December 22nd, 2006
I’m confronted by the challenge of marketing a software product to a finite audience of business buyers. Yes, I suppose in the final analysis, all marketing audiences are finite. But in this case, I’m talking about 4,000 potential buyers – and that’s it.
Most marketing models are premised on an assumption of a nearly unlimited supply of prospects. Sure, we have to invest dollars and work hard to turn these prospects into leads, but the assumption is generally that there are an ample number of prospects to cultivate.
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B2B Lead Generation,
Business to Business sales,
complex sales
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Infinite Return Marketing, Real-Time Case Studies, Sales & Business Development | 
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Posted by Tom Blue
December 20th, 2006
If I allow customers to post candid reviews of my product or service on my web site, does the reward justify the risk?
I hear this question a lot, and I’m beginning to wonder if there’s really any risk at all. Consider these recent findings:
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Building Trust,
Consumer generated content,
transparency,
Web Marketing
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Posted by Tom Blue
December 19th, 2006
B2B Product Launch: (Higher Ed. #2)
We’re lucky. Smartware can be sold by our subject matter experts through WebEx demonstrations and telephone follow up – no travel required.
The remaining challenges, I hypothesized, could be addressed in part by a web-based product demonstration. Thus far, this tool is showing promise. Here’s what we did….
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B2B Lead Generation,
Flash,
Software Marketing
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Posted by Tom Blue
December 16th, 2006
I got a call recently from a friend whose company has developed a new consumer software application. He had been presented with an opportunity to buy banner ad exposures on a newspaper web site. “The price,” he said, “seems pretty amazing.” (In a good way.)
The newspaper had offered him banner ads on their site at a price of $0.02 per exposure. So, he would pay 2 cents every time the banner was presented to a site user. This seemed so cheap, he was suspicious. My reaction was the opposite.
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Calculating ROI,
Conversion Rates,
Marketing ROI,
Return on Investment
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Posted by Tom Blue
December 12th, 2006
I do a lot of presenting. Some people tell me that’s all I should do. I enjoy it. And with lots and lots of practice and training (debate in college, Toastmasters, media training from Edelman Worldwide, etc.), I guess I have gotten good at it.
One thing that I have found to really help a presentation is great images. They can infuse humor, creativity, and personality into an otherwise dry subject matter. They can engage the audience, and they can serve as great speaking cues for those of us who prefer fewer words on our slides whenever possible.
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flickr,
getty images,
istockphoto,
photos morgue,
shutterstock,
stock xchng,
toastmasters
No Comments » | Powerful Presentations, Sales & Business Development | Permalink
Posted by Tom Blue
December 8th, 2006
Why DON’T people refer?
A firm understanding of why people DON’T refer is one of the keys to getting your customers to refer business to you.
There are a host of reasons for not referring. Maybe your product or service is no good. Maybe your staff is rude. Maybe your customers literally don’t know any other prospects.
Let’s suppose for a minute that none of the above is true - yet people still don’t refer to you. Let me suggest that you have not put their FEARS of referring to rest.
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Expecting Referrals,
Lead Generation,
Lead Management,
prospects,
Referral Marketing,
referrals,
refer a friend
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Posted by Tom Blue
