Thursday, September 07, 2006
Outsourced Sales and Marketing - An Effective Corporate Strategy
There is much discussion within the business community about how to accelerate business performance and velocity. To achieve these objectives, you must have an effective sales and marketing strategy and EXPERIENCE. There is no substitute for experience and the lack of it can make or break you. Many small businesses find them selves lacking in the area of marketing. They often think marketing is developing slick marketing collaterals or a sexy logo. Real marketing is MUCH MORE than that. Running a small business - or any business - is all about sales at the end of the day. How do you do this effectively and attract your target market to your products and services. You need to have some level of experience with marketing and sales in order to do this.
I strongly believe that sales and marketing go hand in hand. Show me a company that separates the two, and I will show you a low performing company. You may be asking, "How do I effectively market my small business when I have no experience in marketing or for that matter, sales?" Many entrepreneurs are experts at their trade but often, they have very little experience in sales and marketing. As outsourcing becomes more main stream, businesses of all sizes are outsouring business functions that traditionally were kept in house. Sales and marketing are the latest functions to be outsourced.
The reasons for outsourcing sales and marketing vary from company to company. The main reason that many organizations do this is to rapidly gain experience and reduce operational costs. Also, many international companies realize the challenge of starting up business operations in the U.S. They are looking to established, experienced marketing organizations to assist with their endeavors.
If you lack the experience and structure to effectively drive your sales and marketing, why not consider outsourcing? A qualified outsourced sales and marketing team serves as a virtual organization that drives sales to the maximum performance level. You should look for partners with industry experience in your particular industry and proven sales and marketing experience. You should also look for an outsourced partner that has the vision and team to make you successful.
You will need a lead generation team to stimulate business, a sales person to drive business performance and the tactical and strategic marketing services to support the sales initiative.
It is not as wild of an idea as you may think! Outsourcing your sales and marketing can help drive your performance to new levels. For small business, outsourcing sales and marketing can be a godsend! Expert support when you need it and bottom line results.
I strongly believe that sales and marketing go hand in hand. Show me a company that separates the two, and I will show you a low performing company. You may be asking, "How do I effectively market my small business when I have no experience in marketing or for that matter, sales?" Many entrepreneurs are experts at their trade but often, they have very little experience in sales and marketing. As outsourcing becomes more main stream, businesses of all sizes are outsouring business functions that traditionally were kept in house. Sales and marketing are the latest functions to be outsourced.
The reasons for outsourcing sales and marketing vary from company to company. The main reason that many organizations do this is to rapidly gain experience and reduce operational costs. Also, many international companies realize the challenge of starting up business operations in the U.S. They are looking to established, experienced marketing organizations to assist with their endeavors.
If you lack the experience and structure to effectively drive your sales and marketing, why not consider outsourcing? A qualified outsourced sales and marketing team serves as a virtual organization that drives sales to the maximum performance level. You should look for partners with industry experience in your particular industry and proven sales and marketing experience. You should also look for an outsourced partner that has the vision and team to make you successful.
You will need a lead generation team to stimulate business, a sales person to drive business performance and the tactical and strategic marketing services to support the sales initiative.
It is not as wild of an idea as you may think! Outsourcing your sales and marketing can help drive your performance to new levels. For small business, outsourcing sales and marketing can be a godsend! Expert support when you need it and bottom line results.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Podcasting - "Take Me With You" Marketing Strategies For Small Business
Small businesses struggle every day to compete for limited dollars in their target market and to get their message out. Increasingly, consumers are getting fed up with the traditional approaches to marketing through print and media advertising. One of the key barriers to entry for small business in advertising and getting their message out is price. It is very expensive to advertise your business. However, in today's competitive economy, you cannot afford to be left out if you sincerely want to grow your business to the next level.
If you are a small business owner, you cannot afford to miss the opportunity that podcasting brings. Podcasting is a communications tool that allows you to develop your own "show" about whatever subject matter you desire. Podcasting from a marketing perspective is a clear disruptive technology in that it changes the whole paradigm for how we as small business owners communicate with our target market.
Podcasting embraces the notion of a new concept called "time shifting". From a marketing perspective, we endeavor to craft a message, target our message, publish our message, and then hope someone reads our marketing message when we send it. The old paradigm is that you must consume it when we send it to you and thus, we have to be brief, succinct and to the point in our delivery. Often, if we are presenting a new product or service to the market, we must EDUCATE the market as to the key benefits of our product or service. This is hard to do in less than a minute. Podcasting SHIFTS THE TIME for consumption of the message facilitating the new "TAKE ME WITH YOU" approach to marketing. This is a powerful concept. Now, your prospects have the opportunity to take you with them where ever they go - they can download your audio file on their iPod or MP3 player and take you with them. This is excellent for busy executives on the go who may have interest in what you offer but don't have time during working hours to EDUCATE THEMSELVES.
As a small business owner you must realize that MARKET EDUCATION is an important strategy for your marketing mix. It is critically important to tell our market why your product and service is the best or most effective in the market. Consumers today often spend time educating themselves before they leap - especially when significant dollars are in question.
I find that most businesses spend a lot of time talking about how good their products and services are rather than educating the market. The most common form of market education is the white paper. However, how many busy executives have time to sit down and read all of the white papers relevant to their interests. If you provide a convenient audio that they can listen to whenever they want, you have embraced the art of time shifting - they can take your message with them and educate themselves at their convenience. The easier you make it, the more successful you will be.
Podcasting is relatively easy to get started with and doesn't require a lot of capital. This makes it ideal for small businesses. Keep watching this blog and I will talk more about podcasting and how to get started! Basically, you need a microphone and something to say to get started. Also, its a good idea to have a website to publish your podcast to. If you want to reach a broader audience, you can also publish your podcast on iTunes!
Small businesses today need to embrace technology to be successful. If you want to accelerate your business velocity and move to the next level, manual operations and antiquated marketing strategies are a thing of the past. Check out podcasting as a viable means to get your message out and allow your prospects to "take you with them"
Podcasting is somewhat of a misnomer because it implies you need and iPod to listen.
If you are a small business owner, you cannot afford to miss the opportunity that podcasting brings. Podcasting is a communications tool that allows you to develop your own "show" about whatever subject matter you desire. Podcasting from a marketing perspective is a clear disruptive technology in that it changes the whole paradigm for how we as small business owners communicate with our target market.
Podcasting embraces the notion of a new concept called "time shifting". From a marketing perspective, we endeavor to craft a message, target our message, publish our message, and then hope someone reads our marketing message when we send it. The old paradigm is that you must consume it when we send it to you and thus, we have to be brief, succinct and to the point in our delivery. Often, if we are presenting a new product or service to the market, we must EDUCATE the market as to the key benefits of our product or service. This is hard to do in less than a minute. Podcasting SHIFTS THE TIME for consumption of the message facilitating the new "TAKE ME WITH YOU" approach to marketing. This is a powerful concept. Now, your prospects have the opportunity to take you with them where ever they go - they can download your audio file on their iPod or MP3 player and take you with them. This is excellent for busy executives on the go who may have interest in what you offer but don't have time during working hours to EDUCATE THEMSELVES.
As a small business owner you must realize that MARKET EDUCATION is an important strategy for your marketing mix. It is critically important to tell our market why your product and service is the best or most effective in the market. Consumers today often spend time educating themselves before they leap - especially when significant dollars are in question.
I find that most businesses spend a lot of time talking about how good their products and services are rather than educating the market. The most common form of market education is the white paper. However, how many busy executives have time to sit down and read all of the white papers relevant to their interests. If you provide a convenient audio that they can listen to whenever they want, you have embraced the art of time shifting - they can take your message with them and educate themselves at their convenience. The easier you make it, the more successful you will be.
Podcasting is relatively easy to get started with and doesn't require a lot of capital. This makes it ideal for small businesses. Keep watching this blog and I will talk more about podcasting and how to get started! Basically, you need a microphone and something to say to get started. Also, its a good idea to have a website to publish your podcast to. If you want to reach a broader audience, you can also publish your podcast on iTunes!
Small businesses today need to embrace technology to be successful. If you want to accelerate your business velocity and move to the next level, manual operations and antiquated marketing strategies are a thing of the past. Check out podcasting as a viable means to get your message out and allow your prospects to "take you with them"
Podcasting is somewhat of a misnomer because it implies you need and iPod to listen.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Welcome to my Blog!
Thank you for viewing my blog! The goal of this blog is to share with you my thoughts on tactical and strategic marketing issues that many small businesses face each day! I reviewed the many blogs out there for marketing and I discovered that there were not many that offered practical tips for marketing at the small business level.
I have learned a lot about what works and what doesn't in marketing and sales throughout my 20 year career that I would like to share on a regular basis with you. I will try to cut through the "marketing speak" and get to the point. One client said to me that I was her "Personal CMO" or chief marketing officer and the title just stuck with me. That's the story behind the naming of my blog - PersonalCMO. What I do at MasterMarketing is offer personal marketing services for small-to-medium businesses and other companies seeking to awaken their brand potential. My outsourced marketing services are ideal for those who cannot afford six-figure marketing professionals but want to make their companies look polished and professional.
My clients tell me everyday that they want to know how to generate leads for their business to grow and prosper. They want the same thing that every successful business wants... PROFITS!
I hope you enjoy my blog. Drop me a line sometimes and let me know what you think!
I have learned a lot about what works and what doesn't in marketing and sales throughout my 20 year career that I would like to share on a regular basis with you. I will try to cut through the "marketing speak" and get to the point. One client said to me that I was her "Personal CMO" or chief marketing officer and the title just stuck with me. That's the story behind the naming of my blog - PersonalCMO. What I do at MasterMarketing is offer personal marketing services for small-to-medium businesses and other companies seeking to awaken their brand potential. My outsourced marketing services are ideal for those who cannot afford six-figure marketing professionals but want to make their companies look polished and professional.
My clients tell me everyday that they want to know how to generate leads for their business to grow and prosper. They want the same thing that every successful business wants... PROFITS!
I hope you enjoy my blog. Drop me a line sometimes and let me know what you think!
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