Go for It or Wait for It?

Tucking Your Wings or Using Your Wings?

These are uncertain times...that's certain! Most people got killed last year in their 401k. They have seen their home value depreciate, and on and on. No need to go through all the bad news we all know about.

However, there are stories you hear about how so and so bought a house during the bad times and made out huge. Or bought a stock when everyone was selling and made out huge. The classic story of the contrarian that had faith when others fled.

The success my clients are seeing this year leads to me to believe that this is a time to go for it with your marketing. Be contrarian. Why are my clients having better success than last year? There is less competition right now. The competition has tucked in their wings to wait out the storm! The market may be a little smaller than last year in certain areas but there is still a market - and my clients are getting more of it.

The argument can be made on either side with wise quotes..."Patience is a virtue", "Live to fight another day", or "Keep your powder dry". And there is obvious wisdom in all these, however right now, what I've seen first hand... "Carpe Diem"! Seize the day while everyone else waits and watches you!

"Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got."

~Art Buchwald

Walk On Video Spokesperson

How to Make Your Website Stand Out with a Video Spokesperson

There's a new affordable option for local businesses to make their website more interesting, engaging and effective. It's called a "Video Spokesperson". The spokesperson (a real human - not animae) greets visitors with a welcome message from the company and perhaps a suggestion of an action to take or a summary of the company. I compare this new video spokesperson option to how you manage your physical business when someone walks in to look around. Most likely you have someone available to greet them...that's what a video spokesperson does for your "virtual store" AKA- your website! Shot in front of a "green screen", the spokesperson appears to walk on the home page of your website to deliver your short message. You can visit our website to see me walk on to greet you with our welcome message.

Video Walk-on technology has many interesting applications as well. You could use it for big sales, for customer testimonials, you can have different messages for different sections of your site, you can add animation or pop-up messages for example. The point is to engage the visitor and encourage interaction. It's easy to visit a website...and just as easy to go find another one...so the key is to develop strategies to covert more visitors into callers.

Another example site to visit is Roofing Contractor Marketing. Here I engage the visitor with a quick over-view of what RCM does and why you should call. Both of our examples are used to show the business owner how we differentiate ourselves to help local businesses get a jump on the competition.

If you are interested in how web video can help your business stand out from the crowd, give us a call. 303-968-2891. It's more affordable than you might think.

Your Business Needs "Up's" in this Down Time!

Branding is Great...but Leads are Better.

Pop quiz! Quick - answer this -- recall 3 ads from the super bowl! Time's up, pencils down...I couldn't get one specifically - I think Bud had a couple in there, maybe Coke or Pepsi...I remember laughing at one of them...$3 mill. each ad, all branding, zero recall.

Branding or image advertising is expensive in the short run, and hard to quantify in the long run. Big agencies love branding. You win awards with branding...but does branding drive business? I say no...not efficiently at least.

I Want Up's!

If you own a business I know you want "up's". Every business needs more business and they need it now. These days call for focus on lead generation first, branding as a bonus. Ask for the order every time.

Lead Generation with "Radio Sales Advantage"

We have developed a new advertising product designed for lead generation. Strategic partnerships with radio groups are being developed to execute the program for local businesses. Radio Sales Advantage is our solution to getting "more Up's in this Down time"! Designed from our experiences over the past 2 years working with local businesses, the Radio Sales Advantage new business development system takes the best features of radio - reaching masses of consumers during business hours, with affordable frequency and targeted audiences - and combines it with Google/Yahoo/MSN search advertising - all on a track-able platform for accountability and lead generation.

Here's our beta site for Radio Sales Advantage, called http://www.clearchannelcustomercapture.com/ If you own a business in Denver, give Clear Channel a call to find out more about this new lead generating marketing system. If you run radio stations somewhere - call me to find out how your group can benefit. 303-748-6247

Websites and Consumers

The process of consumer decision making has been forever altered with the advent of the internet. This may sound like old news and it is. Here's a short list of what's different.

The internet now plays the consumer role of:
1. The Yellow Pages (who uses the book anymore?)
- many consumers believe Google shows the best companies first in the category
2. Research Library
-price comparision, quality comparison, product research
3. "Just call 411" (who does that anymore?!)
-quick location or phone locator
Obviously the internet plays a critical role in the consumers process of deciding who to call - when they are ready to make a move. While this may seem like old news, many local business owners don't fully recognize how important it is to their business that they have a strong online presence.
4 Focus Areas for Local Businesses:
1. Where do I show up on Google in the natural search area (below the maps)?
2. Is my website address easy to remember and logical to find for my business category?
3. Does my other media drive traffic to my website?
4. Do I make visitors a great offer when they visit my site?

If you own a business, write these points down and post it where you can see it. If you focus on improving these 4 points you will increase your business. If you would like to see a fully integrated marketing plan visit http://www.clearchannelcustomercapture.com/. This is a joint effort of Hoffman Advertising and Clear Channel Radio that applies the very latest strategies in internet and broadcast advertising.