5 Marketing Ideas For The 5 Final Weeks Of 2014

Wow ...

Can you believe there are only 5 full work weeks left in 2014 and that includes this week?   It's true, and with that you have to look at the marketing opportunities, of course!

The abruptness of it all hit me while having my morning coffee, but  taking pen in hand, here are 5 marketing ideas that came to mind.

1. Implement A "Drip Marketing" Campaign.
   Wikipedia defines drip marketing as a communication strategy that sends, or "drips," a pre-written set of messages to customers or prospects over time, usually via email.  Sounds perfect at this time of year for those who deal with healthy eating, exercise, finances, relaxation, psychology, travel, etc.  Create a "drip" campaign that will guide your prospects and clients through the holiday season as appropriate for your industry.
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2. Create A Gift Certificate or Shopping Coupon
   Most people think "retail" when gift certificates and/or coupons are mentioned. If you are a retailer, make sure you have your own gift certificate/coupon for year round use, but also become creative for the holidays.  See if you can partner with an associated business for a package gift certificate/coupon that will make both or you (or as many businesses as you include) more successful and attractive than going solo.
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   Gift certificates and/or coupons are also very useful for professional service providers.  Given the number of entrepreneurs that exist today,  the gift of a  coaching session, tax appointment, even a small insurance policy or stock certificate could be welcomed with open arms!   Think of what you might be able to put together that would work for  the recipient of the gift and how the gift might introduce your services to both the recipient and the gift giver for ongoing business.
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3. Gather Email Addresses
   No matter what type of business you are in, gather everyone's email address all the time.. Retailers, it just comes naturally with every purchase you receive, but even more so during the holidays.  So easy to ask to use for follow-up, special dates, anniversary/birthday reminders, refills, new items etc.  For everyone else the holidays make it much easier to ask for one's email address just because it's the holidays!  Say you want  to include them on your holiday mailing list. At the same time ask if you can also stay in touch with them throughout the year, via email. A very easy way to get permission!!  
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4. Share Your Favorite Non-Profits.
   People love good things!  The holiday season is a perfect time to let people know what your favorite non-profits do and for you to tell your story about why you support them.  It will strengthen your bond all the way around and also help your favorite non-profits.  Love and goodwill ... sounds like the holidays to me!
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5. Review Your 2014 Marketing Strengths and Weaknesses
   Grab a cup of coffee or glass of wine and review your business over the past year;. What were your strongest marketing efforts and what were your weakest.  What will you let go of and what do you want to work on. Use your best and your worse to carve out your marketing direction for 2015.  Now is the perfect time for getting all your thoughts together. Come January, you'll be too busy!! 

Hope some of these look enticing to you and will propel you forward during these last five weeks! You are welcome to add some more of your own. Please do!

In the mean time,
Keep your business garden growing ....
margie
www.todaysway.net

How Easy Is Writing Online For You? Do You Feel Like Yourself?

Writing online can be intimidating.  You are speaking to an individual reader multiplied by many, many, many more!  It's a very intimate connection to a huge audience!  Simply like nothing else you've ever experienced!

It's no wonder that many find it difficult to be just "themselves' when writing online.  It's a skill that definitely does not come naturally to many, yet, the more natural you can be via your online communications, the more opportunity you have for creating online relationships that trust you and believe in you.  

Let's just look at writing.

• When we write it's just us speaking so it's very easy to come across as talking "to" people.  But. that doesn't work so well online.  You can get by, but it's not the ideal for maximizing your opportunities. 
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• Also, when we write, it's easy to talk about yourself and write from your very own perspective. That doesn't work so well online either. Your writing style appears to be a presentation, possibly staged, cold,  resembling a term paper or research report ... definitely not authentic nor natural.

Looking back at my own experience, one of my favorite ways to get away from these more stilted ways of writing was to pretend there was a person sitting with me at my desk.  I would speak out loud to this invisible person and write the way I spoke.. This worked really well.. 
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Next what I worked on was my online personality or style. That meant, to me, defining my perspective about my writing. I established in my mind my ongoing audience, who was in it, and what were their interests.  With this defined I could then "share" what I was writing with this invisible audience.  I could imagine their questions, ask my own questions, and achieve somewhat of an intimate ongoing natural conversational style.  

What it took to perfect and cement my own natural style was a daily blogging just to myself!     I committed myself to 30 days of blogging, just to me.  By the end of the 30 days both ideas and my writing were flowing.   Am also happy to say that was more than 3 years ago and all is still good! At least, I hope you'll agree!

Whether you do it my way or via a way of your own, do find your own natural style. Being natural allows more value to come from what you write.  You show more interest in serving and helping your readers.  You are sharing.  You are "with" your audience.
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Some of what we do at today's Way is to help people be more natural in their online writing.  If you think this is a challenge for you, think about getting yourself some help.  Very few can change their style overnight.  Your first step is to consciously want it and then step 2 - do it.  Practice will make your perfect ... and natural!
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Let me know your thoughts.  Leave a comment with your experience!

In the mean time ..
Keep your business garden growing!
margie

www.todaysway.net