September 3, 2010

Posts Comments

You are here: Home / Archives for July 2009

Wisely Marketing Your Business Online

July 31, 2009 By Ben Janke Leave a Comment

Small businesses typically do not have a large budget for advertising, and thus fail to get some customers because they are not as well known as some of the larger businesses. For example, if you have a {small-tiny} shoe store that sells second-tier mens shoes brands, you might be struggling right now in the bad economy since you are fighting for business against largercompanies and online stores. However, you can use the internet to your advantage and get more advertising for the same money, or less, than it costs now. You could also use the internet to sell even more of your products.

Also see: shop for Footjoy shoes

You don’t have to spend a lot of money on {old school-antiquated} advertising methods like billboards and radio and TV advertising. Using the advertising on the internet for {little-small} or no cost on the internet for small businesses, you can really tell more people about your Keen shoes business. Most people tend to use the internet for looking up stuff they need, including names, addresses, and phone numbers for stores they would like to visit. You can set up a website and get yourself listed on internet based yellow pages directories as a start to your online advertising campaign.

Since Keen shoes and other similar brands are not as popular, you might not be doing as much business as you want in your brick and mortar shoe store. You might increase the amount of business that you do if you also allow people to order the shoes you sell online and ship them to them. That broadens your market to people all over the world rather than just the people in the surrounding communities, so you have the potential for a many more sales, which could mean the difference between being able to keep your store open and closing down.

See also: fashion comfort shoes

Some small businesses have had to shut down their actual stores, but are now selling their products on the internet. This allows them to keep their business and really cuts down on the cost since you no longer need to have as many employees and you don’t need to pay rent for a store location. You can place your business warehouse in an inexpensive area and save a lot of money. You might even be able to make more money selling your Keen shoes solely on the internet than selling them through a store {since-because} there is a greater profit margin in this kind of sale. This is why so many businesses, including small companies, are turning to the internet.

Filed Under: BenJanke.com Contributors Tagged With: apparel, boots, clogs, clothing, exercise, fashion, footwear, health, outdoor, sandals, shoes, shopping, walking

Mobile Billboards Get Your Message Across

July 31, 2009 By Ben Janke Leave a Comment

What is a mobile billboard?  Well as most of you already know what a regular billboard is, a mobile billboard is exactly the same thing, except it is moving or mobile.

You can find it in it’s various forms.  You can see it in advertising trucks San Diego, or vehicles built specifically to carry billboards around.

Why are there a lot of businesses using this type of advertising to get their message to the consumers?  I have some unique insights I am going to share that I have gained from running my own San Diego mobile billboards company.

First let’s talk about what it is going to cost you.  Mobile billboard rates are actually very comparable if not better than your traditional outdoor media such as traditional billboards.

With the cost being very competitive if not better there is another advantage that weights it in it’s favor.Actual views, exposures, or impressions to the prospects.

Compared to the usual billboards out there, that a prospect could just pass it by without even looking.But the way in which a mobile billboard get’s it’s message across, it is much more effective.  And the way it does it is by being right in the consumer’s face.You can’t just pass it by.It is right in front of you at eye level, stuck with you in traffic

This is very powerful.A consumer who is going through traffic, with an ad message right in their face can’t be turned off.

That is a huge problem that traditional advertising such as TV or radio faces.With Tivo and satellite radio that many consumers have, a person could virtually never see or hear a commercial.

So by choosing to go with a mobile billboard, the advertiser is able to have their ad read and put into the mind of the consumer.

If you are a business who is looking to build brand recognition, what better way could there be than a bold and beautiful full color display of your ad.  It screams for attention.And when the prospective customer is stuck in traffic with nothing better to do, you don’t have to be as loud as other types of advertising.

With a lot of businesses struggling because of the economy, using mobile ads might be just the trick they need to save their business.More customers and more leads are going to come based on this form of advertising. 

You are going to get exposure.  You are guaranteed to having your message heard and read.What else could an advertiser want.

You can see that it is working by the sheer number of many more businesses using it to advertise.  In 2004 alone, there was over $5.8 billion went towards this form of advertising.With the amount of money being spent, it has to be working.

So for many businesses looking for more ways to find customers, this might just be what they are looking for.

Filed Under: BenJanke.com Contributors Tagged With: mobile billboards, outdoor advertising, outdoor media, truck advertising

Channel Letter Signs Can Give Your Business An Edge

July 31, 2009 By Ben Janke Leave a Comment

The first thing you see when you come up to a store it is signage. Attractive and unusual signs are now becoming more and more popular as companies want to differentiate themselves from the competition. So much so that the electric commercial signage industry is now believed to be over 2 billion dollars in the United States. Leading the charge are channel letter signs.

One product that has gained in popularity in the last few years is channel letter signs. Channel letters are made to stand out from a building and are lit with neon or LEDs lights. Channel letters are usually made of aluminum making them very light and versatile while still being able to withstand high winds and various weather conditions. For a nice soft glow, lights are placed at the back of the channel letters and are the newest trend.

Colored acrylic is usually used for the faces while the sides and backs of channel letters are built of aluminum. When these letters are illuminated from the inside with either neon or LEDs, it is called face lit. Halo lit channel letters are practically the opposite of face lit letters as the faces are usually made of aluminum while the backs are made out of clear polycarbonate.

There are two mounting methods for channel letters, the raceway or the direct mount. In the raceway fashion, the letters are attached to an aluminum box called a raceway which is then mounted to the wall of the building. The power supplies and all the wires are placed in the raceway box. In the case of direct mounted channel letters, the letters are affixed directly to the building. To connect the wiring to the inside power supply, holes must be made into the wall.  Raceway mounting is less difficult to install and maintain while the direct mounting usually gives the signage a cleaner look.

Illuminating the letters had only one selection up until recently and it was neon. LEDs lights can be utilized nowadays to illuminate channel letters. Many businesses are choosing to have their signage lit using LEDs lights in an attempt to be more environmentally conscious. A string of LEDs lights is attached at the back of the channel letters and it can be set up to allow for spectacular lighting effects. Using LEDs lights will enable your storefront signage to stand out from the others as they are incredibly bright and highly energy efficient. Channel letters can be illuminated using a range of colors. Red is the most fashionable and the least costly option at the moment in the case of LEDS lights. The color white is the next most popular selection.

Signs built using channel letters may be a bit more pricey than the more traditional options, but they will provide your business with 24 hours a day customer awareness. They will attract passerby throughout the day and will be visible from a greater distance than traditional sign options. This may translate into higher brand recognition and increased sales. In the end, this is the final goal of every company: to get more customers through their doors.

Filed Under: BenJanke.com Contributors Tagged With: advertising, business signs, marketing

The join between small business consulting and the Internet

July 31, 2009 By Ben Janke Leave a Comment

small business consulting

I manage a Saas company that delivers help in the form of small business management and accounting software tools and wisdom to thousands of startups and small businesses worldwide and whenever I explain to people what I do, I repetitively get asked the same question “Given my years of experience, how could I put it to use and make regular money from small business consulting? I am always delighted to provide advice as I am lucky enough to spend a large percentage of my day talking to small business owners and personnel happy to to communicate their issues.

This is the advice that I offer:

The online world is the ideal place for finding customers and it makes it easy to speak to them and sell your expertise. A lot of small businesses turn to the internet to find knowledge or trusted advisors who can provide them with wisdom and help them fix key challenges.

Information marketing – package and sell your expertise to businesses through the Internet

Make no mistake this opportunity isn’t just to be found in small businesses it’s equally applicable to large businesses. You can repackage and sell your expertise in a multimedia format such as video, audio or documents. The tools to construct high quality material are readily available on the network. Producing a course in simple to use internet formats is now straight forward and doesn’t cost much to do. You just have to be prepared to dedicate a small amount of time playing with the tools. The objective here is to produce some valuable material that you can either sell or give away to customers to encourage them to do business with you.

Commence by determining your overall goal. Consultancy and Information marketing can work together and if you do both can be very provide a substantial income as the consultancy will provide you with the questions, the answers to which you can repackage and sell in digital format and sold over and over again.

If you are starting from scratch with no customers but have expertise you know would be valuable to others then plan to create a very short video to introduce yourself and your expertise to your potential client(s). Unless you know the potential client(s) precise problem then make the video generic and adhere tothe following format – S.T.A.R (Situation or Task, Action, Result). Make your messages as interesting as you can and keep the narratives short. Now upload the video to your website/blog or even YouTube if you don’t have the former and send the target(s) an invitation by e-mail containing a personal message and a link to the video. Follow this up with a phone call. If you know the specific nature of the target(s)problem then don’t make the video public, just put it somewhere privateon the Web or even on a disk and post it, again follow up with a call.

This approach is ideally suited to situations where you are individually targeting target(s). The one objective you should be constantly pursuing is the creation of a list that you can converse with and sell product to.. With the right interaction with your list you should easily be able to discover what people want and deliver it. The bigger your list the more opportunities for consulating and selling information products you will unearth. If you would like to find out more about how to do this then click on any of the links in this article. I would be very glad to help you.

Filed Under: BenJanke.com Contributors Tagged With: business management consultant, small business consultant, small business consulting, small business management consulting

Using Promotional Items to kick Start Your Business

July 31, 2009 By Ben Janke Leave a Comment

Marketing Advice : How to Use Promotional Items to Grow Your Small Business

In opening, the most general forms of promotional items being presented by corporations include pens, key chains and even calendars; that’s obviously why you most often see these in other persons’ houses and offices. Sensitive firms look at promotional items as a cheap, yet effective, way of reaching on to their clients, as well as those individuals who are not yet their customers.

It’s not enough to insert your company’s  emblem or name on the promotional items; I recommend putting an incredibly strong message about your corporation or an incentive on your company’s promotional items that will really induce and prove to consumers to purchase from your corporation.

There is barely any committed form of business or firm now that does not give promotional items; even petite businesses as well as corporations with minor available finances send calendars as promotional items. Depending on what a company or form of business can afford, it can have the trademark or logo imprinted or it can more over have it designed on the promotional item.

I know of firms that have built enduring  goodwill with their clients just on account of the usefulness and even constancy of giving promotional items; your firm or business can enjoy such goodwill as well, particularly if done accurately.

Just as any company that does not carry out adverts is like a man winking at a beautiful lady in the dark (only the male is aware of precisely what he is doing, neither the lady nor any person is aware what the person is doing), so also is a corporation that does not give  promotional items to clients.

To finish off, it is highly advantageous to consider how you will go about customizing any promotional item before you use it; it is truly the customization with your company emblem or name that sincerely makes promotional items out of the ordinary.

Filed Under: BenJanke.com Contributors Tagged With: freebies, give-aways, promotional items

Internet Marketing Software

July 31, 2009 By Ben Janke Leave a Comment

Let’s face it, we all want more web site traffic and will do
just about anything to get it and that’s where it all starts to
go wrong!

Do you really think that a new software marketing product will
do it all for you, well it may work for so long but when the
search engines find out that’s it back to square one unless you
choose the right Inernet Marketing Software.

So how do you set the process in motion, roll up your sleeves
and get busy, articles are by far the best way to get backlinks
to your site and increase your web site traffic and your page
rank.

Let me give you an example of how this works, and trust me it
works a treat to get more web site traffic

Let’s say you write an article called “getting web site traffic”
just like this one, don’t worry how long it takes you to write
the article just do it! your own content is best.

Next I will upload the article to my web site, then submit the
article to the top article directories with software where
people will be looking for new unique content for their sites.
This is where things start to get interesting, my site has say a
page rank 2 but the article directories that I have submitted
the article to may have a page rank 4-5 maybe even 6 and that’s
the whole point of this.

At this point 3 things happen!

1) Next time the search engines index the article directories
say 25 to 45 of them depending on how many you submitted your
article to, you now have 20 to 50 back links to your site from a
site with a page rank 4 or better that’s enough to take your
site from a PR2 to PR3 which will move all your pages of your
web site up in the rankings and increase your web site traffic.

2) The Article that you wrote may not do well on your site, But
that’s because your site does not have a good Page Rank.

I have had Articles that I have submitted to the top ranking
directories, placed in the top three listings with the search
engines for weeks and send me loads of web site traffic and make
me more sales!

The same article on my site was down around page 5 or 6 with the
search engines, that’s because at the time my site only had a PR
of 2.

3) Now this is the bit I really like, if you send in a good
interesting article that’s well written and appealing to others
then these people will use your article for their news letter or
for content on their site.

When people use your article that they have found on a directory
they must leave your link in tact, this means that you can
quickly get lot’s of good backlinks to your site and improve your
page rank all this from 1 article.

I had one article that I put on Articlebag.com that gave me
57 backlinks to my site in just 2 weeks, how long would it take
you to get this amount of “relevant” links to your site and how
much work would it take!

Make no mistake about it, this is the quickest method I know to
getting more website traffic to help your online business, do
yourself a favour and get writing now 1 article per week will do
more for your business than all the other things put together
trust me if your looking to increase your web site traffic this
is how to do it.

You can get more info on Marketing Software at http://www.internet-marketing-and-software.com

Filed Under: BenJanke.com Contributors Tagged With: internet marketing, internet marketing software, marketing software

Get Your Ad Seen with Mobile Billboards

July 31, 2009 By Ben Janke Leave a Comment

What are mobile billboards?  Well as most of you already know what a regular billboard is, a mobile billboard is exactly the same thing, except it is moving or mobile.

You can find it in it’s various forms.  You can see it in advertising trucks San Diego, or vehicles built specifically to carry billboards around.

Why are people using this form of medium to get their message or brand across?  I have some unique insights I am going to share that I have gained from running my own San Diego mobile billboards company.

First of all, lets talk about cost.  Mobile billboard rates are actually very comparable if not better than your traditional outdoor media such as traditional billboards.

With the advertising cost being comparable if not better, there is still another advantage in it’s favor.  Actual impressions or exposure to the consumers.

Compared to the usual billboards out there, that a prospect could just pass it by without even looking.  But the way a mobile billboard displays it’s message, it is more effective.And the way it is able to do that is by being in the consumer’s face.You can’t just ignore it and drive past it.It is right in front of you at eye level, stuck with you in traffic

This is powerful.  A consumer who is stuck in traffic with a businesses message right in front of them can’t be tuned out.

That is one of the major problems with traditional forms of advertising like TV or radio.With Tivo and satellite radio that many consumers have, a person could virtually never see or hear a commercial.

So going with a mobile billboard allows the business to get their message read and impressed upon the mind of the consumer.

If you want to build brand recognition as a business, there aren’t too many better ways to display your ad than by showing it in beautiful color as a full color display ad.It speaks loudly for attention.  And when the consumer really has nothing better to do in traffic, you really don’t have to scream that loud.

With a lot of businesses struggling because of the economy, using mobile ads might be just the trick they need to save their business.  More leads and more customers are bound to come using this method of advertising. 

You are going to get exposure.You are pretty much guaranteed to getting your message read and heard.What else could an advertiser want.

You can see it’s effectiveness by the way more and more businesses are using it to advertise.  In 2004 alone, there was over $5.8 billion used on this type of advertising.  With all that money being spent, it must be working.

So for many businesses looking for more ways to find customers, this might just be what they are looking for.

Filed Under: BenJanke.com Contributors Tagged With: mobile billboards, outdoor advertising, outdoor media, truck advertising

Give Your Business An Edge With Channel Letter Signs

July 31, 2009 By Ben Janke Leave a Comment

Sign is usually the first element you will see when you walk up to a business. Beautiful and unusual signs are now becoming more and more popular as businesses want to separate themselves from the competition. In the United States, the electric commercial signage industry has now grown to more than 2 billion dollars. Channel letter signage are at the forefront.

Channel letter signage in particular have gained in popularity in the last few years. Channel letters are built to stand out from a building and are lit with neon or LEDs lights. Channel letters are able to endure high winds and various weather conditions while being light and versatile as they are made of aluminum. The latest trend has been to add the lights at the back of the channel letters providing them a nice soft glow.

Colored acrylic is usually used for the faces while the sides and backs of channel letters are made of aluminum. Face lighting means letters that are lit from the inside using either neon or LEDs lights. Made of aluminum with the backs built out of clear polycarbonate, halo lit channel letters are considered the reverse of face lit letters in the electric sign industry.

The channel letters can then be mounted either in a raceway or direct mount fashion. When letters are attached to an aluminum box called a raceway which is then mounted to the wall of a building, it is named raceway mounting. The raceway box contains all the wires and power supplies. When the channel letters are affixed directly to the structure, it is called the direct mount. Holes must be drilled in the wall to feed the wiring and attach it to an inside power supply.  While direct mounting may offer the sign a sharper look, raceway mounting is easier to install and maintain.

Lighting the letters had only one option up until recently and it was neon. However, today, channel letters can be lit using LEDs lights. In an attempt to be more environmentally conscious, many businesses are opting to have their signage illuminated using LEDs lights. Installed at the back of the channel letters, a string of LEDs lights can be made to offer spectacular lighting effects. Using LEDs lights will enable your storefront sign to stand out from the others as they are incredibly bright and highly energy efficient. Channel letters can be illuminated using a range of colors. In the case of LEDs lights, red is the most popular and the least costly option at the moment. The color white is the second most popular selection.

Channel letter signage will provide your business with 24 hours a day client awareness but are considered to be a bit more expensive than the more traditional options. They will be noticeable from a greater distance than traditional sign options and will attract passerby throughout the day. Additional sales and increased brand recognition may be experienced from using these signs. In the end, this is the ultimate goal of every business: to get more customers through their doors.

Filed Under: BenJanke.com Contributors Tagged With: advertising, business signs, marketing

So you would like to be a small business consultant and work online

July 31, 2009 By Ben Janke Leave a Comment

small business consultant

I lead a Saas company that provides help in the form of small business management and accounting software tools and knowledge to thousands of startups and small businesses worldwide and whenever I explain to people what I do, I always get asked the same question “Given my working knowledge, how could I apply it and make earn cash quickly from small business consulting? I’m always happy to offer advice as I am privileged enough to spend best part of my day talking to small business owners and their teams always prepared to talk about their issues.

Here are my standard answers which I hope you will find useful:

The digital world is a great place for finding customers and it makes it simple to interact with them and sell your expertise. A lot of small businesses turn to the internet to find knowledge or trusted advisors who can provide them with guidance and help them address issues.

Information marketing – repurpose and sell your expertise to small businesses everywhere via the net

What I am about to tell you doesn’t just apply to small businesses. You can repackage and sell your expertise in a multimedia format such as video, audio or documents. The tools to create high quality content are readily available on the net. Making a course in easy to consume digital formats is now simple and inexpensive. You just have to be prepared to dedicate a modest amount of time understanding the systems. material] that you can either sell or give away to get your target customer’s attention.

Commence by determining your overall goal. Consultancy and Information marketing are great bedfellows and if you do both can be very lucrative as the consultancy will provide you with the questions, the answers to which repurpose for sale through the internet and sold over and over again.

If you are starting from scratch with no customers but have expertise you know would be attractive to others then plan to create a very short video to present yourself and your expertise to your prospect(s). Unless you know the market precise problem then make the video generic and usethe following format – S.T.A.R (Situation or Task, Action, Result). Be creative and concise. Now deploy the video to your website/blog or even YouTube if you don’t have the former and send the target(s) an invitation by e-mail containing a personal message and a link to the video. Always follow this up with a phone call. If you know the specific nature of the prospect(s)problem then don’t make the video public, just put it somewhere privateon the Web or even on a disk and post it, again follow up with a call.

This method is ideally suited to situations where you are individually targeting potential client(s). You should always focus on growing a list you can interact with and make sales to. Treat the people on your list well and they will tell you their needs to which you can match and your content products. The more people on your list the more consulting and information marketing opportunities you will find. If you would like to know more about how to do this then visit any of the links in this article. I would be very glad to help you.

Filed Under: BenJanke.com Contributors Tagged With: business management consultant, small business consultant, small business consulting, small business management consulting

Don’t Try To Grow Your Business Without Trying The Pull of Freebie Gifts

July 31, 2009 By Ben Janke Leave a Comment

Marketing Advice : How to Use Promotional Items to Grow Your Small Business

Before everything else, the most general varieties of promotional items being provided by corporations include key chains, pens and calendars; that’s basically why you most often find these in other persons’ residences and places of work. Smart companies see promotional items as a cheap, as well as helpful, technique of reaching through to their clients, and also those folks who aren’t yet their customers.

It’s not enough to include your corporation’s  symbol or name on the promotional items; I advice putting an extremely strong message about your firm or an incentive on your company’s promotional items that will certainly prompt and prove to clients to buy from your company.

There is hardly any committed system or company nowadays that doesn’t distribute promotional items; even tiny businesses and firms with small available money send calendars as promotional items. Depending on what a company or business can pay, it can have the company name or sign imprinted or it can also have it embellished on the promotional item.

I have heard of companies that have established enduring  goodwill with their buyers just as a result of the usefulness and also constancy of distributing promotional items; your corporation or business can get delight from such goodwill too, specially if done right.

Just as any company that doesn’t do advertisement is like an individual winking at a female in the dark (only the person knows exactly what he is doing, not the female nor any individual is aware what the male is doing), so also is a company that does not distribute  promotional items to clients.

To finish, it is exceedingly useful to examine how you’ll go about customizing any promotional item before you utilize it; it’s the customization with your company badge or name that genuinely makes promotional items extraordinary.

Filed Under: BenJanke.com Contributors Tagged With: freebies, give-aways, promotional items
« Older Posts