Sunday, August 31  

The simplest ideas are often the best!

I received another email today (I get quite a few each day) thanking me for the info on this site and telling me that the things I advocate seems so simple and logical. Marketing is usually very, very simple. Following is a great example:

One of our clients runs a retail plant nursery.

Plants are cumbersome things and often bought in multiple lots. To make it as easy as possible for the customers, they had trolleys available for them to place their plants and gardening products in as they went (much like a supermarket trolley).

We are always reviewing the strategies we implement for this client and one of the factors is how to increase the average sale dollar amount. So this is what the client did.

He took the trolleys away.

And put in trolleys twice as big!

The average sale dollar amount immediately increased - all because it was now easy for the customer to buy more.

A very simple idea that has worked a treat.

All the best.

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

Saturday, August 30  

Encouraging word of mouth - how do you do it?

Word of mouth is, without question, the most successful marketing technique for the majority of our clients.

* I played golf yesterday with a friend who is an Orthodontist. His main source of patients - referrals (And yes, he beat me by 5 shots).
* A client who runs a retail store - main source of new business is referrals.
* Crane hire business - the vast majority of his business comes from, you guessed it, referrals.

I'm putting together a free report detailing the best ways to encourage word of mouth referrals. What works is different with every business. What works for you? How do you encourage customers to refer you to others? Can you please tell me?

I'd love to hear from you at freereport@tailored.com.au. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Regards

Brendon

Friday, August 29  

Most of the stories on this site make me look like Superman......

.......but that's only because I try and make the stories positive (and I'm an egomaniac!).

Well, here's something a little different.

We have a site that we developed with the intention of someday making a shop out of it. We did the site about 6 months and promptly forgot about it.

Today I checked the visitor numbers, expecting about 100 a month tops.

We've had 13,000 so far this month. 13,000 highly targeted visitors looking to buy the product the site is about. And we haven't even done anything with it as yet.

We do try and spend a lot of time working on our business rather than in it. But this is a good example of the importance of stepping back and reviewing everything and thinking oif the big picture.

Mmmmmmm. 13,000 people. if just 5% buy a $50 product, that's, ummm, let's see.....25 carry the 5.........

Have a good day.

Regards

Brendon

1 good reason why you should drink!

Howdy. Hope your week is going well.

Our team has Friday drinks to wind down at the end of the working week. Last week we came up with a brilliant, superb and amazing tweak of our direct mail campaign that looks set to at least double our response rate.

You won't believe how simple it is (and I cannot believe I didn't think of it years ago!).

Click here for the full story.

Regards

Brendon

Wednesday, August 27  

I had a terrific meeting this afternoon with a guy who will do very well with a business he has just started. He told me this story:

A friend of his got a job in London with one of the huge, high profile advertising companies.

On the first day he was called into the boss' office:

"What is it you think we do here?"

"Well, you develop magnificent advertising campaigns to inspire, entice.............."

"Stop right there. Nope, that's wrong. All we do is get our lazy clients to get off their butt and actually do some marketing."

Marketing works. My philosophy has always been to "just do something."

The more marketing you do, the more business you will get. Simple.

I know that's not a particularly interesting bit of information, but it is (surprisingly) one of the most needed bits of advice I give.

Hope you have a good day.

Regards

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

Tuesday, August 26  

Can teach and old dog new tricks

I'm the old dog, in case you are wondering! I visited a client today who has a web site in an industry I know well (resort accommodation).

I know the usual web site visitor numbers and the conversion rates (bookings to visitors) for a resort like this clients.

A quick chat with this client indicated his conversion rate was something like 15 times the industry average! 15 times!!
It was unbelievable.

After a review of his web site it seems to come down to 2 things:

1. The right people are seeing his web site - the right people are motivated buyers for his 'product'.

2. His offer is exactly right for his target market.

And there is a great business lesson right there.

If you make the right offer to the right market you will make sales.

And here's the hint: the most likely people to buy from you are the people who have bought from you before (have you made an offer to old customers lately?).

Regards

Brendon (Woof, woof!)

Saturday, August 23  

More info added

We've added quite a few new articles to the site. Simply click here to view or on 'articles' to the left (and we have created a book of them as well).

Probably the most frequent question I get asked is "Are the examples real?" The answer to that is a resounding "Yep!"

I always think it's better to illustrate a point with an example, and all the examples cited have happened.

Hope you enjoy the site. Have a good weekend.

Regards

Brendon

FREE article collection added

We've had quite a number of people print off our articles. To make it as easy as possible (different printer settings means the page doesn't print the same for everyone), we have created a free pdf book of all of our articles.

It contains 23 articles and is 82 pages long. And it's well worth the ink!

Click here to visit the download page. Hope it is of some use.

Regards

Brendon

Friday, August 22  

The best clients to have - the value of honest feedback

I sent one of our promo cards to one of our contacts on Wednesday. Robyn is a lovely lady who we hope to be working with over the next month or so. And Robyn would be the perfect client.

You see Robyn helps us. She even helps us before she is a client.

* Robyn was the first person to tell us our on-hold message sucked (not her words, but I know that's what she wanted to say!).
* Robyn gives us feedback on everything she sees from our business - from the quality of the promo card, to the copywriting, to things we write in this blog.

Being in the business means we are sometimes a little too close to objectively assess how our own marketing works.

So it's great to have someone like Robyn to give us some honest feedback - because with that sort of feedback we can all continue to improve our businesses.

By the way, when Robyn rang me this afternoon...................I put her straight on hold. She loved the new on-hold music!

Have a good weekend.

Regards

Brendon

Wednesday, August 20  

From Bach to The Beatles to us

We've been meaning to change our on-hold message for a while now. It's one of those things we've been meaning to get around to. Meaning to and meaning to.

I finally took some action today. Made a phone call and $60 later (for an 'Isolator' - don't ask me what it is) a phone expert client was here taking care of everything for us. If you ring and are put on hold, you'll now get the local radio in your ear rather than a bad version of Bach.

Next step is to record a CD with what we want our message to be. And in our effort to be a little different our on-hold message will probably be interviews with the staff here - talking about what they do, what their hobbies are and what their likes are.

2 people mentioned to me last week that our on-hold music was pretty bad. Which indicates to me that:

a) it was,
b) people really do listen to on-hold messages

We have a Commander phone system with 3 phone lines coming in. And changing the on-hold message was very easy. Could you benefit from a new on-hold message? (Tip: you need an Isolator if you have a Commander system. Like I know what I'm talking about!)

Cheers.

Brendon

Tuesday, August 19  

"Thank you for keeping your word."

A new client said that to me today. And it reinforced to me how important trust is in working with people.

This client had recently taken over the management rights of a resort and very quickly identified that she needed a web site up to accept online bookings. She didn't have a lot of computer skill, so relied on us to a large extent.

We had a long meeting with our client to find out exactly what she needed, then we offered her some solutions.

One of her key criteria was for the web site to be completed within a week. We worked hard to get it done and managed to finish the site in just 5 days. And it's already doing a great job.

As businesspeople, having our customers trust us is hugely critical. The two- (2) big things you can do to demonstrate your trustworthiness are:

1. show testimonials from other clients
2. guarantee your service or product

Those two- (2) things remove a lot of the risk your customers feel everytime they make a purchase. Remove that risk and your sales will go up.

Regards

Brendon

Getting the most out of what you have

I was asked today how 'new' the "New" articles were. Easy answer here. Very new. I generally try and write an article a day. Sometimes I can do more, sometimes less.

The long "Why, oh why, do people spend 4-5 years at University, but they can't get a job? took me the best part of 2 days to write.

I take the "New" tag off after 4-5 days.

Another question was why don't I date the articles. That's a good question. And I have a good answer!

I don't date the articles because I want the most benefit from them that is possible. Although you and I know that the articles are very recent, later visitors will not be aware how old the articles are.

Imagine this................imagine that you visit a web site that has articles that are 4 years old. Then you visit my web site, where we don't date the articles so you don't really know how old they are (and therefore they are not perceived as being 'dated'). My site would get more articles read than the site with 'old' articles.

No question about it.

It's important as businesspeople that we get as much value from everything we do in our business as possible. You will find better ways to do business every single day. And that's a wonderful way to grow your business.

Have a good day.

Brendon

Monday, August 18  

Bragging about our brag wall

We have a brag wall in the office. This is the wall in the reception area where we display awards, client testimonials, photos - in fact, anything special that shows us being good at what we do.

The brag wall serves the purpose of indicating to the client's coming in that we are trusted and honest suppliers of what they are buying. After all, that's what the brag wall items do - whether it be in words or just by being there (such as a plaque from a client thanking us for our support).

The brag wall provides instant credibility.

People find it difficult to trust others these days, much more than previously. We struggled with this until we gave our clients a 100% money back guarantee on everything we do for them.

Could you use some extra trust from your customers? If so, then a brag wall could be just the thing!

Testimonials, photos, press clippings, plaques, trophies.........the list goes on. Start a brag wall today and your credibility will zoom up.

Cheers

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

Friday, August 15  

See the opportunities and take them

I made $600 this week I didn't really want to make. And I hope I don't make $600 for the same reason again.

The virus that has been shutting down everyone's computer managed to get a few client's of ours. Complete and utter pain, and a complete and utter waste of time.

We started a "Client's only" newsletter this week. I'm not real smart, but I soon figured out that we need a way to very quickly communicate with our clients, business partners and friends.

We had the tool to fix it and the patch within hours. If we could have quickly communicated with our clients we could have saved some heartache. We manage to get to as many as possible, but not enough (and even though we are marketers and web developers, we try and do the right thing about our clients if it's marketing or viruses or whatever).

If we could have notified our clients of all that (with some quick emails) we could have saved them $600 and a lot of wasted time.

We made a small profit on the virus fixes, so I guess you could say it was good business sense! But it is much, much better now that we give added value to our clients and hopefully save them some money and pain.

What can you do to add value to your client? What opportunities are there?

Have a good day.

Regards

Brendon

Wednesday, August 13  

Using free publicity to save yourself thousands......and make yourself even more

As I sit down to write these messages, I tend to focus on what has happened during my day. And that's fair enough.

Whatever is top of mind is what I'm thinking of and what usually gets written about.

Today we were trying to develop some marketing strategies for a client with a very limited budget. But having a small budget doesn't matter too much - because I'm a great believer in the incredible power of free publicity.

With some simple PR I'm confident of generating some good quality local media coverage for his business. And you should be able to get some too.

Local media outlets are actively searching for stories to fill their pages, their tape or their radio waves. They are just waiting for you to ring with a story idea! Don't let them down.

So don't be shy. Come up with a good newsworthy story (an interesting angle might be all that you need) and your business could reap the rewards.

And visit back here often. We are constantly updating this site and the resources section is next on our hit list.

Take care.

Brendon

Tuesday, August 12  

A couple of wins last week.........please let me brag!

I'm having a good few days. And, setting my immodesty aside for just one moment (okay, okay - I have no modesty! I know!) I'll tell you what's happened.

# 1: My book has sold well and is into its second print run. Check it out if you are starting or running a web business. I know it can be of great use.

# 2: Our business has been nominated for one of our city's top business awards. It's a terrific thrill for me as it recognises the great work our team does.

# 3: I made the social pages!! Woooooohooooooo!

I was at a launch party last week and, luckily, was photographed standing between 2 gorgeous women. Which means that the editor couldn't crop me out of the pic! I'm so proud!!

So what does this have to do with marketing? After all, that's probably the reason you are visiting these pages.

It has nothing to do with anything, other than me bragging! Or sharing good news. Whatever way you want to look at it!

I'm proudest of the award nomination (though the social pages was great!!) - I feel like a footballer when they say they would forgo an individual honour for a team win! I'm so corny it's unbelievable.

Have a good day. Hope it brings you joy and fun.

Regards

Brendon

Sunday, August 10  

A simple way to have your newsletter professionally printed - for hundreds of $$$ less than you would pay a printer!

Our business sends out a newsletter every 3 months or so. usually around 500 copies. We always used to struggle with the designing and development of the newsletter.

To get a quality newsletter, we needed a professional printer to print it. To have such small quantities printed meant we paid a decent amount per copy. It was a bit of a catch 22.

We have come up with a way to get professionally printed newsletters for just a few cents a copy...click here for more

Regards

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

The choices we make - understand this and you could make millions!

Whenever we develop marketing strategies for a client's business, we look very closely at the choice influences on the target market. That is, why do people buy from the businesses they do.

This afternoon my son and I went to a computer store and purchased a CD labeling package. From there we bought lunch from a takeaway joint, drove to the beach and sat on a bench and ate lunch.

My son is only 10, but I try and get him to understand business when there is a lesson to be learnt. My children call them "Dad's business lessons."

Today we talked about what influenced our decisions.

The computer store was about 20 km away from my home. I passed probably four- (4) computer stores on the way...click here for more

Friday, August 8  

Yep, I did..............in case you wanted to know!

Howdy. Hope you and yours are well.

If you read the post below, you'll know that I was going to have a few drinks on Wednesday night.

True to form I had quite a few and had a lovely night - although you don't need alcohol to have fun (this message is brought to you by.......just kidding!).

Just thought I'd let you know I am a man of my word! And a man who had a hangover the next morning.

Are you doing business with everyone you could be doing business with?

We did some work over the past week for a client in California. We set up a piece of software on his web site for him. He was a delightful fellow to work with and I'm sure we will work together on some other projects he has.

He received a top job and we were paid straight away (via credit card).

We have a number of overseas clients. It is no different than having clients next door to us. The web opens up a whole range of possiblities!

There is a restaurant about 2 kilometers down the road. Their menus are designed by a woman I know in North Dakota, USA. Her business catchment area is only limited by her imagination.

Are you doing business with everyone you could be doing business with?

Have a nice weekend.

Regards

Brendon

I can handle the truth!

I've just posted a new article here.

And I admit I'm quite harsh. You see, the article was motivated by the hundreds of job applications we receive. They are usually marketing graduates, quite often with years of experience, and they have absolutely no idea how to get a job.

And in the article I tell you how to get the job almost everytime.

I'd appreciate if you could take a look at the article and let me know if you think it's too tough.

You can get me at admin@tailored.com.au.

It's a situation that frustrates me like crazy.

* Why would you go to University for 3-4 years and not take the time to learn the absolute basics of getting a job?
* Don't educators care about whether their students have the skills that are really needed?

Anyway, please take a look and let me know what you think. Appreciate your help. And have a good weekend!

Cheers.

Wednesday, August 6  

It's launched!

Well, it finally happened. My first book (a big kit actually) has just been launched by Site Point.

The book is written for web developers/designers/programmers/any web person really who is starting or already running their own business.

The editors at Site Point are pretty happy with the book and even offer a 100% money back guarantee if you don't think it's very, very useful.

As for me, I'm delighted with the book. It's based on years and years of hard work and identifying resources that are of most benefit. I think it's great and well worth the investment.

That's enough of my sales pitch! Have a good day.

Oh, before I go........

The photo on the page promoting the book - I have a lot more hair than it looks!!! Really, truly. Honestly!!

Regards

Brendon

Tuesday, August 5  

I'm getting drunk tonight and here's the reason

There is a show on TV in Australia at the moment that is our version of American Idol. Not surprisingly it's called Australian Idol.

Instead of gently telling hopefuls that haven't made the cut, the judges use a mixture of scorn and insult to humiliate the young person up there given it all.

The latest radio station in my city is Hot Tomato.

Actor Russell Crowe fronts a rock band called "Thirty Odd Foot Of Grunt". It's a band put together by Russell and a few mates and it's apparently a decent band. They played in my city (the Gold Coast) on the weekend. During the performance Crowe apparently introduced Steve Irwin, the famous Crocodile Hunter, and his little daughter. Steve went on stage for a bit.

This morning on Hot Tomato, the DJ wanted to "test" just how well Crowe and Irwin know each other. So he rang Steve Irwin pretending to be Russell Crowe.

Irwin didn't pick that the voice wasn't Crowe and that was a cause of much hilarity for the DJ.

What sort of inane, dull and stupid radio is that. So Irwin and Crowe aren't real good mates. Big deal. Should some unknown DJ trying to make a name for himself try and humiliate someone else?

And why do we, via our TV and radio programs, have to humiliate people having a go in life?

No. What boring radio.

As usual with my stories there is eventually a point.

And the point of this tale is this: I buy media. I buy radio ads. I buy radio ads on the Gold Coast. Am I more likely to buy radio ads from Hot Tomato?

Actually it shouldn't affect my decision.

As a professional buyer I can't let my dislike of the on-air personalities affect my buying decisions - I have to get the best value and most appropriate deal for my client.

But I have a way of getting even with Hot Tomato for annoying me!

Their launch party is tonight at 6 p.m. I have an invite. The booze is free. I'm going to have 20 drinks for me, 20 for Russell Crowe and 20 for Steve Irwin!! That'll teach 'em!

Cheers.

Brendon

I am not a pot smoking gay man who frequents public bathrooms - not that there is anything wrong with that!

I received a nice email from a guy called Julian this morning who had been reading the case study on this web site. This case study details our experience with signwriters.

A couple of references in the case study had Julian a little perplexed for a while until he figured out I'm an Australian guy and the Australian meaning of words is sometimes different to those in the US.

Here's part of Julian's email: "The first reference is to your tea room in your new office. In the States, tea room is a euphemism for a public bathroom where gay men come to meet surreptitiously.

The second reference is to the indoor pot plant given to Bob by the sign painter. In the States, a pot plant is slang for marijuana plant."

The moral of this story is that cultural differences can create some awkward situations, but can also be very amusing!

Thanks Julian.

Cheers.

Monday, August 4  

Book me in for a rest!

Hope you've had a good day.

I've written a book that is about to be released by SitePoint Pty Ltd.

It's a niche book (for people with or starting web development businesses) and it is due for release in the next couple of days.

One of the most interesting things that occured with me when people knew I was writing a book was instant credibility. Immediately I signed the contract it was as though I was suddenly more expert, knew more and was more believable.

And I was in much higher demand in most areas of my business.

How are you perceived within your business community? Is there anything (the way you dress, your logo, a newsletter you could send out), anything at all that would positively influence how others see you?

Business is tough. Give yourself the best possible chance at all times.

Regards

Brendon

Saturday, August 2  

Use other people's expertise, experience and strategies...without paying a cent.

Down a couple of blogs I mentioned the new radio station that has hit the city in which I live. The strategy they are using, from programming to advertising to music, is interesting and is one which I recommend for many business.

Do exactly what the industry leaders do. What they do works. So do that (or as close to that as you can).

If I was starting a hamburger shop, I would use McDonalds as my role model. I'd have a clean shop, staff in uniforms, cheap meals and everyone coming in would be asked "Would you like fries with that."

If I was marketing my electrical store, I would do what industry leaders do. Massive advertising, payment plans for purchasers and key locations for my shops.

If I was starting up a radio station, I would do what other successful stations do.

In Sydney, the newest station is called Nova. They have been fabulously successful. They launched with a mix of music styles, young, hip DJ's and no more than 2 advertisements in a row. And no more than 2 ads every 15 minutes.

Hot Tomato has launched and they have a mix of music styles, young, hip DJ's and no more than 2 advertisements in a row. And no more than 2 ads every 15 minutes.

Sometimes marketing your business can be tricky as you struggle to find the right mix in your product and promotion. Take a look at the industry leaders (in any industry) and see how you can apply their strategies to your business.

Cheers

Friday, August 1  

Okay, so I'm a little slow!

Was racking my brain today trying to think of the latest bit of news from us.

I'm not so smart. We've been working on the web site yesterday and today and it didn't occur to me that our new and improved web site is 'the latest'.

Yep, after a couple of years with quite an ugly web site, we have revamped and launched the site you are now looking at.

With plenty more information, an easier navigation layout and improved functionality (with these blogs - go to Blogger if you want one) we hope the new site gives you the info you want, when you want it.

Regards

Brendon

Loading up the web site with goodies

Hope your day is going well.

We are loading up the web site with plenty of information over the next 2-3 days. We have articles (written by yours truly), case studies, resources and plenty more.

By the time we're done the web site will have more goodies than a Christmas stocking!

Cheers.

Brendon