Posts filed under 'Business Resource'
Did you know???
December is Bingo’s Birthday Month? - Why not host an online Bingo contest… As part of the promotional campaign, the Women’s Internet Marketing Summit hosted a BINGO Game – ( BINGO stands for Bookmarked Interactive Network Games Online) the Internet based version of BINGO using randomly selected Internet marketing terms (Bingo Lingo) in each of the 25 boxes contained on the card. Check it out at: http://www.womensinternetmarketingsummit.com/ -
It’s also National Write a Business Plan Month – Time to plan for the future – Check out the Business Plan Guide at http://www.bplans.com/dp/ and the tutorial on the SBA Site at http://www.sba.gov/library/pubs/mp-32.pdf . There is no time like the present to write or re-write yours.
December 6th, 2008
Today is my birthday and so I wanted to GIVE my readers some resurces you could use in your businesses as my gift to you. Here are a few of things I came across:
*Design*Sponge has a collection of business tip sheets (PDF) on publicizing your work, dealing with the legal stuff, setting prices, selling wholesale, selling online, manufacturing, packaging, and more geared to small business owners who are independent designers. And best of all ~ they’re free – You simply click and download.
BTW, these tips sheets can be used for any type small business. If you own a small business, I recommend you Check them out now.
In addition, if you don’t currently have a good follow-up process or if yours could use improvement, you are invited to check out SendOutCards. I have been using these for about 2 months now and they are FANTASTIC! They have helped me to create stronger bonds with current customers as well as enlist new clients and customers. Go to www.SendOutCards.com/Heidi. The first card is FREE, on me. And if you’d like a PRIVATE tour of the “back end,” drop me a note to heidi (at) redheadmarketingblog.com or call me at 954-625-6606. I will be happy to show you around.
December 2nd, 2008
Last week Heidi Caswell of Connect Simply, and yours truly Heidi Richards Mooney did a teleseminar on follow up strategies in business.
Remember when you were young and started making friends or dating, you knew instinctively that if someone didn’t “make a move” you’d probably loose the opportunity to get to know that person better. And yet, when it comes to business we may understand the importance of “making a move” (follow up) but many times we simply don’t do it. In this session we talked about that and more.
Here are jsut a few of the ideas Heidi and I shared:
Follow up strategies, what works and what doesn’t
Why “high touch” marketing is so important especially today
When you should follow up with someone
One great strategy that always works ~ that strategy is greeting cards and postcards (I’ll write more later about how I am using it to promote all 3 of my businesses)
Stories of business owners who used that one strategy to really grow their business
And other great tips.
In fact, we are sharing this audio with the readers of Redhead Marketing Blog. Go here and grab your copy: www.redheadmarketingblog.com/audio/FollowUpDivas.mp3.
You can contact Heidi Caswell at www.ConnectSimply.com. Feel free to drop me a line at heidi (at) redheadmarketing.com if you’d like us to give you a personal tour of our Greeting Cards System.
November 12th, 2008
What if there was a system that could help you develop a continuous stream of solid referrals and all you had to do is set it up one time, add contacts as you receive them and few clicks of the mouse start your referral building process?
Continue Reading October 30th, 2008
Excerpt from Promoting Your Business on the WEB Special Report.
Start Podcasting. A “podcast” is a pre-recorded audio program that’s posted to a website and is made available for download so people can listen to them on personal computers or mobile devices (including iPod products and mobile phones). It is a great way to showcase your expertise and create a following of loyal customers.
One resource I recommend is the Podcasting for Business Podcast a ten-episode podcast that sets out to educate sales, marketing, brand and advertising professionals on what PodWorx, Inc. calls the Four P’s of Podcasting®; that is, how do you Plan, Produce, Publish and Promote your business or corporate podcast.
Also visit my friend and podcast expert Penny Haynes. Penny has a brand new product called the Commercial Creation Center. I highly recommend you give it a try! I did and love it. It does everything! Audio, video and automatic posting to all those great sites like YouTube and more!
Want more ideas to promote your business on the WEB? Get a FREE copy of the 8-page Special Report Promoting Your Business on the WEB TODAY!
October 27th, 2008
This past week has been a whirlwind for me! In fact, I was so busy, there was no time to post to Redhead Marketing Blog! So now I am playing catch up with my blog posts. So here’s my tip for today. Enjoy!
HOMETOWN GALS ~ The Perfect Icebreaker
Are you hosting and event? Are “new” faces a part of the guest list? If you want your guests to get to know one another better during your event; then try an great activity for finding out more about everyone using general interview questions. The object of this activity is to encourage guests to talk to one another and “guess” where they are FROM. This works best when your guests don’t know one another very well (if at all) and it is a fun way to connect and start the relationship-building process. The interesting thing is that many people will be from a certain geographic location and find it rewarding to discover others who are also from that same area. The “hometown” can be defined as the city, state, or even country of origin.
You will need a list of interview questions to be handed out to participants during the social (networking) part of your event. The only rule is that participants should ask a series of questions to uncover the “hometown” before either guessing the answer or asking the final question, “Where are you originally from?”
It is also a good idea to ask questions that may be more specific to your guests. Although it is really more fun to just “pop the question,” you may also consider sending this to your guests prior to the event, so they can be prepared. I also suggest you keep the number of questions to around 8 to 10 so that your guests will have time to meet a few people. To help you get started here is list of suggested questions:
1. What type of food is your hometown known for?
2. Do you have a state motto – if so, what is it?
3. What flower is associated with your hometown?
4. What is the weather like?
5. What is the geographic landscape (mountainous, desert, flat, surrounded by water, etc.)?
6. Is it a small town or large city?
7. Is there a certain type music that is preferred by the people from your hometown?
8. Are there any famous people/celebrities from your hometown? If so, who?
9. Do you say tomato or toe-maaaahhhh-toe?
10. What is your hometown best known for (attraction, activity, etc.)
As the hostess, you may also want to include “prizes” for the person who guesses the most hometowns. Once the activity is over, you can also ask how many people are from a certain area, and if anyone wishes to share a story allow time for sharing.
Variation: Instead of the using the topic “where are you from” you can change it to be “what was your previous career (job)” and create a list of questions that would help the audience to guess the answer.
October 24th, 2008
PERKONOMICS: A new breed of perks and privileges, added to brands’ regular offerings, is satisfying consumers’ ever-growing desire for novel forms of status and/or convenience, across all industries. The benefits for brands are equally promising: from escaping commoditization, to showing empathy in turbulent times. One to have firmly on your radar in 2009.
(source: Trendwatching)
October 19th, 2008
October 12-18 is Build Your Business with Business Cards Week
Put a baby photo on your business card and ask people to visit your website to see if the matching photo is featured. If it is, they win a prize. Variations: put pictures of employees or products on your cards and on a special page on your site – put stickers in a variety of shapes on your cards – they win if the image matches the graphics found on your Website.
Put trivia questions about your product or company on your site and the answers on your business cards and give prizes if they answer the question correctly (or vice-versa).
Read “The Business Card: Don’t Leave Your Office Without It!”
October 12th, 2008
October 7-13 is Home-Based Business Week– Did you know that the average home-based business person commutes almost 30 minutes per day, or well over 100 hours per month? That’s the time it takes to go from the kitchen to, to the home-office, to the bathroom, back to the home-office and outside for some fresh air.
Celebrate home based business week by inviting clients into your home-office for a luncheon or tea or if you have an online event, host a networking teleconference or webinar. Have everyone who participates sign a guestbook. Give away prizes! Have fun… send certificates of appreciation and thank-you notes afterwards. If you don’t have a home-based business… and have always wanted one, if not now, when?
October 7th, 2008
October 5-11 is National Work from Home Week– Working too hard? It’s time to get out of the house and treat yourself. During National Work from Home Week you could reconnect face to face with the public. Go shopping, network, visit clients, get a massage, manicure or pedicure or facial (or all of the above).
Join a forum and chat with other Work from Home Professionals. Find out how they run their businesses while they manage their lives. Check out Yahoo Groups for starters.
Attend an event in your community geared toward the Work at Home Industry. If there isn’t one, why not host a luncheon and invite other Work at Home’rs to attend? Call some companies that would benefit from getting in front of this unique market and ask if they would like to co-sponsor the event or have a “table” to showcase their products and services. It just might be a great opportunity to make some money for your time and efforts.
For more ideas to market your small business, grab your copy of the 2008 Marketing Calendar. It’s FREE!
October 5th, 2008
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