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Marketing Must Haves… (part 2)

Published on November 18, 2007 in Articles and General Marketing. 0 Comments

Last time I mentioned the basics you must have in your marketing arsenal. You need those to advance to the items I wish to discuss in this article, which are “gimmicks”, your marketing kit, and direct mail (or email) campaigns.

“Gimmicks”

I hate the term “gimmick” as I feel it means we’re trying to hustle the client. That’s not it at all. Simply put, we’re trying to get their attention. If two “solicitations” come across my desk, I’m more likely to pick up the more appealing one first. Our potential clients do the same.

Now, I’ll state that misleading “gimmicks” I’m not real fond of. Therefore, when I send out or attempt my gimmicks, I try to keep that in mind. I don’t want to make my potential clients angry because they think they are getting a free car when they sign up for my services.

Gimmicks and direct mail go hand in hand. While sending out a brochure is a great thing to do, it’s not going to get their attention like it would if the gimmick were attached to the brochure.

One of the things that I have done is send out my standard introductory letter and inside is a little foam foot. You can get these feet at any craft store, normally in the scrapbooking section. On that foot, I write, “Just wanted to get my foot in the door.” When I worked in television and made sales calls, I would often take a large foot with me and leave it with the “gatekeeper” and you would be surprised at the amount of response I received. Why? I got their attention.

Lisa Sommer of Errands to Go used this gimmick:

I recently held an open house for an apartment community and the marketing gimmick that I used was a small business card sized teaser saying “When the work day’s through and there’s still much to do let Errands-To-Go be your life saver” I purchased some individually wrapped life savers and stapled one to each card. When the life saver is removed, it reveals a picture of a life preserver, like you see on a boat.

There are many things you can do to get the attention of the person you’re sending something to. Send them a pad of post-its with your logo on it. Who doesn’t use post-its? That’s 50 times someone (and not just your potential client) will see your logo. One site that I look at often for promotional items is www.4imprint.com . Their prices are reasonable, but more importantly, it starts your mind into thinking about how you can put a spin on your gimmick. I even found feet post-it notes and may move to sending those out instead of the foam feet!

If you come up with, or have used a creative gimmick and would like to share, I’m always looking for them and would like to compile a master list of gimmicks. Please email them to me at heather@valleyva.net . You will receive credit and a link back to your site for allowing me to use them.

Marketing Kits

There are many different directions you can go with a marketing kit’s presentation. I’ve seen people put them in pretty presentation folders. I’ve seen kits sent out in labeled file folders, making it a snap for the recipient to file it I’ve also seen marketing kits go out electronically, whether on a regular sized CD or on a business card CD. However you decide to present it, there are a few things that you must include!

I have a standard marketing kit that I personalize for whoever I send it to. If I know they are looking for general administrative duties, then that’s what I highlight and those are the rates that I present. If they’re looking for marketing help, then I highlight my experience in marketing, and include those rates.

The first thing I have in my marketing kit is my general sales letter. It’s a standard letter; however I customize the first paragraph to entice the person it’s going to. In this letter, I give them a summary of what a Virtual Assistant is, how one could help their business, and convince them that they need one — or at least put the thought in their head. The letter includes my contact information and I normally jot at the bottom that I will call or email to follow up with them in a week.

I then have a more detailed look at the VA industry. I include statistics, what people are looking for in a VA, the services that VAs provide, etc. A page in length is good, but I like charts and graphs as well. What can you find that’s a compelling story to tell these potential clients?

The next section I have is about my company, and me. It’s a resume with a kick. I include a company bio as well as information about my background and my specialties. It’s basically my elevator speech, fleshed out. When I have staff, I will include their resumes as well. I also include a printed resume as well as my addendum, which is a task, action, results page of various tasks that I’ve completed in my career. It’s nice to include a picture, but you don’t have to. If you do decide to include one, make sure it’s a professional one and not one that your five year old took of you at the beach last summer.

The next section that I would include if you have more people working for you other than yourself is contact information for the staff. If it’s just you, then your business card, attached to the sales letter is sufficient.

The “props” section is where I would include testimonials of happy clients as well as any honors or awards you’ve received and any organizations that you belong to. Show them that you are active in the community as well as in the industry.

I would then include a page on what you have in your office that you can use. What hardware do you have, what software do you have? What software do you know how to use? What tools do you possess to make their lives a little simpler?

The rate sheet should go last. It is inserted last in hopes that it will be looked at after all of the other information provided before they look at the cost. It doesn’t normally work that way, however, one can always dream. You may or may not decide to include actual rates as it’s a personal preference. One of the ways to deter people from flipping right to the rates page is to give them the marketing kit in a power point presentation. I am currently working on a presentation for my website. When a visitor wishes to look at my marketing kit online, he or she will have to look at the whole presentation before they get to the rates page.

I also include another sheet behind the rates page as a call to action which simply says, “What are you waiting for? Call me today for your free consultation and learn how partnering together can take your business to the next level.” My contact information is again included.

I recommend a PDF version of your marketing kit that you can email immediately upon request. I also recommend uploading it to your site. The choice of making the link available on your site is a personal decision, however, you can send the link to your marketing kit to you potential client, and it’s another way to drive them to your site.

Direct Mail Campaigns

As a former broadcast television employee, I can’t believe that I’m going to tell you all about direct mail, let alone that it can work. For years, I told people why it didn’t work, why it wasn’t cost effective, etc. Today, I’m going to tell you that it’s a good route to take.

If you want to start your business off locally, or even if you want to target your marketing nationally, direct mail can work. (I recommend something catchy to put in there.)

We’ve talked before about your target market. You have to know who that is before you even think about a direct mail campaign, and here’s why. Don’t waste your time or money sending marketing materials to someone you KNOW won’t be interested. I get information on the mail all the time and I know why it’s sent to me. I just bought a house; therefore, I get all the refinancing mail. I’m their target market. Now, I don’t want to refinance my house right now, but what if I do in the next few months? I’ll know where to go because they’ve already contacted me. I’ll be honest though, it will be the company that somehow caught my attention that I will do business with. You can have the best marketing materials known to man, and they are worthless if you send them to someone other than your target market.

Now that you have your target market, you need a list of people to send the information to. Where do you get that? Yes, there are many places that you can buy lists, but don’t waste the money on a list that you can create yourself. Many Chambers of Commerces are listed online. Many Chambers also list their members online as well. Start there. If your target market is real estate agents, try www.realestateagent.com . Google your target market and see what you can come up with.

Another place to look is your local business journal website. Or read any city’s business journal. You’re virtual, so you don’t have to be in New Mexico just because they are.

Now that you have your list, what do you do with it? USE IT!! You’ve put all that time into it, don’t let it go to waste. Do you have your information ready to send? Do you know what to send?

Do I know what to send? The answer to that is yes, and no. I don’t know what’s best for you and your business. We’ve talked about the brochures and we’ve talked about the marketing kits and the gimmicks. You need to come up with what’s best for you. Do you have a lot of information you want to share? Why not try it in waves?

For example, I might send out a postcard with a tropical place on the front and on the back write “Wish you were here?” and then go into a little spiel on how with the help of a virtual assistant, they could free up the time to take that much needed vacation.

I might then follow up, a week or so later, with my standard sales letter and marketing kit. If I send out a marketing kit, I will call to follow up.

I recommend that you follow up with each person that you send something out to. Things get lost in the shuffle, they forget, etc. It happens to all of us. Drop them a quick email, or give them a quick phone call. It doesn’t have to be anything more than, “My name is Heather and I’m the owner of Valley Virtual Assistants. I sent you some information last week, and I wanted to follow up with you to see if you had any questions that I could answer for you.” Simple. You’ve now touched them a second time.

I recommend tracking what you send, whom you send it to, when, and a response, if any, on a spreadsheet. This will help you to determine what’s working and what’s not. Don’t get discouraged if you sent our 100 post cards and you only heard back from 2 people. Re-evaluate your campaign and try again.

Direct mail works with email too. I don’t recommend sending out a mass email to all the email addresses that you’ve harvested from the Chamber’s website. There are spamming laws in effect now. Make sure that you are abiding by the laws. While we hate spam, we do like to get information that is useful to us!

Each email that you send should be tailored to the person that you’re sending it to. The body can be the same but the first and last paragraph, just as your sales letter that you mail out, should be altered. Take a look at their web site. Talk about their business in that letter. People like it when they’re talked about. Compliment their web site. Schmooze. You can do on the phone, in person, and yes, you can even schmooze in an email.

You can offer a call to action in your email as well, and I recommend doing so. Get them to your site. Make them email you back. Strike up a conversation. Every conversation you have with this person, it another chance you have at making them a client.

Avoid spam looking email. You know what I’m talking about. No subject and big bold red letters. Make the email look like it’s coming from someone they know. Make the subject line something they want to open up to read. The subject line of “How would you like a vacation?” probably isn’t going to work. Be creative, and think about your reaction if you saw the subject line you’re going to use.

Many people ask about putting rates in their direct mail campaigns. For sales at the grocery store, yes, put the rates of the cheese that’s on sale. That’s how you’re going to get people in the door. For services, it’s a little different. Personally, I like to use the word affordable. But my main goal after reading my literature is for a potential client to think, “I have GOT to get a VA”. Then when they see the rates it’s not as bad, as they have already decided that they need one. That and my rates for one client aren’t going to be the same for another. I want them to call me and discuss their needs and their budget with me, so that I can negotiate a fair price. There again, that call to action, “Your first two hours free” can mean a savings of anywhere between $20 and $80 depending on what you charge. Who doesn’t like the word free?

Put time into your marketing kit and your direct mail campaigns. You reap what you sew, so if you’re marketing kit isn’t top notch, you’re less likely to get the response that you want.

About the Author:

Heather Jacobson doesn’t pay for marketing if she doesn’t have to. Discover how she does it and claim 10 free marketing tips at http://www.10freetips.com

Marketing Must Haves…(part 1)

Published on November 18, 2007 in Articles and General Marketing. 0 Comments

Your business is up and running, you’re ready to go, but you need work. But, to get work, people have to know you exist. Although it’s great that the VA community knows about you, you need your target market to know about you.

What kind of marketing materials do you need? The list is simple, however, it’s time consuming to put together. Why? This is your first impression on a potential client and as we all know, we only get one chance for that first impression.

Elevator Speech

What happens when you’re at a networking function and someone asks you what you do? Do you fumble for the words, or do you have your “commercial” ready?

Your elevator speech should be about 30 seconds and include what you do, how you do it, who you do it for, and what you’ve done for someone in particular. For example, “Valley Virtual Assistants provides marketing and sales support to small business owners who do not have the time to market themselves. We use our marketing background to partner with other businesses to gain awareness for the client resulting in more inquiries; and, in the long run, a larger profit — leaving the business owner more time to concentrate on the billable work he/she currently has. We recently created and implemented a marketing campaign for a video production company including a website, brochures, and additional marketing materials which resulted in six new clients and a 30% profit increase from the previous year.”

Put some time into it. Give your audience enough to get the general idea of what you do, but hungry to know more.

Business Cards

Business cards are key as you never know when you’re going to be able to hand them out. I don’t go to networking functions often, but I was once in a seminar and the instructor used VAs. This was the perfect opportunity to give her my card and let her know that I was available.

Your business card should contain your pertinent information: your logo, name, phone, website, email address, and website address. Some people like to put their physical address on there, and some don’t. Personally, I have mine on there, as well as my fax number. I don’t want anyone have a reason NOT to reach me.

Business cards are not as expensive as some might think. I use VistaPrint for my business cards. VistaPrint does offer 250 free business cards for the price of shipping. The only drawback to that is that their logo is on the back of the card.

Speaking of the back of the card, though, don’t let that space go wasted! There’s no reason that you can’t put a call to action, or a special offer such as “Call now for a free consultation,” or “First two hours free with the purchase of a monthly retainer package.” I’ve also known VAs to list their services or specializations on the back of the card.

Letterhead

Some VAs use a lot of direct mail for marketing and some very rarely do. The bottom line is, at some point in time, you’re going to have to send out a letter. Create your letterhead now, so it’s available when you need it. Depending on your preference, you don’t need it on nice vellum paper; however, you do need it to look professional. Again, this is another impression of your business that is going into the hands of a potential client.

When creating your letterhead, your logo should appear in the top header. Your contact information and its placement is a personal preference. I’ve seen some people use it in the top header and some in the bottom header, but all contact information should be available to the recipient of this letter.

Second pages of the letters that you are creating should not be the same letterhead as the first. The second page of your letter should simply have a smaller version of your logo in the upper left corner as well as the contact information of your business in the footer.

Keep in mind that when you have this letterhead printed professionally it will cost you. I recommend, if you have a color printer at home to just buy paper and print as needed. Also, make sure that you do have an electronic version of your letter head so that when you are emailing letters, it still comes across to the reader as a professional document. I prefer creating my letters in word and then putting them in to a PDF format. To me, it looks clean and crisp. I also recommend that you have a gif or jpg of your signature so that you can insert your signature into your letter if sending electronically.

Envelopes

Your envelopes should match your letterhead and should include your logo, return address, and your website address. Again, you can have them professionally printed or you can print them yourself.

Another option is return address labels, although I don’t feel that they are as professional as envelopes pre-printed.

Company Brochure

Brochures are great “leave behinds” and they are great ways for people to learn more about your business. Remember when creating them, that you are not only promoting yourself, but you are more likely than not promoting the industry. Somewhere on that brochure, you need to tell the reader what a VA is!

Make sure your contact information is on your brochure - all of it. Don’t ever allow the person holding your marketing materials not know how to contact you.

Make sure that you touch upon what a VA is and what you do as part of the industry. What do you specialize in? What services do you offer? This is not the place for the laundry list of what you can do. You want to put your main services as well as “for a complete list please visit my website at www.yoursitehere.com “.

Do you have clients that are happy with you? Include testimonials on your brochure so that you can show your potential clients what you’ve done for others and the impact that you’ve had on them.

Tell them about you! What is your background? Where did you gain this knowledge to offer these services? What degrees or certifications do you hold? This is the time to sell yourself, just as you would do in a job interview.

Your brochure should also include your elevator speech in some form or fashion. Again, give them enough to understand what you do - but also the desire to learn more.

Finally, somewhere on this brochure, you need to tell your reader why they should choose you. Perhaps they already know what a VA is and that they need one. Now you need to sell your business and how you can help them. What is your strongest selling point? What solutions do you offer? What problems have you solved?
Please tell me there’s no more!!

Oh but there is! Your marketing arsenal must be stocked full of ammo that will aid you in obtaining and retaining the client base that you want.

This should keep you busy for awhile, but the time put into each of the items listed above will be well worth it.

In my next article, I will touch on marketing kits, “gimmicks”, and direct mail (or email) campaigns.

About the Author:

Heather Jacobson doesn’t pay for marketing if she doesn’t have to. Discover how she does it and claim 10 free marketing tips at http://www.10freetips.com

6 Red Hot Tips To Get Your Article Read

Published on November 18, 2007 in Article Marketing and Articles. 0 Comments

Let’s face it…you struggle with writing papers. You didn’t like it in high school and college and you don’t like it now. You’re not alone! Why is it that you don’t like to write? Is it because you think no one will read it; that there are too many articles out there on the ‘net? Are you someone who doesn’t read articles so you don’t think others will? Here’s the deal – articles are supposed to be read, but they won’t be unless you make it worth the time to read. If you don’t then writing articles is a waste of time and effort.

At the same time, you have to write articles that are meant to be read. It’s just a matter of making them good and that doesn’t have to be strenuous and straining. There are guides to follow and points that need to be made and once you get the hang of it, you’ll see the benefit and value of articles.

Now, before you go off writing articles, let’s make a few things clear. You must write about something you know. Chances are you’re promoting your website or area of expertise so look for things that tie into that. When you write about something you know you won’t have as hard of a time coming up with the topics. Once you have the topic it’s just a matter of making your articles creative and interesting.

Are you ready to learn how to write your articles so that they are read? Here are 6 easy ways to do just that!

1) Use shorter paragraphs.

When the paragraphs are longer, it looks like it’s hard to read. Your readers will skim, if that, and won’t digest what you’re trying to say. With all the information out there we’ve all become skimmers. Make it easy for your reader. Forget what your English teacher taught you. Paragraphs can now be one sentence or even one word. I’m giving you permission to do this!

2) Use numbers and bullet points wherever possible.

The numbers and bullet point emphasis importance. It draws the readers’ attention to what you really want to tell them. I’m willing to bet that with this article, you skimmed the introduction and you read the numbered lines and then skimmed the descriptions.

That’s okay. What I really want you to know is the sentence that’s attached to the number. Even if you read nothing else, you know 6 easy ways to make people read your articles

3) Use Sub-headings

Use subheadings to direct your reader. Much like bullet points, they emphasize what you really want your reader to know and the transition from one point to the next is smooth and easy for the reader.

4) Provide a good attention-grabbing title or header.

Your headline is key! If you don’t grab them with your title you might as well forget it. Don’t place stress on yourself over this.

There are many “formulas” you can use for headlines and titles. People like numbers – “Lose 30lbs in 30 days”, “Increase your traffic by 500% in 7 days!”.
Play on emotion. That’s what people are looking for. Are your tips “simple” or “easy”? Are they “quick”? Think about keywords that your readers are searching for. Your title should be short, sweet and do the point but it also needs to describe what your article is about.

5) Use real life situations.

Have you ever noticed that you’re drawn to things that you can relate to? Why would your readers be any different? If you’re talking about starting your own virtual assistant business, your reader probably wants to know what happened to you. What snags did you come across? How did you over come them? What mistakes did you make and how can they learn from them?

As long as you don’t over do it, descriptions and metaphors also make for a good article. Put them in the article. They’ll stick with it to see how it all turns out.

6) Use facts and figures that you can back up

Make your article authoritative by using facts and figures. While this is a good tactic, don’t turn your article into a formal report. Do you like reading formal reports?

Here’s an example. Recently there was a news scandal in our area. The affidavit was posted online along with the article. Because I had never seen an affidavit before, I decided to look at it but it was so dry and boring (even though it was a scandal!). I got more out of, and read the entire article next to the affidavit. Why? The reporter put it into my terms, made it not so formal, and something that I could relate to.

Consider yourself a teacher and you’re explaining the topic to your students.

Using the above six tips, you’re well on your way to not only grabbing your reader’s attention, but keeping them with you from start to finish. You main goal is to write an informative, readable article that others will see value in and post on their web site. Set yourself up as an expert and you’ll have followers waiting for your next literary work!

About the Author:

Heather Jacobson doesn’t pay for marketing if she doesn’t have to and uses the power of article marketing to elevate her business. Sign up for the free 5 day eCourse on article marketing at http://www.valleyva.net/article-ecourse.html and discover how you too can market your business with articles!