Why are you looking here for the answer? If I knew I would be retired…

While nobody can really answer that question Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), two of the nation’s leading media companies, today announced the second in a series of findings from the Meredith/NBC Universal “What do Women Want?”™ survey.

As a father of 5 daughters and a wife too, the results did not come as a surprise to me as I have sat through many a dinner conversation among the six of them where I wonder if anyone even knows I am there. But I have gleaned enough from these discussions to confirm these results are representative. As a business person, therefore a marketer, these are important points to consider.

More than 3,000 women were surveyed revealing key insights on the female psyche across topics including health and well-being:

When it comes to health, women are more concerned about diet/weight (56%) and eating right (36%) than they are about cancer (23%), cardiovascular/heart health (20%), and diabetes (18%)

• Many women are skipping important medical examinations, including annual physicals and cancer screenings.
• Less than two-thirds (59%) of all women get an annual physical, even lower among Gen Y women (44%).
• Nearly one-third of Boomer women are not getting their important annual mammograms, cholesterol checks or physicals.
• Four in 10 women report that they are more than 20 pounds overweight. Gen Y women are more likely than Gen X and Boomer women to say they are at their ideal weight (29% vs. 9%, 7% respectively).

Professionals Women Would Want to Hire*

1. Personal Trainer (47%)
2. Personal Chef (34%)
3. Financial Advisor (31%)
4. Live-In Housekeeper (31%)
5. Professional Masseuse (29%)
6. Nutritionist (28%)
7. Professional Organizer to de-clutter your living space or office (24%)
8. Stylist (19%)
9. Interior Decorator (15%)
10. Career Counselor (13%)

*allowed up to 5 choices

What Women Do to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle*

• Drink more water (80%)
• Eat more fruits and vegetables (70%)
• Read nutritional labels (49%)
• Avoid foods that are high in fat (47%)
• Make a conscious effort to lower calorie intake (44%)
• Watch my sugar intake (44%)
• Exercise at least three times a week (43%)

“While staying fit and trim definitely contributes to overall good health, it’s only a piece of a proactively healthy lifestyle,” says Diane Salvatore, editor in chief, Ladies’ Home Journal. “These findings should be a wakeup call to American women everywhere to make their yearly checkups without fail and make their own personal health a top priority.”

“It is particularly important for marketers in the health and wellness category to have a clear understanding of women’s behaviors, motivations and thoughts so that the messaging they create will resonate and have enhanced impact,” said Debbie Reichig, Senior Vice President, Market Development, NBC Universal. “We are thrilled to be able to make this information available to them.”

All of the above data is from the “What Women Want Survey” conducted by Meredith/NBC Universal and I recommend you read the press release for the full details.

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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.

If you enjoyed this article and don’t want to miss the next one click here to get my marketing posts by email as soon as they are published. You will be prompted for an email address and you are set to go.

I am like a broken record when I give marketing advice to Realtors and people who run small businesses. At the top of my list of free advice is to nurture your sphere of influence (SOI). Why? Because most people want to do business with someone they know and trust and most people feel good about helping your business and their own SOI by providing a referral. So why market to total strangers when you have dozens of raving fans itching to help your business?

There is a fine line between staying in touch and communicating useful information to your SOI and pestering and I thought this list compiled by Jennifer Allan, a top producing real estate broker in Denver, a published author, a speaker and a trainer was perfect to share with you. While it is geared to Realtors it applies to all businesses.

Twenty ways to blow it with your SOI:

1. Ask a friend to lunch and give her your sales pitch (every time).
2. Call your friends on the first Monday of every month and ask if they have any referrals for you.
3. If they don’t, ask them why not.
4. Angrily (or tearfully) confront your friends and family if they use another real estate agent or service provider in your field.
5. Take on business you aren’t qualified to handle.
6. Blow off your friend’s housewarming party, but expect her to be loyal to you.
7. Attend your friend’s housewarming party and sales-pitch everyone to death.
8. Tell everyone you know how lousy the real estate market or economy is.
9. Tell everyone you know how overwhelmed you are.
10. Tell everyone you know how depressed you are about your business.
11. Send out an announcement letter with typo’s and misspellings.
12. Send your friends frequent “forward this on for good luck or else” mass emails.
13. Pepper your language with four-letter words.
14. Borrow money or books or tools or whatever and don’t return them in a timely manner.
15. Don’t return social phone calls or RSVP’s.
16. Try to hijack referral fees from your family’s pre-existing real estate relationships.
17. Ignore your SOI in favor of mass-advertising projects (then get your feelings hurt when they use someone else).
18. Contact your friends only when you’re looking for business.
19. Offer bribes to your friends for referrals.
20. Sell real estate “on the side”.

To learn more about Jennifer’s books and philosophies, please visit her website.

VHT, Inc., a leading provider of visual marketing services, has released the results of its exclusive survey of agents’ and brokers’ marketing activities.

While there are not many surprises it is interesting to note the marked difference between new and more established Realtors in their marketing expenditures, average value of homes sold and the number of listings.

It is also interesting that it is an accepted fact that 80% of buyers start their search on the internet, but 92.4 percent of sellers felt newspaper ads were the most important marketing method. Maybe that is why homes are taking so long to sell. Buyers are looking on the internet and sellers are advertising in the newspaper. What’s wrong with this picture?

Marketing Expenditure Per Listing

The survey shows that agents who have been around longer—more than five years—spent more money, on average, marketing their properties—$864 per listing than respondents with less than five years experience who spent, on average, $675 per listing.

$250-$500 - 24.5 percent of agents/brokers
$500-$1,000 - 20.6 percent
> $1,000 - 25.2 percent
Depended the listing - 18.8 percent

Number of Listings Managed

5-10 listings - 30 percent
10 - 20 listings - 34.8 percent
20 or more listings - 20.6 percent

Method of Marketing

Brochures - 90 percent
Postcards - 88.8 percent
Newspapers - 83.3 percent
TV Ads - 41.1 percent

While respondents indicated a significant portion of their listing budget was spent on newspapers, only 20.4 percent said they think this medium is “effective.” 49 percent felt that online ads were “very effective.” Agents felt that online ads and signage are “more valuable” for promoting a property. But when asked what their sellers felt was important, 92.4 percent said that their sellers mentioned newspaper ads.

Do They Spend More For a Higher Priced Listing?

There was a direct correlation between the amount an agent spent to market a property and the value of the property. For listings in the $250-500k range, agents spent on average $682/listing. Agents with properties in the $1M-2.5M spent on average $1,742/listing.

Do New Realtors List Higher Priced Homes?

No. The longer an agent is in business, the greater the value of the properties they list. Those with 2-5 years had listings in the $490k range while those with 10+ years had average listings of $600k in value.

Where are they advertising online?

Realtor.com, CraigsList and Google were the top national Websites used by agents.
39 percent of agents have an average of 5-10 different destinations for their listing and 24.5 percent have 10-20 different destinations.

So What Really Works?

Understanding the psychology of home buyers and sellers is important in choosing your marketing tools.

Sellers

The home selling process can take up to five years and be divided into four distinct “phases”- only three of which are actually measurable. Lasting up to four years, the first phase is a vague awareness that selling their home could solve a problem, offer a financial advantage or provide a needed change.

During the 4 years a specific triggering event such as a desire/need for a larger house, wanting to live in a certain area, job relocation and family concerns would occur that moved sellers into the next phase of the process.

From this point the selling process is about one year and includes three measurable phases:

Thinking about selling - 5.5 months
Researching a sale - 1.4 months
Actively selling - 2.4 months

Buyers

Buyers also go through a period of up to four years during which they were somewhat aware that they “should” buy a home for a wide variety of reasons.

Like sellers, buyers did not enter into the measurable part of the process until after a specific triggering event, including wanting or needing a larger home, wanting the financial advantages of buying instead of renting, family reasons and job relocation.

Following the trigger event the home buying process takes an average of almost a year and a half (16.4 months), split into the following three measurable phases:

Thinking about buying - 7.1 months
Researching a purchase - 5.3 months
Actively looking for a home - 4.1 months

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To gift or not to gift that is the question. My opinion is that when it comes to giving gifts in a business environment it is the thought that counts more than the gift. Why? Unlike giving gifts to family to celebrate an event, a gift can be misconstrued by the recipient and there always seems to be strings attached.

Geoffrey James, an accomplished business writer and author of “The Tao of Programming” interviewed Jerry Acuff author of “The Relationship Edge in Business” about gift giving and here are their thoughts:

Gifts are for friends not contacts
You use a gift to deepen a relationship not to develop one. Giving a gift too early in a relationship seems phony and desperate.

Gifts are for customers not prospects
In most cases, you won’t have enough of a relationship with a prospect to justify the giving of a gift. So don’t even think about gifting until you’ve got an ongoing business relationship.

Gifts must be inexpensive or free
If a gift is too big, it’s going to be perceived as a bribe. You want to show that you care, not make the customer feel obligated to buy.

Gifts should be highly personalized
Think about their interests and try to find something that shows you know them and that you have a sincere connection.

Promotional items are not gifts
If a “gift” has your logo on it, you are asking the recipient to provide you with free advertising, so it is not really a gift.

Some of the best ways to show your appreciation is a simple thank card, a lunch, a round of golf, taking your client to an event or dropping off lunch for the office.

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I have written about subject lines, email content, preview panes and the importance of email stationery to make an impact on recipients so it is no secret I am a big fan of email marketing. This survey by a leading Exact Target a leading provider of software for email communications supports that email is in fact an accepted form of marketing communication.

ExactTarget’s “2008 Channel Preference Survey” concluded that nearly two-thirds of US Internet users surveyed said email was their preferred channel for written communications between friends, with text messaging the next favorite choice. The phone was the most popular way to communicate with friends overall, with 41% of respondents naming it as their channel of choice.

Asked to judge the acceptability of various channels for marketing purposes on a scale of 1 to 5, respondents gave direct mail an average score of 3.9, followed by email at 3.7. All other channels averaged under 3.

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they had made a purchase because of a marketing message received through email. More than three-quarters said they had made such a purchase in response to direct mail. The age group with the highest response to email is surprisingly the 55 -64 age category.

If you enjoyed this article and don’t want to miss the next one click here to get my marketing posts by email as soon as they are published. You will be prompted for an email address and you are set to go.

For the first time on my marketing blog I thought I was going to stray a little off topic because graduation ceremonies are on my mind, but then I realized with some effort I could tie it back to marketing.

This past week we attended three Commencements for 4 of our kids (having twins is a blessing) and I listened to at least 6 different presenters give advice to grads. This included the Valedictorians, principals, Chancellors, Presidents, Deans and Graduands (fancy word for one about to graduate : a candidate for a degree).

Usually you only get to go to one graduation in a year so you cannot compare the messages, but I spent more than 8 hours of this past week attending of which I am sure 2 hours of that was advice for the graduates. What I noticed was how unclear the messages were as they were couched in “academic speak”. Most of the time it sounded like an advertisement for Masters and Doctorate degrees. I strained to pick out the salient points and reflect on whether my life reflected the advice provided and really struggled with the messages.

On the way home from the third graduation I mentioned to my wife that I thought the speeches should be more direct with advice the graduates could actually use and follow and I was taken back to the 1997 Commencement written by Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune entitled “Everybody’s Free (to wear sunscreen)”. I think this piece written in 1997 is not only brilliant, but is timeless and should be read by marketers every morning.

I have to share this with you:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ‘97… wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be IT.

The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

You are NOT as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance. Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you’re 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

See it worked. I used a headline.

(Check out the newspaper clipping to the right.  Email me if you would like to know how to do this marketingguy@shaw.ca)

You read the headline and said to yourself “that is something I would like to know more about”. That is probably because you are the person I am trying to reach; the person who has an interest in marketing related material. If you found this blog while searching for furniture you probably haven’t even read this far, but the rest of you are wondering how this post is going to help them.

Purpose of the Headline

The headline tells them they can solve their problem or get what they need from you. They do not have time to read all of the copy, but they will take the time to read the headline.

i.e. Perfect Homes For First Time Buyers

Use a Sub-Heading
Now that you have their attention use a “call to action” to make sure they don’t put off using your product or service.

i.e. Perfect Homes For First Time Buyers
Call Today Before They Are All Sold

Write Effective Copy To Support The Headline
Now that you have their attention and they are ready to respond tell them what’s in it for them. What is your offer. How they get it. Where they get it. Others who have benefited from getting it. Use bullets, lists or tables if it will make the information more clear.

Tell Them What To Do Next
Now that they can’t live without your product or service make sure they know exactly what to do next. Call. Email. Visit. Write.

Do Headlines Really Work?
This is a rhetorical question because we have all been drawn to a newspaper article or a headline on a billboard and we have all had a headline on something catch our eye that makes us read further or flip something over to learn more. Probably the best example is when you decide to buy a new TV. All of a sudden you have a heightened awareness to technology, prices and sources of TVs. You are looking for information and when you read the newspaper you seek out information.

Yes, Virginia, headlines work.

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Many email pundits claim the subject line is the most important factor in getting your email read and I wrote a blog post entitled Getting Your Email Read - Start With a Better Subject Line which points out the importance of effective subject lines.

But as many subject lines are so weak and uninformative many people use the information displayed in their email preview pane to determine if they will read on further.

A typical preview pane is a few inches of space at the top of your email. It is prime real estate and can help you increase the chances of your email being read.

How prevalent is the use of preview panes?

There was a study done in 2007 by Marketing Sherpa that found the following:

• 64% of people who are offered preview panes start using them as their default.
• 80% of at-work users in the U.S. rely on Outlook, which offers preview panes.
• 38% of online consumers now use email clients that offer preview panes.

Other email clients also offer preview panes including Lotus Notes, Mozilla Thunderbird, Yahoo Mail and Windows Live Mail.

So what is the secret to capturing the readers attention with a compelling reason to read on?

inboxFX Email Stationery

Here is an example of how my Outlook displays emails. (Your Outlook may be set up with the preview pane at the right or no preview pane at all. You can change this by going to View - Reading Pane - Bottom.)

The email on the left is a plain text email and the one on the right is a simple email stationery design. You can see how the one on the right stands out with the color and the simple image.

Click on the image for a better look.

If you would like to see more samples of email stationery from inboxFX click here.

If you enjoyed this article and don’t want to miss the next one click here to get my marketing posts by email as soon as they are published. You will be prompted for an email address and you are set to go.

Over the past couple of years I have been lulled into thinking everyone uses the internet and cannot live without email even though my parents use neither. According to the National Association of Realtors something like 80% of people start their search for a home on the internet, but what do the other 60 million Americans do when they are thinking of buying a new home? I wonder what percentage of people don’t read the newspaper, watch the TV ads, read direct mail or glance at billboards?

According to research firm Parks Associates roughly one-fifth of all U.S. households are disconnected from the Internet and have never used e-mail. A recent phone survey of U.S. households by Parks found 20 million households are without Internet access, approximately 18 percent of all U.S. households.

John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates, stated “Nearly one out of three household heads has never used a computer to create a document.”

Age and education are factors in this divide, Park found. One-half of those who have never used e-mail are over 65, and 56 percent had no schooling beyond high school.

Parks found 7 percent of the 20 million disconnected homes plan to subscribe to an Internet service within the next 12 months. In 2006, Parks found that 29 percent of all U.S. households — 31 million homes — did not have Internet access, citing low perceived value of the Internet.

“Many people just don’t see a reason to use computers and do not associate technology with the needs and demands of their daily lives,” Barrett said.

I am going to dig a bit further into the statistics regarding newspaper readership, radio listening habits and other advertising mediums to see if I might be missing some important marketing trends. Stay tuned.

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