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KAI's Quarterly
Quips
Volume 3
August 2008
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KAI Marketing,
Advertising & Consulting
offers
creative marketing solutions for
small and mid-sized companies
and non-profit organizations.
We help you
pursue excellence, think bigger,
reach farther and be more!
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MARKETING QUICK TIP
"Make
new (clients), but keep the old,
one is silver and the other
gold".
OK, that was corny, but it's
true. In rough economic times,
businesses will sometimes shift
their focus to attracting new
clients at the expense of their
existing ones. However, both
are important.
Reach out to faithful clients by
sending an e-card, asking for
their input on how to better
meet their needs, or creating an
e-newsletter with specific
issues that concern them. Remind
them that they are still
important to you.
JUST FOR FUN!
Click
here to see if you
remember the real song that
many of us sang in camp.
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The economy is rough,
but don't throw in the
towel.
In our
last issue we talked
about the possibilities
of postcards. This time,
there's help to maximize
your marketing efforts.
Enjoy!
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FROM THE
PRESIDENT'S DESK
Well, I've been
married almost
four months
since my last
newsletter. (See
me in my wedding
glory). I
have now joined
the ranks of
thousands who
seek to forge a
balance between
running a
business and
home life. Whew,
that's a hard
one!
If you are like
me, you often
feel like you
just don't have
enough time to
handle
everything.
Guess what I
discovered--you
don't
have enough time
to handle
everything!
Thankfully, many
of us have
spouses who
understand the
necessity of
sharing
household
duties. But many
small business
owners don't
understand the
necessity of
sharing business
duties. You
can't possibly
be the one to
handle the
payroll, book
the meetings,
create the sales
presentation,
deliver the
presentation,
update the
website content,
design the
flyers, so on
and so on.
According to
premiere
business
consultant Rick
Meekins, it may
be time for you
to
"Fire Your Chief
Bottle Washer"
- and that
person is you!
Stop wearing
yourself thin
and pass some
tasks on to
people who have
the expertise to
handle them.
People like
G and C Business
Services
who offer
virtual
administrative
assistance on a
consultative
basis at
affordable
prices. Or, if
that is even is
too much for
your budget,
call your
sister's teenage
son and give him
an afterschool
job handling
some easy but
important
business tasks.
The point: Do
something to
lighten your
business load
before you burn
out!
Kimberlee
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Quarterly Quote
There are no
limits to growth
because there
are no limits of
human
intelligence,
imagination, and
wonder.
~Ronald Reagan
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DON'T TRIM THE MARKETING
BUDGET!
(And, I'm not just
saying that because
I am a marketer.)
Whenever the economy
gets shaky, small
businesses tend to
get nervous about
spending dollars
that don't
specifically go
toward payroll or
overhead. Which
usually means that
marketing dollars
get shifted
somewhere else.
Deborah L. Cohen who
covers small
business for
Reuters.com warns to
"Resist the urge!
Don't trim the
marketing budget."
It is very tempting
to decrease
marketing dollars as
a way of "trimming
the fat", but that
could prove to be
tumultuous. After
all, it's through
marketing that you
build your
relationships, and
that's what keeps
your business alive.
Instead of cutting
the budget, see if
there are ways to
make the budget work
better for you.
1. Be
efficient -
track your results
more closely by
specifically asking
customers how they
heard about your
product/service-ex.
e-newsletter, web
search, postcard,
word of mouth, etc.
2. Be
focused -
focus more of your
dollars toward those
vehicles that were
the most common
responses from #1.
Also, focus on
efforts to stay in
front of your
existing customers.
(See Marketing
Quick Tip)
3. Be
creative -
consider
non-traditional
marketing methods
like direct mail
postcards instead of
full brochures, palm
cards instead of
flyers, or
attractive
e-campaigns.
And remember, you
don't have to do it
alone. KAI can help
lighten your load.
Click here
to read the entire
article by Deborah L.
Cohen.
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PRACTICING WHAT WE
PREACH
We're going to take
our own advice (see
Marketing Quick
Tip). Because you
are important to
KAI, please click
here and let us
know about articles
that you'd like us
to cover, or just
give your feedback
on how we are
doing.
Some of you will
even be selected to
participate in a
special group to
give input on our
new marketing
direction.
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