St. Patrick’s Day Marketing Idea

St.Patrick’s Day is an excellent opportunity to not only spread the luck of the Irish, but also impress your service and company upon the minds of important decision makers.

Deliver donuts, cookies, candy or any other delicious item in a customized Donut, Cookie or Candy box and have your clients and prospects be impressed.

For more information send me an email at marketingguy@shaw.ca. We can add your logo or contact information in the oval imprint area in 4 color.

Cookie, Candy and Donut Box With Oval Imprint Area

Wrapped from end to end with lucky green clover…the Happy St.Patrick’s Day Donut Box holds a dozen tasty ways to say “Thanks!”.

Clients have used these boxes for sales visits, box lunches, golf outings, fund raisers, tradeshows and more.

Donut Box – Dimensions: 10″ x 4 3/8″ x 5 7/8″ plus roof – does include business card slot.

Stock Donut Box Pricing

Cookie Box – Dimensions: 6 3/8″ x 3 3/8″ x 3 7/8″ plus roof – does include business card slot.

Stock Cookie Box Pricing

Candy Box – Dimensions: 4 3/8″ x 1 7/8″ x 2 1/2″ plus roof - does not include business card slot.

Stock Candy Box Pricing

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Mobile Business Card Holders

The owner of Mobile Business Card Holder LLC, Jon Davis recently wrote a reply to my post entitled How to Make Your Business Card Stand Out about his concept of the same name; a Mobile Business Card Holder. What a great idea, especially for business people who have decals on their vehicle.

The Mobile Business Card Holders is a clear weather resistant acrylic case that holds 100

business cards. The case has a patented cover that “snaps” closed, which protects your business cards from bad weather and from flying out while driving.

The Mobile Business Card Holder is slipped into and locked onto a mounting base which is attached to the side of your service vehicle by adhesive strips. (the same kind used on auto-body side moldings.) The holder can be removed during “downtime” and is injected with a polymer that eliminates sun fading.

The benefit is that no matter where you are – at the grocery store, supply stop, lunch at McDonald’s or on a job site. You’ll NEVER miss another sale!

Jon claims that since its inception the use of the Mobile Business Card Holder has caused some

Mobile Business Card Holder

contractors sales to increase by a whopping 500%!

The  Mobile Business Card Holder set sells for only $19.95 plus $6.50 shipping and handling.

Click here to go to their order page.

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Tips For Writing Your Professional Bio

Have you ever been asked to speak at a meeting or contribute an article to a blog or magazine?  If you have you probably already have your Bio written, but for the rest of you it is time to write yours so it is ready when the opportunity presents itself.

It is probably a good idea to have a few versions of different lengths; a simple one sentence bio, a 100 word bio and a 250 word bio.

Essentially your Bio should answer these 4 questions:

1) Who you are
2) Your expertise
3) How you can help their problem or attain their goal
4) How to contact you

Introduce yourself as if you’re meeting a stranger. Lead in with your name. People need to know who you are before they hear what you’re all about. Immediately state what you do. Your most important details should go in the first sentence because people on the web rarely read more than the first and last sentence.

Mike Blaney is known as the Marketing Guy and that is what he has been doing for the past 30 years. Marketing and everything related to marketing for professionals and small businesses.

Touch upon your most important accomplishments, but don’t list them. A bio is not a resume. It is a quick summary of who you are. Talk in the third person as your bio is something other people use to describe you.

His slogan “Good ideas are a dime a dozen, but implementation is priceless”  encapsulates the transition from advising clients and sending them off to fend for themselves to actually implementing ideas with measurable results to ensure the success of the concept and marketing plan.

You can add accomplishments for the longer version such as books you have written and companies you have started.

In addition to working with clients on their marketing opportunities Mike started an email stationery company called inboxFX Communications Inc. (www.inboxfx.com) which has become a leader in “on the fly” email branding.  He has written his first ebook called 50 Great Marketing Ideas and is working on his second ebook to be released in January 2009.

For the 250 word version you can expand even further.

Mike has made an effort to try every form of social networking and online marketing so he can better advise his clients. These include marketing through YouTube Linkedin, Cragslist, Meetup, WordPress blogs, Technorati and many other sites.  More recently Mike became an approved vendor for Ubertor, a leading website developer to help his clients improve their ability to be found by search engines.

As a marketing guy I think adding a little personal background and levity are important.

When Mike is not marketing he is skiing, traveling, socializing, learning or providing directions and free advice to his 6 kids and wife.

Include your contact information. You should have a line in your bio that makes it easy for people to contact you. Stick to the norm and put your contact info in the last sentence.

Mike can be reached through his marketing blog, themarketingguy.wordpress.com, his website mikeblaney.com, by phone at 800-568-8338 or email at marketingguy@shaw.ca. Send a tweet to @good ideas.

So here are the three versions of my bio:

One sentence -

Mike Blaney is known as the Marketing Guy and that is what he has been doing for the past 30 years. Marketing and everything related to marketing for professionals and small businesses. Mike can be reached at 800-568-8338 or marketingguy@shaw.ca.

100 Words -

Mike Blaney is known as the Marketing Guy and that is what he has been doing for the past 30 years. Marketing and everything related to marketing for professionals and small businesses.

His slogan “Good ideas are a dime a dozen, but implementation is priceless”  encapsulates the transition from advising clients and sending them off to fend for themselves to actually implementing ideas with measurable results to ensure the success of the concept and marketing plan.

Mike can be reached through his marketing blog, themarketingguy.wordpress.com, his website mikeblaney.com, by phone at 800-568-8338 or email at marketingguy@shaw.ca.

250 Words -

Mike Blaney is known as the Marketing Guy and that is what he has been doing for the past 30 years. Marketing and everything related to marketing for professionals and small businesses.

His slogan “Good ideas are a dime a dozen, but implementation is priceless”  encapsulates the transition from advising clients and sending them off to fend for themselves to actually implementing ideas with measurable results to ensure the success of the concept and marketing plan.

In addition to working with clients on their marketing opportunities Mike started an email stationery company called inboxFX Communications Inc. (www.inboxfx.com) which has become a leader in “on the fly” email branding.  He has written his first ebook called 50 Great Marketing Ideas and is working on his second ebook to be released in January 2009.

Mike has made an effort to try every form of social networking and online marketing so he can better advise his clients. These include marketing through YouTube Linkedin, Cragslist, Meetup, WordPress blogs, Technorati and many other sites.  More recently Mike became an approved vendor for Ubertor, a leading website developer to help his clients improve their ability to be found by search engines.

When Mike is not marketing he is skiing, travelling, learning or  providing directions and free advice  to his 6 kids and wife.

Mike can be reached through his marketing blog, themarketingguy.wordpress.com, his website mikeblaney.com, by phone at 800-568-8338 or email at marketingguy@shaw.ca.

The best thing about writing this post is that mine are done.  Now you can hire me to do yours or do it yourself.

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Ever Wonder What People Are Saying About You?

Do you ever wonder what is being said about you on the internet.  For those of us who blog regularly we are putting our reputations on the line with every post so maintaining our reader’s trust and our credibility is paramount.

If you fall into this category or are just plain paranoid now you  can discover & track what’s being said about you on the internet.  I just learned about this great resource called 150+ Resources and Tips To Help Manage Your Reputation Online from Dan Schwabel, a personal branding expert. His Personal Branding Blog is a must read.

Here are some examples of what kind of things you can track on the web:

• Web pages where you posted your resume, portfolio or other online work
• Any products that you take credit for in a resume or portfolio
• Companies that you’re researching in a job hunt
• People you might soon work with or for
• Major players in your industry
• The job market in your industry

Now that I know about the 150+tools I don’t plan to start monitoring my reputation as I have three basic tenets I live by that keep me out of trouble:

1. “Perception is reality”
2. “Telling the truth means never having to remember what you said”
3. “Good ideas are a dime a dozen, but implementation is priceless” (This is actually my personal marketing slogan)

How do these tenets help me? I understand a person’s perception is what they think is the truth and a perception is difficult to manage so if I know I meant one thing and a person interprets it as another thing then that is their perception and I all I can do is try to alter their perception.

If you cut out fibbing, stretching the truth, outright lying or saying what the person wants to hear your reputation will only get better and not following up and implementing is the worst thing I can do so it is always my intent to follow through no mater what.

What’s your reputation like?

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Your 15 Second Pitch

I wrote an article a few months ago titled Elevator Speech Tips which guides you through the process of whittling down what you do into a simple 10 second statement.

As an additional tool you may want to visit the 15 Second Pitch web site which advertises the 15 second pitch as “An introduction that is concise, compelling and conversational. No elevator required!”

It provides the discipline to actually put into writing what you have been thinking about saying.  My pitch ended up as:

My name is Mike Blaney and I am a marketing guy specializing in providing a wide range of marketing services to small businesses. I provide a complete range of services from the creative to design to layout right through to printing and implementation. With more than 30 years of experience in a variety of businesses I have learned that while “good ideas are a dime a dozen, implementation is priceless.”

You can run through the Pitch Wizard in just a few minutes and you have the option of adding it to more than 13,000 other pitches.

So what’s in it for them?  It is a great marketing tool for their services. The co-founder, Laura Allen, teaches people to market themselves more effectively – and have fun getting the word out about what makes them special! Laura is passionate about helping her clients create effective, cohesive personal marketing strategies that excite and inspire them to achieve their personal and professional dreams. She offers courses in Professional Coaching and Networking Essentials.

Social Networking or Not Working?

As a marketing guy I think it is important to be a pioneer and try new technologies as they are introduced so I can advise others. Well here is my first review of Social Networking. I quit. Well not entirely as there is one exception.

For a guy more than a half century old I surprise a lot of people when I tell them I have 3 blogs including

Me Napping

this one*, I am on Facebook and Linkedin , have a Plaxo account and attend a regular Meetup (marketing related I assure you) I have also posted videos on You Tube (this one is hilarious even though it is my daughter ejecting off uneven bars…but she did not get hurt). I also participate on at least four Forums including Young Entrepreneur, Agents Online and Start Up Nation and comment on various blogs. To top it all of I have also posted photos on stock photo sites to spread the word even further.

Add this all up and I would appear to be a serial social networker and the business must be pouring in with all of this effort, but sadly it is not working as well as I hoped. In some cases I may not have worked the concepts enough and in other cases I know I have tried everything, but with one exception I could eliminate all forms of social networking and it would have no negative impact on my business. What I would keep and strongly believe in is blogging. (Didn’t I just write about this a couple of days ago?)

This post is not to sell blogging again, but to make you feel better about not participating in Social Networking as a means of building your business. It may be working for some, but I can’t see the return on investment.

Setting up Facebook has resulted in being invited to join a number of business-oriented Facebook sites which I have, but logging on to Facebook and keeping up with all of the activity is too time-consuming. If you want to do business with me at least have some one-on-one contact. While I have added more friends than I thought I had to my Facebook, I cannot see it as a way to build my business. It is a great way to entertain yourself if you have time to kill and see pictures you would not otherwise see, but as a business development tool I think it has a long way to go. Am I wrong?

I feel the same about Linkedin and Plaxo which although different they are both social networking tools. I have yet to be contacted by anybody in my networks even though I am certain they have needed the services of a marketing guy from time to time.

Participating in Forums and Discussions has been useful in attracting readers to my marketing blog and developing a few business leads, but here is where I am going to get controversial. People who participate regularly on Forums are probably more interested in seeing their problem featured and discussed than they are in actually doing something about. On many occasions I have offered sound solutions, but have never been contacted.

So I will keep my Facebook account and log on every couple of weeks, but I am going to let everything else go and focus on what brings me the highest return on investment…this blog.

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* West Vancouver Real Estate
* North Vancouver Real Estate

Recent Business Card Designs

I get a lot of readers interested in business card design so I thought I would showcase a few of my recent designs for Realtors. While I don’t consider myself a graphic designer I have a unique design style for business cards that many of my clients find effective. In addition I only print on thicker card stock with a unique silk finish that people love to rub. The silk finish makes the cards waterproof, almost impossible to tear and the corners do not get ragged in your wallet.

If you are interested in making a better impression with your business card give me a call, Mike Blaney, 800-568-8338 or email me at marketingguy@shaw.ca.

If you already have a design and just want me to print them on the thicker stock with the silk finish the price is only $ 195.00 for 1,000 cards with color on both sides. If you are interested in my design services you should budget between $ 75.00 and $ 150.00 for the layout although you should contact me for a quote.

So what do I recommend?

Use the Back of the Card
I always use the back of the card to de-clutter the front and in many cases provide a space for people to write notes.

Make the information easy to find
Most people need your phone number, email address or web site so all three should be in a larger font and easy to read.

Highlight Your Brand
Your business card is like a mini billboard and should accurately convey your brand.

Make it into an advertisement
Add your slogan or a call to action as sometimes this is the only marketing they will see from you.

Cari Gililland – Phoeniz Realtor

Part of a re-branding for Cari.

Click on the image below to see Cari’s matching email stationery from www.inboxfx.com.

Dayna Wosk-Pipke – Realtor – Vancouver

This was a totally new branding for Dayna.

Click on the image below to see Dayna’s matching email stationery from www.inboxfx.com.

Garth Raven – Realtor – North Vancouver

Part of a re-branding for Garth. As an avid boater I came up with the slogan “Helping you navigate the world of Real Estate” and added the compass. There is also a picture of his boat on the back as a conversation piece.

Steve Burk – Realtor – Vancouver/Osoyoos

Click on the image below to see Steve’s matching email stationery from www.inboxfx.com.

Leslie Sutton – Realtor Vancouver

Part of a complete re-branding of Leslie.

Click on the image below to see Leslie’s matching email stationery from www.inboxfx.com.

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Take The Mystery Out of Marketing Your Business

I am a fan of Allison Nazarian who is a well known copywriter and marketing professional. Her web site Get It In Writing Blog is an excellent source of information and her blog which is also entitled Get It In Writing provides great tips and observations on copywriting, marketing and growing your business with the right words.

As a marketing guy myself I would prefer you didn’t rush out and hire her for all of your marketing needs (just some of them), I do recommend you take a look at her free e-book entitled Take The Mystery Out of Marketing Your Business. Allison poses these three questions:

1. Have you ever wondered why some sales and marketing approaches SUCCEED while others FALL FLAT?
2. Did you know that your results, good or bad, have VERY LITTLE to do with your actual product or service?
3. Do you have a hard time finding the BEST WAY TO TELL your prospective clients why they should choose you over your competitors?

And then she actually provides the answers. She offers proven techniques to increase sales, credibility and visibility. Some of her key points include:

1. The “hard-sell” approach is a thing of the past.
2. Understand what it means when someone tells you it’s ‘all about your customer.
3. Speak their language, know their pain, show (don’t tell) you have what they need.
4. Make your target clients feel as if they can’t live without your truly valuable product, service or expertise.
5. Once and for all, stop the platitudes, jargon and empty words.

I gleaned a number of useful tidbits that I plan to introduce into my own marketing:

1. I will build my business on a foundation of true value and true expertise.
2. I am going to give my target market and clients something valuable.
3. I am going to share what I know and what I offer in a way that clearly demonstrates that my service/product/expertise is the bridge between their problem/need and a satisfying solution.
4. I am going to put my expertise into action.

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How To Make Your Business Card Unforgettable

One of my favorite blogs is Hello My Name is Scott. Scott Ginsberg is known as THE NAMETAG GUY. Scott is the only person in the world who wears a nametag 24-7 to make people friendlier. (In case you’re wondering, he has a nametag tattooed on his chest for certain occasions.) While transforming his simple idea into a business, his adventures have earned him recognition as “The World’s Foremost Expert on Nametags” and secured a spot in Ripley’s Believe it Or Not!

I have written a number of articles on business cards including Business Card Stuff, How To Make Your Business Card Stand Out and Business Card Tricks – How To Make Them Work, but Scott adds even more great advice. His complete article can be read by subscribing and logging in to The Nametag Network on his web site.

Scott asks you to think back to the last trade show, networking event, seminar, convention, social hour or association meeting you attended. How did people react to your business card? Did they compliment its design? Quickly shove it into their pocket? Show it to someone else? Rip it up? Without exception when people see the front of my card with a picture of a glass half full and feel the silk texture and thickness of the card I get some sort of response.

Tip #1: Only the most creative, unique and memorable business cards make UNFORGETTABLE impressions. Call me to start the ball rolling for your card.

Tip # 2: Your business card should stand out among all others.

Look at the picture below that Scott took of 66 business cards and see if you agree with his findings below:

Red: every card that had red on it stood out.

Picture: only a few cards had pictures of the cardholder. This not only made them stand out, but helped me connect faces with names and companies.

Vertical: several cards were formatted vertically, which caught my eye.

Black Background: most cards have a white background, so the black ones REALLY stood out.

Image: cards with some sort of colorful image that took up at least one fourth of the total surface area captured my interest.

Tip# 3: Enhance your business card in some way that will make it stand out. Scott’s suggestions include:

1. Size or Shape – It doesn’t have to be a rectangle. You can die-cut squares, circles, ovals and triangles.

2. Trading Cards – If your company is team oriented, get trading cards with your “players” pictures and stats. Then encourage your customers and prospects to “collect all 12!”

3. Cartoons – Get a custom cartoon commissioned for the back of your card. It’s cheap, royalty free and absolutely unique to your business.

4. Table/Chart – Include a mortgage loan interest table or some staggering statistics on the back.

5. Pop-Ups – Just like kid’s books, some business cards can be printed as folded, pop-up cards. Talk about thinking three-dimensionally!

6. Rubber Stamps – Buy 10 different customized rubber stamps for the backs of your cards. When someone asks for one just say “Pick a card, any card!”

7. Recipe – If you work in an industry connected to food, kitchens or homes; include one of your favorite recipes on the back!

8. Material – Use leather, blinking or brail business cards (yes, these actually exist too!)

9. Language – If your business requires international travel, consider offering multiple languages, or print the phonetic spelling of a difficult to pronounce name.

10. Stickers – Print one side of your cards on adhesive label paper. This gives the recipient a peel off sticker for reminders, appointments or phone numbers.

While not every person meets regularly with prospects and hands out cards I think business cards are still the most important marketing tool for the majority of businesses. This is not the place to save money or think small.

Mike’s Business Card Pet Peeves

1. Make sure every employee from the mail room to the delivery driver to the bookkeeper have business cards.
2. Attach them to everything as a customer of prospect cannot have enough of them.
3. If even one piece of information changes buy new cards and throw out all of the old ones. Do not scratch out information.
4. Use both sides of the card.
5. Use the thickest stock you can find.
6. Use a silk or crystal finish.

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Top 10 Sales and Marketing Presentation Tips

SmartDraw, makers of SmartDraw.com, a program that automates the process of creating business graphics, released its list of “Top Ten Sales and Marketing Presentation Tips.”

1. Less is More
When designing your presentation materials, remember that as a visual medium, less is more. Avoid cluttering the slide or handout with lots of text and bullet points. Have a few main points highlighted, and let your verbal presentation fill in the blanks.

2. People Like Pictures
Use charts and graphics instead of tables. SmartDraw, for example, includes dozens of sales and marketing graphics that you can edit with your own specific data.

3. Focus on Benefits
When preparing your presentation, steer away from getting into too many details of the product or service you are selling. Instead, focus on the benefits it will provide your audience. What is in it for them!

4. Keep it Short
This will leave time for questions from your audience, and it shows them you appreciate how valuable their time is. I like the idea of specifying the length so people can focus on what you are saying and now wonder how long you will be going on for.

5. Leave a Little Something
Leave your audience something to remember you by. This goes beyond business cards and could include bound copies of your presentation or handouts with the pertinent information highlighted. It could even include pens or stationery with your company’s information.

6. Attention on You
When using presentation slides, try blacking out the screen when you want attention directly focused on what you are saying. Leaving up old slides while you are trying to make your point can distract your audience.

7. Bland PowerPoint®
Steer away from traditional PowerPoint slides. Create unique graphics that will capture the attention of your audience.

8. Tell a Story
Before getting to the cold, hard facts of your presentation, help your audience warm up to you by telling a personal story. It could be related to the product or service you are selling or it could simply be a general story about a shared life experience. Whatever the story, making it personal and relatable will help to engage your audience.

9. Humor is good
Catch your audience off guard by starting with a humorously off-topic slide or a funny story. This will help loosen up the audience and hopefully open them up to what you have to say. Humor is subjective, so keep clear of any subjects remotely questionable.

10. Enthusiasm is great
If you like what you are selling, your audience is more likely to too!

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