The Very Important

Yesterday, I met with an entrepreneur who owns a healthy IT business. He contacted me to network a bit. He shared some wonderful leads with me and then we brainstormed as he discussed some growth opportunities and ancillary business ideas he is exploring.

When our meeting ended, and we walked towards the door, for a moment my balance was askew. It was then that I realized there was something that just felt different. It took me a few moments, but as I shook his hand and looked into his eyes, I got it! I realized WHY this meeting had been so different.

For 10 months, perhaps even longer, 90% of my meetings with clients have been to discuss and offer strategic support for their struggling and sometimes desperately faltering businesses. Their product repackaging, their lead generation reinvention, their reinvestment of greatly reduced marketing dollars, and their downsized staff restructuring. Here, was a meeting in which the topic of the “truly urgent” was not at hand. He wasn’t looking for strategic insight on his day-to-day marketing, his customer profile, or his changing channels of distribution, he was looking to brainstorm his strategic plans for growth in the next 3-5 years and beyond. It was a paradigm shift for me. He was, indeed, addressing the “very important” of his professional life.

Perhaps this is a sign that the economic downturn is waning?

I am excited to work with this new client on his “future scope” of potentially exciting new opportunities and am grateful for the recognition that I can be a strong resource for him.

I have hopes that in the next few months more people will approach Freakin’ Genius Marketing with longer-term matters, shifting from their “truly urgent” hats to their “very important” suits! The difference is really about making the choice of not letting their businesses run their lives, and instead building the business of their dreams. Addressing the “very important” means preparing for the future, and that future is looking better and better every day.

What's in a name?

On Friday I attempted to choreograph my way through a product launch press release in which the new company, which is web based sans brick and mortar entirely, sports a domain name that is the same as the company name. The product or tool, however, a portal of sorts, didn’t really have a name. Well, I guess it had a name, the same name as the company, but I was struck with the quandary of how to distinguish between the company, the domain name and the actual product in a way that just didn't sound like gobble-de-gook in the launch release that was announcing both the new company and the new product.

It was clear that the name of the company reflects its mission. While that makes perfect sense as a company name, it’s not intuitive at all for search effectiveness, which of course, when you are a web-based tool, needs to work for you, not against you.

Anecdotally, I did a google search for the name of the company, which of course is also the domain name. I had results pages long of completely unrelated topics because the mission of this company, while being a goal, is not at all what its product is about. Using the product itself leads to the goal of the mission, but the search terms or keywords a potential customer would use would not be intuitive.

So, while the brand is effectively named…the product name was not optimized for search, which is key to driving sales on the internet.

One must always remember, a potential customer will search for what they need in terms of a description. Sometimes, if they already know a product, they will search by its name, or the domain name, but better yet, if the domain name is reflective of the product name, then the search will be that much more successful at finding the product.

So….what’s in a name? A name has as much importance as unlocking the door on the front of your brick and mortar business. You don’t want the customers peering into the window but not be able to open the door.

What do you want to achieve in 2010?

It's been a tough year....and a revolutionary decade with the evolution of Social Media and web-based solutions for nearly everything one needs.

Imagine taking control, establishing a return for every minute you invest in your company, and feeling that passion in your work again!

Freakin' Genius Marketing can faciliate your growth into the business of your dreams!

Do you want to gain awareness for your business?
Do you want to increase leads?
Do you want to nurture your current leads?
Do you want to keep in contact with current customers?
Do you want to take your business to the next level?

Email us for a free consultation! info@freakingeniusmarketing.com

We will help YOU make it happen in 2010!

Loyal Customers in Good Times and Bad

Loyalty. Something most businesses would give their bottom line for! Loyal customers are the best investment and asset a business can have and will help you weather the proverbial storm during the mean times. In the end, it’s your loyalist’s experience with your company, products, and employees that will keep them faithful and encourage them to spread the word to others also. So what strategies do you have in place to not only keep your faithful customers happy but perhaps even increase their spending with you?

Consider what the impact on sales would be if you could motivate your top customers to purchase one more item per visit. Executing a cross-sell promotion to drive the purchase of an additional item or a bounce-back offer to motivate the customer to come back for an additional visit can have a significant impact on your sales. Make your loyal customers feel special and the results will speak volumes.

Not all ambassadors of your brand will need a specific reason to tell someone else how much they love you, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to empower them with new exclusive benefits that they’ll be so excited about they’ll tell everyone. With new customers getting harder to acquire, word-of-mouth marketing through your tried and true loyal customers may be the most attractive. Give them something fun or valuable to share, or create a “refer-a-friend” program.

Creating conversation with your most loyal customers is easy. They are already loyal to you and have a lot to say to you. You have earned their respect. You can get their feedback on your product line, customer service, or e-mail campaign by using a satisfaction survey or an exit interview at your register or door. Enhance any customer touchpoint with product review options, testimonial forms, and acts of sincere thanks for their business. Asking for your customer’s feedback and advice is the greatest form of flattery, and the last time I looked, there was no itemized budget for flattery, so use it generously.

One word of caution, when you collect your loyal customer’s feedback, don’t ignore it. The act of collecting it is not the endgame. It is imperative that you react to the feedback you receive from your best, most loyal customers. Be ready to respond to concerns that could lead a loyal customer to jump overboard. Lastly, don't let once-loyal customers slip away. Reach out with an incentive-laden “lifeboat” at the first sign of activity drop off.

Trimmin' the Fat in Lean Times

Many Freakin' Genius Marketing Clients are facing very lean times this quarter. Not like tax season isn't hard enough, so many businesses are looking at downsizing and streamlining expenses in an effort to run at break even.

As a business strategist involved in many different areas of our client's business I am often asked how to prioritize cuts. It is a complicated question that really has a different answer for every individual business. Certainly if your company carries middle management whose main purpose is delegation, cut away. Accountability comes with hard times and those in the delegated areas need to stand up and take responsibility for takin' care of biznezz'. As for management positions that are more in line with Account Management and often times are heavily involved in Business Development and Customer Relationship Management, think "WHOA" before the cutting begins.

I always suggest looking at each line item of the cost of doing business before sending anyone in your company to the unemployment line. Why just last month, by assessing our household line-items we were able to save over $300.00 a month by bundling services alone. One client I was involved with reevaluated their shipping service and saved $800.00 a month by switching providers.

Take some time with your staff, and sit with excel sheets and assess monthly expenditures. Bundle, meet with alternative providers, prioritize, and remember that job responsibilities can be shifted to increase productivity of employees whose jobs need redefining vs. cutting. I have another client who realized they needed to rehire one of their recent layoffs just a week after the layoff to cover new responsibilities as they strategize their future. No one wants to treat people like commodities. Those companies that can be successful in lean times will be the shining stars in fattier times. Which, with some luck, we will see again in the coming years.