The two secrets of life are flowers and thank you’s.
-Tom Peters
Advertising to the masses does not build relationships. Don’t get me wrong – advertising does work. But it is expensive and impersonal. To build strong relationships you must get personal. A mass-produced, glitzy flyer may look good but it does not show personal involvement from you. It would have been written, designed, and printed by people you hired.
It’s like receiving a birthday card from a new friend. The card was nice but it was addressed to Mary – and your name is Maria.
A small handwritten note to your clients is very personal. It shows you took the time to personally get involved. It’s the small things that make an impact. Even a mass mailing can be personalized by attaching a personal note in your handwriting.
Read more ……
George Torok, co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
Friday, June 30, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
WRITE
One of the best ways to become known as the expert is to write. You could write to – or for- newsletters (association, corporate, community), newspapers (community, business, trade, weekly, daily), or magazines (general, trade, association, business).
WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
This is the easiest way to be published. Watch for an issue that you feel strongly about or that touches your business. The issue doesn’t have to relate to your business. This is just a chance for people to know you. Take a stand. If you can make your communication funny, that is even better. Write it well. The editors will correct grammar and edit for length. Sign the letter with your name and a moniker that you like, or your business name. If you find nothing gets your juices flowing enough to write a letter of opinion, write to the editor to say what you like about the publication. They always print those letters.
Read more ……
George Torok, co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
This is the easiest way to be published. Watch for an issue that you feel strongly about or that touches your business. The issue doesn’t have to relate to your business. This is just a chance for people to know you. Take a stand. If you can make your communication funny, that is even better. Write it well. The editors will correct grammar and edit for length. Sign the letter with your name and a moniker that you like, or your business name. If you find nothing gets your juices flowing enough to write a letter of opinion, write to the editor to say what you like about the publication. They always print those letters.
Read more ……
George Torok, co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
PRICING
Decide where you want to position yourself in the price market. Do you want to be the lowest priced, middle of the pack, or most expensive? Once you pick your position you will be stuck with it. Sure, you can raise your prices as you get better, but you are stuck with an image and position. Wal-Mart and Tiffany & Co. are positioned differently. Neither would ever compete in the other’s market.
How much are you worth?
When you work for yourself you have the joy and anguish of deciding what you are worth, then telling your clients.
You can take some lessons from the traditional job market. If you worked for the same employer for many years, you may have received incremental increases – but never huge increases. The reason is they always remembered.......
Read more ……
George Torok, co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
How much are you worth?
When you work for yourself you have the joy and anguish of deciding what you are worth, then telling your clients.
You can take some lessons from the traditional job market. If you worked for the same employer for many years, you may have received incremental increases – but never huge increases. The reason is they always remembered.......
Read more ……
George Torok, co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
Monday, June 19, 2006
Toastmasters International on Secrets of Power Marketing
"It is an outstanding publication. I hope all your endeavors are as successful as your book will be."
Terry McCann
Executive Director
Toastmasters International
George Torok, Co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
Monday, June 12, 2006
POWER MARKETING IMAGE
In business, perception is reality.Like many people, you might associate the word ‘image’ with something that is phony or contrived. Instead, realize that ‘image’ is the root for ‘imagine’ – a powerful word. Imagine how you want to be, how you want to be seen, respected, and remembered.
The Power of Presentation
The president of an oil company remembers going shopping with his dad for a new car when he was a young boy. His father’s business had done well and they were going to buy a brand new Cadillac. They entered the showroom, both of them proud and excited. They smiled as the salesman approached them. Then a strange thing happened.
As the expectant salesman got closer, the smile on the father’s face disappeared, and he reached down, grabbed his son’s hand, turned around, and marched out. The boy was almost in tears. “What happened, Dad? Why did we leave?” His father barked, “I’ll not buy an expensive car from a man with a soiled shirt.”
It seems the negligent salesman had worn his shirt two days in a row.
Read more ……
George Torok, co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
Friday, June 09, 2006
MEDIA - Advertising
Try to avoid paid advertising. Everyone recognizes ads and discounts them as less credible than other types of exposure. If you must pay for an ad, design it so that it doesn't look like one. Make it an advertorial or a print tool that presents information in an article format. The publication that carries your advertorial will probably label it with the words advertorial or paid advertising to make it clear that it is separate from their own editorial content. Negotiate to have them use the word advertorial; it is much more effective than paid advertising. Some publications may disguise this type of advertisement by calling it a corporate profile or business spotlight. If you must advertise, disguise it as news.
When negotiating the purchase of advertising, think like a tough customer. You might have to talk to their competition to get a better deal.
If you advertise in one of your customers’ trade publications, make sure you're listed as a sponsor instead of as an advertiser. A sponsor seems friendlier than an advertiser. The perception is that we believe a sponsor is supporting us, while an advertiser just wants to sell us something.
Sponsor events, publications, and awards for the associations that your customers belong to.
Read more ……
George Torok, co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
When negotiating the purchase of advertising, think like a tough customer. You might have to talk to their competition to get a better deal.
If you advertise in one of your customers’ trade publications, make sure you're listed as a sponsor instead of as an advertiser. A sponsor seems friendlier than an advertiser. The perception is that we believe a sponsor is supporting us, while an advertiser just wants to sell us something.
Sponsor events, publications, and awards for the associations that your customers belong to.
Read more ……
George Torok, co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
LEVERAGE – Strategy Four - with Secrets of Power Marketing
If I had a lever long enough I could move the world.
-Archimedes
If I said, “I bet you $20 that I can lift a car with my own strength”, you might take one look at me (I’m no Arnold Schwarzenegger) and take that bet. Then I would take your money as I set up the jack and lifted the car.
“Wait a minute,” you’d stammer, “You said you’d lift it with your own strength – that’s no fair.” And I’d point out, “The jack is not lifting the car. It is the tool that I use to lever my strength. The jack does not make me stronger but it helps me focus my limited strength to do the job. With the lever I am lifting the car using my strength in a smarter way.”
In your business you have limited resources, but if you focus those resources you can leverage your strength to compete with big business. Power Marketing is like the jack - it helps you create amazing feats of marketing.
In this chapter we will examine the resources you have at your disposal and the three key principles you can use to leverage those resources into something greater. You’ll also learn about several Power Marketing tools you can use to make your work easier.
….read more on Page 159
George Torok, Co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
-Archimedes
If I said, “I bet you $20 that I can lift a car with my own strength”, you might take one look at me (I’m no Arnold Schwarzenegger) and take that bet. Then I would take your money as I set up the jack and lifted the car.
“Wait a minute,” you’d stammer, “You said you’d lift it with your own strength – that’s no fair.” And I’d point out, “The jack is not lifting the car. It is the tool that I use to lever my strength. The jack does not make me stronger but it helps me focus my limited strength to do the job. With the lever I am lifting the car using my strength in a smarter way.”
In your business you have limited resources, but if you focus those resources you can leverage your strength to compete with big business. Power Marketing is like the jack - it helps you create amazing feats of marketing.
In this chapter we will examine the resources you have at your disposal and the three key principles you can use to leverage those resources into something greater. You’ll also learn about several Power Marketing tools you can use to make your work easier.
….read more on Page 159
George Torok, Co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
Monday, June 05, 2006
Great book for small firm starting up
....or regenerating
Reviewer: John C. Dunbar (Sugar Land, TX United States) , July 6, 2001
This is a gem of a book. It covers a lot of material (maybe too much) and yet it is a relatively small book. I liked the book for its comprehensive coverage and links to entrepreneurship as a personal mission... as well as marketing.
The authors are Canadian and I'd like to say that their nationality interfered with the topics or slant of the book... but it didn't. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that this Swiss-banking immigrant (Bender) and this successful radio broadcaster (Torok) in Canada really had their feet on the ground. They offered lots of practical marketing and strategic advice.
I would suggest that there are two major parts to this book. The first 1/6 of the book describes their concept of delivering value, tying your products/services to personal values, and your vision/mission statements, etc. I thought this was truly great and apparently some of it flows from Peter Urs Bender's other book: Leadership from Within. I see that it is favorably reviewed here at Amazon and I will order it right away (forthwith in Canadian?).
The remaining 5/6's of the book is an encyclopedic account of marketing techniques that you can (and should) apply for your business. The target market for this book is a firm of 1 to 30 employees... a small firm. This book would also do well for an individual working for a big company, as it tells you how to market yourself to become more valuable.
There's a ton of good ideas here. You won't go wanting of things to implement. There are new ideas that you won't see elsewhere.
For example, they speak about the need to write articles to establish your expertise. They then go on to list many different kinds of articles you can write. Under this section, one sub-topic was Tips Sheets. There they listed about 10 different kinds of tip sheets you could write. I knew about writing articles and tip sheets, but they provided excellent lead ideas to get me going. There were many other such new things in their book that greatly extended the topics I was already familiar with.
Because it was encyclopedic in coverage, I was worried that it would repeat a lot of what I already knew. But, instead I learned a lot of new ideas that I can implement. Overall, I highly recommend this book for any small business owner, or marketing chief... or any individual who wants to shine and promote himself within a corporation.
Now if we could just figure out some way to get these good business thinkers out of the cold socialist northern territories! I found the book in a Vancouver bookstore and have never seen it in the U.S.
-John Dunbar
George Torok, Co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
Reviewer: John C. Dunbar (Sugar Land, TX United States) , July 6, 2001
This is a gem of a book. It covers a lot of material (maybe too much) and yet it is a relatively small book. I liked the book for its comprehensive coverage and links to entrepreneurship as a personal mission... as well as marketing.
The authors are Canadian and I'd like to say that their nationality interfered with the topics or slant of the book... but it didn't. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that this Swiss-banking immigrant (Bender) and this successful radio broadcaster (Torok) in Canada really had their feet on the ground. They offered lots of practical marketing and strategic advice.
I would suggest that there are two major parts to this book. The first 1/6 of the book describes their concept of delivering value, tying your products/services to personal values, and your vision/mission statements, etc. I thought this was truly great and apparently some of it flows from Peter Urs Bender's other book: Leadership from Within. I see that it is favorably reviewed here at Amazon and I will order it right away (forthwith in Canadian?).
The remaining 5/6's of the book is an encyclopedic account of marketing techniques that you can (and should) apply for your business. The target market for this book is a firm of 1 to 30 employees... a small firm. This book would also do well for an individual working for a big company, as it tells you how to market yourself to become more valuable.
There's a ton of good ideas here. You won't go wanting of things to implement. There are new ideas that you won't see elsewhere.
For example, they speak about the need to write articles to establish your expertise. They then go on to list many different kinds of articles you can write. Under this section, one sub-topic was Tips Sheets. There they listed about 10 different kinds of tip sheets you could write. I knew about writing articles and tip sheets, but they provided excellent lead ideas to get me going. There were many other such new things in their book that greatly extended the topics I was already familiar with.
Because it was encyclopedic in coverage, I was worried that it would repeat a lot of what I already knew. But, instead I learned a lot of new ideas that I can implement. Overall, I highly recommend this book for any small business owner, or marketing chief... or any individual who wants to shine and promote himself within a corporation.
Now if we could just figure out some way to get these good business thinkers out of the cold socialist northern territories! I found the book in a Vancouver bookstore and have never seen it in the U.S.
-John Dunbar
George Torok, Co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
Friday, June 02, 2006
The Power of Volunteerism
I met with the president of The Body Shop Canada, Margot Franssen. My first question was, ‘What business are you in?’ Without pause she answered, ‘We are in the communication business. We communicate through our actions, products, and words in order to effect social change. It’s what we do well. We use our shops to communicate with the public.’
I reminded her that they sell body-care products. Franssen replied, ‘It’s not what you sell, it’s how you manufacture it and what you do with the money you make.’
The Body Shop is very effective in advancing the causes they support. They are also profitable.
Read more…….
George Torok, Co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
I reminded her that they sell body-care products. Franssen replied, ‘It’s not what you sell, it’s how you manufacture it and what you do with the money you make.’
The Body Shop is very effective in advancing the causes they support. They are also profitable.
Read more…….
George Torok, Co-author
Secrets of Power Marketing
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