Epiphany Marketing's Strategic Marketing Blog

Throughout 2010, my #1 recommendation to everyone who is trying to grow their business, get search engine rankings, and promote using Facebook and other social media has been:

“You need to have a business blog”

If you don’t yet have a WordPress-based blog you’re using effectively, then I’m thrilled to announce a new opportunity for you.

More importantly, you have an opportunity to support our 2011 Haiti Orphanage project at the same time! You may not realize that the January earthquake spiked the number of orphans in Haiti to nearly 500,000.

Signing Up by December 31st Supports our 2011 Haiti Orphanage Project

We’ve connected with an organization that is building a new orphanage, and I’m personally heading down there at the end of January.

We’ve committed 20% of every purchase made now through December 31st to support this new orphanage.

And at the same time, we’re offering our “Business Blogging Basics” package, which includes the training you need in order to use your new blog effectively for a special low price. It’s so low, in fact, that you might think I’m a little crazy.

But I’m trying to raise as much as possible for this orphanage project, and so we’ve got the price ridiculously low.

Check out all the details here. And remember, the price goes up on January 1st.

You can get started 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just go here to see all the details and learn about this special opportunity to grow your business and do some good at the same time!

Committed to Growing Your Business,

David G. Johnson, Founder
Epiphany Marketing LLC

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the details here.

Photo courtesy of Caring4Haiti.

You’re reading Top Marketing Trends for 2011 from Epiphany Marketing’s Strategic Marketing blog. Subscribe: Email | Facebook | RSS.

Today we’re beginning a series on the stuff you need to be paying attention to as we head into 2011.

“What?! We’re in the middle of the holiday season… Christmas is still weeks away!”

Yeah… I know. And you’re probably not quite too late to begin thinking about what your 2011 strategy looks like, but you can’t afford to wait any further.

Begin at the Very Beginning

So… speaking of strategy, you do have one of those right? You know… a written plan that will produce growth in your business. One that identifies:

• precisely the person(s) to whom you are focusing your message
• your identity (or that of your products and services), and
• the message itself

…along with specific steps you’re going to take to attract those people, get their attention, and plug them into your sales process.

If not, this is where you must start. Otherwise, you’re going to be overwhelmed by all the stuff you could be doing. Strategy is as much about knowing what not to do as it is about knowing what to do.

2010: Monumental Shifts

And speaking of what you could be doing… looking back on 2010, I can’t recall a year ever in which so much has changed in marketing.

• Google rankings mean more and less than they used to… on the one hand, more businesses have shed their offline advertising and marketing expenses and are looking to online search to help bring in new customers. But on the other hand, the online mix must now be much more robust than ever — engaging customers (present and future) in a conversation through social media outlets
• Mobile devices continue to change the rules… and are now inventing new ones. Text messaging, Twitter, mobile browsers, maps and navigation, social media apps on the go… all of these affect how your buyers receive your messages, and this year has brought some amazing changes to this space with new devices, maturing platforms (particularly Android and iOS), and high adoption rates. People spend more time “connected” on the go than even I ever dreamed… and it’s going to increase.
• Local businesses have an amazing (and dizzying) array of options to reach out to customers with geo-location services like Foursquare, Google Places, Facebook places, and Gowalla. Which ones are effective? Which ones are a waste of time? Consumers are using location-based services from mobile devices in record numbers. Are you missing out on the opportunity?

These are just a few of the major shifts we’re watching from 2010. How do they affect your business in 2011? What else should you be paying attention to? We’ll be tackling these questions and showing off some pretty nifty stuff over our next few posts.

Stay tuned!

Can You Grow Your Sales Quickly?

One of the most common questions I get asked when speaking to audiences of small business owners and salespeople who earn commissions is:

What can I do that will rapidly produce results for my business?

Now, I’ll be honest with you: I’m not usually a “quick fix” guy. I believe in strategy… and particularly, in consistently executing strategy over time to get results.

But sometimes, a business or salesperson finds itself needing new prospects or customers quickly. Yes… a well-formed, consistent strategy is great, but sometimes you need sales quickly so you can make it long enough to create and implement a longer-term strategy.

The truth is… I understand completely. I’ve created and owned multiple businesses, and sometimes you just find yourself in a tight spot.  I’ve been there.

When that happens, you know that with a bigger budget (or more time), you’d do some other things. But sometimes you just need to do something that gets results so you can create the budget (or time) to do more.

And that’s why I put together Fast Ideas to Skyrocket Your Profits & Sales Now.

Check out the details here.

This is something that’s especially designed for you, and it starts this week. To get on board in time, you’ll need to respond right away.

I’m looking forward to being in touch!

Committed to Growing Your Business,

David G. Johnson, Founder
Epiphany Marketing, LLC

We’ve already tackled the question about YouTube for Marketers recently, and I’ve been a big believer in it for a number of years. In fact, business owners and entrepreneurs in our 21st-Century Strategic Marketing Program have heard me beat the drum of not just YouTube, but also social media outlets (including Facebook and Twitter) since the program’s inception in early 2008.

Clients are now asking about social media more than ever before, particularly as we help them develop comprehensive marketing and communications strategies that they in turn get busy implementing. In my opinion, the number of businesses who should not be using social media is rapidly diminishing. If you own a small business, if you are a salesperson, or if you in any way are responsible (or rewarded) for bringing customers or revenue into the company you work for, then you need to have a social media strategy.

No one has said it better than the creator of this video:

For help developing your 21st Century Marketing Strategy, or to find out more about our low cost, high ROI training programs, contact us today. You’ll be glad you did.

Free Webinar: How To Dominate Your Marketplace Using Social Media

UPDATE: Join us for a free webinar Thursday, September 10th at 9PM Eastern.

Guerrilla Social Media Strategies for the Small Business and Sales Professional

Trying to make sense of Twitter? Befuddled by Facebook? Not sure where to start?

In this informative 90-minute webinar, David G. Johnson will be talking about how to decide which social networks make the most sense for your business, how to get started, and how to ensure that your precious time and resources aren’t wasted.

Whether you’re an experienced social networker or not even sure whether to stick your toe in the waters, you can’t afford to miss this valuable educational event!

In addition to lots of great instruction, there will be a Q&A session at the end which allow you to get your questions answered by the expert!

Space is limited.
Reserve your spot here.
David G. Johnson is the founder of Epiphany Marketing, LLC and has been helping businesspeople just like you establish highly profitable, cost-effective marketing strategies that leverage technology for the past 11 years.

Well 2009 is in full swing. My question for you is:

How does your pipeline look?

If you’re not satisfied with the number of new prospects or leads coming in to your business, it’s time to get serious about what you’re doing to bring them in. Here are 5 ways to gain new customers on a budget:

1. Get to the Top of the Search Engines
   In particular, pay attention to Google. Most strategies that help you get to the top of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) on Google will also work well with the others.  Don’t know how? Training is easy to come by these days, and you can do it yourself or put a member of your team on it. If you’re a salesperson, start blogging about your customers and their needs.
2. Make Use of Social Media
   Once the exclusive territory of geeks, social media is a now easier-to-use than ever before. Two important ones for connecting with people and creating exposure: Facebook and Twitter. The demographics will surprise you — chances are your customers, buyers, prospects, decision-makers, and champions are active. 2 tips: don’t commit these social media sins, and put a strategy in place to avoid the time suck.
3. Communicate Frequently With Customers (Past & Present) and Prospects
   Given the information overload we all deal with, it’s easy for the people you already have relationships with to forget about you. It’s not necessarily that they want to. They’re just as busy as you are. Obviously it’s possible to communicate too frequently, but chances are you’re to busy to do that anyway. Tip: make sure your communication has value.
4. Revisit Your Message
   How many aspects of your life can you count that haven’t changed substantially in the last 12-24 months? Chances are your customers’ businesses are the same way. Is your message out of date? Does it accurately reflect the way that your products and services serve your customers and prospects changing needs? Tip: the message you’re sending may not be what you think it is.
5. Ask Great Questions and Listen More
   Given the rapidly changing business landscape, you need to know — now more than ever — what your customers are thinking. Are they cutting budgets or changing spending patterns? What problems are they trying to solve? Take them out to lunch, out for coffee, or create reasons to get on the phone and find out what’s going on. What you learn will surprise you. It’s also a great time to ask for referrals — your lowest cost customers ever!

What strategies are you implementing right now to load up your pipeline with new business? Certainly, if you need help with these or other 21st-Century methods of keeping your pipeline full, we’d be happy to help. Our distance-learning hands-on training and coaching program is getting phenomenal results with our students.  Of course, consulting services are available as well. If you’re interested, drop me a comment.

By the way, we practice what we preach. I dare you to follow me on Twitter.

Today is actually the Feast of Epiphany, which gives me a great excuse to talk about why our company happens to share its name with the 12th Day of Christmas.  (If you, like the McKenzie Brothers, ever wondered, the 12 days run from Christmas Eve to Epiphany.)

First, a little background on the Greek word:

epiphaneia – lit. “upon appearing,” used to mean “manifestation”

We use it in English when we say, “I had an epiphany!” to mean, “the lights came on!”

In the early Eastern Church, they used the term to refer to the “manifestation” of the infant Jesus to the Magi when they visited from the Orient. He “appeared” to the Gentiles in that moment. Church tradition uses the word “epiphany” to refer to a manifestation or appearance of supernatural beings — in particular Jesus Himself.

From the start of this journey, I wanted to create “epiphanies” for people. Moments when the work that we do would cause information and circumstances to come together in just the right combination to cause people to suddenly “see” what they needed to see.

Have an Epiphany

This has dual meanings for us as it relates to what we do:

1. It is our mission to provide top-notch training and coaching to small businesses, to salespeople, and to anyone who needs to attract new customers and prospects. In that process, we want them to have moments where they suddenly “see” (sometimes for the first time) themselves and their businesses in the correct light. It’s a beautiful thing when this happens — it sparks life, creativity and energy. They get fired up about their own businesses in fresh ways… and they do a fantastic job of communicating once this happens. This results in their future customers and clients finding out about them! That is a thrill!
2. Secondarily, when we provide consulting services and do other strategic marketing work (such as corporate vision, strategy, onsite training, copywriting, web architecture, social media innovation, etc.), we want to produce work that creates “epiphanies” for the past, present and future customers of our clients. In other words, the work that we do should cause the lights to go on for the people that our clients are reaching out to…  so that they suddenly “see” and become raving lunatic evangelists for our clients.

Having been in this business for over 10 years now, I can tell you that there is absolutely nothing like watching somebody “get it.” It’s thrilling to be involved in helping to make it happen.

So… no matter what you’re celebrating today (I hope you’re celebrating something… after all, it’s a wonderful, brand-new day!), I hope you have an “epiphany” today.

And if you’re in business or in sales and you need to do a better job of attracting the people you want to do business with you, then keep your eyes on this space. It’s my mission in life to help you suddenly have that moment where you say, “Aha! That’s what I’ve been missing!”

P.S. If you’re starting a business or considering changing your name, I can’t recommend highly enough having a name that carries some personal significance to you. However… I can recommend that you name it something easy to spell!