Building Your Database

When you have a client in your store/business making a purchase, before the transaction is completed ask them how they would like 5% or 10% off this purchase (or a set dollar amount) – Right Now! Have them text “your keyword” to 90210 right in front of you or your employees – give them the discount and you now have a new addition to your database to continue to market to and up-sell to for future business. The key to remember is “What’s In It For Me” if you make it worth your clients time and effort they will gladly join your Mobile VIP Club.

DON’T FORGET

Be sure to ALWAYS include your phone number (with area code) in your call to action text messages – most smartphones generate a quick link to auto dial your number, if you don’t make it easy you are losing out on sales – if you are not looking for calls be sure to include your web address or Facebook page url.

Hope these help in generating a great ROI (Return on Investment) in regards to your Text Message Marketing Strategy.

To your continued success!

Tim Somers
Bizarre Marketing

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I don’t know about you but every time I attend a trade show I end up with a bag packed full of literature that I usually never even look at. I am also very selective on the promotional products I pick up, I only grab useful items. Trade Show Marketing with QR Codes is a great way to give your booth visitors your company information while cutting down on having flyers and brochures printed up that most likely will never get looked at.

QR Codes are a no cost way for you as an exhibitor to supply booth visitors with your info

Quick Response or QR codes are those goofy looking boxes found on just about everything these days. With an app on a Smartphone or Tablet, you are giving prospects a quick and paperless way to access your company information, a featured product, a special, your website url or coupon. The number of Smartphones is said to hit 1 Billion by the year 2015. So Marketing with QR Codes and Text Message Marketing are only going to grow in the next few years.

Quick Response codes are comparable to bar codes that merchants use to classify the product, price, SKU, etc. The big difference is that a QR code is two dimensional which means it stores much more information. As a Trade Show Marketer, you can quickly generate unique codes for every exhibit to track usage through the use of a free QR generator.

Sites like Kaywa.com or my favorite the ZXing Project or you can Google QR generator and find an overwhelming amount of options. Once you have selected a generator to use, customizing a Quick Response code is a rather simple process. Before you generate the code you need to ponder how the QR Code you create will be used at your Trade Show Booth. Will you be directing prospects to a page on your web-site, offering a show special or coupon or simply providing all your contact information.

Once you have generated your code you need to plan on how you will be displaying it at your booth. One way would be to have a table top sign printed up with directions. Then when people visit your booth and you are conversing with them made sure you tell them to scan the code before they leave.

Trade Show Booth Marketing with QR Codes is a no-brainer, every exhibitor should take advantage of this technology and add value and convenience for your visitors.

Tim Somers
Bizarre Marketing, LLC.

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It has been said that your “list” is worth its weight in gold, weight being the number of subscribers you have on your email list. Growing your list can take time and lots of money, but Ad Swaps are an up and coming way to build your list with no cost and just a little effort. Ad Swap (also known as Advertising Swap) is an arrangement you made with other list owners in like niches (industries). The goal of both swappers is to offer something worthy of getting your partners list to click over to your website or blog and subscribe to your list.

Each and every Ad Swap you do will be different; each party wants to ensure they are getting the same value they are providing in regards to the quality and size of the lists they swap with. Some swaps are text based, while others will be banner ad based. Either way the ads must be prominently displayed or recommended by the list owner for maximum effectiveness.

I want to stress again…you want to do Ad Swaps with lists that are in similar industries. Obviously you are not going to swap with a direct competitor, but niches that complement each other. You also don’t want to over swap, you will devalue your connect and possibly lose your subscribers to other lists that offer better content if you over swap. I would recommend no more than 25% of your mailings include an Advertising Swap. So if you distribute to your list four times a month – then only one of those should include an Ad Swap.

In searching for partners to trade ads with you can search for like businesses and send them a message to see if they are interested in growing their email list. It’s best if you have a relationship with webmasters and bloggers that you can leverage verse trying to cold call on a list owner. You can also find Ad Swap partners on various Forums on the Internet… Google it.

Having a large list is great – but you must make sure you provide value to your subscribers, if you keep blasting them with “buy my stuff” emails they will opt-out faster than you can blink an eye. Provide them with great problem solving content and helpful tips and you will have them for life.

There are also ebooks like the Instant List Building Formula that you can utilize to build a large list.

We Want Ad Swap Partners

Bizarre Marketing is always open to doing Swaps with like industries and most business related lists. NO Make Money Online, Gaming, Porn or Internet Marketing lists will be considered.

Use the contact form below to see if we can partner up and grow our lists by Swapping Ads.

Tim Somers
Bizarre Marketing, LLC.

AD SWAP REQUEST FORM

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With Christmas approaching, individuals are more likely to experience holiday stress (a combination of financial pressure to fulfill a shopping list, with the growing awareness of every broken resolution…) than the stereotypical Christmas cheer.

Even an optimist can be broken down during the holiday season, because the bills won’t stop piling up (wouldn’t it be nice if December was a “free” month?) and the junk mail keeps coming in. All of that junk mail is the failed attempts of businesses who think that “shopping season” is the best time to try impersonal direct mail marketing strategies.

Meanwhile, modern communication has resulted in Christmas card being sent to an inbox instead of a mail box.

Your business can make a smart decision this year, because the holiday season should not be viewed as a commercialized time of year. Advertising does not need to stress consumers out!

Business Christmas cards are a direct mail marketing alternative. Including a special offer or incentive is optional and completely unnecessary because the biggest conversion point is in the Christmas card itself.

Business Christmas cards are a warm and friendly, personal gesture of gratitude and appreciation. Even the simplest of messages (“Dear X, Happy Holidays… Sincerely X”) can be a powerful message when delivered in a business Christmas card.

While this approach is beneficial to building customer loyalty, you should not overlook the advantages of expressing appreciation to employees through business Christmas card.

The holiday season can be overwhelming for everyone, and this can have an impact on work productivity. Regardless of the size of your business, Christmas cards are a simple and cost effective way to brighten the moods and express appreciation for the contribution that each employee makes to your company.

It is important to avoid a generalized or impersonal message when sending out business Christmas card to employees. If you have a larger business, you can encourage each branch manager to provide a personal message for each unique individual that plays an important role in your business. Christmas cards will improve customer loyalty and increase employee productivity, through the simple task of expressing appreciation.

When used as a direct mail marketing strategy, business Christmas cards are also a smart approach for B2B marketing. Local businesses, and relevant businesses (affiliates) will appreciate the message that is received with a business Christmas card and you will be in their thoughts…

Choosing Business Christmas Cards for the Most Effective Delivery of Message

Remember that religion plays a large part in Christmas, so “Season’s Greetings” might be less offensive to some than “Merry Christmas.” It’s never a good idea to be too general either you want business Christmas cards that offer a warm and inspiring message to all.

While many companies who specialize in corporate greeting cards can personalize a card to match the color and style of your business, and perhaps even include your logo, this is not a good idea with business Christmas cards. The purpose of a Christmas card should be nothing more than a friendly gesture that will receive the appreciation of those who receive it.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Larry_TenBrink

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.
Marketing Solutions To Help Your Business Grow
Send Out Cards is a business tool we are using.

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If you have done any kind of Internet Marketing chances are you have came across the name Frank Kern. Many give Frank props for being the number one Internet Marketing guru of all time.

Frank’s latest Marketing strategy is pure genius: Win Frank Kern’s ’63 VW Bus

When I first heard of his latest launch I though OK now what product has he come up with? As I watched his video I was shocked to find out that he’s not pushing any of his own products or anyone else’s product either. He’s just starting a feeding frenzy and practically shutting down Facebook with all the traffic he’s getting on his Facebook page.

So nothing to buy – then WHY?

My guess is that he wants to keep his name out there and collect “likes” on his Facebook page while building relationships with thousands of would be Internet Marketers…thus offering his products and services to them down the road, once they know like and trust him.

Whatever his master plan is as a Marketer you can’t help but suck it all in and watch how it all unfolds.

Frank is the real deal – check out the contest and Enter to Win Stuff Today.

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

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Many people do not give appropriate importance to business cards because they have no idea about the real worth of the material. Normally, such print material is prepared as a custom and is used to exchange introduction or while you go and visit a new customer. You can achieve more than the general introduction with people if you have powerful and captivating business cards. Intelligent people are using the general nature of the tiny print article to create sensational approach and convince customers to remember the introduction to achieve maximum mileage in business growth. It is done through certain imaginative work while creating the material and using vibrant colors and artistic approach. You should treat the card as a multipurpose marketing tool to achieve the maximum advantage in the market and earn adequate goodwill.

Prepare the card on a high quality paper stock so that the recipient feels the importance of the article. You should think about the experience of the recipient when he finds the high class paper material at the introduction and is persuaded to provide a glance to it. You should be able to create an impression of exclusiveness to draw respect from the customer. The card should contain information, which is truly necessary as an introductory approach. The name of your company, the logo with a tag line and the address with contact telephone numbers and email address should only be mentioned. Ensure to make the card clean and spotless without any flaw in printing. Here, you can introduce the folded business cards as a specialty from a high quality online printing company.

You must use the card as a great marketing tool to create an impact in the customer to gain a definite approval. You can further add some extra element in the card to make it a novel article by attaching a small silk tag to make people recognize you individually. You should be innovative in dressing up business cards to convince people of your identity, which is a tremendous gain in marketing. You will definitely get the response from the market with the tiny device of publicly when you provide maximum novelty in the creation of high quality business cards.

About The Author: Through this article, we try to provide valuable information about Business cards and its effectiveness. For printing and other business promotional products, you can visit Folded business cards (http://www.business-cards.org/folded-business-cards.html).

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

Custom Full Color Business Cards Just $65.00 Per 1,000 (2 sided)
(Based On Supplied Artwork) – Contact Tim Somers Here.

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Although I believe you still need both, the future may steer many smaller to mid-sized businesses away from building expensive flashy websites.  If this trend continues the writing may be on the wall, Facebook makes it very easy and cost effective (Free) to get your business online in a matter of minutes.

Facebook recently released some staggering statistics that should make you take notice and get your Facebook Business Fan Page up and running as soon as possible.

- More than 400 million active users
- 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
- More than 35 million users update their status each day
- More than 60 million status updates posted each day
- More than 3 billion photos uploaded to the site each month
- More than 5 billion pieces of content
  (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each week
- More than 3.5 million events created each month
- More than 3 million active Pages on Facebook
- More than 1.5 million local businesses have active Pages on Facebook
- More than 20 million people become fans of Pages each day
- Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans
- Average user has 130 friends on the site
- Average user sends 8 friend requests per month
- Average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook
- Average user clicks the Like button on 9 pieces of content each month
- Average user writes 25 comments on Facebook content each month
- Average user becomes a fan of 4 Pages each month
- Average user is invited to 3 events per month
- Average user is a member of 13 groups
- More than 70 translations available on the site
- About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States
- More than 500,000 active applications currently on Facebook Platform
- More than 250 applications have more than one million monthly active users
- More than 80,000 websites have implemented Facebook Connect since December 2008
- More than 60 million Facebook users engage with Facebook Connect on external websites every month
- There are more than 65 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices
- People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are 50% more active on Facebook than non-mobile users
- There are more than 180 mobile operators in 60 countries working to deploy and promote Facebook mobile products
 
There is a bit more to simply throwing up a Facebook Business Fan Page, to get noticed you must promote the page using prominent links on your website and including the Facebook Fan Box on your website and blog.  You should also include a link in your email signature, on your business cards, in your newsletter and pretty much on any offline advertising you do.

Another key factor in building fans is to offer up killer content, helpful tips, techniques and useful information this will lead to a huge following.  Self promotional sales tactics will turn your fans off and your following will dissolve quickly.

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

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After a very successful beta launch of our Email Marketing By Zip Code program in 2009 we have rolled out several zip codes within Wayne County Michigan.  We will be rolling out other zip codes throughout Michigan and the entire United States through various distributors.  Solo Email Blasts are currently available to any zip code in the United States.  (contact us if you are interested in becoming a distributor).

Advertising and Marketing are two necessary evils that we business owners must endure to be successful.  More and more companies are refocusing their ad dollars to include various online channels such as banner advertising on popular websites and full blow Email Marketing campaigns.  It is clear that one thing will not change in this some times confusing arena. You need to market and advertise your business using several different avenues, both online and offline and email marketing is one of the more powerful and cost effective ways to increase your online presence.

Email Marketing By Zip Code uses opt-in subscribers, that have requested additional information from local and national merchants.   You can deliver a targeted marketing message right to these subscribers desktop.  This is one of the most dynamic ways you can get your message read at an incredibly minimal cost per exposure.

Example of Group (10) Ad Email Blast:

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

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Here are some powerful SEO Tips To Get Backlinks yourself.

Squidoo Lists

Squidoo.com has become one of the most powerful resources on the web to get links back to your site. Copy and paste the following into a Google search bar:

“add+to+this+list”+site:squidoo.com

This will give you a very large list of Squidoo Lenses, and you can add your site to these with very little effort.  Most of them will have a very high PageRank which is a key factor you want to look for in getting backlinks.  When adding your site to these Lenses, be sure to use custom anchor text with the keywords you want to rank for.

You can also search using +”keyword phrase” targeting your links for relevance. For example, if you were trying to rank a dating site you should do a Google search like this:
“add+to+this+list”+”dating”+site:squidoo.com

Web 2.0 Profiles

Creating a profile on Web 2.0 sites like Facebook.com and LinkedIn.com utilizing your website url gives you very high quality backlinks.  Other sites to consider are twibs.com and zoominfo.com.  You should also search out Web 2.0 portals in your niche, if you have a fitness website then search for fitness sites that enable you to create a profile and interact with other members.

Article Marketing

This is one of the more time consuming ways to get backlinks, but is actually one of the best ways to generate multiple backlinks from a single effort.  Be sure that you include a link to your site in the body of your article and yet again at the end in the author bio.  Every article that gets posted generates a backlink to your site. The more articles that get posted, the more links you can build.  Posting on article sites opens the door for other bloggers and site owners to use your article on there sites, giving you yet another avenue for getting backlinks.

Write good quality original articles and submit them to a few article directories. Here are just a few of the most popular ones EzineArticles.com and GoArticles.com.

To maximize your efforts, you can submit your article to hundreds of directories using this great resource for automating your article submitting.

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

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It’s Said That Customers Leave Because They Don’t Feel Appreciated.

Studies show the #1 reason customers stop doing business with a company is “perceived indifference,” meaning they feel taken for granted and neglected.  The numbers are staggering 68% of customers that leave did so because they didn’t feel the love.

Like most, I always had good intentions of sending thank you cards to my clients, but would get busy with then next project and simply not take the time to do this much needed task.  I even had greeting cards printed or even post cards printed with the same generate “Thank You” all with the same generic picture.  All I had to do is address it, stamp it and drop it in the mail box and I didn’t do it 75% of the time.

In regards to prospecting, statistics show most sales take at the very least 5 contacts or exposures – in fact 80% of sales are made on the fifth contact.  Most sales people never make it to number 5, most stop trying after the second failed attempt.  And in regards to trade show follow up nearly 65% of all leads are NEVER contacted, not even once.  I know I am guilty of this.

So why is this such a big problem?  We as sales people and or business owners know what it takes to grow a business, follow up, persistence and thanking those that make you and your business exist are all vital ingredients.  My “Why” is lack of a system, an automated system that does the heavy work for me? 

Since becoming a Send Out Cards distributor (not just a customer) I am able to follow up will all my trade show leads, thank my customers, send birthday cards, holiday cards and simple thinking of you cards. This system is the automation that I needed to fill the void I had struggled with for all these years.

One of the main features that sold me was the ability to set it and forget it by creating campaigns that will automatically send out cards when ever you want them to go out.  One of my favorite campaigns is my “Thank You” campaign.  The campaign consists of 3 greeting cards and 2 post cards.  First it sends out a thank you card, thanking the recipient for their business.  Then 30 days later post card featuring a promotional product tip hits their mail box.  Then 45 days later a motivational greeting cards arrives, 6 months out and 1 year out a reminder to reorder and or visit our website to check out the latest specials.  My customers are well worth the incredible low $4.36 it costs me to send these five exposures out (that’s $4.36 total).

Remember if you are not thanking your customers somebody else is ready and willing to thank them.

If you’d like to send out a few greeting cards on me using Send Out Cards contact me here and I will walk you through the process in about 15 minutes.

To Your Success!

Tim Somers
Bizarre Promotions, Inc.

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