Do people really call from vehicle signage?

If they can find you! I was driving the other day and I saw a truck that said "Reliable Painting" and it had a phone number on it. By the time I realized what they did, they were too far away from me in traffic and I couldn’t see their phone number. I saw the area code and it was local so when I got home I Googled them but nothing came up by that name. I called them because their truck was clean and the ladders, lettering and everything I saw led me to believe they “looked credible.”

The sad thing was I couldn’t find them when I looked them up online. Nothing about their business came up and they did not have a website, at least not one I could find.

The moral of the story? Make sure your business is findable online. Make it happen!

For more information on why your business may or may not be findable online, read this article too.

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Should I exhibit at a trade show or just attend?

This is a question that every business owner asks themselves at one time or another. If you have never been to the type of trade show you thinking about exhibiting, then take the time to attend the show you find out the real value in showing. Why? Tradeshows can be an expensive means to advertise and you may be able to attend a show, spend minimal costs to obtain the same amount of exposure. Also, it may be tough to determine your return on investment at first glance.

If the trade show is not local you can safely assume your company will incur these costs:
Travel costs (i.e. Airfare, Car Rental, Gasoline, etc.)
Hotel Expenses
Meals
Parking
Tips
Exhibiting fees including but not limited to:
Booth costs (average 10 x 10 $1,000 or more)
Internet fees
Shipping and freight fees
Electricity
Higher food costs at the event and
Personnel cost because you will need more than one person to staff the booth for breaks, etc.

By attending an event you will meet other attendees who would have been potential visitors to your booth and can interact with them by exchanging business cards and telling them about your business all the while, test the waters in terms of interest.

Typically, there is a designated area to for breaks, take several coffee or soda breaks and sit at tables where people are congregating. Talk with them; ask them how they like the event and what they do. They will undoubtedly ask you what you do and you can test out your product’s offering by discussing it with the groups. Take their input and generate from there solutions to best reach your target audience. Spend as much time as you can meeting and talking to people at this show and stay at a hotel where attendees or exhibitors are and network with as many people as possible.

Lastly, while at the show, talk to exhibitors with similar type products/ services that you offer. Before you tell them that you are contemplating getting a booth next time, casually ask if they are having good luck at the show and if it is prompting sales.

By taking all these steps you can decide if you want to exhibit the next time around with “eyes wide open” to all of the costs and the potential benefits.

Tell us how your visit to the next show goes!

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Marketing 101: Don’t blow your shot!

Who doesn't love a good massage? I feel very fortunate I am able to get one of these stress relieving, knot reducing, self indulging acts on a regular basis to ease the pain from all this typing! When you think of massages, marketing typically doesn’t pop into your mind but for many masseuses marketing is a key tool for obtaining a full clientele base.

I have used the same masseuse for many years now, not only out of loyalty but because their services were bar none. More recently, I was approached by a new therapist who heard about my frequent massages. She attempted to sell us on her services raving how her techniques for deep tissue massage were second to none and that is was absolutely necessary we give her a try. Since deep massages are my forte and this therapist seemed to really understand the concept to giving deep sports type massage I thought I would be willing to try out her services.

As the new therapist's luck with have it, my current masseuse needed to change my schedule around, which did not work out for me and so I decided to contact the new therapist. I made several attempts to contact her via phone and email a couple days ago and I still have NOT HEARD FROM HER!

This brings up a very serious question. Why would the new therapist spend an intense amount of time trying to obtain my business and when the opportunity presented itself she completely dropped the ball? The answer remains a mystery but because of her lack of dependability, she blew it. If this is how she is treating me as a potential customer, how will I be treated once she gains my business when she no longer has to work for it? Unfortunately, she will never get the opportunity.

Not only do you never get a second chance to make a first impression, with some customers you'll never get another chance period. Keep this mind when marketing you services and products. Don’t spend the time to obtain potential customers if you don't plan on staying consistent with your business etiquette.

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

What is a PEO?

A PEO is a Professional Employer Organization. Companies who do not want to manage all of the employee related human resource aspects of running a company, often align themselves with one of these types of companies. A PEO provides a cost-effective alternative to outsource the management of HR, employee benefits, payroll and workers compensation which allows the business owner to focus on their core competencies of running and building their company.

By aligning yourself with a PEO you become a Co-Employer with them. For the most part everything stays the same with this arrangement, you still run the day-to-day management of the company and your people, but your PEO Company makes sure you do it within all of the State and Federal guidelines. They in essence become your in-house consulting firm to consult with to make sure you do everything right with your compliance, administration, procedures and interaction as it relates to your employees.

Another big benefit to aligning yourself with one of these PEO’s is that you can typically offer big Company benefits even though you are a smaller company. How? Because PEO’s usually have hundreds if not thousands of people in their Co-Employment relationships you are able to leverage these big numbers of employees to provide your employees more comprehensive benefits at what are usually lower prices than you could get on your own.

The fees for a PEO are usually a percentage of your payroll. The fees you pay them can sometimes be offset by the savings you might have with workers compensation, payroll administration and benefits cost reductions. Often times companies can compete better for new recruits with more comprehensive benefits and a more coordinated HR process.

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

What is the difference between an email address and a domain name?

A domain name is the address where a web site typically resides. For example: http://blog.em4b.com is our domain name. If we want to have an email address associated with our domain name we could use questions@blog.em4b.com.

It’s kind of like your physical home address where you live. Your home address is 123 Main Street (Domain name) and your address for mail at your home is John Doe @ 123 Main Street (email address).

Hopefully this is making sense to you. If someone gives you their email address and its: billsmith@smallenginerepair.com most people that want to know about your company will go to their web browser and put in your domain name of www.smallenginerepair.com to see more information about your company. If they want to contact you directly they will use your email address at: billsmith@smallenginerepair.com.

Hopefully all this is starting to make sense to you now. The other most commonly used terms for domain names are: URL, Web Address or Web site address.

It’s best to try and keep your domain name as short as you can and as easy to remember as possible.

© 2008 eMarketing 4 Business LLC