Marketing

None of Us Farm as Well as We Know How

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April 9  |  Advertising, Business, Marketing, Marketing Bridge  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

The other day a restaurant owner and I were discussing the challenges he’s facing in these economic times. His food costs are up…utilities are up…health insurance for employees is always going up…taxes are higher, and on and on and on. Everything is headed up—except his sales volume.

The number of customers visiting his restaurant was down slightly. The average ticket was down, too. More and more moms and dads were splitting dinners to economize. Even sales in the bar were down. I guess that means people can’t even afford to “drown their sorrows.” What to do?

None of Us Farm as Well as We Know How

He did make some modifications to his menu which did, in fact, help. Then he freshened his advertising to reflect the new dinner entrees available for under $10.00. But even with the increase in traffic, receipts were still well short of where they needed to be. He sheepishly admitted that the thought had crossed his mind to cut back on his advertising efforts. Continue Reading

Small Business Advertising and Marketing; It’s Not Rocket Science

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March 13  |  Advertising, Business, Marketing  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

That magnificent 6-inch orb that rests on top of our shoulders is really an amazing contraption. It has the capability of understanding, analyzing, predicting, and improving the most complex, abstract, and intricate of concepts. The results of such thinking have sent astronauts to the moon and safely back to earth. We’ve witnessed satellites deployed to pinpoint destinations previously unexplored in our universe. We’ve made gigantic strides in prolonging life and curing disease.

Marketing and Advertising is not Rocket Science

When you consider the information base today compared to just 50 years ago…it boggles the mind how far we have advanced. 200 years ago? The knowledge we possess in 2009 versus 1809 is….well, let’s just say it’s “incomparable.” Remember the legendary story about President McKinley wanting to close the U.S.

Patent Office in 1899 because everything worthwhile had already been invented? (I can’t validate—but we won’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.) Continue Reading

"I’ve Tried Advertising. It Doesn’t Work!"

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March 5  |  Advertising, Marketing, Marketing Bridge  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

It’s absolutely amazing how business owners tend to blame poor sales figures on the back of advertising.

“Weekend traffic was down…must be the advertising.”

“Pretty good traffic this weekend but no sales…must be the advertising.”

“We seem to be getting more and more grumpy customers…we must be talking to the wrong people with our advertising.”

I've Tried Advertising. It Doesn't Work

Nine times out of ten, if you want to know who to blame for down times or poor sales…look in the mirror.

When you really understand the function of advertising you will know where to look to for the cure to your problems. Let’s consider the restaurant owner who spends thousands of dollars to attract people to his restaurant. The ambiance is perfect. The food and presentation are exquisite. The service is…….well; let’s just say it wasn’t good. We sat at our table for 10 minutes before our waiter greeted us. Finally she arrived. No smile. No pleasantries. No eye contact. No menu suggestions. No service. No tip. No return visit. The poor taste of bad service trumps the good flavor of great food. Every time! Continue Reading

It’s Not What You Know That Hurts You…

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February 18  |  Advertising, Business, Marketing  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

Have you ever made a decision that turned out to be a bad decision? Maybe it cost you a lot of money. Perhaps it cost you a friendship or your marriage. We all make decisions, even very important life-altering decisions, based on information we have gathered or our personally held attitudes and beliefs.

It's Not What You Know That Hurts You...

Typically, the more important the decision, the more time we spend gathering information. We’ll make a decision on buying an inexpensive food item in just a few seconds. But, if we’re about to purchase a car or a home…we’ll weigh the pros and cons. We’ll shop around. We’ll get second opinions. We’ll talk to our friends. We’ll shop online or read product reviews. We’ll sleep on it. But even the big decisions become very costly when not thoroughly researched. Continue Reading

Your Worst Enemy—Your Customers’ Memory!

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February 13  |  Advertising, Business, Customer Relations, Marketing  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

Never rely on the memory of your customer for the success of your business. I could and probably should stop right there because that says it all. But I won’t. Let’s explore this thought. My experience with too many businesses is that once they make contact with a consumer or once they get that customer in the door or on the phone, they feel they can move on to the next one. STOP! You can’t leave them hanging there, blowing in the wind of the unknown.

They don’t know all they need to know about your business. They don’t know the benefits of giving their money to you instead of your competition. Let me give you an example, my wife Kim and I live in Lincoln NE. There are some wonderful restaurants here in town. Many we have never been to. When it comes time to enjoy and evening out at dinner (and with four little ones that is not often enough) we go through that eating our right of passage: Continue Reading

Your Website Could be Killing Your Business

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January 23  |  Marketing, Media  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

Subscribers to Marketing Firepower understand the value a website plays in the overall marketing and advertising success of a business. They understand that a website is not so much an advertising medium as a place to share valuable information and to help move consumers through their Buying Funnel. If the business can utilize ecommerce on their site, that’s a bonus.

Is Your Website Killing Your Business?However, not every business understands this. The other day I went to a website of a company I was interested in doing business with to get some contact information. I “Googled” the name of the company and found their site. I was instantly disappointed. At the bottom right of the page the company “proudly” stated (they had to be proud because it was very obvious) their site had last been updated in July of 2007. 2007!

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Learn from the Best Salespeople Around

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December 8  |  Business, Customer Relations, Marketing  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

By Jeff Dostal

Do you have kids? Do you know someone who has kids? Watch them work. Especially the younger ones. These are the best sales people around.

  • They know what they want.
  • They have a narrow focus about what they want to accomplish.
  • They make clear what they want.
  • Kids are the Best SalespeopleThey have no problem letting you know exactly what they would like.
  • They are persistent. I don’t know how many “no’s” a salesperson must hear before they will hear a “yes” and I would bet kids don’t know the number either and they don’t care. They will ask and ask and ask and ask until they get the right
    Continue Reading

Diet pills or Marketing Firepower — You decide.

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November 26  |  Advertising, Business, Marketing, Media  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

A friend of mine was telling me about a new diet he started a few weeks back. He was pretty excited that he had lost a few pounds already and that he “didn’t have to do anything to lose the weight”. The magical pills worked overnight melting his extra pounds away.

Small Business Marketing Diet

I told him about something I had recently started doing. It was a workout that took me about 10 minutes a day and I was eating smarter. I told him I had lost about 15 pounds in the last few months.

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Word of Mouth – Will it put you out of business?

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November 20  |  Advertising, Customer Relations, Marketing  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

Ask almost any small business owner what the best form of advertising is, and you’re likely to hear, “Word of mouth.” “It’s the cheapest form of advertising” they’ll say, “And the most effective.” And they’re right. Sort of. If you have customers singing your praises and referring you to their friends, family, co-workers and neighbors, word of mouth can be a

Word of Mouth Advertising

powerful and inexpensive advertising tool. But let me ask you this. How often do you tell others about a business exchange you were involved in? How often do you go out of your way to urge others to do business with someone?

Think about it. When you thrill your customer with that “magic moment” experience…they might tell a few others. Might. Provide average service or an average experience…they won’t be talking to anyone about you. But, fail to put your best foot forward. Fail to provide exceptional service. Fail to do the little extras many customers have come to expect and allow your customers perception of their experience with your business to be a subpar one….

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Your Formula for Success

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November 12  |  Advertising, Business, Marketing  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

Ask + Tell = Sell. Does that sound too simple? Small business owners around the world seem to want to make the process of turning consumers into customers much more difficult than it needs to be. This simple formula (Ask + Tell = Sell) is the direction you need to take to be effective in the world of advertising and marketing.

center-of-influenceMost businesses waste money on advertising each and every day. It’s not that the advertising they are doing is wrong or won’t work, it’s that the message they are communicating doesn’t say anything. The message doesn’t give the consumer any good reason to become a customer. You have to think like a customer, not a business owner.

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