3 Golden Rules of Marketing!
The recipe for business success.
(Or for anyone looking for a pancake recipe scroll down the page)
1. Do you Test and Measure every aspect of your Marketing?
You must, must test and measure everything. It may be a new direct mail campaign, a new ad, a letter to your customers, an email or a new page on your website. Test small, then you measure the results. What did it cost? What revenue did it generate? If it wasn’t profitable, you’ve learnt an important lesson and move on. If it was profitable, you roll it out and make it an integral part of your marketing mix.
Before testing new marketing approaches, you need to test and measure what you are already doing. The number of businesses who advertise and have never accurately measured the response and don’t know if the ads work - is scary.
2. Are you clear what the purpose of your business is?
Outstanding business performers share a similar way of thinking about business. The highest purpose of their business is to add real value to the lives of their customers or clients, not just make money or increase profits.
We’re talking about a deep commitment to enhance the lives of those you interact with. This is the single most effective sales tool any business can employ. If you call a company and they just want to make money from you, you can tell instantly? But if you call a company and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make your life easier, solve your problems, meet your needs and answer your questions – don’t you just love it?
Profits soar when we start obsessing about adding enormous value to the lives of our customers and clients. As an added bonus, doing business becomes more pleasurable.
3. Is your marketing continually focused on explaining the BENEFITS of your product or service?
One of the biggest marketing mistakes that businesses make is focusing on the details of their product or service, rather than the benefits it offers customers. People will only buy from you when they understand how they are going to benefit from what you are offering them.
Every conversation you have and every paragraph of any marketing material you produce should convey the benefits of what you have to offer. YOU have to be clear on what these benefits are. We can be so close to our businesses that’s not such an easy question to answer. Ask your colleagues ‘what are the top three benefits our product?’. If they hesitate – you’ve identified the first area where you can make a significant difference to your marketing.
For advice on how to implement these rules within your business or company contact Charles Hollywood. A recipe for success!
Our team would love to hear from you so give them a call or simply fill in the contact request form and we’ll call you.
Call Charles Hollywood on 01325 311999 or take a look around our website to see what we have to offer.
Pancake Recipe
Ingredients:
110g/4oz plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water
50g/2oz butter
Method:
Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets a airing. Now make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs - any sort of whisk or even a fork will do - incorporating any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl as you do so.
Next gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking (don't worry about any lumps as they will eventually disappear as you whisk). When all the liquid has been added, use a rubber spatula to scrape any elusive bits of flour from around the edge into the centre, then whisk once more until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. Now melt the 50g/2oz of butter in a pan. Spoon 2 tbsp of it into the batter and whisk it in, then pour the rest into a bowl anduse it to lubricate the pan, using a wodge of kitchen paper to smear it round before you make each pancake.
Now get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to see if you're using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tbsp is about right for an 18cm/7in pan. It's also helpful if you spoon the batter into a ladle so it can be poured into the hot pan in one go. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it's tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife - the other side will need a few seconds only - then simply slide it out of the pan onto a plate.
Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate fitted over simmering water, to keep them warm while you make the rest. Previous email campaigns function openwindow() { window.open("http://www.hollywoodpromotions.co.uk/email/active/wishlist300108/businesswishes.html","mywindow","menubar=1,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,width=580,height=580"); } Wish List Email, function openwindow() { window.open("http://www.hollywoodpromotions.co.uk/email/active/cardtrick240108/cardtrick.html","mywindow","menubar=1,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,width=580,height=580"); } Card Trick Email
