Last week we talked about what a difference good photography can make in the telling of your businesses’ story. A big, big component of that is lighting. The difference between a haunted house and one you’ll want to move into might just be the lighting. After all, who doesn’t get creeped-out by a dimly-lit scaaaaaaaary house? When I used to take the pictures for an RV dealer of the trailers on the lot we used to make sure to have the batteries attached and functioning and I would turn on every light inside the trailer. The difference this made in making the RVs look inviting was incredible. Sometimes we would even take a shop light and light up dimly-lit corners of the RVs.
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Using photos is one of the best tools a business has to tell a story. Yet I see a lot of people doing an exceptionally bad job with their photos. And others using photos with great success. With today’s smart phones, there is no excuse for bad pictures. So why are bad photos such a common thing? Where’s the best ice cream in your town? Where is the most outstanding breakfast place? What would be a hidden gem that you would want someone visiting your area not to miss? Isn’t it fun to help people with these “insider secrets?”
Of course it is. You just earned your master’s degree in networking at a business mixer. Wait. What? What's the first thing people think of when your brand is mentioned?What is the first thing someone thinks of when your brand is mentioned? Service? Quality? Burned out light bulbs? What is your brand?
What do you immediately think of when I write Las Vegas? How about New Orleans? How about Los Angeles? What about Disneyland? They each have a very distinct brand and that brand may be different based on your own life experience. I’m late. I fact I’m quite late. And I’m late for a reason.
One of the cool things about my weekly email blast on Monday mornings is that I get people who ask me to help them with various things like websites, social media and other ways of getting their voicing out to the world. If you don’t get the Monday Morning Marketing emails you can and they’re free. I was working with someone recently on their social media campaigns and they were very stressed. They were absolutely killing it on Facebook with an engaged audience and strong return on their time investment. So what’s their issue? They weren’t on Instagram or Twitter or any other social network for that matter. And they had the Fear Of Missing Out, or FOMO.
(Insert dramatic musical effect here) One of the greatest assets you can have as a business is a really, really good email list. While there is a lot of hoopla about having a strong social media presence, and that is an effective component of your marketing arsenal, honing a great email list still can turn into real dollars for your business. But this can also be a way to lose customers too, so here are ten tips for email marketing that can help your business. Like cans of gasoline in the hands of that “one uncle,” using automation to help spread your word can have unforeseen consequences. I don’t think automated marketing systems are necessarily a good thing, especially in some implementations. While there are great tools for helping to automate your marketing, great marketing still starts from a passion about your product or service. Period.
Now, do I use automated marketing tools? You betcha! You might be one of thousands of people who get my Monday Marketing newsletter delivered conveniently to your inbox through a mailing program. If not, you can remedy that here. I believe that community service can be a an effective component of a marketing strategy. I think it's good to go out in the community and work with others for a variety of reasons including making your place a better place to live but also as a networking tool. But, just like with beer or ice cream, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. For whatever reason community service organizations such as local service clubs and such are really having a difficult time getting new members. While the current membership gets older, there aren't a lot of new people jumping in to join the ranks. Facebook Groups can be a powerful and free tool that can be part of a great marketing plan. But Groups can also actually help you run your business and more.
Facebook has stated that they are assigning less priority to Business Pages from an organic standpoint. The simple reason they’re doing so is that there are so many Business Pages it’s impossible to assign them the priority they used to. Well, and they also want to earn your advertising dollars. |
Tony BarthelTony Barthel is passionate about great marketing for small businesses Get Free Weekly Marketing TipsCategories
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