September 6, 2010

Four things to consider when making a business logo

I found this short and helpful article on Mashable. It provides some helpful advice on things to consider when creating a business logo.

Four thing to consider when making a business logo

logos youll love Four things to consider when making a business logo

Easy fund raiser for Dayton area non-profits

Back to School means it’s time for more FUNDRAISERS. Would you like to have a fundraiser that does not require selling, no deliveries, no washing of cars, no handling of money, no picking up of anything. This has to be the easiest fundraising opportunity in the Dayton area.

eREACH and The Big DEAL want to grow their list. If you help them, your group can make some easy cash. The Big DEAL is great fun for those who sign up. Each weekday they will receive special deals (40%-80% OFF) from local restaurants, salons, massage therapists, exciting events and venues, and fun stuff to do in the Miami Valley. From a personal perspective my wife and I have already purchased 4 different big deals including one to The Melting Pot restaurant, a massage therapist, a mexican restaurant, and Qdoba Mexican Grill all at 50% OFF. So you can see that this will be very easy to get people signed up. And if for any reason they don’t want to get the Big DEAL in their email inbox any more, they can easily unsubscribe any time. One thing that makes it really fun is that you know the deals are good because they are only available for ONE DAY (you can redeem them for up to a year, but you only have one day to purchase them).

180x300 fundraiser Easy fund raiser for Dayton area non profits

Any reputable organization of 30 or more can participate. It can be a charity, a school group like a sports booster or PTO, it can be a church or any other not for profit club or organization.

The Big Deal will provide you with a custom sign-up link for your organization. You send out an email or put it in your newsletter or announce it at your meeting. You encourage family and friends to sign up using you special link. Then, for each person who signs up using that link, your group will receive $5 cash when that person responds by making a first time purchase of one of the Big Deals that is sent to them. For each first time purchase “Cha-Ching” your group makes $5 cash. If 100 people sign-up and 20 buy something, then your group gets a check for $100 cash for that month. If another 20 make a first time purchase the following month, guess what? your group gets another $100.  If 1000 sign-up and 200 buy something some time you get $5 for each first time purchase ($5 x 200) or $1000 for your group. Right now, your group could raise up to $10,000.00 or more based on signing up people to receive The Big DEAL in their in-box and when they make their first purchase.

Here is the link to get started to learn more : http://ereach.com/fundraiser/

You don’t have to sell anything really, just tell people about The Big DEAL and have them sign up using your special link. They then are tagged with your group information and when they make their first purchase of a Big DEAL offer from a local restaurant, retail or service business at 40-80% off then your group gets a cash credit. At the end of the month the cash credits are added up from all the first time purchases and a check is sent to your organization for the total. You could get a monthly check as those you signed up each find a Big DEAL that appeals to them and respond with their first time purchase.

This seems me to be a lot easier than selling candy and popcorn, selling mulch and plants and delivering them, selling raffle tickets, having a garage sale, car washes and all the other things that I see out there. My son was a wrestler in high school and he was expected to sell this and that for the team. What if he could raise money for the team just by giving family and friends a special hot-link which tags them to the Miamisburg wrestling team. When something good comes along and they make that first purchase then in comes a check for $5 for the team. No collecting money, no delivering overpriced candy or popcorn etc.

I put a call into our wrestling coach to tell him about it for the Miamisburg Wrestling Boosters. Hope he calls me soon, because this is too great an opportunity not to give it a try and those that sign-up are going to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Big Deals. My wife for example is finding it very fun to see what will come each morning.

This is a fund raise that fits right in with the philosophy of GIVERS GAIN!

Last of all, if you know a business that wants some promotion and buzz about the town by participating in The Big DEAL, please give me a call or email me.

Peter DeMott

REACH Magazine and The Big DEAL

937-478-6222 or peter@photosbypdemott.com

Harness the power of group buying to excite consumers in Dayton

bigdeal logo final1 300x179 Harness the power of group buying to excite consumers in Dayton

I have prepared a pdf that explains The Big Deal clearly. If you don’t understand Facebook and Twitter, this document can help you understand how the Big Deal in the Dayton area can generate buzz for your business for days and weeks. It also explains how The Big Deal is guaranteed advertising.

You can read it online or download the pdf and print it out to share with others in your retail, service, or restaurant business.

https://www.box.net/shared/dlhds49v7e

On a personal note: My wife Patty and I have already visited two restaurants and purchased additional services after using a The Big Deal certificate. She is excited to receive her Big Deal each morning and has found it a fun and exciting way to try out new venues and services and restaurants. In all cases to date, we have purchased more than the face value of the certificate and have discussed our experience with many friends related to those businesses.

So far each business which I have signed up for The Big DEAL has informed me that on the day that their Big Deal ran, they saw a spike in activities on their web site and fielded many phone calls from eager consumers wanting to know more about their business.

After your Big DEAL runs, we provide you with a print out of all the certificates that have been purchased. In addition we give YOU a check for your portion of the proceeds from the event. How cool is that?

You can call me at 937-478-6222 to learn more about the program or to have me come by to sign you up. There is NO cost to sign up and run the program so long as we feel that your business and DEAL are appropriate for our audience of thousands of opt-in email subscribers and Facebook fans. Of course we get paid, but it is in the form of a portion of the actual sales so your success is as important to us as it is to you.

Today’s Big DEAL is REVEAL SALON in Centerville 7/8/10

Don’t miss your chance to get $60 worth of Salon services for $29 from a top salon and medical spa in Centerville:

http://www.ereach.com/bigdeal.php/4/alpha/OH/45301

bigdeal salonreveal Todays Big DEAL is REVEAL SALON in Centerville 7/8/10

Here is where you sign up to receive the BIG DEAL in your inbox:

http://www.ereach.com/signup/index.php/4/alpha/OH/45301

Good marketing takes planning ahead for back to school

One thing that always frustrates us here at REACH Magazine is the business owner that calls us two weeks before our magazine goes out and wants to get into that issue. The problem is that we put it to bed (that’s printer lingo for sent it to the printer) the week before.

iStock 000010585912XSmall Good marketing takes planning ahead for back to school

Some types of business have “prime times” when consumers are more active in your category of business. Plan far enough ahead that you don’t miss critical deadlines and so that you are not rushed on your advertising decisions and development of advertising copy and creative.

Back to school is not just for school supplies

Many decisions about family involvements are made as preparation for school is happening. Sometimes a child going to school suddenly frees up time for mom to be employed or to take on volunteer work or other involvements. What sporting activities are our kids going to be involved in. Even though some of these decisions are made in September and October, if your business is effected by these decisions you will want to get out in front of your prospective customers early enough to prime the pump and get them thinking that you are one of the options.

Because of all the changes that happen in the back to school time period there are many businesses that are impacted significantly by marketing and advertising during this period.

Consider these businesses and how they might be effected by changes and plans that are made for back to school:

• Shoe stores

• Day cares / after school programs

• Clothing stores

• Technical schools / for mom’s coming back into the work force because their kids are now in school

• Dance Schools, Gymnastic Schools, Sports training, fitness, recreation

• Shipping stores (what did junior forget to take to college on move in day?)

• Computers, electronics

• Carpet cleaning and house cleaning

• Salons and spas

and more…

We are currently working on REACH magazine’s Back to school edition which will arrive in homes the first week of August. If you want to be in front of consumers with a compelling message and in the vehicle that consumers LOVE, please call me soon because we will put this issue to bed before you know it. Peter DeMott 937-478-6222

Duct Tape Marketing, great advertising and marketing resource for businesses

ps.kycbeyeq.170x170 75 Duct Tape Marketing, great advertising and marketing resource for businesses

I have been following Duct Tape Marketing with John Jantsch for some time. In fact when I was doing my advertising and marketing course for equine photographers online a couple of years ago, he donated a couple of his best selling book on advertising for small businesses. Now I subscribe to his blog via an email subscription and I also subscribe to his podcast via iTunes.

This particular podcast was interesting in that I have been using WordPress for this blog and my photography business web site for about six months. The title of this podcast is “Marketing in the age of Google” and it is an interview with the author of the book by the same name. Their conversation moves over to using WordPress as a complete web site which is what I do.

In just six months my photography web site has gone from 500-700 visits per month to over 5,000 visits in the month of May. Hope you enjoy this podcast and if you would like to meet to discuss advertising here in the Dayton area, I would love to meet with you. We can talk about WordPress websites, facebook pages, REACH magazine and THE BIG DEAL on eREACH.com  Feel free to call me at 937-478-6222 or email me at peter@photosbypdemott.com . I have over 20 years experience working with small businesses in this area, helping them to grow through advertising and advice.

You can listen from his web site here by clicking on the link at the top of the post.

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2010/05/20/marketing-in-the-age-of-google/

Or you can go to iTunes here and listen to the May 20th podcast here:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/small-business-marketing-blog/id78797836

Some good lists of top 10 things you can do on the internet to get noticed as a small business

I subscribe to several other blogs about social media and internet marketing to feed me good ideas and keep me up to date. Both of these blogs are available as email subscriptions which makes it very easy to keep up.

Mashable is all inclusive and covers everything social media from the iPad and cell phones to YouTube and Facebook. When it arrives in my mailbox it starts with a list of links to each article so that you can scan the list and see what may be interesting to you and go straight to whatever interests you most.

TopRank is a bit more focused on SEO and getting noticed on the internet.

Here are three article links that I found informative and useful:

TopRank Some good lists of top 10 things you can do on the internet to get noticed as a small business

10 Easy Local SEO & Online Marketing Tips from TopRank

http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/05/local-search-tips/

7 Essential SEO Tips for Small Business from TopRank

http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/05/7-seo-tips-small-business/

mashable logo Some good lists of top 10 things you can do on the internet to get noticed as a small business

From Mashable, this is more in depth for the business owner willing to invest more time

10 Small Business Social Marketing Tips

http://mashable.com/2009/10/28/small-business-marketing/

Although social media is growing exponentially, I have to say that REACH Magazine is still powerful marketing for many categories of business. I have been in incentive marketing for over 20 years now, and have a long track record of matching up the right businesses for the right media and with the right incentive offers. There are many coupon venues in the Dayton market, but none of them have the rank and power of REACH magazine  (The Media Audit 2009) and for the right business, REACH can be a powerful lead generator or sale generator. Please feel free to give me a call to discuss your business and marketing in REACH magazine. Along the way you also get the information that I have found helpful in the realm of social marketing free of charge. In addition we now have a new viral internet marketing program for businesses trying to reach consumers in a new and interesting way with no up front investment at all. Peter DeMott 937-478-6222

Promoting your business on Facebook in Dayton, Ohio

Fans Promoting your business on Facebook in Dayton, Ohio

Lately, as I have been presenting REACH Magazine and The Big Deal to clients and prospects, we have been talking about things like promoting their business on Facebook. Facebook is a great place to promote your business and create a personal/business presence on the web. It is very easy to get hooked into spending more time than you would like on Facebook, so as a business person you might want to set a miminum and maximum time you want to spend there each day. Ask around and you will find almost everyone you know is on facebook. It is very popular and has participation much greater than Twitter and LinkedIn. Just google “facebook growth” and see how fast it continues to grow.

There is no question that every business person should have a facebook personal page and a facebook business page. As you add people to your personal list, you can keep them on lists such as PERSONAL FRIENDS, RELATIVES, OLD SCHOOL BUDDIES, BUSINESS PEOPLE, ETC. But, NO, people do not want to know about “everything” you do. Share things that make you a real person or express something about you so that other can get to know you better, not things like, “I just brushed my teeth.” At the same time realize this. People buy from PEOPLE and letting people get to know you and what you are doing from time to time can help break the ice for you to make some important connections from places and people you would never have thought of.

You then can create a business page as well. These PAGES are sometimes called a FAN PAGE because people who join that page click on a button that says, “become a fan”. This is where you can put your business description, location, hours, and etc. And this is where you can openly promote your business. People who become fans of your business like your business and may be recommending your business to their friends. When they become a fan of your business this is noted on their personal “Wall” and your fan page is listed on their info page as a business they are a fan of.

When you join up with Facebook, there is small print about what you can and cannot do. Do NOT set up a personal page for your business. You can create a “group” or a “fan page” for your business, but you have to have personal page first. However if you put your business logo on your personal page and start having sales and promotions there you could get REMOVED from Facebook. This is considered spamming and although you will see this from time to time, sooner or later people doing this from their personal facebook pages will be banned.

Here is an article about how to promote your business on facebook that I found interesting:
http://robmaguire.com/blog/2008/12/13-ways-promote-your-facebook-page/

If you would like to become my “friend” on facebook I welcome business and personal connections there :

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1407421933

In addition if you would like to see how I use my Business Fan Page to promote my part time photography business, feel free to become a fan here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Germantown-OH/Peter-DeMott-Photography/152303558213?ref=ts

We can continue to learn together.

FREE E-Book “10-Minute Business Success”

I get a free newsletter from Duct Tape Marketing.com and yesterday he presented an offer that I have found very interesting after reading the first couple of chapters. I thought you might find it interesting too.

Welcome to
10 Minute Business Success

10-min-ebook-small.png 87x115 Thanks for your interest in our free ebook, “10 Minute Business Success”. In this ebook, you’ll discover short, powerful strategies and tactics from 21 leading business experts to help make your business more successful. Each chapter features a 10-minute interview where an expert shares their single best business-building secret and shows you exactly how to apply it to your business.

Go to this web site to download your copy: http://www.power8marketing.com/10min-reg/

Your code will be credited to Duct Tape Marketing I would think, but it is:

Don’t forget to use the pass code: 1013

To sign up for John’s free maketing and advertising newsletter to to http://www.ducttapemarketing.com

Coupon Usage up by double digits

Double Digit Coupon Growth Continues

For the fourth consecutive quarter, coupon redemption and distribution continues to experience double digit growth. When comparing the third quarter of 2009 with the same timeframe in 2008, the industry saw a 29% increase in coupon redemption and a 10% increase in distribution.

growth chart2 Coupon Usage up by double digits

Source and complete article : CouponInfoNow.com Newsletter 12/1/09