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Start Spreading The Word: How To Get A New Product Noticed

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If you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve probably noticed that putting your business on the map is no mean feat. There’s so much competition out there, and in a world when 90% of startups fail, it can be difficult to forge a path and get yourself noticed. If you have a new product and you’re desperate to shout about it from the rooftops, here are some tips to help you spread the word.

Your online presence

Many businesses nowadays rely on an online marketing campaign to sell their products and services. In the US, around 70% of small businesses have a website, but over 90% of those that don’t have a site plan to have one up and running by 2018. According to a study by LinkedIn, over 80% of companies use social media in a marketing capacity. If you have a new product, using the Internet is an effective way to both market and sell your product. The first thing to do is set up a brilliant website, which gives people information about the company, the product and the difference it will make to their lives. Ensure the website looks great, it works properly, and it enables a customer to do everything they want to do. If you’re offering the chance to place an order, this should be a seamless, swift process.

You can promote your website by running a blog and using social media. Using sites like Guest Post Tracker enables you to connect with bloggers and increase your number of subscribers, and you can also form relationships, which are mutually beneficial using features like backlinks and sponsored posts. Keep the blog fresh and link your content to your social media profiles. You can boost your number of followers and friends by investing in advertising and by running competitions and offering flash discounts and sales for those who subscribe or like your page.

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article
Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Launch events and trade shows

If you’re hoping that your new product will be the next big thing, you need to show it off in all its glory. Planning a launch event and attending trade shows can really help to get your product out there and cause people to take notice. If you are planning a launch, put your guest list together carefully and think about how you can use the exposure in the best possible way. Prepare some demos, check that everything is working properly, and get to grips with your pitch. Show off what you’re selling, invite people to have a look, and be ready to answer questions. If you’re going to a trade show, focus on the visual appeal of your stall, and try and make the experience interactive for your customers. Take advantage of networking opportunities and work on your negotiation skills.

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article
Photo courtesy of Charles & Hudson via flickr

When you’ve spent time and invested money in a new product, the last thing you want is it to fall flat because nobody knows what it is or how they can get hold of it. If you’re keen to get your new product noticed, hopefully, these tips will prove useful.

Marketing and Sales Best Practice 1 – Social Media Publication Timing

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Best Practice ArticleReaching your audience in today’s hyper-connected world is more difficult than ever. Not only must your content be relevant and engaging, it must capture your audience’s attention through any of a number of platforms while competing with an enormous number of other publishers vying for the same limited reader/viewer attention. Winning this battle may be as much about timing as it is about content.

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About the Author

Karen Juliano, StrategyDriven Vice PresidentKaren Juliano is StrategyDriven’s Editor-in-Chief and Vice President of Communications and Marketing. Prior to joining the StrategyDriven team, she helped produce weekly programming for a Public Access Television station and served as a production assistant in the public affairs office at United States Naval Base, Philadelphia. To read Karen’s complete biography, click here.

Managing Millennials: 5 Lessons that Social Media Can Teach HR

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As Millennials pour into the workforce, HR executives and business leaders are struggling to adapt their management strategies. Glued to their smartphones and practically wired to social media, Gen Y, sometimes known as “generation we”, has gained an unfair reputation for being distracted, unproductive and self-absorbed. But rather than viewing their immersion in social technology as a negative, I would argue that business leaders need to view the social web as a guide to bringing the best out of young employees.

According to a study by UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, Millennials will make up 46% of the U.S. workforce by 2020. However, a recent study by Bentley University found that 68% of corporate recruiters say that it’s difficult for their organization to manage them. Businesses that fail to address this problem will be at significant disadvantage when it comes to recruiting Millennials and cultivating their potential. Thanks to websites like Glassdoor, potential recruits will know if your company is failing in this area.

To more effectively manage Millennials, we must look to social media for insights on what they value, how they operate and what will motivate them in a work environment. In a profound way, the dominant technology of an era shapes how kids, teenagers and young adults view their world. It’s easy to scorn Gen Y when we look at their obsession with technology from the outside, but when look at the world from their perspective, we’ll gain some the keys to improving their communication, collaboration and productivity.

Here are 5 lessons from social media that HR and business leaders can use to bring out the best in Millennials.

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The 5 Key Pieces Of Your Digital Marketing Puzzle. Are You Missing One?

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Digital marketing is a vast and complicated web of interlinking strategies. A full marketing plan should incorporate many different elements, and ensure they work together. If your off-page seo strategy doesn’t correspond with your core services or brand strategy – you may be missing conversion opportunities and wasting your spend. If it sounds tricky, that’s because it is! On the plus side, it is incredibly effective.

Digital marketing gives you unprecedented access to your customers. It’s an opportunity to connect with them in ways that traditional marketing simply didn’t allow. You’ll also find that digital marketing is much more cost-effective. These marketing tips are highly targeted, meaning that you only need reach the people who really care about your product. If you’re new to the game, here are the five most important pieces of the puzzle.

The 5 Key Pieces Of Your Digital Marketing Puzzle. Are You Missing One?
Photo courtesy of Joe The Goat Farmer

1. A website

A website should be the first thing on your list. It’s the heart of your online presence, and should act as the sun in your digital marketing solar system. All the other elements revolve around it, and feed back into it. All elements of your digital marketing strategy should lead back to just one thing on your website. That’s a product or service that you will sell. Your website will also host all the necessary information about your business.

2. Content

Your website should also host some useful and compelling content. It can be as simple as a blog that comments on your industry. If you’re feeling more creative, you can use video content, infographics, and podcasts too. Content is one of your most important tools in digital marketing. It helps position yourself as an expert in your field, and allows you to connect with others. Most importantly, good content will be shared all over the web. It will reach new leads, and entice them onto your website.

3. Social media

We like to think of social media as the smaller planets that revolve around your website. Each one acts as a beacon to attract new leads and customers. By sharing your content on your social media sites, you’ll reach new people. You can interact with your existing customers, and keep drawing them back to your site. It’s all about using these satellites to send visitors back to your main hub. The most effective social media sites include Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

4. SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the arguably the most confusing piece of the puzzle. To get the best results, it’s often worth partnering with a digital marketing company. SEO is a series of tweaks and adaptations that make your site rank higher on Google searches. After all, the higher up on the Google results page your website gets, the more people you reach. More specifically, you can use keywords to make sure you appear in front of the right people. That’s the essence of good marketing!

5. Email marketing

According to the top marketers, emails are still the best way to reach out to customers. They’re personal, direct, and private. Most importantly, you’re sending information to people who are already interested in your product or services. Statistics show it’s the most effective form of repeat marketing.

That’s all for today, folks! Are you missing any key parts of the digital marketing puzzle?

Turn Ideas into ACTION to have a GREAT Year

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Everyone wants to have a great year, and many start with a flurry.

Problem is that many can’t keep up the momentum or maintain the dedication to make ‘great’ a reality. The health clubs and gyms are already less crowded.

Last week I posted my list of 21.5 things to do so that you can have a great year every year. They are posted on my LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreygitomer).

Here are a few items from the list that will help you maintain ‘great’ all year long:
3. Have a deep belief in the 3.5 critical areas of selling. In order to make your message transferable, in order to engage your prospective buyer in a way that they want to do business with you, and before you develop your sales skills, and your presentation skills, you must deepen your belief in your company, your product or service, and yourself. AND you must believe that the customer is better off having purchased from you.

If you’re going to have a great year, you have to believe that you work for the greatest company in the world. You have to believe that you offer the greatest product or service(s) in the world, and you have to believe you’re the greatest salesperson in the world.

I have often said in my live seminars that ‘mediocrity stems from lack of belief more than lack of skill.’ I say it because it’s true. Most people blame their own inability, and their lack of belief, on a variety of external circumstances: pricing, the marketplace, the Internet, the competition, bidding, the economy, and a bunch of other conjured up excuses that prevent a belief system from anchoring in success.

If you believe – all the excuses fade away. If you wanna have a great year, you have to BELIEVE that you’re going to have a great year.

12. Write down your thoughts. Begin capturing your thoughts and ideas in writing. I have been writing for 23 years. Every penny that I have earned since March 23, 1992, (the day my first column appeared in print) I can trace back to something that I wrote. Capturing your thoughts in writing not only helps clarify them to yourself – it helps clarify and transfer them to others. Writing does not just lead to success, writing leads to wealth. If you’re looking to have a great year, begin writing down how that’s going to happen, and what things you have to do to make that happen. Begin to write a game plan. And begin to list the people that can help you, and the ways that they can help you. In order to get in the groove of writing, I recommend that you begin by writing down things at the end of the day that are on your mind. It might be an idea. It might be a task. It might be points you want to cover in a sales presentation. But the more you write down, the less you will have on your mind, and the easier it will be for you to create new ideas. In order to have a great year, you have to have great ideas. And in order to come up with great ideas, you mind has to be both clear and positive.

16. Keep your present customers loyal to you and your company. In order to grow your business organically (the best, strongest, and most economical way), you must FIRST preserve the customers you have. You do this with on-time delivery, excellent service, giving value, and superior communication (not with lowest price). This will breed referrals and testimonials. Two key ingredients for having your best year ever.

17. Double your testimonials. Testimonials make sales when salespeople (you included) cannot. Your customers can sell for you way better than you can. If you’re not employing video testimonials in every aspect of your sales process, you will not have a great year. And worse, you’ll continue to fight the silly ‘price wars’ against your dirtball competitors. Testimonials make sales when salespeople cannot.

20. Start every morning with attitude. Wake up tomorrow morning and grab an attitude book off your bookshelf. Napoleon Hill, W. Clement Stone, Dale Carnegie. Any past master who can give you continued insight into the way you dedicate yourself to the way you think. The late great Earl Nightingale said, ‘You become what you think about all day long.’ The best way for you to have a great year is to begin to think and believe that you’re going to have a great year.

For the more complete list, go to my LinkedIn page (www.linkedin.com/jeffreygitomer).

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].