Image Audio

O.k. so you’re thinking of starting your own business or you are in the process of starting. Today I am going to cover some fundamentals of marketing your new business. I have seen time and time again many start ups spend their budget on developing their product and building themselves a flashy website, then have no or little money left for marketing. Sure you might have the best product in the world and an amazing website but if no one knows about it you are not going to make any money. So the first tip is set aside a proportion of your budget for marketing. The amount you need to set aside will very from business to business but you need to set aside enough to TEST some of the main marketing approaches. These include;

Send 500 visitors to your website via pay per click advertising

Pay per click is an instant way to get onto the first page of yahoo, google etc.. While you are waiting for your new site to get indexed, it is too big a subject to go into detail here but I will be writing a full article on pay per click soon. A big mistake that new and established businesses make is that they think that because they have built their website they will start to show in the search engines, not true, it take around 6 months for you get indexed with google and even then you really need to be in the top ten to get decent traffic, which will cost at least £1500 to have your site optimized for the search engines (more on this soon)

Mail maybe 2000 of your target list a compelling offer

I have found through testing for our business that a simple personalised letter to the decision maker works a lot better than brochures etc… we used to send out CD roms with flashy presentations on, and which used to cost a fortune to create and post and we had a 1% response rate, the same applied to A5 mailshots we sent out, but when we switched to a (well written!) sales letter personalised to the potential customer we had a 6% response rate so an increase of 600% in enquiries.

Call 300 potential customers with an offer

Preferably the people you sent the letter to so they know who you are when you call, there are many do’s and don’ts when cold calling which I will cover in a different post. But for now if the prospect of doing it sends shivers down your spine then get someone else to do it that actually enjoys it.

Send out press releases

When I say press releases I don’t mean write one that tells about “xyz company has just opened” if it to be successful then it needs to benefit the reader, i.e. “top 5 tips for xyz” think of your product and how some advice about something in your field can benefit people who read it, for example a car dealer might write a release on “top tips to prepare your car for winter” then at the bottom of the tips then write something about the company itself, it gets a much better response from readers and editors.

If applicable to your business then set up some appointments to sell your product face to face

One major tip I will give you on this is make sure you are seeing the decision maker, you need to establish this from the start, in my early sales days the amount of times I have had my time wasted sitting in front of the wrong person is astounding and a complete waste of time, because after a 30 minute presentation on my product the idiot who I had just seen would then condense it into 30 seconds to the decision maker who would have no where near enough information to make an informed decision.

Test a couple of adverts in relevant publications

Advertising can be a very expensive mistake to make but it can also work, a lot of marketing experts reckon that 95% of all advertising does not work and I agree with them, but you won’t know until you TEST it will you. Now when buying advertising space you never advertise on the left hand page, always on the right. It is a well known fact the right hand page works significantly better than the left. Also the price you get quoted is usually double or treble what you end up paying if you haggle with them, a good way is to wait until a day before their deadline then call them and see what they offer you.

Testing testing testing

Whichever of the marketing techniques you choose I can’t stress the importance of testing. This way you can measure your response find out if it is profitable then either drop that approach or expand it. At the end of each campaign for each of the techniques you use you should work out how much profit you made from it and how much the campaign cost, hopefully you should be in profit, if not then either change the wording/approach or drop it completely and concentrate on something you know works. I will always test a new marketing approach and allocate maybe £500 to it to test it, if doesn’t work then I don’t think of it as a failure, I think of it that I am one step closer to another approach that works.

I will be going into all the above methods in great detail over the next couple of weeks so keep an eye out or subscribe to our feeds at www.imageaudio.biz/blogs/

Andrew Stanley

www.imageaudio.biz

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Image Audio have just added a marketing advice forum/blog so if you have any marketing questions  we will do our best to answer them, we hope to get a lot of marketing people looking at this blog to also offer you their pearls of wisdom. The blog is located at www.imageaudio.biz/blog so click on the link and pick our brains. We will be posting marketing tips and tricks over the next couple of weeks so keep your eye out for them.

Andrew Stanley

Image Audio 

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Firstly your web design services should search engine friendly from the outset, this means that when google, yahoo etc... spider your web site that they can find the relevant information they need to place your site in their search engine for certain keywords. The ways of doing this are, ensuring your page titles match your most relevant keywords, creating good keyword metatags, using internal links containing keywords, using HTML instead of flash. We don’t use flash in our websites and there is a reason for this, google can’t read flash when looking at your site, let me ask you this question, how many times have you clicked on a web site and pressed the SKIP INTRO button on a site, my guess if you are like me is every time. Flash start pages are just ways for web site designers to indulge themselves in their own creativity and empty your pocket at the same time. Search engines like good readable content. Before we even start to design your site we look at your industry and the most successful keywords for your industry then we build your site around those keywords.

Secondly the web design services should be using marketing techniques to convert visitors into customers, whats the point in getting say 100000 hits a day if nobody buys from you. We use tried and tested techniques to firstly get the visitor to actually stay on your site and then either buy from you or give you their contact information, we do this using various techniques such as adding voice over, video, music etc.. to get the visitors attention the use offers of free newsletters, free samples etc… to get them to give you their details.

Thirdly the web design services should use a good hosting company. Look at this scenario, you have your website and you have spent thousands marketing it yet when someone types in your web address nothing appears, just an error message, your hosting company server has gone down and no one can see your website, your potential customers look elsewhere for your product and buy off your competitors. I cant stress how important this point is, not only will you lose sales but you will waste valuable marketing and advertising budget on getting the person to look at your website in the first place. That’s why we use yahoo for our hosting because they are extremely reliable.

The fourth point is to use web design services that do not use templates! Why would want to have a site that looks like someone elses, and most of the time they look cheap and nasty. We design your website from scratch after a brief from yourself on how you want your company to look on the web. We also have access to over 1 million high resolution pictures that won’t break the bank but will give your site a professional look and feel.

The fifth point is to use web design services that produce you a sample for free before you buy. This way you can see what sort of quality and design you are getting for your money before you commit.

Image Audio use all the five points above to create you a bespoke, well designed, fresh looking website at an affordable price. Visit www.imageaudio.biz for more information

Andrew Stanley

Posted by ImageAudio at 01:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Now is a great time to fix your business electricity rate and enter into a long term contract with a cheap business electricity supplier, meaning you can plan your finances for 1-4 years with no nasty surprises in rising business electricity costs, not only that you could save as much as 50% on your current business electricity supplier.

Last year a lot of businesses got caught out by signing long term business electricity contracts with other suppliers and as wholesale business electricity prices fell they were left paying seriously over the odds. Our supplier only offered one year business electricity contracts last year because they knew that this would be the case. Now the UK's short-term gas reserves have meant that prices are low, making it a great time to enter into longer-term business electricity contract as a great way of cost saving, they have introduced 3 and 4 year fixed price cheap business electricity contracts.

It was only a matter of time before rates had to tumble in response to the UK's improved supply position. But it won't be like this for long. There are already some important long-term signals on the horizon, not least the talks going on currently to form an OPEC equivalent from major gas supplying nations.

Image Audios energy division have teamed up with the U.Ks leading cheap business electricity supplier E4B to offer what we believe is the cheapest business electricity on the market today. Aimed at the small to medium sized business spending less than £100,000 a year with their current business electricity supplier, they can provide a service which is simple, accurate and cheaper than the rest.

Call us today on 01437 720126 for a quote or visit our website www.imageaudio.biz for more information and an online quote!

Andrew Stanley

Image Audio

Posted by ImageAudio at 01:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It’s a no brainer really that every business should be taking advantage of. Switch your business calls to a cheaper provider for free and save up to 70%. There are some pitfalls that you should be aware of though.

Firstly is the issue of the quality of the line, there is no point in having cheap business calls for your business if the person on the other end can not hear you properly, not only will it cause confusion but it will have an effect on your company image and could mean the difference between a sale or no sale! There is one way to make sure of quality from a provider and that is to use a BT authorised wholesaler, this is where your existing BT lines are used and are still routed by BT, and your lines are still maintained by BT if anything goes wrong with your line. You just benefit from wholesale prices!

Secondly some cheap business call providers hide a minimum call charge into their tariff, this can prove to be more expensive if you are making a lot of very short calls or if the person you are trying to reach is not available you will still be charged, for example 4p. I know this doesn’t sound a lot but trust me over the course of the year this will add up to a staggering amount. So make sure the company you use doesn’t have a minimum call charge.

Thirdly is this day and age there should be no awkward boxes or pre dialling codes you have to dial before your usual number, the cheap business call company should be using carrier pre selection (cps) this allows end-users to select, in advance, alternative Communications Providers to carry their calls without having to dial a prefix or install any special equipment at their premises.

The fourth tip is to use a cheap business call provider with a U.K customer service call centre, this seems to be a big selling point for a lot of different companies not just telephone providers, have you had a bad experience with a foreign call centre? I know I have, in fact I have had many. It makes the customer service process smoother and easier in my opinion if they are u.k based.

The fifth and final tip is that switching to a cheaper business call provider should not cost you a penny, some providers charge a connection fee or a set up fee. These days there are enough companies to choose from that don’t charge a penny for you to change providers, they earn commission on your call spend or are paid a one off commission by the supply company.

For more information on our telecoms package and how we can cut your business call bills by up to 70% please visit our website www.imageaudio.biz or call us on 01437 720126. Our rates are as follows;

National/local calls anytime of day 1.35 pence per minute

Mobiles anytime of day 9.5 pence per minute

• we use bt wholesale
• We have no minimum call charge
• We use cps
• Our customer service is U.K based
• It won’t cost you a penny to swap

Andrew Stanley

www.imageaudio.biz

U.K’s leading expert on cheap business call providers

Posted by ImageAudio at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Leading expert on “on hold marketing messages” reveals secrets to finding an effective “on hold” company

On hold marketing messages are one of the most cost effective ways to market your business, if you want to increase your sales, improve your company image and increase caller retention then an on hold marketing message is the answer. Below I have listed 5 questions you should be asking of your on hold company

Do they offer a free sample? – This enables you to check the quality of their work and production techniques before you buy!

Do they sign you into a long term contract? – If an on hold company is as good as they say they are they should not need you to sign long term contract!

Do they offer a money back guarantee? -  This shows that the company is confident in their product and quality of service and are willing to put their money where their mouth is!

Do they write your message from marketing point of view? - Almost anyone can write a script and most on hold companies use scriptwriters who may have qualifications in English but know absolutely nothing about marketing, the message will still work but will not be as effective as a script written by someone who is trained in marketing techniques!

Are the productions mastered by a human or machine? - This is a crucial one, I have heard so many messages that have been mastered by software only and they sound terrible. Productions need to be mastered by a human with a good ear for sound. Remember first impressions count!

If you are unaware of on hold marketing messages and what they can do for your company, or if you want more information on our services, then visit our website www.imageaudio.biz or call us for a chat on 01437 720126

Andrew Stanley

Image Audio

U.K’s leading expert on “on hold marketing messages”

Posted by ImageAudio at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Firstly what is an on hold message? Well it’s not someone saying PLEASE HOLD THE LINE every 20 seconds mixed with music, like some people think. It is usually

6 to 12 messages, about 30 seconds long each, informing your callers about your companies products and services, corporate awards etc… This is voiced over by a professional voice over artist then mixed with music. The on hold message is usually around 5 minutes long.

So why does your company need an on hold message?

Firstly it improves your company image, and we all know first impressions count, when you put a caller on hold listening to an on hold message it installs confidence in the caller that you are a professional company who will provide them with a quality product and service. This means you get more customers hence increasing your profits.

Secondly it advertises ALL your products and services, one of the worst mistakes in business is to assume that all of your customers know all of your products and services. Once your callers find out about your other products and services by listening to the on hold message they can purchase them, increasing your profits, it is that simple

Thirdly it keeps callers on hold longer! If you keep your callers on hold listening to silence, beeps or the dreaded GREENSLEVES most of them will hang up after 30 seconds and will probably call one of your competitors. We know that 88 percent of callers prefer an on hold message to all other options and that they will stay on hold up to 20 times longer, hence you get more callers getting trough which means you get more sales, increasing your profits. I told you it was simple.

Image Audio has been creating professional on hold messages since 2000 and has come up with an offer you simply can not refuse. We guarantee that our on hold message will benefit your company in the three ways mentioned above. If it does not we will give you your money back, in full, no questions asked.  Increase your sales or your money back, how many other companies do you know that put their money where their mouth is, not many. Not only that but we are willing to create you a free sample on hold message tailored to your company, so you can hear for yourself the quality of our work.

for more information please visit http://www.imageaudio.biz/hold-message-onhold.html

Thank you

Andrew Stanley 

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