Far too many business owners absolutely take the wrong approach. They hunker down, cut marketing budgets and pull back.  The end result is “unattended customers” and less competition for you. Businesses that cut marketing budgets also demotivate their best salespeople, which start spending more time thinking about getting a new job than a new customer.

Economic downturns are an excellent time to strengthen your relationships with both your existing customers and your competitors’ customers. Odds are, they are not as busy. Are they more willing to spend a little more time with you? Definitely possible - use the time wisely:

• Collect testimonials: Asking for a testimonial is a contact with your customer that’s not a sales call. Tell them you would like to promote the testimonial and link it to their website, which will promote them as well. Use the opportunity to show your customers you value their opinion, your business relationship, and their business (i.e., dynamic websites, blogs, Scribd, PR news, etc.);
• Survey your customers: Create an opportunity to collect feedback and discuss services and/or products you offer that they may not be fully aware of or completely understand (i.e., email marketing, custom website landing pages, etc.);
• Network: Introduce your customers to people in your network that they consider prospects and ask to meet their business colleagues and associates - an excellent source of referrals (i.e., LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook, etc.), and
• Use your “consulting” skills: Help your customers and prospects save time and money by providing pertinent industry news and educational materials that will help them compete during these difficult times (i.e., email newsletters, white papers and custom publications all have high ROIs).

But don’t be fooled. There is also new competition for you - competition from new business start-ups and competitors that have invested in new technologies and lower-cost marketing tactics.

Hordes of new businesses are created during economic downturns. Layoffs create a lot of entrepreneurs that may soon be targeting your customers with fresh ideas, creative solutions and competitive rates. And, they are targeting your customers using high ROI marketing tactics such as online social networks, email marketing, industry newsletters, dynamic websites (blogs) and related marketing technologies. If you are not already taking advantage of these marketing tools, now is a good time to ask yourself, if not now, when?

Don’t forget, the marketing tools mentioned above are low-cost when compared to traditional marketing methods but there is a cost. And, implementation requires resources - consider the costs while developing your 2009 marketing budget. Next year will be a difficult time for many and many companies won’t survive. Yours will if you take advantage of the marketing tools available today.

Additional Info

We picked up the following info from a recent newsletter from the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce:

Market aggressively. While many customers are hunkering down, don’t make the mistake of doing it yourself. Because your competitors are lying low, use this as the right time to raise your visibility by being more assertive in your marketing.

When times get tough, most companies are far from ready to do battle. They have nowhere to turn because they failed at prospecting. Ask them if they stay in touch regularly with all their prospects and customers, and you’ll get a blank stare. Ask them if they actively help their customers reduce operating costs, and they don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. In other words, these salespeople and their companies are unprepared to meet the challenges of a difficult economy.

If you’re one of our clients, it is likely you already have a dynamic website that includes a blog. Now is a good time to plan. Consider how you can use it to your advantage the rest of this year and during 2009. Here’s another quote from the reference mentioned above:

This may be the perfect time to start a blog. People still buy during tough economic times. It’s just that every purchase or investment undergoes far more scrutiny. Fear of making the wrong decision is a primary motivator in purchase decisions. Thought leaders are perceived experts. Businesses want to hire experts. Experts get paid more, and they get recruited from further away. Why?

Because in going with an expert, the perceived risk is lower. One of the least costly ways to begin to establish thought leadership is through blogging. Done right, blogging can both greatly enhance your perceived expertise and increase your chances of being discovered on search engines.

There are many other reasons for using blog technology, which we frequently cover on this blog (subscribe if you haven’t already and you’ll receive the free marketing advice).

Subscribe to digital AIM - Business Newsletters by Email

There are lots of people who are now well established in the social media space and are writing and creating exciting and insightful content. They have built formidable networks and are becoming influencers in their own way or on their own topics. An argument might soon be made that these people should command a premium when considering them for jobs, projects or unique roles. Perhaps even compensation.

Charlene Li, former Forrester Analyst and VP touched on a concept called Personal CPM. No proven formula exists yet, but to summarize, it’s based on:

• Your authority on a topic
• Your network’s interest and authority on a topic
• The trust your network places in you for the topic.

She was connecting this to how marketers might look at social networks as a business model. They might pay to reach the higher CPM people, and networks might compensate them to join their network. (Full story here)

Leave a comment and let us know how you using social networking.

The $100,000 dollar sports car is 100 percent electric and it accelerates from 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds. Long story short, she wanted one at the event but didn’t have any contacts at Tesla so she turned to social media networks and started networking; she wasn’t able to get a Roadster for the event. After using her contacts and contact’s contacts, she got TWO!

After reviewing the message, I realized it wasn’t her computer at all - she forwarded the text of another email to me. The pics are likely old but still worth taking a look at if you haven’t already seen them. Here’s what they found in someone’s computer:

Click on the first photo and you can scroll through the pics.

[Show as slideshow]

• About 75% of US households use the web when seeking products or services locally.
• 54% of search users no longer use the phone book.
• Approx. 4 billion searches were conducted on Google in one month (July 2007)

These are qualified leads looking for the specific service or product you provide. What techniques can you use today to help them find you? This article here explains a few that will improve your local search results.

If you prefer to outsource this type of work, call AIM Custom Media - our GeoTargeting Services for local search let’s them know you’re in town.

What is AIM GeoTargeting?
A program that drives local dollars to local businesses with an affordable internet marketing solution. One more thing, 78% more people are using the Internet to find a local business than they did just two years ago. Many small businesses have been slow to respond - don’t wait until you lose market share. Get involved now and cherry pick ripe leads looking for, but not finding, you.

Yes, when your prospects look for products and services locally they are turning to the web - AIM GeoTargeting Services let’s them know you’re in town. Contact us for details at 804-915-7379 or via email and we’ll contact you if you prefer.

AIM Custom Media serves companies located throughout the United States.

Locally, we serve the Metro Richmond, Virginia area, Coastal Virginia, Fredericksburg, and Washington, DC. Within the Metro Richmond area, we serve:

23005, Ashland; 23039, Crozier; 23059, 23060, Glen Allen; 23069, Hanover; 23075, Highland Springs; 23103, Manakin Sabot; 23106, Manquin; 23111, Mechanicsville; 23112, 23113, Midlothian; 23116, Mechanicsville; 23120, Moseley; 23129, Oilville; 23141, Quinton; 23146, Rockville; 23150, Sandston; 23219, 23220, 23221, 23222, 23223, 23224, 23225, 23226, Richmond; 23227, Bellevue; 23228, Lakeside; 23229, Regency; 23230, West End; 23231, Richmond; 23233, Ridge; 23234, Ampthill; 23235, Bon Air; 23236, 23237, 23294, 23298, Richmond; 23831, Chester; 23832, Chesterfield; 23836, Chester; 23838, Chesterfield and the surrounding areas.

From any phone, dial 800-GOOG-411, name the business and you’re connected. And, in more ways than one. The service will also text message local area info to you as well. Here’s the promo video from Google:

If you can’t see the video above, you can also view it here:1-800-GOOG-411

Local Search Marketing Strategies and SEO Tips

Before you start bidding on keywords and throw money at PPC (pay per click) marketing, consider using simple “organic SEO” online marketing strategies to improve your local SEO results. Whether your revenue comes from business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C), increasing your local search ranking will benefit your business.

First and foremost, create an SEO friendly website. The first step you can take to improve your local - as well as your overall search engine results - is make sure your website is search engine friendly. Make it easy for search engines to identify your business location and your keywords by following this short-list of SEO tips for local search:

• Prominently display your business name and address as text on both the top of the page and in the footer. In the header, it helps if you use an “H1″ tag that includes your address. Avoid placing your address and keywords in image files given they can be hidden from the search engines. Also, it is difficult for your site visitors to capture your address and phone number for future reference when it is embedded in an image.
• Include your business name, address and keywords in your page titles; within your website header “<Title>” HTML. Also, use keywords for your URL names when creating sub-pages (i.e., www…/online-strategic-marketing-plans/).
• Depending on your state, it can be helpful to abbreviate the state in one of the addresses and spell it out in the second (i.e., AIM Custom Media serves clients throughout the United States. Locally, we serve the Metro Richmond, Virginia area from our office located in Glen Allen, VA 23059).
• Check to make sure your company is listed on the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo Local, and MSN Live Search (Superpages). For each business listing, include a complete business description and use the same keywords that are on your website. Always include contact info in business listings given your prospects may not click through to your website.
• Ask your clients to rate your business. Again, on the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Provide your clients with a list of keywords and politely ask them to use the same keywords in their review (make sure these keywords are on your website). For the best results, you want each review to be unique so don’t use templates for this purpose.
• Add links to your existing clients on your website, with a testimonial of course. Include their address and a description that includes a few of your keywords. Contact your clients and ask them to return the favor by including a link to your site on theirs.
• Develop a list of local business directories. We have a list of the Metro Richmond, Virginia regional publications; Metro Richmond media websites, Richmond city magazines, Richmond newspapers, local Chamber of Commerce, and local blogs that we include in our “local” client’s online marketing plans. We do the research for clients in other areas. For example, our local list includes business directories and resources local to Hanover, Henrico, and Chesterfield counties. Depending on your target market, this can be a long list. Contact all of them and get your business listed.
• When possible, upload images or photos to the business directory and include the name of your company and keywords in the image’s description (”alt” tags). Do this for all of the images on your website.
• Take out your Strategic Online Marketing Plan for 2008 - if you don’t have one stop reading here and work on that first! Your marketing plan includes an evaluation of your top competitors. Visit your competitors’ websites and their links. It is easy to determine who is linking to your competitors’ websites. You can do this through Google, Yahoo, etc. What  companies in your industry are listed? Will they include a link for your site? Likely they will given the links help them also.
• While you’re at it, determine who is linking to your site. Contact the companies and ask them to include the correct info for your company as well as your keywords.

If you outsource your website maintenance, consider changing over to a content management system that allows someone in your office to update content on a regular basis. Fresh content is key to SEO. The conversion is a one-time expense that will, if setup properly, lower your annual website maintenance costs, increase your presence on the web, and enhance your ability to communicate with your existing clients and prospects (think increased referral rates). It is working for our clients. Feel free to call us if you want to learn more about lowering your costs while increasing your marketing exposure; we can do all of the above for you affordably if you like (Ph: 804-915-7379).

Organic SEO is one of the most cost-effective and long-term online marketing strategies but there are other methods to consider such as social networking, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, etc.  Pay-per-click can be an excellent tool for testing ideas and generating leads; however, working on your organic SEO should be your first priority:

Tom Chandler, owner of one of the top ten blogs for writers explains, “For a freelancer, pay-per-click advertising can be a flexible, effective, affordable marketing tool. I’ve used it several times over the years to quickly generate leads during slow periods, though I’ve discovered — as my blog-driven organic search results improved — that I don’t need it running all the time.”

Social networking and pay-per-click are another ballgame. Subscribe to our blog and you will receive our articles on these topics via email when they are published. Please feel free to share this information with your friends.

Spend $25 and Get FREE Shipping plus Lucky, Teen Vogue, or GQ Magazine Included with your Purchase
From August 4th to August 27th with Apparel purchases of $25 or more, customers can get a one-year magazine subscription to Lucky, GQ, or Teen Vogue. Additionally, customers will find savings of up to 50% off original prices and FREE shipping from select merchants.

What do the Associates get in return for promoting Amazon’s offer?

Associates can now earn $12 for each new Amazon Prime Free Trial member referred through October 31.  Amazon Prime is a popular Amazon.com program that gives its members unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of eligible items.  All new members are offered a free trial, allowing them to experience the convenience of shopping with Amazon Prime benefits for an entire month at no charge.

Amazon Prime members receive the following benefits, which are significant if you are an online shopper:

1. Unlimited FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of Amazon.com Items
2. Overnight Shipping upgrades for only $3.99 per item
3. Shopping with no minimum order size
4. Ability to share benefits with up to 4 household members
5. 1 Month Free Trial

If you are a website owner looking to make money using affiliate programs, there are numerous opportunities. Consider these recommended money makers.

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now.

For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers.

Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation.

Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs.

Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper.

The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem.

We need your help. Get more information and contact Congress by visiting www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com.

The Cartier ad campaign includes a link to a Cartier mini-site where you can download free music by Lou Reed, Phoenix, Marion Cotillard, and others. Mercedes-Benz USA has used the free music download marketing strategy for several years now at their corporate site. The latest from MBUSA (excerpt of their email marketing I rec’d on June 26, 2008):

Mixed Tape 21 and Mixed Tape Music Magzine # 5 – now online
Enjoy the fifth edition of Mixed Tape Music Magazine on mercedes-benz.tv. Also online: Mixed Tape 21 with a selection of brand new tracks.

Every eight weeks, Mercedes-Benz not only presents ten handpicked tracks by international newcomers for you to check out and explore as a free download compilation at www.mercedes-benz.com/mixedtape. For added visual delights, visit Mixed Tape Music Magazine, an innovative monthly online TV show featuring audio-visual highlights from around the world, now in its fifth edition.

This month’s theme is ‘Up North’ with artists hailing from the globe’s upper reaches – think Norway, Sweden or Canada. Their music, on the other hand, is decidedly international and at home between Hip-Hop, Folk, Pop and R&B. From Sweden, we have Kocky and his singer Rosanna, Joel Alme and MC Chords – the self-proclaimed luckiest man alive - while Chris Lee represents Norway’s cutting-edge music scene. On the other side of the Atlantic, MC Moka Only and Alanis Morissette shake it up for Canada.

Enjoy the mix!

Your Mercedes-Benz Team
www.mercedes-benz.tv/mixedtape

Why MySpace?

MySpace is an online social gathering place for teens right? Think again. Abbey Klaassen of Advertising Age has published an article with more details. Here’s an excerpt:

“There’s this misperception in the market about MySpace being a youth site, a site for teens,” said Travis Katz, managing director-international operations for MySpace. “But 85% of our audience in the U.S. is over 18, and 40% of all moms in U.S. are on MySpace.” He claims that MySpace reaches more people making $100,000-plus than other social-network competitors, such as Facebook and Yahoo 360. Real the full Adversiting Age article here.

More info: Cartier’s MySpace profile.