|
Secrets to Success
Deborah Cole Micek |
How to market
your business in
the new millennium
What do you think about TV commercials, display ads, billboards, and pop-up ads? Do you look forward to seeing them?
Of course not! They interrupt your life!
So, knowing the way you feel about interruption marketing, why in the world would you market your business the same way?
If you're going to be successful in the marketplace of the new millennium, you'd better plan on using what's called "permission marketing."
As the name implies, permission marketing requires that you obtain the permission of your prospects or customers before you communicate with them. There are dozens of methods you can use, but it's really founded on three principles:
» Principle 1. You must give to your target audience something of value (related to your product or service) in return for some basic contact information.Permission marketing is your key to being heard above the noise of TV commercials, magazine ads, and billboards. This is especially true for business owners who don't have the tens of millions of dollars to dump into institutional advertising.By taking advantage of the gift that you are offering them, people are essentially raising their hands and letting you know that they're interested in your product or service. They've pre-qualified themselves as high-value prospects worthy of your special effort and attention.
» Principle 2. You must collect, respect and jealously guard your contact list.
First of all, without a way to collect and organize your newly obtained contact information, your permission marketing will fall flat on its face. The good news is that using technology along with your company's Web site makes collection and organization simple and inexpensive -- even for startup business owners.
Above all else, you must NEVER share or sell this list of prospects and customers. That would be a violation of trust. If you think of permission marketing in terms of dating, this will immediately make sense.
Let's say you met a nice person you'd like to date and you gave them your phone number. How would you feel if they gave your number to someone else who then called you for a date? Permission marketing works exactly the same way. The contact information your prospect gave you is for you alone to use.
» Principle 3. You must nurture your relationship and develop trust with your prospects and customers over time. You can do this by providing an ongoing stream of useful tips, strategies, and other useful information related to the solutions your product/service gives people.
Do not use your list to continuously hammer prospects and customers over the head with your marketing messages. A general rule of thumb is to provide two-thirds education/information mixed with one-third targeted marketing messages.