I often get asked by my business and practice owner clients for good ideas for marketing to attract new patients and customers.

I am a huge proponent of promoting because, done correctly, it drives up patient and customer counts, and drives up income. Here are my thoughts and ideas.

Referrals Are Pure Gold

I know you have heard this before, and it is absolutely true. But equally important to asking for referrals, and running a referral program, is finding an inexpensive, easy way to show appreciation to those who refer patients or customers to you.

I have found this SOCProgram works great and I use it all the time to send appreciation cards and even small high quality but inexpensive gifts, right from my computer. Check it out and try it out in step 2 for free. You can mail 2 cards at no cost to you, so mail one to someone else and one to yourself to experience what it is like to get a card from this fantastic service. (more…)

I really love helping business owners with their money management and internet advertising, so I spend the majority of my days sitting at my desk working on the computer and phone. It seems that the work never ends. There are hundreds of thousands of small business owners out there who need help on their finance lines.

The sedentary working life isn’t good for my health, so Brian, my Chief Operating Officer and I like to get out and get some exercise. It makes us feel better and clears our heads; and that makes us more efficient when we are at our desks.

Yesterday it was cold in Florida, so instead of going for a long walk outside, Brian wanted to go to the gym and shoot hoops on the basketball court instead. Okay, I was game for something new, so I decided I’d go along and learn to shoot hoops and get my work out that way.

First thing I had to learn was how to hold the basketball and the basic technique of flipping my wrist to propel the ball up and toward the hoop. Once I had that down it was learning about where to look when I was shooting the ball so it would go through the hoop.

I quickly realized that if I aimed dead center at the rim of the hoop that I could be a little off to the left or right with my shot and it would still go through. Then it became how much energy I put into shooting the ball. Too little and the ball would not get up and over the rim. Too much and it would bounce off the backboard or just fly over the hoop.

I started thinking about business money management and promotion using internet advertising to increase income in relation to shooting hoops. Once you have the basic fundamentals down you can make the basket [get the customer sale] almost every shot.
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Blogging is becoming the fastest way to market a business on the internet, and it is huge. Unlike advertising, blogs create instant credibility because readers know that a blog usually has quality content that is newsworthy, so they trust the content.

With all the hard work you put into a blog to insure the content is high quality, you should be financially rewarded for your efforts. But according to David Risley, a six figure income blogger, most bloggers make barely enough to buy a cup of coffee.

David decided to change that situation by sharing his Six Figure Blogger Blueprint Manual with selected people. The good news is that I have his permission to share it with my readers AT NO CHARGE –

You can claim your free copy of this manual by clicking here.

But you better hurry because what I don’t know is how long he’ll allow this link offer to stay “live” and when he says it is going to be turned off, he means it. David only turns the offer on for short periods of time a few times a year.

Click this link right now to claim your copy, and use it to monetize your blog. Residual income is a great way to make money, and you can do that by marketing your blog. Let David show you how.

Here is what David says his manual teaches you:

” …The REAL way to generate six-figure level income from a blog …The 3 vital questions to help you pick a profitable market for your blog …4 tactics for increasing your blogging production even though it seems like you “don’t have time” …The exact layout of your six figure, traffic sucking empire. …The exact reasons why most bloggers fail to make money (and how you can avoid it). …The exact steps to launch a brand new blog – the RIGHT way!” So go ahead, get this free manual, you have nothing to lose and much to gain. Happy Blogging!

Mark Hale, super sales professional and owner of Wilson Printing was gracious enough to share some marketing and sales advice with you, our loyal readers, PLUS he offers you a gift at the end!

The simple law of business is that “Business goes where it is invited”. If you are going to take your business to the next level you are going to have to stop looking at marketing and advertising like an accountant and start looking at your business like a marketer.

When things slow down, the first thing the bean counters and accountant types want to do is cut expenses. The first line item on the P&L they come to is advertising. When you cut your advertising you are in effect speeding up the downward spiral of your sales.

1. Business goes where it is invited.

If you are not advertising, you are losing business. Remember, the competition is inviting your customers to do business with them.

You only coast when you are going down hill. No company’s sales are ever really flat, they are either getting better by a little bit or getting worse by a little bit. You have to fight sometimes for small increases, but as long as it is an increase, no matter how small, up is up. When you see your sales “flat line” you should increase your promotion and marketing.

There are three things to do to increase sales:

1) Identify what your customers want now and deliver THAT. Deliver it with better quality and service than they expect. Deliver it faster than they expect.

Do a survey of your customers to find out what they want in the way of quality, service, product and delivery from your type of business.

Some things you want to ask your customers are:

• How does your product or service make their lives or business easier and better?

• Why do they buy from you?

After you talk to a few customers you will begin to see com­mon themes in their answers. You will use this information later to hone a message and develop a positioning that will make your marketing more effective.

2) Promote to your customers and prospects that you will provide what they want on a continual and consistent basis.

The more often you promote the more your sales will grow.

This involves setting up a budget for advertising and then deciding how you are going to invest that advertising money. Allocate a percentage of your sales toward advertising each week. As sales grow so does your ad budget and with it your ability to reach wider and bigger markets. For most businesses the percentage is between 7% and 15%, but what ever it is you should keep the percentage constant. You may have to adjust the percentage in the beginning to find the right percentage for your business type.

Now that you have your ad budget there are many advertising mediums you can spend that money on – radio, TV, billboards, newspapers, magazine and direct mail. I have found that the simplest and most effect medium is direct mail. It offers target ability, relatively low cost, is very effective and allows you to reach prospects frequently. As a business owner, I have found direct mail to be an effective direct response method of increasing sales.

You can send a personal letter or postcard directly to your customers and prospects for pennies.

Postcards are very effective because they;

1) Allow you to target your message and market.

a. You can buy a list that EXACTLY targets the prospects you want.

b. You can put forth a targeted message that attracts the type of customer you want.

2) Postcards allow you to put your message in the hands of prospects.

a. Postcards are very tangible; prospects can touch and hold on to your ad.

3) Postcards allow for a direct call to action and response.

BONUS OFFER!

Do you need more business? Wilson Printing is offering Money Management Solutions friends and clients a 10% discount on your first order of postcards or brochures.

Simply go to this link:  http://www.wilsonprinting.net/Printed-Promotional-Materials/postcards.html Check out the price.

When you call, tell them Money Management Solutions sent you and receive 10% off the prices on their website.