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The Death Of The Sales Magazine

Has yet another traditional information source forever been changed via the World Wide Web? Specifically, are printed sales magazines becoming obsolete? The following new realities appear to be signaling the death of the sales magazine: * Content - The World Wide Web is teeming with fresh, informative and relevant sales content (i.e., articles, stories and illustrations) covering selling, prospecting, and every other subject or area of interest to sales practitioners. No longer is the printed sales magazine the go-to source for sales and related content. * Sources - The large pool of unique sales content available on the World Wide Web comes from a variety of sources from around the world and is not limited to the same small group of sales experts routinely published in a sales magazine. * Availability - Unlike content printed in a sales magazine (periodic publication) sales content published on the World Wide Web is made available to readers instantly without the

Do You Know Which Marketing Outlets Are Most Effective?

3000: That is the amount of advertisements we are exposed to everyday. Billions: The amount spent on advertising every year in the United States. Clearly, these numbers prove that advertising and marketing are important to the growth and sales of any company in the U.S. These days, money can be spent on multiple forms of marketing communications. Theres traditional media advertising, event marketing and sponsorships, direct mail, and now online advertising. All these can be used to promote a product or service, but with all the new marketing tools, how do you know if your business is spending money in all the right places? When it comes to marketing, it is important to integrate multiple tools to see more results, but it is even more important that you do not just aimlessly pick a couple and put them to use. You need to pick methods that will get you in front of your target audience. Great insid

The False Promise Of Word-of-mouth Marketing

Weve all heard the advice: turn your clients into your mini sales force by encouraging them to tell others about you and your business. Word of Mouth Marketing is touted as being the easiest and best marketing any salesperson, professional, or business can hope to get. Not only does it get your word out, but nothing is more powerful than a customer telling others about how great you are. Customers will flock to your door if your clients create a buzz about you. There is some truth to those statements. If you can get your customers to create enough buzz, you will see an increase in your business. Customers will come. Sales will increase. Nevertheless, for most small businesses and salespeople, the hype about word of mouth marketing is a false promise of easier, less stressful marketing and increased business. The problem isnt with the concept. A broad, expansive word of mouth marketing campaign can work wonders for a business. If you can get enough people talking

Projecting An Expert Image

Virtually every salesperson with any experience what so ever proclaims him or herself to be an expert in their field. Their business card, their fliers, their door hangers (if they use them), their cold calling spiel, their brochures, and everything else they have tries to communicate this expert status to prospects and clients. Why is everyone so anxious to get the word out that they are experts and their competitors arent? Simply because they recognize that prospects want to work with people who know and understand their needs. They want to work with people who are fully up-to-date on the best ways to solve the prospects problems. They want to work with people who know how to get problems solved in the most effective, cost efficient and advantageous manner possible. They want the best advice and best solutions in the marketplace. In other words, they want to work with an expert. Yet, knowing this, most salespeople seek to attract new prospects by using methods that sh

The Power Of The Press Release

Open any newspaper and youll find mention of thousands of companies and products. Most typically the same names are mentioned over and over-Sears, Old Navy, GM, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and the list goes on. Many, if not most, of these stories relate to some event or product these companies want to expose to a broad audience-earnings reports, new product releases, record sales for a particular product line, promotions, and a myriad of other items, all reported as hard news. And within the same newspaper, on the same page, youll find some small companies youve probably never heard of. Of course, there is probably little in common between Wal-Mart and Joes Handy Cleaners, except most all of the stories on the page were planted by the companies themselves. Most mid to large companies have long ago learned the value of the press release, but the vast majority of small companies and individual salespeople in particular are still left in the cold. The image seems to be that one