August 26, 2009

Will You Go to "The Shack?"... How to Increase Your Online
Money Potential for Free... The Overspender's Dilemma... Are
Info Marketers Facing Hard Times, Too?... and More.

What is "The Shack?"

It's not some secret club or fast food chain. "The Shack" is a nickname for the electronics retailer Radio Shack and is currently being used in their new ad campaigns.

Now, to me, a shack isn't a place decked out with the latest technological gear. In fact, I don't think I've ever really been excited about going anywhere referred to as a shack.

But that's just my personal opinion and I'm sure that a lot of research has gone into the ads promoting this nickname. Maybe it's what the retailer needs to attract new customers. Only time will tell here.

But, this got me thinking about business names. Do you have a name for your business? How did you select this name? Do you share this story with your customers?

Each morning on my drive into the office, I pass by all sorts of trucks, many with a company name on them. Some make it pretty obvious what these companies do. "Ted's Plumbing" is clearly a plumbing business.

But, there are other trucks that bear little markings aside from a company name that could be the founder's last name. To me, the name means nothing, but that could be because I'm not their target market. Maybe their target market knows so much about them already that a single nondescript name is all they need.

However, for the small business owner, I believe that the name you choose for your business can be a key marketing ingredient.

Think about who your customers may be. Think about the problem you are solving for them. Can you integrate this into your company name? There's a mover's franchise called "Two Small Men with Big Hearts." Creative, certainly. And successful, too. Moving is a stressful time for anyone. You want help moving your valuables, and you want to know that you can trust the guys loading the truck. Based on name alone, would you go with "Chuck's Moving Truck" or "Two Small Men with Big Hearts?"

Finally, I asked earlier if you share the origin of your company name with your customers. Many people like to support businesses that have a history, so by sharing this information with your customers, you could win more return buyers. The major fast food franchise Wendy's is named for the founder's daughter. Kind of touching, in a way.

When choosing the name for your business, keep in mind that the words you choose can speak volumes about what you do, so choose wisely.

There's a word you're likely to hear a lot when you start investigating ways to market and advertise online. That word is "content."

What is content? To put it simply, content is everything that you place online, including text, photos, videos, and audio material. Content is what you are providing for your customers, no matter if they are paying for it or not.

A typical, and often successful, marketing strategy is to provide free content online to potential and existing customers. This can work for pretty much every business under the sun. Let me explain.

A restaurateur can provide free video tours of their restaurant and kitchen, and write articles about their fresh ingredients. A carpenter can provide photos of previous work and write articles about current trends in their industry.

Perhaps the easiest ways to provide excellent content, although I'm certain many may disagree, is to write articles, lots of them. The more you write, the better you will become, not only as a writer, but also as a marketer.

Why is writing content so important? There are two reasons. The first is your customers. If you're providing a web site that keeps people interested, keeps them coming back for updates and keeps them on your site for extended periods of time, then you're much more likely to turn your browsers into buyers.

Consider this to be like going to your favorite restaurant. You come in, chat with the chef, talk with the server and mingle with the regulars. Dinner takes a lot longer than if you just rushed in and out of the burger joint next door. The more time you spend in this restaurant, the more comfortable you become, and it's more likely that you'll opt for the chef's special even if it is one of the priciest options on the menu.

Restaurants aside, your goal is to engage your customers and give them a reason to come back.

The second reason why written content is important is because, by writing and posting on your web site, you're giving search engines, such as Google, something to find and are giving them more opportunities to list your web site. A high Google listing for topics related to your business is an excellent, and free, way to increase exposure to your marketing efforts.

Have you ever been standing in front of the cashier at the grocery store when they look at you and say the total? Sometimes, it's like it hits you in slow motion, as they utter a number so high that you can't believe it's correct. They hand you the receipt, and they're dead on with their number. All you can do is sit there and scratch your head, wondering where things got out of control.

This happens to everyone. You run out to the grocery store, shopping mall or department store to pick up a couple of things, and the next thing you know you're carrying bags upon bags of merchandise out to your car with a long, expensive bill clenched between your teeth.

How does this happen? Well, there are a couple of reasons why we overspend unknowingly. First off, when's the last time you walked through a store and there wasn't some kind of special going on? Either there was a two-for-one deal, something was on sale, or there was a "clearance" rack featuring some newer items. No matter what it is, these offers, which occur regularly, are often perceived to be limited, even though they really aren't. Controlling ourselves and knowing that these deals pop up all the time can help to reduce those impulse buys that drive up a bill.

Next, it's good to have a plan when you enter an environment where you'll be doing some spending. This means that, before you head out to pick up the items you really need, make a list of exactly what you intend to buy and, more importantly, stick to it. If you know exactly what you need, you won't be hit with any surprises when the bill is tabulated, and you surely won't find yourself as cash-strapped at the end of the week.

Planning your expenses and realizing that sales aren't going anywhere can greatly help to reduce your unexpected expenses, and put you on the path to a debt-free existence.

** Some Information Adaptation Tips for Info Marketers
By James Burt, Online Marketing Expert

Last week I wrote about how tough times can affect an info marketer. I hope you came away from that message with a new sense of self-worth, a value of your profession, and a renewed drive to succeed.

Now comes something better.

Hard times can actually be a source of inspiration -- not just a spiritual one, but a professional one as well. You can actually see real, hard-earned cash come to you by turning your tough times into material for your information marketing business.

Now, I would hate to imply that you have to go back and relive a terrible time in your life to make a few dollars. A lot of shady book publishers and movie producers have tried in the past to coax abused people, kidnapped children, and prisoners of war to reexamine a part of their past in order to turn it into a tasteless flavor-of-the-month television movie or paperback.

But think of this: have you been through tough financial economic times and come out the other side intact? Have you had to weather a long-term professional or personal storm? Have you had to learn about failure on the spot before success came your way? If so, your experience is valuable to you and your info marketing business.

Why? People will need your story and your experiences. If you've gotten your hands dirty during tough times, your story could serve as either inspiration and/or a guide of what to expect and what things to avoid.

Here are some scenarios:

--- The failed business: I hate to see this happen to anyone. Your own business is probably second in your heart to your loved ones and whether it's a restaurant or a book shop, seeing it fail is heartbreaking. But if you've been through this, why not create some content about it? Write a history in the form of a serialized newsletter or a good-sized book. Talk about what went wrong, what pitfalls you fell into, and what you'd do differently if you could do it over. You can market this through your info marketing business and gain some income for your own story of professional tribulation.

--- That Bad Economic Period: Did you live through the recession of the late 80s and early 90s? How about the dot-com bust? If so, this is valuable coin to people, especially now. These types of economic situations have a terrible habit of repeating themselves throughout history. Yet you can use your experiences during those times to advise people on, well, these times. Let people know how you got through things, what skills you learned, and what parts of your business or skill set you had to abandon or adapt. Again, what you went through is valuable to people experiencing similar situations now.

--- Bad partnerships: I saw some family members go through this. They were in a land engineering business and their partners began to change in temperament and professionalism. By the end of the business affair, the relationship had gone completely sour and there were fights over money, property, etc. I would hope none of you have ever had to experience anything like this, but in the event you have, why not come up with a guide for good business partnerships? Use your experiences as a reference to detail how a good business partnership operates and what to do in case things go bad.

--- Tax and Legal Matters: This is something I harp on a lot, but anyone who has had problems with government or legal issues in the past is ALWAYS needed to provide advice. A lot of government information for entrepreneurs isn't always common public knowledge, so if you have seen the dark side of bureaucracy, don't be afraid to offer your stories to your clients so they won't have similar problems.

That old cheesy saying of, "When the world hands you lemons, make lemonade" is clichéd and silly sounding sometimes. But, in info marketing, it can be very true. Using your experiences in tough times can help others weather whatever problems they are experiencing in their business and can be both cathartic and professionally challenging for you.

Profitable, too!