others are on board, making a steady, big income doing exactly what you're going to do. I spoke to the head of a company who asserted that he had a USC college student selling deal after deal, making about $4,000 a week. Why did this sales master leave? Where is he now? What were his methods? This sounds a lot like that big fish tale about "the one that got away."
Keep these five criteria in mind as you screen sales jobs or any pay-for-performance situation.
Commission-only deals can be lucrative, but you need to turn the tables and to qualify those that are offering them. You should hitch your wagon to them only if they can pass a stringent test.
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a portfolio careerist: An attorney, real estate broker, college professor, best-selling author, TV commentator, professional speaker, and management consultant. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com and his profile can be read at: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/a91/833
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Gary_S._Goodman
But that article left me feeling I created a vacuum. I didn't disclose the five ingredients we should look for, so here they are:
(1) There needs to be a SUBSTANTIAL payoff for success. You're taking on a lot of risk, and of course the primary one is that you'll invest your time, talent, effort, and ego in an utter loser and emerge with zilch. There is a simple balancing formula that investors use for evaluating an opportunity: Does the reward substantially outweigh the risk? If not, then pass.
(2) The ultimate compensation must be greater than that being offered for a safe, no-risk sales job. Imagine at Company A they're offering a commission-only job that has the potential of yielding $100,000 per year. At Company B, they'll stake you to a guarantee, to a draw or a salary of $100,000. It's a no brainer; you'd have to go with B. The realistic earning potential of A has to add up to, minimally, 150% to 200% of what is being tendered by B.
(3) Management at the commission-only outfit has to be seasoned and trustworthy. Have they met a payroll, before, or are they in a seat-of-the-pants, gee-golly-gosh start-up mode with no financing? Are you working with a Fortune 1000 company, which is image conscious and aspires to earn a berth on one of those "Best Places to Work" lists, or is it a firm run by a lone wolf or by a partnership that couldn't care if it is sued right and left for unpaid wages and for stiffing vendors? The burden of proof is on novices to demonstrate that they are NOT flakes.
(4) There needs to be a short sales cycle, preferably measured in days or a few weeks. If you're self-financing, which is what a straight-commission arrangement requires, you need to see cash flow and fast. You can't go out on a limb and invest months in the hope that you'll make your first sale.
(5) Ideally, others are on board, making a steady, big income doing exactly what you're going to do. I spoke to the head of a company who asserted that he had a USC college student selling deal after deal, making about $4,000 a week. Why did this sales master leave? Where is he now? What were his methods? This sounds a lot like that big fish tale about "the one that got away."
Keep these five criteria in mind as you screen sales jobs or any pay-for-performance situation.
Commission-only deals can be lucrative, but you need to turn the tables and to qualify those that are offering them. You should hitch your wagon to them only if they can pass a stringent test.
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a portfolio careerist: An attorney, real estate broker, college professor, best-selling author, TV commentator, professional speaker, and management consultant. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com and his profile can be read at: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/a91/833
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Gary_S._Goodman
7 Essentials For MASSIVE Success!
Mind: We all know that we produce great results when our thinking is in the right place. It isn't hard to see when things are "headed" south. Flip-it-up and keep your head in the game!
Action: Some people like to "think on things." Mull it over before getting started. It's the top-producers that get moving quickly. Champions master the art of thinking while in motion. Sure... some mistakes will happen in the beginning, but in time, it becomes an inevitable force of forward progress!
Strategy: When our mind is in the right place, and we are moving ahead with positive forward action, we quickly begin to understand what works and what doesn't. Combine the things that work with the right resources and build a plan to keep everyone on track.
Season: Develop a belief that you are always "in season." While others base their success on the time of year, you come up with reasons why you can be successful year round. Use your strategic plan to stay ahead, and find yourself at the top month after month... year over year. Remember, your future success depends on what you are doing right now!
Intentional: Everything you do is for a purpose. As you think through your daily activities, your sales process, your follow-up strategies, recognize reasons for why you do it "that way." You will create principles for success that will shape your behaviors and decisions for life.
Vigorous: So much of our success comes from an ability to remain strong through adversity. Ironically, it is also important to remain strong through our victories. In other words, don't lose focus just because you are winning. Impose your will and achieve your goals.
Endurance: True greatness is the ability to succeed over a long period of time. Durability comes with the strength to overcome pain and fatigue. When other people think that your success is temporary... Show them that your MASSIVE success is permanent!
How do you create MASSIVE success?
Doyle Slayton, Executive Director & Sales Strategist at http://www.SalesBlogcast.com
Join the community where sales professionals network, share best-practices, and just get better! Receive new articles and interviews throughout the week. Participate in sales, leadership, and business discussions. Subscribe today... it's FREE! http://www.SalesBlogcast.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Doyle_Slayton
Action: Some people like to "think on things." Mull it over before getting started. It's the top-producers that get moving quickly. Champions master the art of thinking while in motion. Sure... some mistakes will happen in the beginning, but in time, it becomes an inevitable force of forward progress!
Strategy: When our mind is in the right place, and we are moving ahead with positive forward action, we quickly begin to understand what works and what doesn't. Combine the things that work with the right resources and build a plan to keep everyone on track.
Season: Develop a belief that you are always "in season." While others base their success on the time of year, you come up with reasons why you can be successful year round. Use your strategic plan to stay ahead, and find yourself at the top month after month... year over year. Remember, your future success depends on what you are doing right now!
Intentional: Everything you do is for a purpose. As you think through your daily activities, your sales process, your follow-up strategies, recognize reasons for why you do it "that way." You will create principles for success that will shape your behaviors and decisions for life.
Vigorous: So much of our success comes from an ability to remain strong through adversity. Ironically, it is also important to remain strong through our victories. In other words, don't lose focus just because you are winning. Impose your will and achieve your goals.
Endurance: True greatness is the ability to succeed over a long period of time. Durability comes with the strength to overcome pain and fatigue. When other people think that your success is temporary... Show them that your MASSIVE success is permanent!
How do you create MASSIVE success?
Doyle Slayton, Executive Director & Sales Strategist at http://www.SalesBlogcast.com
Join the community where sales professionals network, share best-practices, and just get better! Receive new articles and interviews throughout the week. Participate in sales, leadership, and business discussions. Subscribe today... it's FREE! http://www.SalesBlogcast.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Doyle_Slayton
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