Category: 30-SECOND READ (Page 3 of 11)

My 30-second read blog posts give you a quick hit of marketing or small business knowledge.

Using Your Business Forms to Get More Sales

March 8, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

You should always be trying to make a sale, even when you just made one.

For example, I created this new Editable Invoice Template and at the end I added:

WANT A FREE GIFT?

Refer us to get a $25 gift card for every new customer you send our way!

Why not use your invoices and other business and marketing collateral to their maximum sales potential?

This same offer could also go on your business cards, social media profiles, order forms, customer receipts, packaging – anywhere your customers will see it.

It doesn’t have to be a free gift. It could be a discount off a future purchase, a free service, anything to keep the sales funnel going, but the point is, this is free ad space for you!

Remember, always be selling!

Be sure to also see my Editable Thank You Card and Editable Order Form.

Fun & Easy Local Marketing Idea

February 10, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

If you want to reach out to your local market, here is a fun easy local marketing idea!

A search that skyrockets every February is “heart-shaped pizza near me” (due to Valentine’s Day). Fun Easy Local Marketing Idea

So make a list of 5 local pizza places in your city that are offering heart shaped pizza and give a shout out on social media (see example post below).

Do the shoutouts individually (as opposed to a group) tag the restaurant on the post in comments (so they see it), and they will likely repost, thus in turn giving your business a shout to their followers.

Be sure to use hashtags #shoutout #heartshapedpizza #austinpizza #pizzainaustin

If you need marketing advice or services, please see my Marketing Services page or my marketing & business downloads.

Be sure to also read, Galentines’ Marketing Ideas.

Winter Email Marketing Idea

February 4, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

It has been FREEZING where I live, so I love it when I see businesses jump on whatever is going on in the day-to-day lives of their customers, to try and make a sale.

For example, a popular local department store sent out this email “Beat the Deep Freeze with these Cozy Winter Items on Sale”.

This is why when it’s raining, stores will move their umbrellas to the front, or air conditioners and fans when temperatures soar.

Any type of business can take advantage of the current cold winter weather, such as:

A travel agency should be promoting their down south vacations.
A realtor should be promoting vacation properties in warmer climates.
A beauty salon should be promoting their treatments for dry winter skin.
A restaurant or bar should be promoting their warm drinks to beat the cold, such as Hot Toddies.
A personal trainer should be promoting how to safely workout in extreme temperatures.
A life coach should be promoting sessions on how to cope when the cold weather is getting you down.

My point is, your email, promotional and social media marketing should always have a ready-to-go plan based on events that don’t have a set date, like the weather.

If you need a marketing plan, be sure to check out my 12-Month Marketing Plans. I also offer a variety of Consulting & Marketing Services.

Check out more of my 30-second blog posts.

A Fun Way To Attract Attention To Your Business

January 9, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

A town called Minocqua in Wisconsin has an annual tradition of creating a 30-foot tall snowman to attract the attention of passer-bys to their visitor’s bureau.

It is a brilliant marketing idea on many levels:

It attracts attention.
It gets community involvement as volunteers construct the snowman.
It gets annual free local publicity, that also turns into national publicity.
People pose with the snowman and post to social media.

I remember doing a marketing plan for an outdoor garden center and they wanted an idea that would get people to visit at the start of the season. I suggested that they create a giant bunny topiary that kids (and adults) could pose with for Easter.

It’s the same sort of idea. It gets the business noticed; it draws people to the business; it gets the business shared on social media; and it’s quirky enough that it will likely get some free publicity (if the bunny is large enough).

So whether you drape the side of your building with a giant flag for the Fourth of July or light it up with the colors of the teams playing in the Superbowl or position a giant heart frame out the front for couples to take their photo for Valentine’s Day, try to think of something seasonal, holiday-themed or even weather-related to create attention.

You might also want to read, 101 Super Creative Promotional Ideas for Your Small Business.

Need creative ideas just for your business? Be sure to check out my Marketing Services.

Today’s Marketing Idea I Love

January 5, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

marketing ideas I love Happy new year everyone!

So here is today’s marketing idea that I really love, and that I thought you might want to try with your own business.

I was on the website of the furniture retailer, West Elm, and I really liked how they include this “Why West Elm?” graphic at the end of every listing description.

It focuses on five key elements of their value proposition, with short-to-the-point text and easy to understand graphics.

The goal is to reinforce to first-time customers your business’ values and credibility, to create trust in buying from you.

If you need help writing your website copy, About page, Brand Story, blog posts, press releases, listing descriptions, and so forth, I offer a variety of affordable marketing writing services that create engagement and are optimized for SEO. Just email me at attentiongetting@gmail.com to discuss or head over to my Services page at my Shopify store or on Etsy.

I know you’re busy, so here are more of my 30-Second Reads.

A Fast Way to Discover Who Your Target Customer Is

December 16, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

a fast way to discover who your target customer is Need a fast way to discover your target customer? Well all you have to do is simply read your top competitors’ reviews.

Here you will see a name and sometimes a photo, and this will help you determine age and gender.

Then they will also typically have their country and maybe even their city. Again, these are all key demographics.

If you actually read the reviews, you will learn more as well. Maybe who they were buying the item for, or what they planned to use it for.

Then you can determine things like, maybe they have a lot of men buying this as a gift for their wife, or a lot of professionals are using the product as opposed to the end user.

You may even learn where the customer discovered the brand in the first place i.e. I saw this on Instagram and had to buy.

Visit my Etsy store.

An Easy Way to Measure Online Ad Success

December 7, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Need an easy way to measure online ad success?

When you run online ads – whether it is on Google, a blog or social media – here is a quick way to see if your ads are working.

One key metric you will get is AD IMPRESSIONS / REACH. This is the number of times your ad appeared to potential customers. If your ad impressions (or reach) for your ad campaign is not at least 10,000, I’m not sure you are going to make any sales. Here is why:

If we take the benchmark 1% rule, this means that 1% of ad impressions should turn into clicks, and 1% of clicks should turn into sales.

Therefore, 1% of 10,000 ad impressions means you should get at very least 100 clicks. Of those 100 clicks, again, at very least 1% should turn into orders. 1% of 100 clicks is 1 order.

Therefore, at a bare minimum, 10,000 ad impressions will lead to 1 order. But this is just a benchmark and obviously will vary depending on the product, ad creative, etc.

If your ad creative is very effective, causing your click through rate to be more like 5% of ad impressions, then this means those 10,000 ad impressions will turn into 500 clicks. Then, maybe if your sales conversion rate is also very good at 5%, then this means those 500 clicks will turn into 25 orders.

So, if you only got the basic 1% conversion, and let’s say you were paying .20 cents a click, this means you spent $20 to get 1 order. If the order is for $200, that’s great, but not so great if it is only for $25.

However, if you had the 5% conversion rate, and paying .20 cents a click, this means you spent $100 to get 25 orders. Even if each order is only $15 ($375 total order), this is a fairly good return.

FINAL THOUGHT: If you are not getting at least 10,000 ad impressions, you either need to increase your ad budget and/or change your keywords. If your clickthrough rate on ad impressions is 1% or less, you have to change the ad creative and/or the demographics of who is seeing it.

Be sure to also read: My Simple Tip for More Cost-Effective Ads. If you need to understand and improve your ad strategy, be sure to set up a 1:1 Phone Consultation with me.

By the way, I was quoted in an article in US News & World Report last week, called Low Cost Home Based Business Ideas, if you wish to check it out.

Quick Thanksgiving Email Marketing Tip

November 23, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Every Thanksgiving, “How to Cook a Turkey” is one of the top searches, as you can see below. So, email your customers a helpful email on how to do this (just attach a link to a popular food blogger). Be sure to make “How to Cook a Turkey” the email subject line, and at the end of the email, mention your Black Friday sale. I guarantee a high open rate!