Archive for the 'Marketing' Category

If you have visited many popular websites lately you probably noticed a new look which is loosely defined as Web 2.0. One of the main features of this look is bright color gradients and boxes with rounded corners.

This look is clean and the file sizes are small, but they have been hard to recreate in most basic graphics programs. Creating a rounded rectangle with transparent edges is a task usually found only in high end  programs like Photoshop or Fireworks.

Surprisingly, this type of graphic is easy to make with a software program that you probably already have on your desktop. Just open up Powerpoint and in a few short minutes you’ll have an awesome Web 2.0 graphic or logo ready to publish to your web page.

Here is how you do it… (if you are in a hurry I’ve created three Powerpoint slides with many popular Web 2.0 styles already created. Look for the download link at the bottom of this post)

To create individual web 2.0 graphics in Powerpoint

Open Powerpoint (This tutorial is based on Powerpoint 2003)

On the right side menu click the “blank” layout box (this gets the annoying text boxes out of your way)

Right click on the slide and select background. Set the background color to a light gray so you can see the borders and details of your graphics.

Under the view menu select grids and guides. Select snap objects to grid and select 1/16th as the grid size. Make sure display grid on screen checkbox is checked.

Under the view menu select toolbars and make sure the drawing toolbar has a check mark next to it.

On the drawing toolbar select auto shapes, basic shapes, and select rounded rectangle

Draw a rounded box the size and shape you want. For this exercise I made one 2 grids tall and 2 grids wide

Right click on the rounded box and select Format Auto Shape

Click the color box and select fill effects

In the fill effects box select one color and set the shading style to horizontal

Set the color as red and select the dark to light gradient. Click OK

In the format auto shape box select line color as white, line type as solid, and line size as 3.

Click OK. You now have a very usable rounded box with gradient as shown above.

To Add Text: There are two basic ways to add text to your graphic. The first way looks good on the screen but produces non-aliased (jagged) text when saved as a PNG or GIF file. The second way is a little more involved using WordArt but produces awesome results.

Add Text: Basic Procedure

Right click on the graphic and select Add Text

Type your text into the box

Highlight your text and select the font, size, and color that you want from the formatting toolbar. Click Ok and select outside of your text to view the finished product.

(Please note this will produce jagged text results when saved as a PNG or GIF file)

Add Text: Using WordArt

Click on the WordArt icon on the Drawing Toolbar.

Select the top left WordArt style for normal looking text

Create your text in the WordArt box and select a font size of 24. Click OK

You will now see your WordArt on the screen

Click and drag your WordArt over your graphic and size and center it so it looks good.

Right click on your Wordart and select format WordArt

In this box you can select your main text color and select your border color and size

When you have your text formatted properly you’ll need to group it with your main graphic so you will be able to see it when your graphic is saved.

To group the objects, select the background of your graphic first (put the mouse over just the background and left click), Then hold down the shift key and select the WordArt. You’ll now see both items selected. Right click and select grouping/group from the menu. You’ll now have a grouped object that you can save.

Saving your completed graphic.

Select your completed graphic, right click, and select save as picture. Save your graphic as a .png or .gif file.

NOTE: .PNG files look better but may not have transparent corners in older browsers. You can also save the file as a .JPG file but the rounded edges will not be transparent and will default to black instead.

Viola! A Web 2.0 graphic with transparent edges, ready for your web page or other graphic application.

You can also cut and paste this graphic into MS Word, Excel, or other office applications

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Download Resources: To save you time, I’ve created a download file containing three Powerpoint slides with numerous looks and styles on each. All of the text is WordArt so they will save with clean edges.

Instructions:

Download the Powerpoint Web 2.0 Graphics zip file
Unzip the file and save it to your computer
Open the file in Powerpoint.
You’ll see three slides on the left hand side of the screen.
Click on a slide to open it on the main screen.
To save a graphic as it is, select the graphic you want to use and select save-as from the main menu.
Save the file as a .PNG or GIF file to your computer.

To Change The Size: Click the graphic and use the handles that appear to resize it to any shape you want. You can also copy and paste a graphic to a new blank Powerpoint slide to give you more room.

To Change the Text: Double click the text and edit as necessary. To change the font, colors or border style, select the text and right click and select format WordArt. Change the settings in the appropriate boxes.

To Move The Text Around: The text on the graphics is grouped with the background graphic. To move things around you’ll need to ungroup them, edit as necessary and regroup them to save.

To ungroup the text, select the text, right click and select grouping/ungroup. Edit and resize your text as necessary.

Use the WordArt tool bar for many different text options.

When you are done, you’ll need to re-group the objects. To regroup, select the background of your graphic first (put the mouse over just the background and left click), Then hold down the shift key and select the WordArt. You’ll now see both items selected. Right click and select grouping/group from the menu. You’ll now have a grouped object that you can save.

To Save the Finished Graphic: select your re-grouped graphic and select save-as from the main menu.
Save the file as a .PNG or GIF file to your computer. (Please note: If the WordArt and the graphic are not grouped you will not see the text when it is saved as a .PNG or .GIF)

Powerpoint Resources:

How To Do Everything With Powerpoint

Kingston Wireless Presenter

Portable Powerpoint

Other Powerpoint Posts:

Powerpoint Made Simple

Powerpoint that Sticks

Five Must Have Tools For Powerpoint

Do You Make These Mistakes With Powerpoint?

5 Quick Tips To a Better Powerpoint Presentation

Technorati Tags: Powerpoint, Web 2.0, Presentations

Facts are everywhere. We have facts about almost every conceivable thing in existence. Facts may have names, numbers, and numerous bullet points. Facts fill volumes of dictionaries and encyclopedias. And there is one thing that all facts have in common…

Facts by themselves are boring!

Fill any Powerpoint presentation with bullet points of facts and you’ll likely put your audience asleep. Blog about facts and your readers may not make it to the end of your post. Strike up a fact filled conversation and watch the eyes glaze over.

In your next speech, just give them the facts and you’ll probably find that your only audience member that is left awake is Joe Friday. And you’ll also find one other important thing…

Facts are not memorable!

When you just present a list of data, most people cannot remember it. You’ll be lucky if your intended recipient can remember the first item on the list. That is because…

Facts are inherently slippery.

The bigger the numbers and the longer the names, the harder it will be to remember the items. Facts are like teflon to our minds… they just don’t stick.

In business, sales, and in most any conversation we all have facts that we would like to convey in a memorable way. We want to get our fact filled ideas across.

So how can we do this?

Here are three trios that I think may help to get your points across.

The Three C’s: Contrast, Context, and Comparison

Contrast: When you look at a square of yellow by itself it’s just that… a square of yellow. But if we surround our square of yellow with a black color, our eyes suddenly see the contrast and the yellow pops.

Context: When you take similar items and add something dissimilar you have taken something out of context. This item sticks out and is quickly recognizable.

Comparison: When you have data by itself it usually doesn’t mean much. But when you can compare your data with other data in a graph or other comparison format, your data really stands out.

The Three P’s: Picture, Presentation, & Performance

Picture: They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Frame your facts with pictures and people will be able to SEE what your facts are all about.

Presentation: Present your facts in an interesting way using graphics, icons, and pictures for added emphasis. Add emotional pictures to draw people into your story.

Performance: When you take your facts, weave them into a story, and present them in a live performance, you’ll bring your audience into the story and make the facts come alive. This performance can be a speech, a play, or even a business simulation.

The Three S’s: Stories, Surprise, & Strategy

Stories: Tell a story… make a point! Stories are inherently powerful tools for making your ideas stick. People remember stories, especially if you add word pictures and emotion. Powerful stories are like duct tape for your facts. They will stick!

Surprise: Add the element of surprise to your facts. Find things that don’t add up or are intriging. The element of surprise is a powerful way to keep your audience on the edge of their seats. Unfortunately, surprise only works once, so make sure to keep it a secret until your are ready to reveal it.

Strategy: Tie your facts together into a purposeful strategy. Paint the vision and the path for your audience and they will come along for the journey. A great strategy is inherently interesting.

Take these ideas and use them together to take your boring facts and make them memorable. Outline a strategy, add contrast and surprise and put your audience into a compelling drama. Tie this together with a compelling performance and your next presentation will surely be a memorable one.

For a compelling read on this subject, be sure to pick up a copy of Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath.

Technorati Tags: presentations, powerpoint, speaking

Face to face selling is a game of communications. You have a product or service and you have to convince your buyer to purchase it. It should be a simple game… tell them the features and give them a good price and you have a sale. But it’s not that easy. People like to buy from people and as important as your product is you have a much better chance of making the sale if your prospective customer likes you. Here are some simple but important tips for making the sale.

1. Look your prospective customer in the eye. An easy way to accomplish this can be found in Nicholas Boothman’s book, “How to connect in Business in 90 seconds or Less.” Mr. Boothman has a really effective tip…

When meeting someone for the first time, just make a mental note of what their eye color is. This will automatically force you to look the person in the eye.

It is amazing how well this works. With a little practice you’ll find yourself doing this automatically.

2. Smile. I used to think this was easy. I would find myself smiling on the inside but not portraying a smile on the outside. Mr. Boothman also offers a unique process for creating a great smile.

Not everyone has the perfect smile. Here is a tip that fashion models use. Look into the mirror and say “Great” over and over, each time using a different crazy tone of voice until you crack up. Say it loud, whisper it, say it with a laid back voice, say it with a sexy voice. It not only makes you smile, it also makes you feel good.

Every time you meet someone smile. If you have trouble smiling say, “great” to yourself as you approach: you’ll be smiling.

This simple technique works because the word is positive and it’s “ay” sounding middle syllable causes you to bare your top teeth.

3. Offer a firm handshake. In business and in sales a good handshake is vital for both men and women.

Etiquette International offers some simple tips for the perfect handshake.

• is firm, but not bone-crushing
• lasts about 3 seconds
• may be “pumped” once or twice from the elbow
• is released after the shake, even if the introduction continues
• includes good eye contact with the other person

When shaking hands always introduce yourself by name and call the person by name (if you know it) . A persons name is like gold.
 
4. Ask open ended questions. Questions are a great way to find out more about your customers. You can ask them about their business, interests, hobbies, etc. Make sure the questions are about them and not yourself and that they are open ended. If you ask yes or no questions you’ll get yes or no answers. Jeffrey Gitomer has some great examples of sales questions in his book, “The Sales Bible.“

5. Develop keywords. When you find out things about your customer, write them down in the form of keywords. If your customer likes the Dodgers and has baseball pennants on the walls, your keywords would be “baseball” and “dodgers”. Notice things like the type of car they drive, their favorite color, and unique fashion or clothes. The simpler the keywords, the easier they will be to remember.

Prospect Cards

Here are some quick and simple prospect cards that you can print on business card stock that will help you track contact information, keywords, and product suggestions for your customers. These little gems are a great way to store the most important information on your customers and prospects. They fit easily in your pocket or purse and can be quickly referenced before making a sales call. They will help you remember names, keywords, and recommended products to help you make the sale.

The front side of the prospect card has places for standard customer information such as name, address, phone, e-mail etc. It also has a line for keywords. This is a great place to put two or three words that signify your customer’s interests. This memory jogger will help you to strike up a conversation quickly and easily.

The back side of the card has places for additional contact information, product interest, product recommendations, and sales history. This will help you identify other people in the organization that may make buying decisions and list their product interests. There is also a place for recommended products that will fit your clients needs. The last line is for sales history, where you can make notes on past invoices and product sales.

This little card can really help jog your memory in the middle of a sales call. You’ll have contact names, product numbers, and recommended products in the palm of your hand. this is also a great place to write down additional customer information as it becomes available. Write it down and you won’t forget it.

Instructions for use:

• Download the Sales Card Template files.
• Unzip the files.
• Open the front sales card file in MS Word.
• Modify as necessary or leave blank for manual entry.
• Open the back sales card file in MS Word.
• Modify as necessary or leave blank for manual entry.
• Print the cards front to back on Avery Business Card Stock.
• Break the cards apart and organize by name or area.
• Use a mini-clip to organize the cards.
• Take with you in your pocket or purse.

You can also create your own Sellateer pocket sales device. Add your own business cards and mix and match other productivity cards to create a sales short stack. Choose from these other card assortments to find cards that work for you.

Organizer
Goal Toolkit
Flowchart
Outliner
Motivators

Good luck and sell, sell, sell!

Technorati Tags: sales, marketing

Real Estate school is over, you’ve got your license at last, and have listed your first house. It’s Saturday morning and you are ready to do an open house for your client. The housing market has been a little slow lately and you need to find an edge. The client’s house is great and shows very well. It has some great amenities such as great schools, fabulous shopping nearby, and a great view out of the upstairs window. You need to find a way to make sure your visitors know what a great buy it is!

You have all the usual marketing materials available including a full color flyer, the MLS printout, and your double sided business cards. You have freshly baked some chocolate chip cookies and purchased three open house signs. You are ready to close this deal today.

You go online and pull up a map of the client’s house and realize that the main street is miles away. How are you going to direct people in with only three open house signs? You start to panic. You login to your computer and type in open house marketing materials.

Among the listings is a link to an Open House Marketing Kit. You click on the link and peruse the contents. Hmmm… you think to yourself, “this might be helpful.” You download the files, fire up MS Word and personalize the materials to fit your clients needs. Soon you are printing signs, motivational cards, and even a sign up sheet.

You put all of your materials together and head out to your client’s house. You start at the main road and put out your open house signs. The bright yellow directional signs you printed out are very helpful to keep people going in the right direction. The sign that says “Freshly Baked Cookies Ahead,” is sure to be a hit.

As you pull up to the house and greet your client, you make sure to put your Open House- Come On In sign on the front door. Your clients take off for an afternoon at the mall and you get busy. You warm up your cookies in the oven to get that wonderful aroma throughout the kitchen and strategically place some of your motivational cards throughout the house.

You lay out the sign up sheet next to the plate of cookies and put your Open House Business Cards in a display holder. You are ready. Soon the doorbell rings and you invite your first visitors in. After they sign in and have a cookie you show them around the property.

The motivation cards are a great conversational tool. You have placed one that says DSL on the computer and another that says Dual Pane on the windows. Your visitors are impressed and let you know that having DSL available is very important for their home based business. As your first visitors leave you hand them a business card with all the home info on it along with the room sizes on the back.

Soon the traffic is brisk with many people drawn in by the cookie sign. The sign-in sheet is filling up and people are interested in the school district from the great schools card. Your plate of cookies is dwindling and all of a sudden your cell phone rings.

It’s you first visitors of the day calling back to place an offer on the house. The High Speed DSL was a great selling point as many homes in the area didn’t have it. You invite them back and write up an offer. Soon your clients return and the deal is signed. Not bad for a few hours work and a plate of cookies! The Marketing kit helped bring people in and was a great conversation starter for visitors.

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The Open House Marketing Kit contains MS Word
Templates for the following…

Directional Signs: Right, Left, And Straight Ahead
Freshly Baked Cookies Sign
Come On In Sign
Sign-In Sheet
Free Drawing Cards
Open House Motivator Cards (10)
Real Estate Marketing Cards (10)
Real Estate Marketing Cards Blank (10)

Additional Materials Needed

Avery Business Card Stock (10 Card)
Heavy Weight Colorful Paper
Sharpie Markers

Directions for use:

Download the Open House Kit
Unzip the files
Open in MS Word
Modify the Templates as needed for your individual properties
Print sheets as necessary for your next open house.
Use Colorful Heavy Weight Paper for signs
Use Avery Business Card Stock for Card Templates.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: real estate, open house, marketing

The Real Estate market is changing. Prices are declining for the first time in years. Here in California, the prices are coming down from the stratosphere. Houses are still selling, but are taking months instead of days. In my Toastmasters club we have quite a few people that are involved in the Real Estate business. For some this is the first decline they have ever seen. For the more experienced agents, they have seen this cycle before.

I have asked a few of them how they are coping with the market changes. Many are sharpening their marketing tools to help match potential buyers with sellers. Others are having open houses on the weekend to bring in buyers. Others have moved online with personal websites and internet search tools.

My wife and I have spent some time over the past few weeks looking at open houses in our area. We have seen everything from an agent on the phone the whole time we visited to an agent that took the time to ask our needs, personally show us around the house, and the offer to show us other properties that might meet our needs better.

I noticed the marketing materials offered. They ranged from mass duplicated Xeroxes of the MLS listing to full color, glossy brochures. One agent even had a glossy brochure and a DVD available. When we got home I put on my marketing hat and thought to myself- how would I market Real Estate in this market?

I asked myself this question… What would I look for in a home?

Here are some things that came to mind…

Single story
Large Rooms
Efficient Kitchen
3 or 4 Bedrooms
Bright & Airy
Private Yard
Quiet Neighborhood
Good Schools

What bonus features would be good…

Nice View
Spa
Sunroom
3 Car Garage

What features might detract…

Pool with Maintenance Costs
Tile or Wallpaper the Wrong Color
Busy Street or Airport Nearby

I sat down at my computer and started working on some ideas for my Realtor friends. Since I’m not a Real Estate agent I had to look at this as a potential buyer. I came up with some business card sized marketing tools that I think will be helpful to Real Estate agents and others. The basic set is Microsoft Word template of 10 cards printed out on standard Avery Business card stock. The cards are simple and can be printed front and back.

The idea is to get information to the prospective buyer in a quick and easy format. The nice thing with business cards is they fit easily in your pocket or purse. Where a brochure or flyer might be discarded, a business card may be referred to over and over. Hopefully these will be a useful addition to a standard marketing strategy.

Real Estate Marketing Cards

The Open House Card: This is a great little tool for prospective buyers to take with them. They cost only a few cents apiece and are customized to the individual property. The front side of the card has the basic information along with the agents name and phone number. The back of the card can be printed with additional data, such as room sizes, area amenities, or loan numbers.

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The Lookie Loo Card: Many people that come to an open house are looking for something different than the property for sale. You might be offering a single story and they need a two story with more room. The house you are selling might be out of their price range. This is where the Lookie Loo cards come in. Create some of these cards for other properties for sale in your area. Take out the word Lookie Loo and replace it with a descriptive title of other properties.

When you hold an open house, ask your visitors their needs in a home. Offer these cards as an alternative to the property that is open. This will broaden your reach with prospective buyers. Popular options would be a less expensive property, a larger property, and possibly a location with a view or pool. Print the back side with additional information that matches the property. Example: For less expensive homes, offer loan information, for deluxe homes offer a list of amenities.

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The Investor Card: With declining prices, properties are starting to look good to investors again. Here in California, the prices are still out of whack, but other areas of the country there are homes and condominiums that make sense to investors. Here is a simple card where you do the math. You show your prospective clients the payment and additional costs along with the bottom line. You answer the question… What will it take to make a profit on this property? Printing loan information on the back is a great way to complete this card.

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The Move In Special Card: This is a card that can help differentiate you from the competition. Offer your prospective clients a reason to do business with you. This card is especially helpful at open houses where the neighbors drop in to see what homes are selling for. Some of these people may be interested in buying and selling in the future. This card will give them a reason to call you back.

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Back of Card: Room Sizes. This is a great template that prospective buyers will refer to over and over. This can be especially helpful when comparing different properties. Just lay out the room size cards of multiple properties on the table. This quick reference tool will give your buyers the data they need at a quick glance.

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Loan Payment Card: Run the numbers for your clients and show them how affordable your property is. Offer multiple cards with different loans on them. If your open house property is expensive, offer cards with more affordable properties on them, with this template on the back. This is a great way to match prospective buyers with a home they can truly afford.

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With this Word template it’s easy to copy and paste the card designs that you want.

Directions:

Download the Real Estate Marketing Template
Open in Microsoft Word
Fill in the blanks with your property data
Cut & Paste cards as necessary
Print out on Avery Business Card Stock (10 Card)
Break cards apart and display for clients
A blank template is included for easy data entry

Idea Options:

1. Have different cards available in Business Card Holders throughout your open house. The amenity cards work well in areas with a view.

2. Replace clip art with your own pictures (90 x 90 pixels or less).

3. Use these cards in conjunction with Online Marketing for greater effectiveness.

Other Cards Sets Available:

Goal Setting Toolkit

Five Minute Organizer

As a kid my favorite cookies were Nabisco Oreos. These delicious little gems were the best. You could take them apart and eat the fluffy filling and then finish off with cookie outsides. Dipped in milk these were like Manna from Heaven. Since they were expensive we didn’t get them very often, but when we did they were a wonderful treat.

With the passing of the years and the slowing of my metabolism, these have been off limits for years. I still love them, but my willpower to pass them up is not great. At 55 calories per cookie, you can really damage your diet quickly with these little pucks of joy.

The other day I was walking through the lunch room at work and noticed out of the corner of my eye a bag of Oreos in the snack machine. But this wasn’t any ordinary bag, it had a description that I had never seen before on any cookie bag.

It said 100 Calorie Pack.

What? That must mean you get 2 cookies! But I looked closer and had to buy a bag just to check it out. I put 2 quarters in the machine and I soon had a bag of Oreo’s in my hand. I quickly opened them with a sense of excitement. I could now have a bag of my favorite cookies without killing my diet.

Just then the excitement died… the new cookies had no filling! How could this be? An Oreo is not an Oreo without the filling. I took a close look at one of the new cookies. It was a flat dry cookie with some little white sprinkles on it. This could hardly be called an Oreo.

I tasted one and it was like eating a dry version of just the Oreo cookie. It was OK… but certainly not a real Oreo. I noticed in the same machine that there were 100 calorie packs of other popular snacks.

I thought to myself… This is marketing brilliance!

100 Calories is pure genius!

The cookie companies can now sell smaller portions and make people happy at the same time. 100 calories will fit on almost any diet plan. Compared to the regular cookies in the machine at 360 calories, this was a dieter’s Nirvana.

When I looked at the ingredients, it was the usual processed stuff, with sugar, flour and corn syrup. Nothing to recommend here. But if you don’t have a healthy snack like an apple or orange with you, these new snacks might be an acceptable alternative to satisfy your sweet tooth without killing your diet.

Technorati Tags: diet, marketing