Recession Marketing Guide

While businesses are feeling the pains of recession, Apple is taking it by storm.

The company reported another blowout quarter, as net income soared to $3.38bn or $3.67 a share, from $2.26bn or $2.50 a year earlier, well above Wall Street estimates.

Apple has products that people want, at a time when they want it, and Apple is definitely enjoying it.  Ultimately when it comes to convenience or money it seems that convenience wins.  The Apple iPhone being a tool that allows a great deal of convenience through the variety of applications that run on the GPS powered smart phone.

The recession has actually helped Apple quite a bit.

I would allege that consumers are more conditioned to buy something widely adopted and used rather than to risk wasting their money on cheaper smart phones that they may end up being disappointed with.  In this case momentum wins.

Likewise, I would suspect that investors are less likely to risk their cherished funds on startup competitors to the iPhone at a time when money is so tight.

A great product or service with the right kind of marketing can make you money, even during a recession.  Download my free ebook:  The Recession Marketing Guide at:  http://recessionmarketingguide.com

Many of the large chain restaurants and franchises in the United States looked for creative ways to feed the more-ever-so price conscious masses by creating new and innovative products during the great recession in 2009.

According to Nations Restaurant News, Read the rest of this entry »

There is no doubt that the recession has effected all of us.

To see that magnitude of that effect in terms of job loss is breath-taking. Keep in mind that this ends at 8.8% unemployment. The unemployment rate now is over 10% and some say that Read the rest of this entry »

Some advertisers are taking advantage of this recession. Stephen Quinn, Walmart U.S. chief marketing officer, said; Read the rest of this entry »

Right now Dell Computers has over 640,000 followers on Twitter

Last December Dell announced it had exceeded $1 million in sales via its @DellOutlet on Twitter. Since 2007 Dell says its Twitter efforts have brought in more than $2 million in sales revenue. Read the rest of this entry »

Katerina Chase talks to us about the most underutilized step in marketing.  Read the rest of this entry »

Despite dismal economic and business conditions, two companies with strong brands seem to be oblivious to the chaos that surrounds them. In an environment that seems to have no silver lining, Colgate Palmolive and Apple Computer have posted results recently that would make any business envious. How did they do it? Good management and a strong brand appear to be the magical combination to beat even the worst of recessionary conditions. Read the rest of this entry »

It seems as though accountability has become a “dirty word” in today’s business culture. Certainly today’s economy shoulders some of the blame, however the majority of businesses use the global economy as a scapegoat for their failing productivity. Read the rest of this entry »

Advertising is very often a major component of a company’s marketing budget. Television, radio, newspaper or flyer ads, almost every company, small or large, will invest in advertising. However, how effective is your current preferred method of advertising your business?  Read the rest of this entry »

As we all know that the most powerful advertising campaigns are perhaps online, TV or radio advertising, but these types of advertising method cost the company a lot of money and sometimes, for small and medium enterprise, it is really difficult to find huge budget to support the advertising, so they will have to find the method that effective but economy. Read the rest of this entry »

My first business taught me the most important fact about advertising; you will never succeed without continuous advertising. The success of ChamberMaid proved that true. I have seen many businesses fail because they do not see the need for advertising.  Businesses grow, or die, in cycles.

A retail outlet may have a lot of walk in traffic, but that does not mean it will sustain the same level traffic on a continuous basis. Read the rest of this entry »

In the world of advertising companies are constantly trying to find new and innovative ways to stand out from the sea of billboards, television, radio and newspaper ads. And since for many companies every dollar spent on advertising is important you want to make sure it is spent wisely and effectively.  Read the rest of this entry »

Is your company looking to expand its marketing strategy to include TV advertising? Before you even begin looking for a production company to work with, there are a number of things you need to plan for if you want your advertising to produce consumer awareness and drive sales. It all begins with finding the right channels and the right programming in order to reach the consumers you want to do business with. Read the rest of this entry »

Chances are unless you’ve been completely living in the dark for the past couple of months – you’ve been hearing about the phenomenon called Twitter.com.

Twitter is quickly becoming one of the most amazingly popular social media networking site on the World Wide Web. Now with over six million users (and growing!) this microblogging site has attracted everyone from President Obama to NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal. Read the rest of this entry »

Most people are aware that social media is in demand today and it has great potential for advertisers and marketers. But there are still many people who don’t know how to tap that potential or what, exactly, social media can do for their business. Read the rest of this entry »

A trifold brochure is one of the best loved collaterals for marketing. Indeed, many business owners and marketers often find these custom brochures their favorite form of marketing tool. If you ever need to position yourself and your company as an expert in your field, a trifold brochure would be your best bet to accomplishing this goal. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyday you’re pummeled with so many brand messages that you don’t know how to go through all the clutter. You’re being overloaded with information from left to right and even top to bottom that it’s very hard to distinguish what’s important and what’s not.  Often, if it has something to do with marketing, even remotely, we tend to discard it as quickly as it gets in our inbox or mailbox. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you want to know how to print postcards for a promotional campaign properly? There are a few important steps that you should follow with regards to postcard printing that can net you the success you want in business. To help you out, below are the eight steps on how to start your way into a postcard printing marketing campaign correctly. Read the rest of this entry »

These days it is difficult to find a business park that is filled. Even most offices have some empty office space. Retailers are closing their doors and leaving a lot of empty retail space. Those large buildings you see left behind when a company closes – what happens to them? When corporate real estate companies build up the business park only to leave it empty, what can be done to utilize the space? Can these spaces be used in any way? Read the rest of this entry »

There is a growing movement of advertising dollars going to another form of advertising for businesses large and small. I am not referring to doing some advertising on the internet. What I am talking about is doing outdoor media advertising and more specifically truck advertising. Read the rest of this entry »

Cost Per Action is the online version of “per inquiry.”  This is a very powerful and long-standing marketing technique.

It is very important that you understand what cost-per-action means. It is paying for advertising where you only pay when the customer participates in an action. If they see your web site and do not sign up for a free trial or buy an offer, then you do not pay.

Read the rest of this entry »

People are always asking me how they can legitimately make money online.   There are so many options, it’s difficult to stop writing about them.  Here are just a couple of dozen to get started.

Check back occasionally  as we will be adding new ones on a regular basis.

Read the rest of this entry »

Getting Traffic to your site is all well and good.  Actually converting those people into customers is much more important.

I used to look at my site and say to myself, “Wow, we got 30,000 unique visitors this month.”  Now I look at the same stats and realize that we had 30,000 unique individuals who all have needs and concerns and are looking for solutions likewise.  My job now isn’t to just build traffic, but to provide solutions.

Here are some tips on converting your website visitors into paying customers.

Read the rest of this entry »

It seems like these days everybody is an expert.  Well the fact is that everybody wants experts.

You don’t go to the person who knows a little about everything when you need something important done.  You go to the person who knows a great deal about the subject that you’re most concerned about.

But it’s not only about being and expert in your field.  You must demonstrate it constantly and professionally.

Here are some small tips and techniques for doing so.

Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that you can increase response by 400% just by adding audio and video to your sales presentations?  People are loving the new wave of streaming video online and you do not want to be left out.

Here are some important tactics for building your online video marketing strategy.

Read the rest of this entry »

Networking online can be faster, quicker, and easier than networking in real life.  There are only so many parties, lunches, and network meetings that you can go to in a day.  However, your online networking can be done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Plus there are tons of tools for consolidating your efforts.

Here are some tips to help you get started in social networking.

Read the rest of this entry »

There is a great deal of opportunity when it comes to marketing in the real world in order to drive traffic and targeted leads to your online business.  Today, web site addresses are almost as common as phone numbers.  You’ll see them on billboards, buses, vehicles, tv commercials and hear them in radio commercials.  Many people see the Internet is the cornerstone of their entire advertising campaign.   Getting consumers and businesses leaders to their website is an essential part of the sales process.

Here are some tips and techniques for generating offline marketing for your online business.

Read the rest of this entry »

There are some basic tips to generating traffic to your website that cross over several other subjects.  Here are some great tips that should not be ignored when you are promoting your website with Internet Marketing.

Read the rest of this entry »

Social Media Marketing is not only the latest buzz, but it’s probably the fastest way to create buzz about your business.

To survive in any business, it is essential that one use the latest technologies that are available. The same hold good for the promotion and publicity business. The market has found out a solution for this which is the ‘SMO’ or Social Media Optimization.

Read the rest of this entry »

Search Engine Optimization can be extremely complex.  But getting the essentials down can be easy and the essentials will go a long ways to wards making sure your site has the best opportunity to rank well in all of the major search engines.

Beware though, there are a lot of “black-hat” techniques that can get you permanently banned.  If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.  Here are some good essential techniques and tips you should know about.

Read the rest of this entry »

Blogging is short for “web log” and is quite simply a way to write and share your articles, thoughts, and other valuable content with the public.  This can go a  long way towards creating an amazing amount of regular and steady traffic to your website.  Below are some typical blog traffic tactics.  Return here occasionally  as we update the tactics and show case studies. Read the rest of this entry »

Article marketing is a popular and effective means of promotion that will add great value to your brand increasing its popularity.  Likewise, great articles often receive a viral-marketing boost when people use social bookmarketing services to feature your article.  Articles show your expertise and can often bring in leads and sales as well as extremely targeted traffic.

Below are some of the common tactics for article marketing necessary to be successful.

Read the rest of this entry »

Online Media Buying can be tricky.   However, contrary to popular belief.  Banner ads are not dead.  The proper use of text, graphic, and flash advertisements can boost your brand, your traffic and your bottom line.

Here are some Online Media Buying tips and tactics. Read the rest of this entry »

Email Marketing has always been an essential part of Internet Marketing.  Doing it right can be extremely beneficial and doing it wrong can shut down your business, take all your savings and put you in jail.  So be careful and follow these tips. Read the rest of this entry »

Pay-Per-Click Marketing (PPC) can be a fast way to generate a great deal of traffic to your web site.   Your PPC campaign should have boundaries so that you do not go over budget or spend all of your cash in one day.   There’s no point in getting so much business that you can’t fulfill it.

Below are some common Pay Per Click techniques.  Check back occasionally as I will be adding new tips and techniques, and linking items discussed below to full fledged examples and discussions.

Read the rest of this entry »

One of the best and most profitable ways to get traffic is with an affiliate program.  This allows you to pay on performance.  However, just like hiring and training a good sales staff, a successful affiliate program take time, effort, training, and motivation on our part.   Give your affiliates as much as you possibly can and you’ll be seeing tons of traffic in no time. Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to marketing online, there are some tried and true principles for traffic.   Just remember, not all traffic is created equal!   Someone selling you 100,000 “visitors” for $99 isn’t going to be nearly as effective as spending $99 to get 5 people who are looking specifically for your products and services.

Here are some tips.  We’ll continue expound on each of these as we progress. Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to Internet Marketing, one of the most important elements is the creation of targeted traffic.  Here are some common techniques.   When creating a plan be sure to include as many of these opportunities as possible.

Check back occasionally as I will not only be adding more tactics, but linking each tactic to an article showing examples, case studies, and more information.  Please feel free to comment about items that are especially of interest to you. Read the rest of this entry »

Building an Opt-In Mailing and Newsletter list can be very difficult.  One common technique for encouraging subscription is what is called a Squeeze Page.  The name simply implies that the visitor to your site either subscribes to your mailing list or they leave.   In this situation they have only those 2 options.

Reducing options is a great way to help people make a decision.  At this point it’s very simple.  Do I want what you have to offer?  I either sign up and get it or I leave.   With the right marketing techniques and tactics this can be extremely effective and quite powerful.

Here are some tactics to get you started.

Read the rest of this entry »

Building a subscriber list is often considered the cornerstone of Internet Marketing.  This is how you can build a mailing list of people who are interested in your cause, your ideas, your products and services.

The best part is that email marketing is extremely inexpensive when compared to print marketing.

Here are a variety of tips and techniques for creating an opt-in form that people will want to join.

Read the rest of this entry »

Advertisers erroneously pull advertising first when times are tough.  Statistics show that you should advertise more, not less.   Many advertisers are pulling back there branding ads and focusing more on direct response ads such as direct mail and Internet Marketing. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve been wondering about how the recession is being reported in the news, then you’ll be very interested in the Google Trends tools.  Here we see a huge spike starting in January of 2008.  Analyst now agree that the current recession actually started likely in mid-December of 2007. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, the BBC reported that Obama suggested that the recession is easing.

Read the rest of this entry »

I remember back a year or so ago when unemployment was at 4% and the media was screaming about how terrible everything was and what this was going to do to the Bush legacy.

Here we are today a few months into the Obama administration and 8.5% unemployment is barely a footnote on your local news.  This is the highest that it’s been in 25 years.  But this blog isn’t about politics, it’s about the recession. Read the rest of this entry »

I can hear fear in their voices… Not a fear of me. Not a fear of themselves… but rather a fear of failure.

I have talked with dozens of people over the phone, in gas stations, at stores and a variety of other locations.

While people are out spending some money, many people are pretty much scared silly as to what may lay ahead in the near future.

From layoffs to foreclosures… fear is in the air this year. Read the rest of this entry »