Dear Joy,

How about a special marketing report pertaining to Legal aspects?  This would not only apply to lawyers, but to people in my company that market low-cost lawyer providers and Identity Theft. 

Here's what I do.  Right now I'm working full-time for a university as a scanner.  I scan documents the students send in and it's my job to see that the documents look good in our computer system.

On a part-time basis, I am a sales associate with Pre-Paid Legal.  Since we don't advertise, it's my job to get customers and other sales associates.  The trouble is that I've had so much chaos in my life, I haven't had time to focus on my business.  But now that is all about to change.

I'm afraid your company will be very limited to what it can do for me. Our company is watched by the SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Therefore, we already have many pre-approved vendors manufacturing certain products for us. For example, I couldn't get postcards or flyers from your company because you haven't been approved.  Also, PPL is satisfied with whom they already have as vendors. So there is no chance whatsoever to have a new vendor to come onboard. 

What I need for myself is ideas to reach my target audience. Everyone in the country needs what Pre-Paid Legal has to offer, which is a low-cost solution for getting legal representation and identity theft. If I had to narrow it down, it would probably be families with children, parents from ages 25 to 55, income from 25K to 80K, all over the United States.  With the cost of mail going up again, I know I couldn't afford sending out 5,000 postcards with the hope that only 1 to 5 percent will actually respond.

If you have any other ideas on how I could reach my audience, I would more than welcome your suggestions.

Thank you so much for your time.

Sincerely,
Dave DeMunn
Pre-Paid Legal Associate
Pompano Beach, FL

Hi David,

Well my goodness!  Seems like I can give you some ideas out of the goodness of my heart, but with no hope of any exchange in the form of business for my company!  That's okay... I don't mind!  Well, I hope you have an approved vendor that can produce door hangers for you.  As someone starting out with a product that is perfect for so many you can take a Saturday morning and put the doorhangers on homes.  If you do a few hundred a weekend, you'll spend very little money but in no time have all of the distributed without the cost of postage!

Sincerely,
Joy Gendusa
www.PostcardMania.com

Hi Joy,

First I want to say Thank You!

There are a bunch of companies out there competing with you, but your honesty sets you apart from the rest.  I really get the feeling you are genuinely try to help, that is really important to me.

The Question is:
What is the best way to market myself using my family name in a way that gets people interested, but doesn't seem too boastful or turn people off. I have been a Personal Fitness Trainer for 16 years and have always relied on word of mouth until now. I am now seeking to use myself, and my family name to promote my internet business as well as my Personal Training services.

I'm assuming a photo of myself next to my name would be the starting point.  My Father (Actor Billy Dee Williams) knows I have always been opposed to the idea until now.  I have since become more open minded to the idea, and I'm trying to figure out how to design my postcards to best take advantage of it.  I have done mostly everything myself and I'm working with a very limited budget.

Here are my websites:
http://coreydeewilliams.com/Home.html
http://www.key2bfit.com/

THANK YOU Soooo MUCH!
Corey Dee Williams

Hi Corey,

I'm sorry for taking so long to get back to you!

I totally respect your viewpoint about not wanting to 'use' your dad's fame.  That is admirable.  On the other hand the speed at which you could grow your business by totally using that is ridiculous!

I would have a GREAT photo of you and your dad on the card -- him with his arm around you and a quote of him saying something that a proud dad would say like "My son is the BEST trainer and I'm proof!"  It doesn't have to be that exactly if you don't actually train him... but some quote, depending on whether you're promoting your DVD site or the personal training service. 

Both sites need the same photo on the home page!  Using a celebrity endorsement is a long proven way to get major sales FAST!  With your dad's fame you can get a much better return on your marketing investment so the limited budget shouldn't be a problem.  Would be be into a little photo shoot with his kid? Personally, I'd milk it for all its worth!

Another important thing to consider is the mailing list: What list are you thinking with? This is very important too...

One thing I can totally advise you to do is to change your mind about boasting or bragging... you have to just decide that you're not going to worry about that.  I don't think anyone will think badly of you at all for using your dad's fame.  If he is into you doing that, you'd probably want his blessing...

Hey check out my DVD's on Marketing -- they will help you too!  http://www.powermarketingmania.com/

I hope this helps!

Sincerely,
Joy Gendusa
www.PostcardMania.com

It’s known that the economy has taken a hit, so let’s not belabor that point.  I’ve been saying that it is time to quit buying into the doom and gloom and get on the ball with promotion.  The reason is simple.  Those that continue to promote during slow economic times are the ones that will win out in the end. 

The renowned advertising guru Ogilvy said it best when he cited American Press studies in his book OGILVY ON ADVERTISING, showing select companies over the last 6 recessions that had cut their marketing budget — in each case they suffered lowered sales and net income several years after. 

Those businesses that continue to promote will pick up all customers and prospects from their competition that has cut their marketing.

You need to look for opportunities that are going to help you further your business — my mother always said that when one door closes another opens.  That’s the viewpoint you have to assume.  It works when you do.  You have to look for an open door.

Take the mortgage industry for instance.  That is not the best industry to be in these days — they’ve taken the hardest hit.  But there are still opportunities they if taken advantage of will help them stay afloat, such as the new FHA temporary loan limits made effective on March 6, 2008 from $271,050 to $729,750 which will give nearly 240,000 additional homeowners and homebuyers a safer, more affordable mortgage alternative.  

That news is worth repeating.  Mortgage brokers can promote this news from the rooftops and get the word out to their existing customer base and prospects.  There are people that need their help — potentially 240,000 of them.

I have die-hard promoters as clients that never stop promoting despite any crash… one is tripling his promotion.  Another big customer (and one of the reasons why he’s “big” is because he markets no matter what) is adding on a second mailing campaign.

If you want to buck this slump, you will have to buckle down, work harder, get smarter and continue to promote.

I’ve got 7 tips for you.  Be wise.  Use them.

• Market like crazy – pick up the customers your competitors will lose by cutting their marketing budgets;

• Look for terms where you can pay for your marketing when your income starts rolling in — this staves off the bite of having to spend money before the sales come in;

• Make better use of your own database — marketing for new customers is expensive but marketing to your existing customers has a higher return on investment.  So step up your marketing to your existing customer base;

• Don’t “agree” — don’t buy into the fact that you can’t control your business’s outcome.

• Stop messing around — quit doing defeatist-type actions that keep you in the mud… like saying “it’s no use anyway,” or not getting on the horn and doing every thing you can possibly do to improve your business. 
 
 You know what you should be doing, you know which employees are not pulling their  own weight, and you know what activities will improve your customer service — so do  them!  No excuses. 

 I will give you a real-life example.  I always considered it to be a bit tacky to  proselytize for my own business in social gatherings or at fundraisers or any kind of  event, really.  I have my marketing and sales set up so I really didn’t need to utilize  those contacts or events.  I enjoyed the fact that I wasn’t always figuring out how to  turn everything I did into a networking affair.  When someone approached me and  asked me to help them, of course I would but I didn’t seek these opportunities out.   However, I’ve had a change in viewpoint.  I have a fairly large staff and their  livelihood rests on my shoulders.  I simply made the decision that it was time to talk  it up and use the contacts I have to bring in orders.  This is a major change for me.  It’s actually going really well!  I’m not even doing anything different really— I   mainly just stopped resisting it and making the decision has created all kinds of interest    toward me for my services, by business people I know.  It’s actually kind of bizarre, but  exciting!

• Cut out waste — there’s an old saying from John Wanamaker that “I waste half my marketing budget, I just don’t know which half.”  If you improve your tracking methods you can get more out of your marketing dollars.  At my company we are already total analytics nerds, but we’re even getting more persnickety and digging deeper to understand more.  Say you have two different ways that you advertise — you promote in the newspaper and send out postcards. You get a bunch of calls and you think “Wow, my advertising is really working.”  You spend $10K a month and you make $50K off that, but you do not know which avenue is producing more.  The more precise you get, the higher the return on investment you will get.  Then you can increase your marketing budget to the channel that is getting you the most ROI and ditch (or at least lower) the other. Modernizing your marketing will help you stay afloat in a recession.
 
• Make sure your customer service is at its all time high by solidifying your core personnel.  Get the eternal slackers slacking somewhere else.  And make sure your entire team is on the bandwagon to beat this slump. 

Remember.  You can make a difference in your business.  And by doing that your business can make a difference in the recession.  And if enough companies do this we can make a difference in the economy. 

Joy Gendusa
www.postcardmania.com