How to Contact Ad it Find it

Ad it Find it

Perth, WA

Australia

Email: aaronp1@live.com.au

 

What is Ad it Find it?

“Ad it Find it” is a marketing and advertising blog.

You can read up on daily blogs posts that encompass WHAT, HOW, WHY and WHEN you market and advertise your products and services via our ‘Ad it’ section.

You can also advertise with us via ‘Find it’.

If you have a product, website, service that you would like to advertise then email aaronp1@live.com.au with an enquiry.

I’ll respond within 48 hours.

While our blog grows you can follow us as a fan. Simply click ‘Follow’ under the Follow Us  heading on the side bar.

To a brighter future for marketing and to assist growing and capitalising businesses throughout the world, Ad it Find it wishes every business venture a prosperous year ahead!

Well wishes from the team at Ad it Find it,

Aaron

Director

Ad it Find it

aaronp1@live.com.au

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Partnering in business

Benefits

This is an important component of any business. The reputation, success and network capabilities of a partnership will all depend on the thoughts of possible benefits and strengths one can offer the other.

Partnerships are great! But, they have to work. It is like a chemical reaction, a relationship – a partnership doesn’t evolve over night, it takes time, patients and companionship to the other business.

Like any relationship there will be disagreements. Fact. But this shouldn’t shed light on the fact that partnerships can and should be welcomed in the world of business.

How can you go about offering your business for partnership?

You first need a partnership idea.

Most businesses local and national will need a little convincing; probabilities are that they don’t see the benefits. You may need to list these down and have them on cue when in conversation to reveal them.

In any conversation whether email, phone or person to person (it is always better to converse with someone-especially fellow businesses- person to person) you should begin by expressing your intentions for starting the conversation or getting in contact with them.

Below is a list of examples for communicating initially with your proposed potential partners: (1) phone call, (2) Person to person, (3) Email. Have a look through and get an idea of how to structure your conversation.

Examples

1. Phone Call

Speak to the manager of XYZ Company

“HI, My name is Aaron Mitchell the Marketing and Promotion Manager for ____name of business____. (If you don’t know who your talking to) If I may, can I ask who I’m talking to? ______remember name______. Well ______name_______ Its great to talk with you today. The reason for my call _____name ________ is to let you know that____ name of business____ are currently seeking a business partnership, one that can prosper and deliver profitable solutions with a share in capital. _____business name______ believes that an invested relationship with you would be fruitful and very successful- in short making both a large share in profits, Are you interested?

Or, if the business is nearby and you can go to talk with the manager one on one (person to person) then do so.

Please see next example for person to person conversation.

________________________________________________________

2. Person to person

Use the same information as the phone call, but restructure the proposal for person to person conversation

“Hi, My name is ___Aaron Mitchell______”. Shake hands- have a firm hand shake-not too strong and not too weak. Look into the person’s eye and say “pleasure to meet you”, with a smile.

“I work for ____name of business” (don’t say your the owner etc, just say work for)____

“We are currently on the search for an awesome business such as yours to partner with ____name of company___”.

“Is this something you would be interested in?”

Yes: great! I don’t want to take too much of your time. So, I’ll leave you with a pamphlet and business card outlining the benefits to you. I’ll call you in a couple of days time.

No: Really? You shouldn’t make a decision yet! Have a look through this pamphlet and make a decision…I’ll call you in a couple of days and see what you think.

________________________________________________________

3. Email

Be careful with email. It needs to be quick and short.

The email needs to appear that it is honest and worthy of a response.

Therefore you need to have some way of not selling straight though the email but rather informing the account holder of the email account of your product/service?

I suggest you get an email hosting account.

Within the actual email- make it attractive. A colorful background says a lot, and shows time and effort you have put into making your email look attractive. It shows a degree of professionalism too.

You could have sent a normal email and inquired if they would be interested but what does this do?

1. It places you in the junk email box- this is somewhere you don’t want to be, because you’ll always end up going there.

So,

How do I avoid the junk inbox folder of recipients?

How do I get email recipients?

How do I make my email look professional and attractive?

If I need help whom should I get to help with email marketing?

…Stay tuned for advice on the above.

In conclusion, make the initial conversation short, simple and self-explanatory. Don’t go into detail where it isn’t needed. The businesses you are approaching are very busy and because you’re talking to the CEO/ business manager you need to be quick to get a response.

No ‘ummms’, ‘ahhhhs’, deep breathing, ‘geeeees,’ or slurs. It makes you sound very unprofessional.

Tip

Practice your conversation with a friend or family member and ask them to respond in different ways (acting as the potential partner, CEO). You will feel more comfortable making the call and therefore more confident in your ability to handle any situations that may arise. Most importantly learn from your mistakes and get the response you want with your practice attempts before jumping into the deep end.

Advertising Information

Note: This page is only for demonstration purposes only.

(ONLY for the purpose of advertisers wanting to know how the advertising campaign will work for you via this blog)

HOW TO ADVERTISE WITH US

A typical advertisement will appear as follows. Your website link will be attached to the picture.

The page will appear in this blog under ‘find it’ with numerous ads, as such like this outlay below (the boxes ‘pic’- represent the width and height of each ad). The outlay representation below will cover the width of the page.

Each horizontal level will reduce in price, prices are still yet to be confirmed. For now, the spaces are available free for 3 months from date of listing.

The ads will be categorised via the horizontal menu bar under ‘find it’. You specify the category your ad would be best matched in. If you want a new category for your ad, you will need to speak with Aaron via aaronp1@live.com.au

Only Business related ads will be accepted, no sexual/explicit/derogatory/harmful language/discriminatory/racial/extremist/drug ads accepted.

Aaron will personally try your product/service for FREE, in return for providing a FREE ad space for you. This will enable Aaron to make personal recommendations (FREE) for your product/service suitable to the content of the blog, advertise your product/service in email marketing letters (Joint commission venturing) and review your product/service for consumers to make informed decisions.

Ads will be FREE for 3 months from date of listing. One ad per business during 3 month Free trial period. Businesses must have a Business Number to register their ads.

To register your interest send Aaron an email via aaronp1@live.com.au

Marketing 101: The lead box

To implement a lead box in a store, follow this advice:

Approach the business owner in your local area. Have a look through the shop and or better still purchase something from them.

When and if they approach you, they may say “Hi, is there anything I can help you with?”, you respond with “yes”, ask them about the store, ask questions about how long have they been here for, how is business going, ask them about a particular product etc-just make conversation-make sure you are talking with the store manager, of course! Get to know them and vice versa let them know you are a friendly customer.

When timing is right (this will be hard to judge , some of you will get it straight away and have no troubles, others will faulter and lead the conversation astray- but don’t worry at the end of the day the manager has seen how lovely and how kind of a person you are) say this: “I really like your store and the products you offer” (you could make reference to some of them if you like and mention what you like-then lead on to…”you know what though, I believe your store could really benefit from a partnering venture….are you partnering with anyone at the moment? If they say “yes” comment “thats great!…If you don’t mind me asking…what businesses are you partnered with?” (remember them), ask them is there a possibility they are seeking other partnerships? If yes, Talk about your business, and say that “I am currently seeking a business to partner with, your business is perfect…would you be interested in partnering with me?”

If the business replies “no”-then this is your moment. Comment “Thats surprising, usually a business like this would be snapped up straight away”…pause…await a response….they should smile and blush…the store owner will feel ecstatic you have said this (conversation may start flowing about their need to partner with someone, they may mention they have been working really hard to partner with other businesses with no luck), this is the moment- you have to pick the right time. When you feel like the time is right: Talk about your business, and say that “I am currently seeking a business to partner with, your business is perfect…would you be interested in partnering with me?”

From here conversation could flow many ways. Be prepared for a rejection as much as for an interest from the owner.

If they reject ask why. It may be a flaw in their business set up, personal matter, they don’t feel it is the right time…either way-doesn’t matter the reason, mention “Not to worry, it was a pleasure to meet you, do you have a business card or anything like that, so we can stay in touch?”

It is important to stay in touch because, your reputation as a business owner is shaped by the networks that you make. The various businesses you approach could have some very valuable information to share with you and have insight into business operations that would take you months and even years to learn and experience. My advice- stay connected. It is invaluable to the success of your business- these business owners could in hindsight be your future business mentors. Make friends with them, share ideas and knowledge.

Use the above as a guide only, the script won’t work on all accounts but the structure can be applied. revise it if you need to, otherwise go with the flow. Remember the worst response you can get is a ‘no’. It wont be the end of the world, but at least you have tried. Any business that partners with others benefits an amazing amount. Its half the work- customers are shared and profits are made lifting half the load.

Marketing 101: Choosing your target market

What is a Target Market and why do I need one? 

A target market is a portion of the population that will have interest in, acquire knowledge of and pursue investment in the product and/or service.

Why do I need one?

“Why?” is a very hard concept to explore, but in a generalised proposition i say this: “how do you expect to sell your product /service without customers?”

So, given this brief account of ‘Target Market’ let’s know apply it in practice and theoretically explore its concept.

______________________________________

A pure example is Jane, who is 30 years of age and sick of working a day in and out job for 9 hours a day, let alone the overtime! She is acquiring huge debts she can’t afford to repay. She decides she wants to open a flower shop mixed in with her home-brewed recipe for magic seedlings that grow flowers in 5 minutes! She wants to open her shop on the corner of her local shopping precinct. She completes the registration of her business name, business number, tax obligations, business plan, and acquires local investors to capitalise on her unique flower shop idea and concept. She has her shop open in a few months.

______________________________________

But, how is she going to attract customers?

I’ll make reference to journals, internet sites and professional personnel to highlight the significance of the information contained within. Take from it that you wish and apply in practice.

1. Define Your Target Market:

What: Define your target market for your business, that is, who are your customers?

Information to obtain regarding your target market includes:

• Demographics:

1. Average Age with standard deviation (i.e. 35+/-10 years)
2. Gender: Percentage of Male/Female
3. Marital Status (i.e. single, engaged, married, divorced, widow)
4. Average Income level: This will be different if your are an online business because your market audience is huge and defined by search engines and online advertisements. This demographic category only needs attention when your a retail shop owner and your services/products are aimed at your local area. Obviously because your  potential market audience is much smaller and localised.
5. Educational level
6. Occupation
7. Ethnic background
8. Explain motivating factors for purchasing from your business: Is it a luxury or is it essential? See below for examples.
9. What value does the product/service bring to the market? i.e. a card for a birthday brings the value of thoughtfulness, a car brings a modality of transport in both luxury and essential benefits, a mobile car service operator brings piece of mind to consumers when travelling in their cars.
10. The psychographics of your consumers (see below)

Luxury Versus Essential:

• Car (luxury/essential?)
• Timber flooring (luxury/essential?)
• Fan (luxury/essential?)
• Coffee (luxury/essential?)
• Shoes (luxury/essential?)
• Longe suite (luxury/essential?)
• Holiday (luxury/essential?)
• Sports injury cream (luxury/essential?)

In any case above, their would be a degree of both luxury and essential motivating factors impacting on the decisions consumers make to purchase a particular product between different days. It is best to judge what types of lives your consumers live on average (i.e busy 9-5 working hours? stay at home mother?, business individuals?, athlete?, etc). By obtaining this information you can conclude rationally that there is a degree of need versus luxury for a particular product/service within different population groups (demographic).

Psychographics of your consumers

Consider the following:

• Personality
• Values
• Attitudes
• Lifestyle
• Behaviour
• Interests

How do I obtain the information?

• Research: The bureau of statistics for your country, state, and suburb/area (metro/rural).
• Questionnaires
• Surveys

Q.Its best not to assume or guess the information (above)….why?

A. Because your cheating yourself. Lets face it, we may know somethings about our market audience but not everything. Even if we do know- we need to back the statements/data up with real information. Information that makes sense to the investor/bank. Its just like referencing your information if you were to complete a PhD, no peer reviewer’s are going to tick you off on completing your research study without hard facts and data to support your information. It is the same in business. No hard facts, no investment. Simple.

Plus, your business may fail….

Q. So, what can I do to make sure my business won’t fail?

A. Obtain relevant data from your target market (as per your demographic information-as outlined above)

When?

The information regarding your demographic/target market should be done during development of your business and marketing plan. If your business plan is already complete, update it with your new target market information- if necessary.

Why?

Business individuals need to define their target market because, if they don’t they have no systematic approach to formulating their unique marketing plan to achieve maximal capital gains.

Evaluate your decision:

An important phase in any market plan is to ask, “Are their enough customers as per the target market chosen?”. Get a rough number. An estimation is all that you should be after, because then you’ll know the likely success of your business. A good rule of thumb is to use the 1:3 rule. In any business venture of all those that know of your business, hear of your business and see your business only about 30% will ever act and then another 30% of that 30% will ever buy. Your odds could flourish with strategic marketing and sublime value for money.

Other factors to consider:

Look at your customer base:

• who are your customers/future customers? do they currently buy from you? if not where do they buy from? sort information into categories (i.e. local retail, time of the week). Obtain this type of information through surveys. You can utilise this information to up sell your products/service through other businesses in partnership. Tabulate your information and see which retail stores obtain the most traffic from your survey forms. Approach them, sell your idea and partner.  Even if the stores aren’t in your local area, this can work as a benefit for you-becase now your entering into a new demographic, and thus potentially increasing your market audience. As long as it works- its a benefit. It doesn’t hurt trying.

Review your current customer trends:

• Who are your current customers and why do they buy from you? Again, collect this type of information throughout business operations, utilise membership forms and collect a database of information, survey your customers (on agreeable terms). Tabulate the information (if not already) and categorise the information into common groups (by demographic, time of day sale, date of sale, purchase cost, products purchased) and analyse the data to find common traits. ask yourself, which ones bring in the most business? It could be assumed that more individuals like them could also benefit from your products/services.

Other relevant information

• By narrowing your target market, you are making your business plan more attractive to investors.
• By narrowing your target market you will have a stress-free experience in compiling a marketing plan.
• By completing your business marketing plan correctly, you’ll set yourself up for financial success.

Tips and Advice:

• You may want to see who your competitors are and see who they are targeting. Can you do something that they are and do it better? Make it a challenge.
• If your not the competitive type, then try and offer something unique and rewarding for your customers, word of mouth spreads a long way! you may start to find that over time your competitors are rushing to find something unique too to beat you- either way fight, fight, fight!
• Money from customers for your products and services is like investment money, don’t spend it uselessly advance your business with capital you earn. Make it better, smarter and more cost effective.
• Aim to be the best business you can be.

 Businesses that can help you with your business plan, marketing plan and other marketing solutions-

To Advertise here, email aaronp1@live.com.au

(Note: Only business and marketing businesses can advertise here)

References

Sources

• Books
• Business Strategy. (2011). Campbell. D, Edgar. D & Stonehouse. G. Palgrave Macmillan Publishers: Edition 3.
• Journals
• Bahadir, S. C., and Kapil, R. T. (2002). Measuring marketing productivity: linking marketing to financial returns. Marketing Science Institute Conference Summary, 02-119.
• Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, (17(1), 99-120.
• Zahay, D., Griffin, A. (2010). Marketing strategy selection, marketing metrics, and firm performance. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 25(2), 84-93.