Marketing and relationship marketing

Building a strong sustainable business takes using both. Here is a great video explaining the styles and how our relationship building tools benefit a business and/or an entreprenuer.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kb3n-l9gcpc

Daily Random acts of kindness

This is a friends comments after recieving cards and gifts a short time ago. We never can tell how our random acts of kindness are going to impact the life of the people we care about as well as the person on the receiving end of our kindness.  I encourage everyone to never let someone you care about to go to their mailbox and  only pull out bills or junk mail.

I had not gotten my mail since my mother passed away. I was not in a hurry because I new there would be several card expressing their condolences and love and would bring all my emotions to the surface. I wanted to wait for awhile after the funeral when my emotions had settled down. (It did not help to wait)

When I picked up the mail, I was extremely humbled by how many of you took the time to expressed your feelings of warmth, sympathy, kindness and love. I express my gratitude to everyone of you who sent me a card, those of you who sent flower and those of you who expressed your expressions of love and concern on social media, as well. I stayed up half the night reading them.

I want to tell you of one card that the person who sent it had no idea of the emotion and incredible warmth that would come over me when I opened it. I had tears in my eye already and then I opened this card and the flow of water that ran down my face did not stop for quite some time after.

On the front of this card was the quote from of my mom's favorite book, Charlie's Monument. I had just decided 2 or 3 weeks before my mom's passing to frame this quote and I was going to give it to my mom this Mother's Day. The place that framed it had just sent me an email of the finished gift. As my good friend Robert Green would say, "Coincidence? I think not."

Last night I was reminded of what a simple card can do for someone to lift them to a higher level of happiness, comfort, love and joy. Unlike any other product that is bought and used in our industry, I believe ours has the power to heal, straighten and bring joy to one's soul unlike any other.

Thank you, Jordan Adler for that special moment in time that was not a Coincidence for you to find that quote and send it on the front of your card to me.

Thank you everyone for lifting me up with all the wonderful cards in a time when I truly needed it..

Refrigerator Marketing, Lets Grow Your Profits!

Hello friends,

  What the heck is refrigerator marketing? Well it could also be called Mantel marketing, or desk marketing, or even Top of Tv marketing. If you give your customer something that they value so much they will put it out in plain sight so everybody can see it that is what I call refrigerator marketing. Now what in the world can you give someone that they are going to love so much to display it, so anytime somebody sees it they are going to brag on you and your business, Creating a sure fire flow of referrals for YOU and your business?          Greeting Cards is the answer.

   Now before you judge this isn't your mom and dads style greeting card. Nope its not an email card that is going in the trash folder almost immediately either. Now we all know that sending greeting cards is just smart business. Pros like Havey McKay, Tom Hopkins, Eric Worre, Joe Girard, and countless others have taught that for lots of years. So you should be doing that already.(although you might be surprised by the number of businesses that don't) Most don't cause the inconvenience, cost and time involved, but they leave thousands and possibly even millions of $ on the table when they don't.

With technology advancing the way it is these problems have been solved. I'll give you a link so you can even test drive their system in just  moment. {I am a distributor for it} That system is the best and most affordable way to create Refrigerator Marketing for your business.

 I am going to give you some tips on making your cards become some refrigerator marketing for you.
In the ealier blog we spoke about how putting pictures on the card makes it more personal and you create a relationship with your customer. Now how you get their refrigerator (or mantel coffee table etc.) marketing your business?

It is almost to simple. You make them the star of your card. Almost no one likes to have their picture taken. But what does everyone always look for in a picture? To see if they are in it. So send your cards when ever you can with them on the front of  and maybe on the inside to.
Well you say I don't have a picture of them one of you works but the things and people they love they are posting online all the time. Remember they own those photos, use them only in a way that is conducive to celebrating them and their lives NOT your advertising.

Now when they receive that card in the mail you are most likely going to get some positive feed back. (how much or how usually depends on how accessible you are to them) But remember your not doing it for that you are celebrating that friend, coworker, customer...
And then finally they are most likely going to display that card, on the refrigerator or mantel the top of the TV.  Oh yeah the best part is everytime they walk by it, look at it, glance and see it YOU ARE NOW ON THE TOP OF THEIR MIND. Now when their friends and family are in their house or work space where every they have put that card they are going to ask about about it. Of course they are going to tell them how they got it  And how  you are theirs.
 Their plumber Joe, sent it to them ain't it Kool!
Their friend Steve sent it, he does my financial planning... etc

Hopefully you see the huge potential this can have for you and your business.
The link is www.sendoutcards.com/jodyogden, Share this article with a Friend and give me a call let me know you did and I'll Give you a FREE account and even pay for your first few cards and Postage.
Cheers and lets Grow Grow Grow your profits!
Jody Ogden
970-769-3331
jody@jodyogden.com

Starting your appreciation marketing.

Well is it time for you to start your appreciation marketing? It is never to late to start.

My wife and I recently started a new business venture. It is an old tyme photography business. We went to events and set up. So in the traveling and setting up and tearing down, etc I did not have time to always find an internet connection and send my cards of appreciation to our customers. I knew this would be invaluable to my wife's business. So the summer has come to an end the girls are back in school and I have an internet connection. So I finally get to start sending out Thank You cards. At first I thought it has been 4 or so months since having some of these customers in, but I still know the value so I started to send them anyway.
So far the feedback has been great. We have gotten letters back from some of our customers thanking us for the cards as well as facebook posts, and even emails and calls. I am so glad I sent those "Thank You's" On top of that some are even interested in sending cards with their photos to others as well. (seems like a good time to show them how)
How do you start?

I have now been making it a daily practice to send at least 2 cards a day. 1 business building and one Hearfelt card. It has been a great experience for me and I am getting regular feed back that is all so welcome and exciting. The feelings I have when I send them benefit me and the fact that I get to make a friends day makes it even more rewarding for them.

You can start simple and add as you go. You can see how easy it is by using a service like the one found at www.winwithappreciation.com
Then after you get started on the service I would suggest you start with at least 2 a day. Remember studies show that saying thank you shortly after the sale will increase business by 17%.
If you have time I would also suggest a "Thank You" phone call. What is a Thank you phone call. Simply with in 24-48 hours after a new customer comes and does business with you call them not to sell them anything. Just to say "THANK YOU" for your business and or the opportunity to do business with you. Then after you hang up if you haven't already sent the "Thank you" card get it sent.

So I would say the time to get started is now.

Parnershipping for life!

Do you think that lifetime parnerships are important in business?

Lets start with the numbers cause numbers never lie. Don't worry it isn't hard math at all. You should do this math if you are in business though. Do you already know what the lifetime value of your customer is. If you do you are way ahead of most others in business. Here is the equation LTV = average customer spend with you per year X 20 years. You can adjust the years if need be but on average you should calculate keeping your customer for 20 years.
I have done this with a few freinds to find out the LTV (lifetime value) of their customer is.

Joe (realtor) Average of transactions = 4 over 20 years average of $25,000 commission per transaction 4 X 25,000 = $100,000 is the lifetime value of his customer.

Nick (Chiropractor) His lifetime value of a customer was aprox $30,000 and his prices are below the standard rates (they even have family plans)

Sam (waitress) Tips only was on $35,000

If you do the math you know how much it is worth to you to keep that customer for life, rather then just hope and pray they do business with you again.

A friend of mine tells a story that is a great example of why you need to treat everyone you meet as a customer and a lifetime friend. I will not give all the details here but you can call and hear his story recorded @ (212)990-6793.
The abreivated version is his house was being broken into while he was out of town(he travels alot). He has met many of security systems salesmen over the years. Not one had stayed in touch with him. So when he needed a security system in his house what does he do. Goes to they yellow pages. Just think if one of those salesmen that he had met previously had took the time and sent a keeping in touch card he would have used them. Instead the first number he called is now recieving $40 per month from him. If you do the math you find that for a little time and maybe even a few dollars a year you can gain that customer even if it happens 2 or so years down the road, like in the case of my friend.
In conclusion I think you know how important the constant communication and relationship building can be to your business. Yes it takes a little time and a small cost, but by not doing it you will know the detrimental effects that will be in store for you and your business. Examples are real apparent in this economy just look at the custruction indusrty as well as the car industry. Your customers can not be taken for granted and you need to work on every relationship you ever encounter.

Appreciate someone today!
Give them an awesome day!
Jody

Appreciation and asking for a referral.

You know that you want to let your customers know you appreciate them and their business.As you show your appreciation you should expect the same from your customers.
When they call to say thank you or when they let you know you've done a good job for them ask them to put it on paper or better yet get a recording or a video of them and thier testimonial or thier appreciation.Use it in your marketing and if you put video posted online then send them a link and encourage them to share the video with their friends and family! Bonus (This gets them reffering you.)
They are the star of your video, just think how you might feel if your testimonial was published on a website of a business where you frequented. In doing little things like this it makes everyone a winner. You have your testomonial for your business. They feel like a star and that they and what they think is important to you. It all comes down to the relationship. A question I suggest asking yourself regularly is " How can I show my customers I care and that I want them to be by Best Friends?".
In conclusion you know that your best referrals are the ones you recieve from your customers to their friends and family. You should make referring you as easy as possible for them and don't forget to ask them to. 92% of people say they would give a referral, only 5% are asked.

Have an awesome day and Give someone an awesome day too.
Jody

ps. Another idea send a few post cards to your customers with postage paid with their testomonial on it and ask them to send them to a friend or family member.

Taking your appreciation marketing to the next level.

We know that everyone has the desire to be liked and appreciated and we know how valuable a "Thank You" is, but how inmportant is staying in constant contact with your customers?
Well sudies show us that for every month your not in contact with your customer you lose 10% of your influence. That means you must make a considerable effort to stay in contact with your customers each and every month.
There are a few different ways to accompish this. Some are free but take a considerable amount of time. Some of the low cost ones can make it happen with just seconds of your time and even automate some of the tasks.
First lets look at a phone call. I have a friend that has a small business that they actually employ a person full time to make phone calls and send cards to their customers. A quick side note her business was up 25% in this down economy and her industry is way down. (housing and remodeling glass) Maybe it just isn't in your budget to pay a full time employee to do this. Don't worry there are still options.
Email is cheap, but it may be a trick to get your email opened. Only 5% of emails are opened. 17% of newsletters are opened. So I would suggest a optin newsletter if email is your choice. Education is key. ALWAYS try to make it as personal as possible! Remember you want to build a relationship with your customers.
Last is by far my favorite, it is real easy to make it personal. And if you are able to use pictures you have the ability to make it even more personal and make it market for your business for years and years to come. (I call it refrigerator marketinging which I will cover in a later blog.) It is greeting cards, it is an old industry but when you go to your mail box and you see an envelope in the shape of a card hows it make you feel. Then you open it and if the card has been done right(without advertising) You feel special and appreciated. Your cusotmer is no different. You have a personal relationship with this person. By sending cards like this you bocome theirs. Whan they are talking with family and friends you are their photographer, their plumber theie ________.(fill in the blank with your profession.) Now I bet you are understanding why the cards are my favorite by far.
I encourage you to put it to the test. See what it can do for your business.

Give someone an excellent day!
Thanks
Jody Ogden