“To reach a port, we must sail—Sail, not tie at anchor—Sail, not drift.”
Franklin Roosevelt

Have a Happy New Year

Successful marketing tactics begin with the end in mind. After all, if you don’t know where you’re going, how do you expect to know how to get there? That makes it essential to understand exactly what the customer wants and anticipate their needs long before they begin a search for a product or service.

But how do you really know how to visualize the future?  What can you do to turn your small business into a huge business with high profits, high conversions, and high profits?

Start by knowing your customer.

This is the #1 marketing tactic that every marketer must know, believe, and understand. It’s not enough to have a general knowledge of the market and the customer. It’s vital to know the audience and relate directly to their needs. It’s about anticipating their next move and then their next move after that.And it’s about appealing to their emotional needs.

Understanding the customer begins with a clear picture of who they are and what key characteristics they share. It is those key characteristics or idiosyncrasies that make them the best prospects for your product or service. That’s why they are so important to your future success – because they have a need for what you have to offer.

Once you are able to clearly identify the customer and what they want, it’s essential to craft and create a message that speaks directly to them. A general message about a product and the features it offers is never enough.
Customers want to know “what’s in it for me”.

They are seeking value and looking for benefits or products. Your message must clearly articulate the benefits and advantages of what you have to offer. The message must appeal directly to the customer’s needs and appeal to him in a very unique way.

What are most customers looking for in terms of benefits?
People are always looking to save both time and money. If they can find a product that saves time, fills a need, and is appropriately priced, they will buy it. They’ll even pay more for a product if they truly believe it offers significant or multiple benefits over other similar products. They’re not as interested in features as they are benefits so focus the message towards their emotional buying needs. And don’t be afraid to highlight multiple benefits of a product to really engage the customer.

In today’s fast-paced world and advanced technology, people are always looking for the best and the fastest. They are also looking for ease of purchase. Marketing tactics must respond to this need and your message must be emotionally appealing and soundly convincing.

Back it up!

But just as importantly, be sure you can back up your claims of benefits and value to the customer. It’s not just a customer you want to attract. It’s a ‘repeat customer’ that can help your business soar too. Provide the customer with quality products and follow-up to make sure they are satisfied. Learn from your customers and use that valuable knowledge to anticipate the next need that will surface from customers.

Proactively create a marketing plan that integrates multiple marketing tactics to help ensure optimal success. Deploying effective tactics will quickly result in higher conversions and more sales. And with more sales, you’ll have a thriving business that grows exponentially as word spreads virally about your products and service.

Don’t under-estimate the value of utilizing proven, successful marketing tactics when it comes to marketing your products. Know where you want to go before you start the journey. Start with the end in mind.
Envision success and visualize the sale. Take advantage of tried and proven tactics to create a successful business and a secure future.

Success awaits those who can see ahead of the crowd.

I would like to thank my dad, my uncles, cousins and friends who all served their country. I remember my family members and friends who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Also, to the millions of current and former military personnel, thank you for protecting democracy and the United States of America. You make us all safe and proud.

“Purpose is what gives life a meaning.”  Charles H. Perkhurst

No matter how old you are , it’s always helpful to take time to analyze what you’re doing and where you think your business  is headed. One of the easiest and most effective ways to do is to simply ask questions. And one of the best ones that should be continually asked is: “What’s my purpose? Why am I doing this?”

Of course, once you start applying basic principles of analysis to your business, you will probably notice that they are useful not only for assessing your business activities but also your personal life as well. For example, you might ask yourself questions like: “Why am I involved in marketing? Why am I publishing a newsletter?” Or, “Why am I promoting this product or work in this job?”

You see, especially as a marketer, we need to look at our life and our business with the same mindset that a potential prospect would have when reading a sales letter: “Give me one good reason why I should read this letter or buy your product? What’s the purpose?”

For instance, you might respond by saying something like, “My purpose for being involved in online Marketing is two-fold: I love marketing and learning more about it, and I want to eventually use it as a means to support my family as a full-time marketer.” Or, “My purpose in writing my newsletter is to provide helpful information to my target audience in order to establish myself as a knowledgeable expert in my field.”

However, there will be those who come up with an answer like, “I’m a marketer because I want to make money.” That doesn’t really answer the question because making money is a by-product and not the goal itself. We both know that no one is going to just “give you money.” Just like when you’re thinking about buying something, your prospective buyer wants to know, “What’s in it for me if I choose to give you my hard-earned money?” If your product or service either meets a genuine need or solves a problem for your prospect, then you have probably answered that question to their satisfaction. Only then will he or she be willing to spend their money.

The level of your success in any endeavor, whether it’s personal or business, is directly linked to what your purpose behind it is. If your motives are self-centered and greedy, that will quickly become apparent in your dealings with others. But if you are truly offering something that is both valuable and beneficial to your prospect, whether the product is yourself or a specific good or service, you cannot help but achieve at least some measure of success simply by using this “others-centered” approach.

“What’s your purpose?

Requiem for Detroit

Oops –

Click here to read the rest of the story

Writing an article doesn’t just mean putting down thoughts into words then typing and writing it. You have to capture the interest of your readers and get them to keep on reading. To send your message across you have to get the attention of the reader and have a firm grasp of their interest and pique their curiosity. Grab their Attention!

The main ingredient in baking up an article is a large dose of creativity. While creativity may come natural to many people, some just gets into a block or something to that effect that can drive someone crazy. Many writers have literally torn their hair out when they get writers block and just can’t seem to get their creative juices flowing.

Putting words into images in the readers mind is an art. A clear and crisp depiction requires a certain flair that only creativity can provide. Similes and metaphors help a lot, but the way an article gets entwined word for word, sentence by sentence then paragraph by paragraph into a whole article develops the essence of the article.

So just what do you have to do when nothing comes to mind? There is no surefire ways to get the perfect ideas but there are easy ways to get your creative juices flowing. No one can guarantee you of having the perfect mindset but many methods may aid you in achieving that state of mind. Here are five easy ways for that.

1) Keep a diary or a journal with you always. Ideas can be triggered by anything you may hear, see, or smell. Your senses are your radar in finding great ideas. Write all of them into a journal and keep it with you for future reference. You may also write down anything that you have read or heard, someone’s ideas could be used to develop your own ideas and this is not stealing. Remember that ideas and creativity can come from anywhere; it’s the development of the idea that makes it unique.

2) Relax and take time to sort things out. A jumbled mind cannot create any space for new ideas. Everyone must have a clear mind if one wishes to have their creativity in full speed. Get rid of all obstacles that can be a hindrance to your creativity. If you are bothered by something, you cannot force your mind to stay focused.

Try to relax every time that you can and think about your experiences and interactions with others. Your experiences are what shape your mindset and your opinions which could be reflected on your writings. Try to discover yourself, find out what triggers your emotions. Discover what inspires you and what ticks you off. You can use these emotions to help you in expressing yourself and your ideas, with this you can grow creatively.

3) Create a working place that can inspire your creativeness. Your working place can be quite a hindrance if it doesn’t make you feel happy or relaxed. Creativity comes from being in a good state of mind and a messed up workplace that causes distraction won’t be conducive in firing up your creative flow.

Surround your working place with objects that makes you happy and relaxed. You may put up pictures, or scents, objects that inspire, or anything that can get your creativeness cranking. A clean and well organized workplace also rids of distractions and unwanted hindrances. With a good working place, you can work in peace and never notice the time pass by.

4) Set the mood. Setting the mood requires you to just go with the moment or to induce your self to feeling what makes your mind works best. Finding out what makes you tick could help you find ways to get your creative juices flowing. Set the pace and tempo for your mood and everything else will follow.

There are many ways to set the mood. Some writers have been known to use alcohol, a little sip of wine to stir up the imagination. Some would like some mood music while others let the lighting of the environment create the mood.

5) Go on a getaway and just do something unlike crazy. Letting yourself go and have fun produces adrenaline that can make your imagination go wild. Take an adventure or a solemn hike. Whatever it is that is unusual from your daily routine can take the rut out of your schedule. In no time at all, your creativeness will make use of that experience and get your imagination to go on overdrive.

The Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) in San Francisco has just made history as the first transit agency to partner with Foursquare, the location-based application and game that we think has the potential to be as important as Twitter – Click Here to read the rest of the story…

source: mashable.com

Marketers wishing to sign athletes to tout their products and services have a new tool: Brand Affinity Technologies is a company that offers a website that it calls a “one-stop shopping opportunity” for advertisers who want to line up athletes, quickly and affordably, for their campaigns.

Click here to read the story

source: www.mediabuyerplanner.com

In a roundabout way, Twitter can be a good place to sell a car.

Click here to read story…