A friend of mine, who is in the printing business, recently put a magnetic sign on the side of his car, “5000 business cards for $119”. When I asked him if he’s getting any calls from that, he said that he’s got several in the 3 days since it’s up. He also had all the salespeople put the signs on the side of their cars.

Now isn’t that a brilliant idea. I’m sure you’ve seen similar signs, but they typically say general things, like “we do printing” or “computer repair” or “plumbing” (I had a post about this one recently.

My friend created a direct response offer. It’s not just “we sell business cards”, it’s very specific, “5000 cards for $119”. Anyone who is in business, or is self-employed and needs business cards from time to time will obviously be interested in that and will respond.

I would, wouldn’t you?

I’ve said that before, that I live, in a supposedly “declining” area of United States. That’s Michigan. According to the news and what people say, this is one of the states that got hit the hardest economically.

Yet for $70, Read the rest of this entry »

Mediocre marketing aimed at a very well selected target will get superior results. Great marketing aimed at a sloppily selected market may, at best, deliver mediocre results.

Selection is where it’s at.

You should create a very, very detailed profile of your current typical customer and your ideally desired client. Your success at attracting or finding the ones you want depends on knowing what you’re looking for.

A lot of money is lost, wasting your weaponry and ammo, hitting targets that don’t matter.

Smart use of your resources can transform a business or sales career almost overnight.

After all, you have a finite number of dollars and hours. You must use them wisely.

In marketing, Read the rest of this entry »