Sunday, October 28, 2012

Employee Gifts for the Holidays That Promote Your Company

The holidays are a great time to reward employees and show your appreciation with personalized corporate gifts in the form of promotional products. Today's economy requires a smart approach to employee recognition and gift giving by making sure scarce resources provide the highest return on your investment.

Employees work hard all year by bringing their talent and skills to make your business successful. For many small to large businesses, the days of holiday bonuses are not as possible as they once were. There are other ways to recognize employees and reward them with a meaningful and useful gift while building your business brand at the same time.

Some of the best gift options include custom promotional items such as hooded sweatshirts, outer wear, hats, and other apparel that give your staff a practical and memorable holiday gift. These items also encourage team building and pride in the workplace as well. By including your logo, business name, tagline, or other corporate branding image, you are also marketing your business every time your employee wears the apparel items.

A professional promotional product company is able to copy your logo or other artwork and embroider, use a silk screening process, or other modern mechanisms to apply your message to garments or other promotional items. These custom gifts can extend beyond your employees, too. The holidays are the perfect time to extend custom promotional gifts to valued clients or customers as well. Besides apparel, there are many gifts to select from such as sports bags, duffel bags, backpacks, briefcases, luggage, and more. These items are very popular gifts and offer marketing opportunities to a wide audience when clients or employees use them and others admire them.

Mugs, business card holders and smaller items such as pens, water bottles, post-it notes, and much, much more, make it possible for you to provide gifts that match your corporate or business budget. The holidays and beginning of the New Year is also a time many businesses give out recognition awards to outstanding employees. Recognition awards might be etched glass gifts, plaques, watches - the possibilities are endless! You can customize your recognition or achievement awards so that the recipient is proud to display them. Clients will take notice, as will family and friends again giving you the opportunity to make a positive brand statement to a wider audience.

Promotional holiday gifts, especially when ordered in bulk, are fantastic way to combine the joy of gift giving with the practical impact of building your corporate brand. Whether you are a small, local business or a major corporation with a national client-base, promotional gifts for the holidays are a smart investment that is a win-win for your employees and clients and for your business image.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Tips to Get Your Clients to Trust and Like You

You've heard the term "it's all about networking", you may have wondered what exactly does that mean or you've thought networking is great but what really is it going to do for me. The term networking is key and it is so important. You may think I'm just an internet marketing company what will networking do for me? Or you think I do SEO and write programs shouldn't I network with computers. Well yes but not exactly. Business is built on relationships and people. You can't forget the reason that you got into the business because you were passionate about it and you found a need where others couldn't. You founded your organization based on your passions and what you wanted to share with your future clients, whatever your business is you know you are the one that can provide the best service, the best value and the best product. Now the trick is to get and keep clients, and have them trust and like you and your brand. How do you do this?

1. Jump in and make a splash!
The first part of your project is key to building a successful relationship. In the first stages of the project the client will how you respond to them and also how you will be handling their account. Make this time count. This time also helps you to understand your client and how they would like their account handled. Try sending your new clients a note to explain what you need from them and what you will be providing so they understand expectations and a time frame. Try to create a spread sheet with issues that you want to tackle and handle throughout the project, making a reasonable time line for you and your client to adhere to. Make notes and ask your client to make notes and always include a solution section so that you both understand what is needed.

Why they will adore you: You have fair expectations from both parties Your client understands what you are going to be solving for them You identified big opportunities (issues and solutions) Confirmation they made a good decision by bringing you on

2. Check in, share, and collaborate
Email your point of contact throughout every step. Allow them time to give you feedback and to offer potential opportunities. If your client just wants you to "do the work" or they don't have time to communicate with you about the project along the way you both risk an unhappy party. Let them know you value their time but you want to provide them with a successful product they will also appreciate. Ask them for suggestions and ideas even the most mundane tasks a client can weigh in on, choosing a back ground color or photo, try to give them 3 options if they are super busy. Ask your client if there is anything they are trying to push, and if you can help them push it you can gain even more loyalty points!

Why they will adore you: They will feel included in the process and that their opinions count You delivered pertinent recommendations and confirmed what a great idea it was to bring you in. You helped get one of their objectives pushed through quickly.

3. Respect their time
This is key to building a good relationship. A company can love you and your personality but if you don't respect their time commitments and their business you risk losing them as a client. Set clear time goals, also ask them what their time commitments are currently. Promptly return calls and emails and always try to use the rule 15mins ahead is on time.

Why they will adore you: They will know you value their company and their time Time=$$$$ Neither one of you want to waste either You are courtous and they know they can count on you You reaffirmed their reasons for hiring you over a competitor yet again! WAY 2 GO!

4. CALL THEM- - Call them- call them!
This goes with out saying... just keep up the line of communication and practice follow up calls and emails. Our general rule of thumb is a call every 3weeks to check on costumers and make sure we are fulfilling their needs, and then follow up with an email. We also like to follow up every phone call with an email to reaffirm what we are going to be working on and check in again to make sure we've answered all questions.

Why they will adore you: They know you care Even when they don't understand they know your available to speak with them, even if they don't remind themselves they know you'll be giving them a health check call You go over questions with them and check up on them throughout the duration of your releationship. You'd call someone your dating right well now its like your dating your clients. You keep up the relationship and know whats going on with their company objectivies.

5. Confirm to their work style
Your in business to provide a service, what that means is that the costumer is right. You need to confirm to their work style. If they want you to call them at night-then call at night. If they operate business opening at 3am schedule your calls around them. If they like to follow up weekly or even daily schedule it in your calendar to remind your self. Check with them on the best time to call or email. Check with them how often they would like to communicate with you throughout the project. Keep their business model. Show real interest in their business, if you know NOTHING about spiders but you work with spider web & arachnid then pick up a book and learn.

Why they will adore you: People appreciate when you show interest in what they are doing You are passionate about your product and business model so are they You respect them as a professional and show that you care When you show them you care about their product and are making an effort to understand it they care more about your business and services you can provide them You can upsell more by understanding what their needs are You show them that you are in the business of service and you will do what ever it takes to provide great service

6. Build a relationship with your client and with the company
Relationships build trust and build repeat clients. Take them out to lunch or for coffee, get to know them on a personal level and your professional relationship will soar. They will want to work with you more and trust you if they feel like they are working with a friend.

Why they will adore you: Your now their BFF visiting them in person or taking them for coffee shows commitment They will build a connection with you and learn more about you and your company

7. Go the extra mile- do work they didn't even know they needed, provide something for them they can't get anywhere else
You want to go above and beyond for your client and this means finding out what they need before they even know they need anything. Planing ahead shows the client you care about their business succeeding and not just about making your self and your company a quick buck. You want to keep them as a long term client and you want them to succeed. Make suggestions of what you can do for them. At this point they should trust you and you will have established a relationship so you need to show them that you are looking out for their bottom line. Try to provide them services for free along with their package, they didn't sign up for something extra but it'll only take you 3 minutes go ahead and do it for them. Give them more then they expect and they will stay by your company for years to come.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

How To Grow Your Website Organically

Your website is an important reflection of your business. It is where most people go to look you up before taking the next step to contact and then hire you. Being found on the internet is crucial in today's business world. Not many businesses can brag that they have so much business that they do not need a website to generate more. However, even if you have enough work to keep you steadily employed, there still should be a placeholder on the internet for your business which, at the very least, provides contact information for your clients.

Many services are out there to help you optimize your website for search engines. This is a good resource for businesses that have the capital to spend on professional management, however, there are free methods to organically growing your website, if you take the time. Here are a few steps that you can take to grow your website and help it to be seen as valuable and thus better promoted on the internet.

What determines "value" in website ranking? Value is an intangible quality that search engines attempt to quantify by measuring concrete data about your website:

Does your website have pertinent information about your organization? This is measured by:

Word Content: The words you use on your web pages are noted by search engines and used to help people looking to match what they type in the search box to what's out there on the internet.

Videos and pictures: Providing more information in a variety of methods to your audience improves your chances of being listed higher in searches.
Does your website get a lot of traffic? Measured by:

Visitors to your website: Visitors to your website are noted for the length of time they spend at each page. This helps Google and other search engines recognize that the website you have is valuable because people are reading and lingering at your site.

Links to your website: Demographics are maintained by search engines to see how many other sources find your website valuable and worth pointing their audience toward you with a link. (Coming soon in another article- how to get more links to your website!)

Active websites are more likely to find themselves on the first page of a Google search than inactive websites. This means adding content, such as a blog, editing and updating your website and keeping the content fresh. This also helps keep your customers coming back to see what's new.

Writing a blog may seem intimidating, but there is good news! Figuring out enjoyable topics (for the writer and the audience) is easier than what you may expect. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be taking notes for future topics that you'll want to write and post from every day experiences and activities.

First of all, let's look at the history and use of blogs; this will give us a better understanding of what blog readers (your audience) tend to read more and why.

"The modern blog evolved from the online diary, where people would keep a running account of their personal lives. (source: Wikipedia) Websites, including both corporate sites and personal homepages, had and still often have "What's New" or "News" sections, often on the index page and sorted by date."

Coming from a vantage of why and how blogs were formed, we see that it is a useful tool for communicating with your target audience; in most cases for businesses- you blog for your current and your potential clients.

Take a solid, solitary moment to imagine yourself as someone who may be interested in what your business has to offer. * Think from your customer's point of view. Ask yourself about what your customers have recently been inquiring when they come and see you. What are your customers interested in buying from you? What are the latest trends in what you've been selling the most? What types of questions have your customers been asking you or your representatives?

When you listen to your customers, you will have topics for your blogs readily pouring forth by their questions, purchasing habits and problems. When a customer has a problem, this is a golden opportunity for you to jot down some interesting facts about the case and to share with others in a blog!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

How to Market a OB/GYN Practice Successfully

Marketing an OB/GYN practice is a sensitive subject considering the issues involved in it. OB/GYN marketing is distinctive in nature as the target audience in specific and the topic can be a little bit insubstantial. The reason why OB/GYN marketing is different from other practice's marketing is that women are uncomfortable discussing their issues in open. However, this very reason makes OB/GYN marketing all the more important. You have to be very careful of the fact that you don't contravene delicate boundaries with your marketing efforts. Here's how you can market your OB/GYN practice successfully.

I. One advantage as a gynecologist you get is you don't have to identify the target audience. Having said that, you need to build up credibility for your practice. Why should women trust your practice? Creating a practice logo and advertising through brochures and pamphlets will take care of your brand identity. Women are circumspect of talking about their health problems. So, slipping a brochure in local newspapers occasionally, explaining all the services and procedures would keep your would-be patients informed.

II. Pertaining to their hesitance to discuss issues, the Internet gives them an option to search for a relevant gynecologist. Now, how are you going to develop an internet presence? The answer lies in creation of an obstetrics and gynecology website. Take help of the finest medical website designers available. Tell them to focus on the content part. It's the quality of the content, which will determine the website's traffic. In your website, mention patients' testimonials. This will encourage prospective patients to visit your clinic.

III. It's a known fact when it comes to women's health there is no other way than a female's circle of friends. If you can build trust through effective marketing campaign, you probably would get an advantage of positive word of mouth. If you leave your patients utterly satisfied, there is likelihood they will share their experience with other friends.

IV. Happy, healthy and satisfied patients are more likely to refer you to other women. A good referral base will not only add sustainability to your practice, but also build trust among potential clients. In order to have a good referral base, consider having weekly frequently asked question posts on your website. Encourage patients to discuss issues that they more often than not fail to discuss with you in open.

OB/GYN marketing involves a great deal of innovation and assessment of marketing strategies at regular intervals. When done ethically, medical marketing will your web traffic, increase trust, increase word of mouth referrals, and thus increase the number of patients.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

4 Ways To Use A Mobile App Whatever Your Industry

f you're relatively new to mobile apps, then you might be thinking "what does a mobile app actually do?" or "how can I use an app?".

If that's you, then I hope to clear the muddy water a bit...

An app can do almost anything that you want it to. It really does depend on what you do as a business or what idea you have.

To help, I'm going to share with you 4 things an app can do...

1. Entertain

There are countless games on the app stores at the moment and it's growing. With the success of games like Angry Birds, developing a game app can prove to be a very lucrative investment. However, an app doesn't have to be a game to entertain. It could also play videos and music.

2. Educate

If you teach, coach or counsel. An app can be a great medium to share your expertise to the world and help them in the areas of your specialty.

3. Sell

Just as you sell things in your store and on a website, you can only sell them on a mobile app too; making it extremely easy for your customers to buy from you.

4. Serve

If you're a service based business like a restaurant, hairdresser, spa, nightclub or accountant; an app can give your clients the ability to see your services/events, book them, contact you and even find you more easily from their mobile phone.

A mobile app can also do a combination of any of the above. For example, a hairdresser's app primarily serves, however it can also educate with video tutorials or advice.

Which use you decide to develop your app for, the main thing is that your app should be interactive.

Now, since you're still hear reading this article, I'm going to throw in a 5th way to use mobile apps, something I'm been getting a lot of request for, and it's this...

5. Improve Efficiency

You see, an app doesn't only have to be for customers, it can also be for internal teams. Time is becoming more and more precious and with the availability of apps, you don't have to continue to use paper and pen methods to document information to later "regurgitate" onto a computer.