Biz-Marketing Tips

These short tips provide helpful hints to improve your marketing and overall business – often debunking current myths & practices. So come back often! Tips are all archived below..

The Most Recent Tip:

A Business Epiphany - September 18, 2012

Last week I was trying to objectively re-assess my various business successes, failures, and in between results over the years…especially those where I have been a third party healthcare consultant, marketing consultant, business consultant, vendor, etc. Here’s an epiphany for me -- and maybe for your and your business:

My successes have been with companies that let me help them become more successful.

By letting me do my thing to get them what they needed (not necessarily what they wanted) and
By doing their part, including providing regular information/feedback relevant to the project/work.

Even businesses that gave me some reasonable rope and did the majority of things (that needed to get done) on their part…realized excellent results…which helped them become even more successful.That doesn’t mean I’ve always been "best in class" or that projects/work relationships have not been bumpy along the path to success. Far from it. But much was learned by both parties…to the benefit of both parties.

A lot of businesses do not get that epiphany, though. They hire 3^rd party specialists or buy services from a variety of quality vendors – but then handcuff them and also assume that “it” will just happen in a vacuum without doing their (often small) part -- even sometimes undermining the very folks they hired. These companies throw away a ton of money and financial upside.

2 “trust” takeaways for all businesses:

If you need (or currently use) some outside help (especially highly skilled expertise) to fill a key gap, bring a new viewpoint/and help implement difficult changes, get a key project done ASAP without hiring new FTE’s, etc., LET THEM DO THEIR THING with minimal interference. But also DO YOUR PART and TELL THEM THE STRAIGHT SCOOP. If you want excellent ROI…
If you are on the other side of the equation as a consultant, advisor, coach, or other vendor and your customer simply does not let you perform as you know how and is not keeping you in the loop (even when you proactively solicit their input), JETTISON THAT CUSTOMER SOONER THAN LATER. You’ll have a much better success story with your next new customer – one that will beget you more business into the future. Hint: It´s tough but if you can identify the likely "problem children" in the sales process, it´s a lot less painful in the long run to jettison before they ever become a client.

PS. The free IPad(s) offer is now for the NEW iPad thru Nov 15, 2012. Read more.

Interested in reducing your company’s expenses? Companies in an industry, but especially if you are a healthcare company? And especially if you do NOT want to impact your core, labor expenses? Here’s a 45 second SAMPLE video I had done for a new Ranseen Marketing partner, ProviderWorks. Please email or call me (615-661-6042) for more information. More on ProviderWorks in future emails

More Tips

The Top 9 Ways to Improve Your Website Content - September 07, 2012

Website content is critical to online marketing success whether you’re an ecommerce company or non ecommerce company. Here are 9 ways to jump ahead of your competition:

Clarify your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Here’s my current version, FYI: “Ranseen Marketing uses a proven online marketing process to generate prospects & help fill your sales funnel -- with an investment that’s a lot less than what you pay your worst sales person – and that gets you more sales with excellent ROI. What do you think?
Lead with benefits before features. Hint: make it about “you” “your(s)” customers vs “me,” us,” “we,” “our” stuff.
Prove it -- that you do what you say you can do (with e.g. demos, trials, customer stories, testimonials, client lists, etc).
Include good hooks – to get people to trade their contact information for something you provide them. Read a few ideas on this page.
Make it easy for visitors to interact online via email, quick form, chat, blog, etc.
Put up 10-15 really good FAQs - as a Cliffs Notes version of your site.
Tell your own interesting company story – versus a boring “corporate” one.
Use multi-media as well as words (I’m working doing a lot more of this myself…but in case you missed this fun 12 second video).
Update your content regularly and keep adding new content – news, stories, clients, hooks, etc. – and make that a discipline. BTW, I continue to update my own site after not doing a lot with it for a while. It´s always a work in progress!
Check out the new Ranseen Marketing white paper:: How Non Ecommerce Companies Increase Profits -- with Online Marketing.

New Ranseen Marketing White Paper - Online Marketing for Non Ecommerce Companies - August 29, 2012

A new Ranseen Marketing white paper – and free iPad 2’s

Sorry for the hiatus…some technical and other issues. Ranseen Marketing´s Biz-Marketing Tips continue again on a regular basis. Plus an offer for free IPad 2’s….

Do you know any businesses that fit this general profile:

Doesn’t focus on ecommerce (that is, the company doesn´t depend on web orders/payments- a sales process is the norm)
Established business (versus a start-up)
Sells good stuff – products/services – but at least in the 3-4 figure range and up
Sells either B2B (business-to-business) and/or B2C (business-to-consumer)
Website is mediocre at best, and it’s only apparent purpose is to act as an “online brochure.”
Probably looking for more prospects and sales

Or maybe that sounds like your business?

Here’s a brand new Ranseen Marketing White Paper:

How Non Ecommerce Companies Increase Profits – with Online Marketing. The white paper debunks 3 of the top myths surrounding online marketing and recommends a path for success.

So what about the free iPads?

If you refer me to a business described above, and they sign up for a Ranseen Marketing project before October 31, 2012, I’ll give you a free IPad 2…for each referral…that closes. No limit per individual or in total. It´s my responsibility to make the sale. Email me the business website address, the company contact name/title, email address and phone number. That’s it. When an agreement is signed, I will let you know and mail your iPad 2. Oh, and also please email me your contact information in case I do not have it. This offer is good for anyone else you might know as well, and so please forward this to others.

The only caveats: If someone else has already submitted the name of a specific company, only the first one gets an iPad (and I would let you know immediately) – when a deal is closed. As an employee, if your company has some kind of policy against receipt of money/goods for a business referral (to your own company), then you’d need to disqualify yourself. Other than that, send me your referrals, and if you have any questions, please email or call me at 661-6042.

Thanks and I’ll be back next week. I promise!

Coyote Ugly or Super Hot? - June 12, 2012

Give me a not-so-gorgeous website that has good traffic and creates business (prospects and/or sales) any day…versus a beautiful site that does little but massage the owners/managers’ egos. After years of doing online marketing, the myth that "good looking is better/wins" is just as strong now as it was a decade ago. It’s nuts.

Southeast Financial is great company that I had the privilege to work with for 6 years. It has a pretty mediocre looking website – but one that generates ALL of its business online – and has survived and thrived, even in a really tough economy. BTW, Southeast does not “sell” anything via credit card, online.

For grins: search for “horse trailer loan (or loans)” via Google (or Bing) and check out the organic (“free”) and pay rankings (top of page shaded/or right side of Page 1). One example, only, of both excellent SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay-Per-Click) that translates into clicks and quotes on the www.southefinancial.com site – and then into customers who sign up for loans to buy horse trailers, motor homes, RV’s, boats, motorcycles, etc. Try other keywords relative to Southeast’s RV space, as well. A lot of work online…over several years. The proof is in the pudding.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with (going after &) getting great online results AND having a terrific looking site. ZHealth Publishing, North Shore Vascular Associates , We Make Tapes & Discs & Holiday Seminars do both. You can too. Find out more.

Next week, I plan to move to more of a short video format. I’m a slow learner, but after more than a decade of helping businesses kick butt online, it’s still evident that a high percentage of C-level folks who make the key decisions, small business owners (who also write the checks), and other biz folks simply do not have the time or inclination to “get it” online – and could use some quick 101 online marketing help. Over time I´ll try to cover 80% of what is most important for you to understand. So, we’ll start with a few super short videos and see what happens.

But also I’ll keep doing some “shameless self promotions” for fun via www.fiverr.com. Hope you like this new animation re: the confusion about online marketing and its acronyms. And if you’re interested in a FREE 20 minute phone consultation about your website and online marketing, please let me know.

Please contact Ranseen Marketing if you have questions or comments