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If your looking for guidance to get your business off the ground Stop! Every business needs to begin somewhere and Marked Perception can help you with everything you need and need to know read more...
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Looking to develop your business? We’re here to guide you with new strategies plus offline and online marketing campaign ideas that we’ve tested and have worked for all our clients in their market place. To find out how we strategically plan all our campaigns with you in mind....
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If your looking for guidance to get off the ground?
Stop! Every business needs to begin Somewhere and marketing is a key part of Business success.
Marked Perception understands the importance of marketing your brand. It doesn’t need to cost the earth or cause you a headache, Marked Perception will point you in the right direction to help you get your business up and running and create everything you need. Whether its a corporate Identity, stationery, literature or a website, our promise is to guide you every step of the way.
So if you want to get started, have a budget in mind and want to get off the ground. Don’t be shy Drop us a line and talk openly to the experts.
Three tools every new business needs......
Business Cards
We probably don't need to tell you that business cards are an incredibly powerful way of getting your name in people’s minds.
There are several benefits to having a business card the first being that it gives you a way to leave your impression on potential customers.
Are business cards for everyone? The simple answer is Yes.
Any business, at any level of complexity, benefits from business cards. But high-volume businesses typically rely on business cards at higher levels of the business finding new suppliers, prospective employees, and other business contacts than on the basic promotional level.
For a small business, business cards take on a much more vital role. This holds doubly true for skilled trades or any business that works on a client model, rather than a customer model. Customer-based businesses (from supermarkets to software concerns) benefit the most from having a large body of customers to place orders or come into the store, and business cards, for all their advantages, don't do this as effectively as other forms of advertising. But for skilled trades and other client businesses they rely less on a large body of customers than on a few local, trusted clients who'll patronize the business, form relationships with the business, and provide references to friends and business contacts to allow the business to grow. Basically, if your business provides a service that a larger business needs, or that can be performed effectively for only a few local clients, business cards are essential for business success.
The other business model that benefits the most from business cards is Internet-based business.
Remember, when people leave your website, the majority of the time they forget you, your site and anything to do with you forever.
Having a business card keeps you, your business and your products & services in the mind of your prospects and if they ever have an associate ask about a service like yours, chances are they will recommend you.
Make sure you have cards handy at all times so you can share them with people who would like to have them.
Leaflets & Brochures
With the explosion of the internet and online businesses many business owners forget how important it is to market offline as well. One of the main pieces in your company’s marketing should be a brochure. You should have a brochure for your online and offline marketing.
Leaflets & Brochures have many advantages over most other marketing tools available to you. Probably the most important advantage is that brochures can convey a lot of information about your business. Brochures can tell a detailed story about your business that cannot be told through display advertising. A brochure gives you the flexibility to communicate your message and the benefits you off with both words and graphics.
In the information age people expect to get the information they want and need quickly. And that is exactly what a brochure does. It gives prospects the information they want in just a few seconds.
In most cases the more you tell the more you sell. People don’t read brochures unless they are seriously interested in gaining information. They are not interested in “white space;” they are interested in learning more about your business and your product or service. And they resent it if you don’t give them enough information to buy what you are selling.
Your sales letter should be warm, human, sincere, honest, personal and one-on-one. But your brochure should be technical. It showcases the attractions, components, advantages or positive benefits of your product or service. It should be written in concise one-sentence or one-paragraph statements that give a solid list of facts and benefits. Reprint or excerpt your best testimonials, endorsements and recommendations.
You should begin your brochure with a headline that summarizes the contents. This is very important because your headline is the ad for the brochure. Here’s Marked Perception’s top 10 tips to help you create a winning brochure:
1. Tell your prospects why they should buy your product or service.
2. Tell your prospects why you are enthusiastic about your product or service.
3. Give some important facts that your prospects should know about your product or service.
4. Tell your prospects why your product or service will benefit them; Give facts, figures, and testimonials that confirm the case for buying your product or service.
5. Use visuals, photos, graphics, and illustrations that help create a desire to buy.
6. If you want a simple cost effective leaflet, use a three-fold (six-panel 1/3 A4) brochure that fits neatly into a DL envelope.
7. Use a larger brochure with a flap inside the rear cover to hold individual leaflets. This helps you personalize your brochure to specific prospects.
8. Create a brochure that can be used for many years. For example, instead of saying, “We’re a new company,” say “We have years of experience.”
9. Always end your brochure by summarizing the entire proposition of what you’re selling. And restate your guarantee very powerfully and prominently.
10. Create something of real interest that will get people talking, the more people who know you, the more trade comes through your doors.
Important The job of any brochure is to get your prospect interested in your product or service. So make sure you give them all the information necessary to make a decision, and then offer them a way to move directly to either purchase or request more information. Your brochure should act as a tour guide for your company.
The goal of any brochure is to convey your key message quickly and concisely. Prospects want to know what’s in it for them. They want to know how your products or services will help them. Always remember, prospects have to be told what to do. So make sure your brochure does that. Your brochure is a call to action.
Run ads that invite prospects to call, write or e-mail you for a free brochure. Your brochures should be given to prospects who request them or have a high probability of purchasing from you. By doing this, you can give many reasons to purchase from you without paying for the advertising space to do so. Then you add the names of the brochure-requesters to your mailing and e-mail lists and write to them regularly. One final note, never send out a brochure without some type of letter with it.
Use your brochures to spread the word about your company. Use ads, your customers, the internet, and any other outlets you can think of to have your prospects request them. The more places you use, the more effective your brochures will be. Your brochure will compliment every part of your marketing. It will leave your prospects with everything they need to help turn them into buying customers.
Website
You may ask yourself, "Why Get a Web Site ? Why do I need a web site ... I already have a good customer brochure." With an internet site, your product or service is accessible globally, to prospective customers 24 hours, 365 days a year. More and more people these days are using the internet as a first post of call because of its convenience and to save time. Customers and the general public almost expect that a company has a web site. If people want information on a product or service, they are now saying, "I think they have a web site, I'll check that out first."
Because web-sites are quicker, easier and more cost-effective to update than print based media ; Therefore, you can have pictures, details and prices of your products, the very latest company information, or maps indicating the location of your companies outlets on your web-site. A web-site can play an integral part of your companies promotional and marketing strategy. It also makes a powerful statement about your business, showing that you have planned for the future by securing your on-line presence today.
The Top 10 Advantages of having a website:
1. You can publicise your business, service or products to millions of potential customers. Having a web site can increase your sales.
2. You can update your web site with your latest news or prices much easier and cheaper than print based media. A web site can save you a lot of money in communication and administration costs.
3. You can link your web site with other advertising campaigns therefore creating brand awareness.
4. Your business can advertise and publicise on the internet 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.
5. Your business now has an extra outlet for taking orders.
6. Web sites are easier and cheaper to change / update, than conventional print based media. Content Management Systems can be set-up by Marked Perception so that you can update any section of your web site, when ever you want as often as you want.
7. Web sites make it easier for customers to do business with you. These customers can be global or local.
8. You can compete with other companies in your market area.
9. You can now place your web site address on your business card to enhance your image.
10. You can use your web site to network with other companies and build better business relationships, locally and around the world.
Imagine the scenario whereby customers ring you requesting information on a product or service - there's only so much you can do via telephone and delivering brochures via postal services takes time. It would be great to say, "If you take a look at our web-site, I'm sure you'll find what you need there." You would be surprised how many extra sales you could have by developing an on-line brochure or virtual store. Having an internet site also speeds up the time taken to react to customer queries, which can be done via e-mail.