Maine Creative Services – Page 21 – Affordable web design and SEO copywriting for small business

Why introduce shoppers to your competition?

So you can show how much better your product is. Saturn is launching a bold marketing initiative this summer. Dealers are bringing in a Toyota Camry and a Honda Accord, so car shoppers can test-drive the competition — right at the Saturn dealership.

“In that side-by-side comparison, we come out really well,” said GM’s Mark LaNeve.

Later this year, Chevrolet dealers will be doing the same thing. As those characters in the Guinness TV ads say, “Brilliant!” Reminds me of the old Pepsi Challenge.

Does your product or service flatten the competition in head-to-head competition? Could you set up an on-site comparison test of your own?

Burt’s Bees: Simple products, "naturally" profitable

Burt’s Bees is a great example of a small, homegrown Maine company that has grown into a giant by keeping things simple: simple products, simple packaging, even a simple marketing message. Founded by a Maine beekeeper and a graphic artist in 1984, the company has become legendary for quality and a down-home image. As the New York Times put it:

“It makes simple products using plain ingredients like milk, honey, beeswax and almond oil, selling them in cheerful, tongue-in-cheek retro packages. It appeals to a diverse audience using a retail distribution system that includes national (drugstore) chains, college bookstores and village gift stores. And it employs seemingly low-key marketing… without preaching a green gospel. This laissez-faire approach inspires word-of-mouth promotion.”

Viral marketing: a marketer’s dream. And boy has it worked for Burt’s. In the last five years, the company has doubled the number of sales outlets (to 20,000) and quadrupled retail sales (now $250 million). Not bad for a company founded by a couple of hippies.

I’ll bet poor Burt, whose bearded face still graces the packages, wishes he still had a piece of the company. But he sold his share in ’93, a year before his partner sold the company for $173 million.

Have you been blacklisted?

Getting your company on an e-mail blacklist is easy. Getting off is a lot tougher. As yesterday’s New York Times illustrates, it’s easy to get labeled a spammer.

“… Even people who follow the rules and do not send unwanted e-mail can find themselves in a jam. (One) company shared its server with some clients, and one of them sent out e-mail that was flagged as spam. (The innocent) company was guilty by association, as are many companies that use outside e-mail service providers that offer shared servers.”

Certain precautions can reduce your chances of landing on some blacklist. First, make sure your e-mail service provider is a reputable one, committed to eliminating spam.

“The company should use outbound spam filters, have stringent antispam policies in place and be willing to enforce them. The company should also have some sort of deliverability reporting in place so it can tell you how many of your messages get through and are opened by end users. Finally, if you can afford it, try to send e-mail from your own server. Using a shared e-mail server… can be risky.”

See article here.

A Field Guide to Freelance Writers, Designers, etc.

Thinking of doing a little freelance writing or graphic design work? Or maybe you’re thinking of hiring one.

The Freelance Switch blog has compiled an amusing Guide to Freelancers. It zeros in on 13 common character flaws — oops, breeds — the highs and lows associated with each type, and a glimpse into the impact each type has on clients.

Chances are you’ll see yourself — or someone you’ve hired — in at least one of them. All except me, of course: the “perfect” freelancer 😉

Vacations: To unplug? Or just keep plugging?

We all need it. We all know we need it. And every year it seems fewer of us do it. Take vacations, that is.

Only 59 percent of 626 small-business owners polled nationwide said they plan to take at least one week off this year, according to an American Express Small Business Monitor reported in Inc. That’s down from an average of 67 percent over the last four years.

And when many go, it’s hardly a real getaway. Three-quarters of bosses admitted they’ll be checking in at work at least once a day, while 32 percent confessed they’ll check in several times a day. Owners worry:

Service will deteriorate
Employees will make stupid mistakes and poor judgment calls
Employees will just slack off and nothing will get done.

Employees, too, shun vacations so they can keep their noses to the grindstone. Even though many say they’re burned out, nearly half didn’t take all of the vacation days they were entitled to last year, according to a survey conducted by Yahoo Hot Jobs. Top reasons:

Too much work to do (36 percent),
Too expensive (34 percent)
Saving vacation time for emergencies (32 percent).

What’s up with this? Are we addicted to work (or perhaps the goodies that money buys)? Is it ego? You know: “I’m far too important to leave. This whole place would collapse if I weren’t there holding it all together!”

Europeans, who routinely get 5-6 weeks holiday per year, seem to have a very different attitude toward work. They laugh at us and think it’s foolish to pass up any vacation time.

What about you? What’s your attitude toward work? Vacation?

Why marketing hype ultimately fails

Hype is always a temptation when talking or writing about your company or services. Puffing up your features and benefits may seem like a good way to set yourself apart from the competition. But too much hype hurts you in the long run, when people realize that their expectations — the ones you set with your marketing — haven’t been met.

The role of marketing is not to jack up a prospect’s expectations, but to manage their expectations realistically. We’ve all seen those breathless sales letters — online or in print — that promise the moon but inevitably disappoint. (Here’s a very funny spoof of them.) You don’t want to be one of those businesses, do you?

Personally, I believe that honesty always trumps hype in the long run. A University of Georgia study confirms that people really notice when they feel worse than they expected to, i.e., when the outcome doesn’t quite meet your blue-sky promises.

The moral: Make sure you (or your copywriter) don’t set customer expectations so high that you can’t meet them. After all, hype might help you close that first sale, but profit comes from renewals, referrals and ongoing purchases. Think about the lifetime value of your customer — not just the quick buck.

As Guy put it, “It sure looks like ‘under promising and over delivering’ is the way to go.” Amen.

What’s your opinion of hype? Has it worked for you?

A search engine — for products

Maybe your problem isn’t attracting more customers. Maybe you’ve already got plenty. Maybe what you really need is something new, something different to sell to all those customers.

Introducing ProductBlazer, a free search engine designed to help you identify new products and locate wholesale suppliers. According to Inc.:

“ProductBlazer pulls together more than 26,000 innovative products and indexes suppliers’ websites, so all those goodies are searchable with a single engine.

The site groups offerings by broad categories (Apparel, Automotive, Electronics, etc.) then each is broken down into subcategories. Click on any link takes you to the supplier’s site, with PB active in a top frame. (Remember frames?) You can click “Save Supplier” to note them in your PB account.

The service is free for both retailers and suppliers, who can sign up for a free listing. And yes, it’s peppered with AdSense ads, which also compete for attention.

How about you? Where do you find great new products? Or do you always roll your own?