tactics: Have You Thought About Selling Fashion? - 08/02/09 02:38 PM
EBay has been referred to as the fashion capital of the internet, and with good reason. According to one ratings website, EBay's Clothing, Shoes & Accessories category is the #1 website for fashion. The site attracts well over one million buyers a month who are specifically looking for fashion-related items; these same buyers spent $2.4 billion last year alone on items from the CS&A category.
EBay is often the first port of call for buyers looking for unique, rare or limited edition fashion items that no one else has. So if you're thinking of expanding your business into another area, … (3 comments)
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tactics: Welcome to the Jungle! - 06/08/09 04:58 PM
Machete Innovation to Jungle Growth
Part 1
When Procter & Gamble first championed brand management, astute marketers quickly boiled it down to four things:
•· Superior understanding of the consumer
•· Product or service differentiation
•· Strategic marketing
•· Innovation
Great strength resides within the simplicity of these core principles.
Service providers (home inspectors/Realtors) need an understanding of consumer relationships with the brand (The Company) within the context of their everyday lives, as well as how they - or someone shopping for them - relates to the brand. This means gathering and applying insights at every touch-point along the path to … (0 comments)
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tactics: Find Your "Groove Thing!" - 06/08/09 04:42 PM
Many inspection businesses are in an awful "groove" these days.
They don't know the steps it takes to tap into "bad economy wealth." There's much more economic activity going on, even now, in the midst of what many are calling the worst economic downtown since the 1930s.
I am going to share with you 7 ideas, real things that successful businesses are doing in order not just to ride out the recession but to grow and flourish as never before.
•· Break down your numbers. Not just month to month, year to date, and year to year, but also into categories … (0 comments)
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tactics: Talk'n 'bout My Generation! - 03/16/09 09:09 PM
When Mick Jagger belted out this tune for the Stones, I do not think he could have envisioned anything like the kids of today!
I've heard them called by many names as of late: Generation Y, Gen Y, The Plug-and-Play Generation, The Gotta-Feel-Good Generation.
What they're all referring to is the new young generation - our current 20-somethings. Every generation "deals" with the generation who comes after them. Their different views, their different ways of doing things, and so on; this generation is no exception.
Why is everyone talking about this new generation now though? They've been coming along for years. … (8 comments)
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tactics: Pushy Purveyor Problem! - 03/16/09 08:51 PM
I'll bet you can't say it three times real fast!
And I'll be you can't stand pushy salespeople.
How often do people try to sell us something before we have expressed an interest, have a desire, or are in the market for what they have? It seems the standard for many salespeople is to try to sell to anyone and everyone regardless of the interest level.
When someone attempts to sell us something before we have expressed an interest, the initial thought may be, "Why would I buy from you? You haven't earned the right to sell to me!"
The fact … (2 comments)
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tactics: Don't take these to the Bank! - 03/05/09 08:24 PM
Bad Sales Tips!
1. Not being punctual: being on time is very important to a customer. First impressions are lasting ones and sales people need to make a good impression. Being on time will give a good impression to the client and increase their confidence in your company.
2. Poor presentation: some sales people just do not have all their ducks in a row and simply do not present well. A presentation is the first thing a customer will know about your services. If your product is not shown correctly to the customer he is very unlikely to list or buy.
… (7 comments)
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tactics: Dynamite! - 03/05/09 07:45 PM
Some of the most effective things in life are the simplest. Marketers spend a lot of time trying to understand the psyche of consumers, discover ways to predict economic trends and a million other aspects of business that can determine success.
It pays to remember that some things are just basic, common sense and as easy as pie. Let's look at some tactics that just might be the key to the success you've been pining for.
1. Keep An Eye On Your Best Customers
Wouldn't be great if all of your customers were just like them? ...easy to please, loyal, and … (3 comments)
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tactics: P.M.S. Yikes! - 01/22/09 06:27 PM
We appreciate. We criticize. We laugh. We mourn. We are moved by postcards.
Since its introduction up to the present time, postcard is still one of the best medium of communication. We can recall that postcards were used as means for brief communication. It was the best choice then because they are light and inexpensive.
Nowadays, postcards are not only used to express our hi's and hello's, it is now popularly used as a marketing tool. Whenever there is an upcoming event, a product launching or a new service to be made available postcards can be your reliable ally.
Postcard is … (8 comments)
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tactics: Soul Man! - 01/22/09 06:11 PM
Advocate Respectfully
This is one of a series of articles on holding difficult conversations. In earlier posts in Business in the Crawlspace, I suggested ways to open communications that create mutual respect; we talked about the importance of knowing your purpose for the conversation; and we added Inquiry and Curiosity to our conversational toolbox.
Here the topic is Advocacy.
Advocacy is the flip side of Inquiry - the opportunity that you open for yourself to tell your story. What can you see from your perspective that they've missed? Can you clarify your position without minimizing theirs?
For example: "From what … (2 comments)
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tactics: "7" is Craps! - 01/18/09 03:44 PM
Marketing a business can be fun, exciting and creative. It can also be very frustrating and expensive if one doesn't know what outcome they are looking for or how to evaluate cost effective methods of marketing.
Over the years people have come to know me for my unique ability to develop low cost and no cost strategies to market and promote a business, product or service.
Strategies that have realized incredible returns.
People have also come to know me as someone who is a stickler when it comes to putting systems in place. My marketing successes are a direct result … (7 comments)
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tactics: Maverick Mindset - 01/18/09 02:16 PM
Sometimes we can all use a friendly reminder to keep us from backsliding into old ways of thinking about selling that lead us down the wrong path with potential clients.
New Thinking = New Results
Maybe it's time to take a different approach. Maybe we need to seriously analyze our sales thinking so we can identify why we're not making more sales. Take a look at the table below and think about your current selling mindset. How would your selling behaviors change if you changed your sales thinking?
Traditional Sales Mindset Vs Maverick's Mindset
1. Always deliver a strong sales pitch. … (0 comments)
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tactics: Negotiation Ninja - 01/16/09 08:42 PM
Real Estate negotiating is a skill that like warfare tactics must be honed.
(Honed is a funny word but right for the context.)
It is important to be mentally prepared to win. Do the ground work well before your reach the negotiating table and decide on the "path" you are going to take.
You need to set aside any doubts you may have and stride forward prepared to win at all costs.
The four cornerstones of successful negotiation skills are placing emphasis on common points.
•1. Presenting clear arguments (price, options, financing, condition, etc)
•2. Being innovative and open … (5 comments)
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tactics: Filthy Stinking Rich! - 01/15/09 04:47 PM
What do the rich and powerful people in business have in common? They live life with a strategy and exhibit characteristics that not all that different from other not-so-successful businesspeople.
What's their secret?
They train themselves to keep these characteristics in mind.
One thousand Four Hundred (1400) people across the world turn into millionaires every day. Want to become one of them? Of course you do. Everyone wants the freedom to do business in the way they choose. There is so much power in running your own business - and having a business that runs itself, which for many people … (21 comments)
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tactics: Put Me In Coach! - 01/14/09 08:52 PM
When you hear the word "coach", what comes first into your mind? Do you picture a basketball team with a man/woman shouting out directions? Or perhaps a football team with a man/woman pacing to and fro and calling out the names of the players?
Coaching is no longer reserved to sports teams; it is now one of the key concepts in leadership and management. Why is coaching popular? Why are Real Estate teams growing in success? Why does it work?
The Team Leader (Coach) levels the playing field.
It is a behavior or role that leaders enforce in the context … (4 comments)
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tactics: The RunAround - 01/14/09 07:41 PM
Viral marketing is an integral part of a campaign strategy that is used to achieve objectives. It is not the objective itself. If the main objective of an e-mail campaign is branding, in order to achieve greater branding success exposure you craft your message or offer in a way that it encourages pass-along.
Producing a message with a quality offer or an incentive for pass-along is what viral marketing is all about.
Just suggesting that e-mail recipients forward your message to their friends and relatives is not viral marketing. A message at the bottom of your e-mail that reads "Feel free … (4 comments)
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tactics: In Maverick We Trust! - 01/14/09 02:08 PM
Sometimes we focus too much on learning all the great tips, strategies, and techniques for mastering a skill ... while we ignore the "mechanism" that's responsible for putting them into action.
Trust!
Trust is a combination of the value that others perceive in you, and their willingness to harmonize with and accept your advice to help them succeed.
Trust is people seeking and taking your advice both as a counselor and a confidant.
Someone who trusts you to a point where they call at some critical stage, because they know you are the one who can help them in a way that … (0 comments)
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tactics: Will You? - 01/13/09 08:36 PM
Last year a well known New York restaurant was struggling with a problem that afflicts all dining establishments: no shows. Indecisive patrons would frequently make reservations and then, without notice, fail to appear. The result is wastefully booking times and tables that paying customers would have happily occupied; instead it causes the restaurant to unnecessarily foot the bill for the unused labor and the unsold food. The owner solved the problem by asking his hostess to change two words of what she said to callers requesting reservations. Instead of saying, "Please call if you have to change your plans, " she … (6 comments)
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tactics: Re-Read . . . . Twice! - 01/11/09 12:16 PM
The best business management has the foresight to recognize that the business development process (that is, becoming successful in all areas of your business so that you can grow sales) has less to do with online magazines, blogging, Websites, brochure designs, SEO, or any other tools you use when engaged in marketing and advertising. In fact, most of your successes will be derived from avoiding time-wasting mistake early on -- and that's why I write here on Active Rain.
Now back up because we will discuss the use of marketing platorms, sales generation techniques, blogging, websites, etc., to "turn up the … (4 comments)
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tactics: Knock Knock - 01/11/09 11:41 AM
Opportunity Knocking
The greatest of all SUCCESS rules is this: Do unto others as you would if you were the othersThe Golden Rule is more than a principle of ethical behavior; it is a dynamic force that can work good in the lives of untold numbers of people.
When you make it a practice to treat others as though you were the others, you spread goodwill among people who, in turn, may be moved to do the same.
By their actions, they influence still more people, who generate goodwill among even more people. This force for goodwill increases exponentially and will … (0 comments)
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tactics: Do You Want To Know A Secret? - 01/11/09 11:23 AM
Listen . . . .
Do you want to know a Secret? . . . . .
Do you promise not to tell . . . . . .
Closer . . . . .
Can I sell you a CD that will tell you the secret?
Can I sell you the DVD that will open the gate?
Will you subscribe to my Blog or Website to study the secret?
Once I give you the secret will you try and reverse engineer the secret? Will you look at other sites to see it they have a better secret? Will you ask … (8 comments)
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