Leap Year

This day only comes around once every four year!  What are you doing today to make it memorable?

Reminder...Don't spam your own clients!

As a promotional product distributor I receive numerous email blasts a day.  It’s a wide range of new items, special offers and invitations to webinars - the list goes on and on.  I’m sure your inbox reveals much of the same. 

My most recent encounter with some of these “spam” emails were from three of my top suppliers.  They sent out an email that said, “Thanks for visiting our booth!”  You see, I belong to a trade organization that holds five trade shows a year.  They are spread out all over the country.  I typically attend one every year, however, I was not present at the latest event.  Despite my absence, I received follow up emails from at least three of my suppliers, thanking me for stopping by.  Unfortunately now I feel as if I’m just an account number to them. There is nothing special or unique about the note, they just want to cover their bases.

Here are my three pieces of advice on trade show follow up:

1. Engage your audience. During your next trade show – jot down a note on the back of your clients business card to reference as a follow up.
2. Be memorable.  I use a great email program called Ace of Sales.  It allows you to customize your emails, marketing directly to your customer.  You can easily upload photos, articles or messages that are memorable to your attendee as shown below. 

If you’d like to give it a try use the code ValueAdded30 to try it free for 30 days. 

3.  Give value. When following up with a current or potential client make the interaction worth their time.  Offer a sales tip or even a discount to thank them for stopping by; you’ll be much more likely to hear from them again.

30 Day Trial

We've heard this line time and time again, but have you ever applied it to you daily life?  My husband and I set out on a 30-day trial of our own.  We decided to turn off the TV for 30-days. While visiting a good friend in San Francisco (who doesn't own a television) I made the statement "I wonder how productive I would be in I didn't watch TV for 30-days?" My husband who is always up for a challenge thought this was a brilliant proposition and before you know it I'd committed to it myself. 

If you know me at all you'd know I am a TV junky - a victim to reality shows, Law & Order and Dateline.  But I survived and have to say this challenge has forever altered my behavior. 

*In the past 30-days, I read the following books:

*Thank You Economy by: Gary Vaynerchuk

* ReWork by: Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

*Rhinoceros Success by: Scott Alexander

*The Help by: Kathryn Stockett

*Heaven is 4 Real by: Todd Burpo

*The Accidental Creative by: Todd Henry

*I met with a rep from the local Chamber of Commerce and went to my first Networking Night event.

*Joined the steering committee for the Alzheimer’s Association Central Ohio Chapter

*Went on nightly walks

*Listened to music and drank wine on the patio

*Went to happy hours with friends and work events with my husband

*Started to clean out my basement

And the list goes on and on.

Honestly the first couple days I was bored, but once I embraced the change I enjoyed the 30-days. 

(We did stay up until midnight on our final night to watch the recorded season of Entourage on the DVR!)

Give yourself a 30-day challenge.  You'll be surprised at the results. 

I just finished reading The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk.  I’m embarrassed to say I’ve had the book since it came out, but life got in the way and it took me until now to pick it up and read it.  If you haven’t…..read it now! 

Being a huge fan of his first book Crush It, I knew I would like Gary’s writing style and as usual the content did not disappoint. 

As I read the book I realized that all I’ve been doing on social media is “pushing” as he calls it.  Using Twitter and Facebook to broadcast my tips and trends and never actually engaging with my followers.  Duh, right!   I think I’ve read a dozen articles on this same topic, but all of sudden someone comes along and explains it in plain English and it clicks. 

Make sure you are in the conversation – interacting with the public.  I’m not going to regurgitate the info in the book, but know that you should go out and snag a copy.  It will be the best thing you’ve done for your brand and your business. 

QR Codes – The New Barcode for Consumers

I just got back from a convention in Chicago and QR Codes were all people could talk about. 

These little codes contain a wide variety of information for your consumers.

There are some great ways that businesses and individuals are incorporating QR Codes into their advertising and marketing campaigns. 

Highlight your personal brand:  My husband came home a few weeks ago with his new business cards.  On the back was a QR Code.  This code links people to his LinkedIn page which features his blog, twitter and of course, his contact information.  He’s been fantastic at building his personal brand so his clients get see the value he brings to the table with just one scan.

Building a database: QR Codes can easily help you build a database.  By incorporating these codes into your traditional media you can provide special offers to these potential customers while building a database.  Simply have them enter an email to “opt-in” before receiving their special offer.  Like all campaigns make sure this offer is good, or you will quickly lose their attention.

Label yourself a resource: Have your code connect the potential customer to the “Top 10 Tips” on a given subject in your industry.  For example, a realtor has a QR Code on their “FOR SALE” sign. This code could lead them to the details about the house on the market as well as the “Top 10 Tips” on home inspections.  For someone interested in buying a house, you have now become a resource and they’ll keep coming back for more. 

The way to use QR Codes is endless; make sure you utilizing it to the best of your ability.  Find ways to retain these potential customers after they scan. 

Stars'N Stripes

USA….USA…..it’s that time of year where it’s hard not to feel as American as baseball and apple pie.  Miniature flags are a great way to affiliate your business with this pride and patriotism. With Memorial Day and 4^th of July right around the corner you can see how these little flags can make a big impact. 

Here’s just a couple ways you could incorporate them:

Florist / Garden Center

            *Hand out flags with gardening tips.  Mini flags are a fantastic to place in your potted plants. 

Insurance / Banking

            *These would be great handouts at parades and festivals throughout the summer.

Non-Profit

            *These are excellent to sell as a fundraiser or give as”thank you” for donations.

“Egg-cellent” Promotion Idea

Last week I was sucked in to a fabulous promotion. Literally dropped everything and spent two hours doing a “virtual” egg hunt.  Like most of my childhood egg-hunt experiences I came up empty handed but was still impressed with the creative promotion from ZoomCatalog, an online catalog company for promotional product distributors and suppliers.

Here’s how the promotion works….

#1.  Last Wednesday I received an email from http://www.zoomcatalog.com/   inviting me to do a “virtual” egg hunt.  I’m not one to participate in many contests but the prize was an Ipad 2, which I’ve been drooling over. 

#2.  They invite you to “like” them on Facebook and “follow” them on Twitter to receive daily clues to find the eggs.  I instantly did both.  For nine days they would release a clue a day to find the eggs randomly placed throughout their catalog library.  The first two people to find all eggs would receive Ipads and the rest would have a “chance” to win from a random drawing….among other prizes. 

#3.  They were responding to numerous questions on Facebook during which I found out that you don’t have to wait for the clues, all eggs were released and all you had to do was be the first one to find them.  This is when I was hooked….

It helped them instantly gain friends on the social media networks and drew people to their client’s catalogs, which is fabulous.  I went through over 30 catalogs in the first two hours….no, I did not find all the eggs but did find some great product ideas for my clients; a specific pen a current client had been asking about, a new idea for a prospect and really understand the ZoomCatalog business, if I were ever in the market to need a catalog.  Well done ZoomCatalog….

This idea could be duplicated for any business….how could it work for yours?