Get the Buzz in Your Marketing

Marketing is anything but a clearly defined science. What worked ten or fifteen years ago will now be seen by consumers as irrelevant and outdated. New generations are out there with unprecedented demands and new channels of communication; to ignore them is to invite...

Getting Value Out of Sponsorships

How can you evaluate the proposal and give your client the right advice? After all, the money could just as easily go into advertising, a charitable donation or simply remain on the bottom line. Consumers generally value sponsorships highly. They see most of them as...

Guerrilla Marketing — How Does it Work

They’re a kind of metropolitan phenomenon. A large duck holding a sign saying “Pizzas today – $5 each”, or Superman leaps out into the street carrying a placard promoting a sale in a nearby store. In the depression era of much earlier times it was someone...

Help the Community and Your Firm

Most of us have a charity or other worthy cause that we support. This lets us help others and in turn gives us a genuine feeling of sharing with those less fortunate than ourselves. By serving as volunteers we’re able to make a contribution that is perhaps even...

Hold the Price & Keep the Customer

When it comes to setting prices the majority of businesses are followers, not leaders. It they raise prices it’s always with the fear that customers will be offended, but they’ll lower prices to keep a customer or get a new one. They’re usually more...

How Charities can Help You with Your Marketing

It’s called ‘cause related marketing’ in popular parlance today but it actually began in 1982, with an American Express campaign that helped restore the Statue of Liberty. The campaign raised $1.7 million in funds and fuelled a 27 percent increase in card usage. With...

Increase Your Prices Without Pain

Most Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) undervalue themselves and consequently have prices that aren’t genuinely high enough. The prices may cover the costs of the product and maybe even the marketing costs plus a small profit, but they could still be...

Is That Price Increase Necessary?

Costs go up in a seemingly never-ceasing process. Suppliers raise their prices so the businesses that purchase from them raise their prices. Those businesses that purchase from the businesses that have just raised their prices have to raise their own prices. And so it...

Is Your Sponsorship Working?

The growing cost of advertising has forced many smaller enterprises to look towards sponsorships as a means of getting their brand across, especially for local businesses who view sponsorship as a contribution to their community as well as an avenue of promotion. The...

Make a Small Firm Look Bigger

Small firms are often penalized for their size. They don’t get as much attention from governmental authorities as bigger firms, nor are they likely to be considered as important when it comes to matters like making capital equipment purchases or tendering for...

Make Sure the Price is Right

Pricing is something that most small businesses do in a way that’s less than scientific. Usually the owner makes an estimate of what the costs are of providing a product or service, then adds a fixed percentage and calls it “profit”. The result is a...

Make Your Direct Mail Work Harder

Direct mail is a powerful marketing tool, and when it’s used creatively it can be extremely cost effective. The biggest mistake to make when planning a direct mail effort is to allow it be uninteresting. Direct mail pieces that are big on product features and...

Manage Your Own Big Event

Many businesses decide to host an event of some kind — it could be a dinner for clients or perhaps a picnic for team members and their families. Whatever the reason for your big event might be, it pays to plan ahead and make sure it achieves its objectives....

Market Your Business with an eBook

An eBook is just what it sounds like – A book that’s published online and exists in an electronic format that can be downloaded from a website. Anyone can write an eBook, including you, and use it to market their business and its products. An eBook can be...

Marketer, Sell Thyself!

There’s a lot of confusion about just what constitutes marketing. Is it advertising? Yes. Is it pricing? Yes. Is it selling? Not often enough. A lot has been said about all the new ways of marketing and how businesses have to change to reflect a new focus on...

Marketing to the Aging Baby Boomers

The baby boomers have been setting consumer trends for half a century now, and as they move through their 50s and into retirement, they will continue to do so. We are likely to see a significant change in consumer behavior for this demographic – consumption patterns...

Maximize Your Company’s Media Exposure

When the news media come knocking on your company’s door, it often represents a golden opportunity to get your message across in a very credible way to your customers, your investors, your employees and your potential partners. Are you ready to seize the moment?...