Postcard marketing - how to market your business with postcards

Businesses need to generate leads in order to survive. There are many different methods to generate leads, some more effective than others.

Businesses owner know that creative advertising catches the attention of prospective clients, however, coming up with the most creative methods can be challenging at times.

One method that is gaining in popularity is postcards. This may seem a little unorthodox, after all, postcards are sent when you are on vacation. However, when you stop and think about it, postcards, when created properly, are very cost effective and creative marketing technique, and they can be an extremely effective tool for marketing your business.

When you first decide to use postcards to generate leads, you need to consider every aspect of the design. Deciding what message you want to send is critical to the success of your campaign. The amount of space that you have on a postcard is very limited, so the message you want to send needs to be clear and concise and very persuasive.

The design of your postcard is important too. If it is not eye catching, it may get tossed in the garbage without even a glance. Avoid purchasing generic postcards; instead, personalize them to demonstrate the products or services your business has to offer.

There are certain guidelines to follow to ensure your postcards generate the maximum amount of leads.

• The front/cover of the postcard. You MUST have a strong headline that immediately attracts the person reading it to want to read the back of the card. The best headlines promise a powerful benefit.

• On the back of the postcard, personalize the message by including the person’s name in the opening. When a person sees their name, they will think that the postcard was created just for them and continue reading it.

• The message – The first sentence of the message should be powerful enough to hold the attention of the prospective client so he or she will read through the entire postcard. Add only the information that is relevant to your business and how your product or service can benefit him or her. Do not add irrelevant information. And give a reason for the person to buy now such as by having a response deadline. “Purchase the X widget by December 20 and receive an extra 10% off!”

• Postage – Whenever possible use a real stamp, not a bulk postage meter. A stamp says you care and that your message is important. A bulk meter says I am sending you junk mail.

In regard to postcard design, they can be graphically designed and printed at nearly any print shop. There are also many websites that specialize in postcard design, printing, and mailing. This includes postcardmania.com and printlessdirect.com.

Using postcards to generate leads is a method of advertising that many businesses are choosing more and more because it work and it is a cost efficient way of promoting your products and services.

However, one very important thing to understand is that for your postcard campaign to be truly effective, it should be repeated to the same target market a minimum of once every 3 months, and monthly if you can afford it. Repetition is a key to successful marketing, so the more your target market sees your marketing message, the more likely they are to do business with you.

Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group marketing companies
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate"
http://www.geisheker.com
(920) 471-1638
Fax: (920) 491-9090

Credit Union Marketing to Businesses

I use a credit union for my business banking and I have to say that credit unions need to do a far better job of marketing to businesses and providing business related services. The only reason I use the credit union I use is the convenience that it is across the street from my business. If that was not the case, I would have closed my account with them ages ago due to their lack of understanding the needs of my business.

Here is how credit unions can support business banking needs:

1. Marketing to businesses is much different than marketing to consumers. Credit union marketing must discuss specific business banking needs and how your credit union will fulfill those needs better than large corporate banks. Show businesses how banking with your credit union is a friendly partnership in success and that your credit union is there to serve the business in any and every way possible, especially in providing credit and business loans so the business has access to capital for expansion and growth.

2. A credit union's staff needs to have employees that are trained specifically for serving businesses. They need to understand the language and financial needs of a business. Your employees need to know business as much as the businesses owners they will be serving. If a business owner starts talking about business financing, SBA loans, business lines of credit, payroll taxes, etc., your employees better know exactly what the business owner is talking about.

3. You need to provide far better and faster service to businesses than to consumers. When a CEO calls and you put him or her on hold as it takes your employee 15 minutes to figure out how to answer a question, you are wasting that CEO's valuable time and money and making your credit union look incapable of handling business needs. Again, it comes down to understanding the types of banking services businesses need and NOT treating them like a one size fits all consumer account. Yes, there is more financial risk for working with business customers, but there is also far more financial reward.

Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group Advertising Agency
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate"
http://www.geisheker.com
(920) 471-1638

How teen job seekers can separate themselves

Here are my tips for how fall teen job seekers can separate themselves to have a better chance at getting a job:

1. Write a great cover letter stating how you will help the company you want to work for. Understand that applying to a job is a sales process and you need to better sell why you can offer more to an employer than others can. Explain how you will be a valuable asset to the company.

2. Prove how good you are by including 1-2 pages of testimonials from previous employers and high school teachers and/or college professors saying how great you are and why you would make a great employee.

3. Offer to work for 1-2 weeks for free to prove how good you are. If the company is not blown away by your abilities, then they do not have to hire you and they are out no money. That shows you are confident and willing to take a risk on yourself instead of the company taking a risk on you.

4. READ BUSINESS BOOKS! The fastest way to advance your career is to become a business expert and understand operations, sales, marketing, finance, etc. Businesses want smart people who are good at solving business problems and who understand how to make a company more successful. By reading business books, you immediately make yourself more knowledgeable and more valuable than other people competing for a job or a promotion. My biggest key to success in getting jobs and success in business is forcing myself to read 10 pages a day every single day from a business book (about 1-2 books per month). In a year that equals 3,650 pages of business knowledge. Do that for 2 years and you have basically given yourself an MBA in your spare time and for only a few hundred bucks in books. Nothing will raise your business IQ and success in life more than reading business books. Books = success.

Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group Ad Agency
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate"
http://www.geisheker.com
(920) 471-1638

How startup businesses sabotage their success

I work with many start-up companies and I see the mistakes they make that sabotage their businesses every single day. Here is a list of the top 5 mistakes:

1. Spending all their money on product development and having very little or no money for marketing. Without marketing, you cannot get customers. Without customers you cannot sell products/services and earn money.

2. No business or marketing planning on how to select and serve a niche market. The norm seems to be "ready fire aim" with no idea of whom to market to and why.

3. Seeing marketing as an expense instead of an investment. Marketing is the most lucrative investment platform in the world and businesses that see marketing as an investment in building their business will succeed.

4. Not understanding how to make a sale. Strong sales skills are incredibly important in running a business. Without understanding how to sell, it is difficult to make money.

5. Trying to compete on low price instead of on quality and service. There is a large market of people who are willing to pay more for better quality and service.


To Your Business Success!

Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group Marketing Companies
"We don't help you compete, we help you dominate"
http://www.geisheker.com
(920) 471-1638