Forum Moderators: open
This could include online and offline, and one example could be having to cruise around the internet looking for others to link to your site, etc......
-If noone posts in a couple minutes I will post an idea to get the ball rolling.
-A Gerhart
Of course, the minimum requirement is that the URL has to be short and catchy, otherwise people will forget it before they get home just like agerhart said. I've seen dozens of URL's and forgotten them within a minute, but have remembered a few even after arriving to my computer half an hour or even an hour later.
One important thing is that the address should describe the site, or if that is not possible, at the very least it should be accompanied by a brief slogan that explains what the site is about. A cryptic URL alone isn't enough to get my attention, and I guess the same is true for most more experienced users. Seeing a web address on the side of a bus might have made many curious three or four years ago, but that alone is just not enough anymore IMHO.
Some I have heard of are refrigerator magnets, mouse pads, pens, and an interesting one I knew of a couple of years ago was innovative. I did a site for an employment agency, and the owner had little furry toy spiders made up for Halloween, with a tag attached with her URL on it, and sent it out to all her clients as a site promotion.
Also we do a direct mail campaign (we are an seo and design firm, so traffic is not necessarily the main motivation) targeting businesses in the area. A single page letter emphasizing the importance of an effective website.
Usually, when you do an ad in one of the specialised press, space is limited, and expensive (usually).
What I have done for my customer, is to put something on the webpage for every ad-campaign they do. Space on the webspace is cheap, and can be quite an efficient means to drive targeted traffic to your site.
Another thing to consider: If you sell products with a serial number of sorts, and you require clients to register, offer online (ie. on the webpage) registration. If you have built a good website with USEFUL CONTENT, people might come back, eg. to search for product information or news.
we have budgetted this year to pay a Press Agency to get us some editorial, particularly in Japan...won't happen for a month or so though
if there is even half a chance then any form of editorial coverage is worth jumping through the odd hoop for...if the money is there it is always worth hiring a pro to chase it up
the thing I'm waiting for a chance to try is getting tame celebs to wear the URL on a t-shirt for TV appearances and newspaper photo shoots...but you need to have a few tame celebs for that, and it takes a while to build those up :)
Has that really worked for you? My wife is an office manager and says she throws away all letters trying to sell anything.
skirril
using a bar code type of search would be a great idea. Users could type in the bar code numbers and get all specs, prices, and documentation on that product.
Side Note: People say they hate telemarketers and never buy that way but someone has to buy that way or they wouldn't do marketing like that.
That is why telemarketing is effective, at least as a door-opener. Once getting past the person screening calls, if there is one, it only takes a minute or two, often less, to qualify the call and see if there is any potential.
dwedeking, people say they hate telemarketers, but it's highly effective for any number of products or services. It's also very economical compared to other methods. It just has to be done the right way.
Honesty:
No song and dance or phony stories, tell right away who you are, where you're from, and why you're calling. Ask a qualifying question right off, and then
Listen:
Listen 80% of the time and talk 20% of the time (or less). There's the advantage of being able to *hear* what people's needs and goals are, which can't be done except by a conversation, either in person or by phone. "Listening" means hearing what a person is saying, not just keeping silent when they talk. Crucial difference.
Respect:
People who recite a "script" by rote or talk "at" people are not showing respect. A written guideline is fine, so no important points will be neglected, but having a normal conversation shows respect and courtesy.
Stress benefits:
People buy benefits, not features. No matter what features a product or service has, unless it will help them or their business in some way, it's of no benefit to them.
Integrity:
If people are pressured, and they're talked into something that isn't right for them, they'll hate telemarketers. :)
Courtesy:
Always, no matter what. We're also hearing what we're saying when we talk, and it's much nicer to hear pleasant, courteous words, in spite of what the other person may say.
The phone saves travel time, is much more time-efficient than heel-and-toe, which may work for real estate for example (but the phone is still faster), saves money on gasoline, postage and printing, and if a follow-up personal visit is in order, the sales call is pre-qualified.
Added:
Last time I did a "test run" with the phone, it was from the Yellow Pages, with a random sample first, then narrowed down. Not one person was rude - most businesses are accustomed to sales calls; most do a lot of normal business on the phone.
2 out of 12 responded with some degree of positive response. Interest was expressed in having some information faxed to them. Also free, since they're local calls. The question most often asked was how much it would cost per month -not how much a site costs (one time) - per month. Food for thought there.
A good source of leads is junk mail. The people advertising in that mail have already shown that they're willing to spend money on marketing, and there's a decent chance that their purchase of the advertising started with a phone call. They're just about pre-qualified prospects.
I've got a little file where I'm collecting the junk mail, and will make another "test run" from the collection.
On the issue of people saying that they don't like this type of advertising or that type of advertising. Sometime listen to what people say. I don't know how many times I've heard people say they don't like ads on tv or the boards at the little league game. Then without thinking later state that they need to go get something and they know the place to get it cause of the billboard at the baseball game (not even putting the two together) or that they saw an ad on tv for that product.
