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#186Apr 19, 2012
The USPS Program That Could Save You Thousands
Every Door Direct Mail®For auctioneers, who often have limited budgets and even more limited time, Every Door Direct Mail may prove itself a long-overdue solution. And if your proposed budget can gain dollars on the postage line, you can spend those saved dollars on more marketing in places your competition can’t.
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#185Mar 29, 2012
The Pinterest Effect
Advertising Lesson from Pinterest.com's SuccessThere’s a lesson there for every marketer. What makes content quickly absorbable is compelling imagery, imagery which Pinterest users tend to pull from predominantly-commercial websites. Words—even headlines—are secondary. As a culture, we don’t’ care about explanations and slogans, if we aren’t drawn to them through the picture(s) they accompany. As a marketer who helps other marketers, I can tell you that if the design of our marketing media centers around large, singular imagery—and those images are professionally staged and captured—our advertising will be far more effective than the current average of small business advertising media.
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#184Feb 28, 2012
Who Should Manage Your Social Media Content?
In-house vs. Outsourced ConversationsThe problem is that social media sites are relational environments—places to do online what we do offline, admittedly with both upgrades and drawbacks over in-person conversations. In most situations you wouldn’t pay another company to go have conversations with people for you at social gatherings. So, why would you pay a company to have your conversations with your prospects and peers online?
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#183Feb 14, 2012
Learning From Public Perception
Confronting Public PerceptionThe fight to save and grow the auction industry is in the hands of us who market in it every day. Our success will require us to step out of our perspective, our conveniences, our assumptions. Our jobs will most likely continue to require more steps and a wider skill set. I’m in this, too. To maintain value for my clients, my responsibilities, packages, and services have changed over the past years. Have you found that to be true? If not, how long do you think your status quo will serve you well?
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#182Feb 7, 2012
Putting a Price on Your Friends List
Social Media MonetizationIf I had a dollar for every time I saw or heard the words social media, my wife and I could go on an international vacation—and I don’t mean Canada. I’m sure the same holds true for you. Websites like Facebook and Twitter and YouTube are touted as marketing gold mines, the future of advertising, the magic answer for harvesting clients out of thin air.
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#181Jan 22, 2012
Winning The Close Ones
Improving Proposal PresentationHaving helped auctioneers with proposals for over a decade, I’ve found that many auction proposals follow similar outlines and use similar selling points. So, how do you separate your plan from the competition’s one?
The way you present it.
Our culture is becoming more and more visually stimulated and educated; and your marketing materials need to reflect that—especially your proposals.
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#180Jan 5, 2012
What Would Your Brand Do?
Your Brand as a Filteror years, I’ve rolled my eyes at mission statements and the like, especially the ones that get posted on store walls or printed in company brochures. I don’t really care what a company’s mission statement is. If your customer service and marketing already exemplify it, I already know your vision and values. If they don’t, why give me a yardstick to to measure your shortcomings?
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#178Dec 16, 2011
An Auction Bidder’s Wish List
Giving Your Audience What It WantsDoes this mean advertising should be reduced exclusively to a list of bulleted descriptions? No—even if in many media, that’d be the most efficient strategy. Write your sales copy as long as space and budget will allow. Emphasis, though, belongs to the facts. Headlines should tell people if what they want might be described in the next section. Top billing should go to the unarguable.
Make it easy for potential buyers to compare your sale item(s) to their wish list. That ease of comparison reflects on your brand, whether they bid or purchase from you or not.
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#177Dec 1, 2011
5 Reasons You Should Be Using Google Alerts
Written for OPEN Forum by American ExpressOne of the most overlooked tools in the search giant’s toolbox is Google Alerts. In the hands of a savvy entrepreneur, marketer or blogger, this superpower can be a force for good.
The linked article is the exclusive content of OPEN Forum by American Express.
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#176Nov 17, 2011
10 Tips for Better Marketing Emails—Part 2: Dont’s
What Not to Do with Your Marketing EmailEmail should be an important component in every marketing campaign you create. Because the medium is free or very inexpensive, the temptation is not to place as much effort into it as with more tangible and public media. Beware of that pitfall. Surpass your competition’s emails by doing the small things right.
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