Do you need a Swift Kick in the Butt to do your Follow Up?

I guess I'll always keep having to talk about this but this week alone I had two new clients who didn't have a clue about what to do for follow up.

Does this sound familiar?


It's ok, if it does. I'm not here to criticize you - I'm here to help you.


So, are how are you following up with your leads, prospects, referrals, clients, contacts and power partners?

First of all are all of those people even on your radar list to follow up with? That's the first step.

Here are some assumptions I'm making as I'm writing this today. I'm assuming your database is in the computer so you can easily mail merge it and mail something out easily. I'm also assuming that you actively collect and add at least 20-120 or more people to your database each week. Yes/No? If this is not the case, you should call me.

One thing I am not assuming is that you have a really good Follow Up Marketing Plan in place in your business. A plan that tells you what to do, how often, who to do what to, etc. that is clear and easy to follow yourself or delegate out each month. Do you?

Now, I know you know I always preach that you should be doing an email newsletter - AND OF COURSE YOU SHOULD!

That's just ONE aspect of your overall marketing plan but if you do one and do it at least twice a month (and you do it well) - it will highly increase your "Top of Mind Awareness" factor. For example, you have to read me or delete me every week, right? Well, at least I'm making you think about me one way or the other each week, aren't I?

One thing about your emails though is that the first one you send to a group of people you meet might need to be a little different than just adding them to your newsletter list.

What I'm talking about is an Initial Follow Up Letter or Email. This is what you send out by email (still using constant contact if you want but a different template) or by mail right after you meet someone.

For example it can say:

"It was great to meet you at the chamber mixer the other night. I hope you got a lot out of it, I sure did. I'm a big fan of co-promoting with other professionals who have similar target markets as me, my target market is women entrepreneurs. I have an email list of 2,200 professionals nationwide and in Canada (I do A LOT of networking!). So, if you feel like you have something of value to offer my email list or you have a list I might need to know or who might need to know about me then respond and let's chat! Make sure you follow up and tell me about what you do and how I can benefit from your services or refer you too!"

That might just be part of what you say but the point is that you offer a WIN-WIN situation don't just try to tell them about you and what you do because they don't care - think what's in it for them in your initial follow up?

Then where most small business owners make the biggest mistake of all in their follow up is that one correspondence is ALL THAT THEY DO!

Here is an Ideal Follow Up Plan that you can put into place right now:

• Meet new people all the time and add them to your email and mail database.
• Mail them a handwritten note and your card within 3 days of meeting.
  
• Email them a personal one-on-one note or group together and send out your Initial Follow Up Email within 3 days.
  
• Call them within 24 hours if they are a Hot Prospect or Hot Referral Source.
  
• Call them within 48 hours if they are a Warm Prospect or Warm Referral Source.
  
• Mail them your Initial Follow Up Letter and possibly a flyer about an upcoming workshop, event, one of your lead services or something of interest to them (such as an article from a newspaper that relates to what they do) within 10 days.
  
• Email them your email newsletter (which should be out soon - every other week minimum remember) if they opted in of course.
  
• Mail them another letter with more info and a offer or hook to take advantage of your services and/or asking for a referral with your brochure or another flyer of some sort (you don't always want to mail out your fancy or expensive brochures - in fact for many of my clients I suggest you may not even need one!) within 1 month of meeting.
  
• Keep emailing them your newsletter and check your stats for bounces and undeliverable emails in case some Hot Prospects are not receiving them.
  
• Call Hot Prospects weekly until you take 4-5 NO's; be persistent about it not annoying.
  
• Mail quarterly after that with all the rest of your database.
  

**Note: Of course this is a guideline, some businesses should mail much more than this, some need to do other things as well. I can consult with you to put together a creative, effective plan to fit your business in my 1-On-1 Marketing Planning Meeting.

So, you can't get all this done? - Delegate it!

You have no idea what to write? - Hire me to write this stuff for you - you only have to do it once really and then use the same template letters over and over.

So, you don' t want to pay for mailings? - Are you doing ads that aren't bringing you any business? If so, cancel those and do this instead; it will bring you a much better return on your investment. If you just don't have the money to spend on mailings then keep struggling I guess until you go out of business or suck it up and figure out how to get some money to market your business how it needs to be marketed. (Sorry to be blunt but it's true, I've seen it too many times.)

Any other questions? - Email me and Ask!

**Recommended Reading from Entrepreneur.com:
"10 Marketing Tactics Under $10" - check it out!

Consider this your KICK IN THE BUTT to get all of this done; and to do it now because you're missing out on a lot of new and repeat sales!


© Copyright 2007 K. Sawa Marketing

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Katrina Sawa is a Relationship Marketing Consultant who helps small business owners and entrepreneurs make the most of their marketing dollars and time by developing creative, effective marketing and follow up systems for clients. For more info on her services or to sign-up for her FREE REPORT: "The Top 3 Ways to JumpStart Your Marketing", visit her at http://www.jumpstartyourmarketing.com.

How Does Your Direct Mail Pull?

Assuming you have a great graphic artist who designs your marketing materials, mailers and collateral (which is a big assumption, I know)...

• Where do you go to get them printed and/or mailed?
• How do you know which messages will be better to use?
• How often should you send mail out to your list?

Many small business owners I know typically do mailings hap hazzardly, meaning they plan a promotion or sale quickly to get business in the door or plan a workshop to happen in 2 weeks and then they say "I have to get a mailer out to my list".

Does this sound familiar?

I'm suggesting you plan your mailings annually along with your sales, workshops and promotions (even holiday mailings or annual update letters). Then if you can plan the design, messages, who it's going to, how you'll get it printed and mailed it will not only go much smoother BUT I'll bet you get a much higher response too!

You will give yourself time to come up with a strategy rather than throwing together quick mailings which might not:

• flow with your brand
  
• get a clear message across
  
• include all pertinent info
  
• make them take action

Many business owners will also go to Kinko's or Office Depot (which are great resources for some things or really last minute jobs) for their printing and then fold, stuff, label and stamp their own mailers.

NO, NO, NO, depending on the number of mailers you have it could be much less expensive and less time consuming to go through a professional printer, print broker or even online and then to go to a local or online mail house for mailing services.

You don't have to do it all yourself.

Besides, what is your hourly rate?

How much is your time worth?

You would most likely be better off outsourcing these types of things rather than spending your valuable time when you could be working with a client or attaining a new client instead.

While I'm on the subject, how many people do you have on your mailing list or current database?

Are you including EVERYONE YOU KNOW?

If not, WHY THE HECK NOT? Everyone you know will either be a prospect for your business OR a referral source without question. They all need to know what you've been up to or what you're doing now in case they need your services/products or know someone who does.

I could go on and on with suggestions on who to use for printing, mailing, and all the services that go along with doing this but we'd be here forever.

So, here are - 5 tips on how to manage your direct mail efficiently:

1. Plan for large mailings. Your lists must be large, since even good response rates may fall between 2 percent and 4 percent. If you don't have a very large list - meet more people!
   
2. Choose the best format. There are three basic types of direct mail: postcards, letters and packages. Successful direct-mail letters are complex packages and if you want to virtually guarantee your mail gets opened, you can put it in a box or some bulk mailing package.
   
3. Assemble your campaign. Direct-mail marketing is rarely a do-it-yourself job. The steps include: designing and printing the creative pieces, choosing the lists, and delivering them both to a mailing house for labeling and distribution. Most mailing houses will be cost effective for a minimum of 500 or more pieces for your addressing and postage handling and some can even do printing as well.
   
4. Test and measure results. Direct-mail success is measured one campaign at a time. It's essential to test various components of the campaign- -the lists, your offers and creative approaches--in order to continually improve your response rates. The key is to test just one component at a time and make incremental adjustments until your campaign produces optimal results.
   
5. Call K. Sawa Marketing. I can help you put a PLAN together. You don't need to research it all or figure it all out yourself, I love to do that part. I can help you with the campaign itself, what the message or design will be, who to send it to, when and how. I can also find the best printing, mailing and delivering resources available based on your time frame, your budget and your quantity.
   

I hope for your sakes you're doing direct mailings pretty regularly in your business for part of your follow up and ongoing marketing to your list. Email is great but it certainly doesn't reach everyone all the time so it's not that reliable for your ONLY source of follow up marketing.

For a clear, effective marketing plan ask me about my JumpStart Your Marketing 1-On-1 Planning Meetings. The 1-On-1's are 3 hours chock full of great brainstorming and you walk away with an Action Plan on what you need to do now to promote your unique business AND how to implement it.

© Copyright 2007 K. Sawa Marketing

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Katrina Sawa is a Solopreneur Marketing Coach and marketing and promotional expert who helps small business owners and entrepreneurs make the most of their marketing dollars and time. For more info on her services or to sign-up for her FREE REPORT: "The Top 3 Ways to JumpStart Your Marketing", visit her at http://www.jumpstartyourmarketing.com.

Do You Need to Update Your Website?

So, what do you think?

Are you getting the most your website could bring?

Here are some questions to ask yourself (or your web designer or hosting company):

• When is the last time you rewrote any of the copy or uploaded new content?
  
• Have you maximized your pages for keywords for the search engines?
  
• Do you have an opt in box on every page? Is it working?
  
• Are you tracking your web stats to see how many people are coming to which pages, staying for how long, leaving on what page, signing up for what?
  
• Are you offering valuable resources, content, articles and links that your target market will come back to your site often for and/or forward to a friend?
  
• Are you paying more than $10/month for regular hosting?
  
• Could you be having people sign up online to buy your products or services and aren't?
  
• Are you as totally automated online as you could get to really maximize your time?
  
• Do you understand all the capabilities a website could provide for you to save you time and make you more money with less work?
  
• Do you have a content editor on your site so you can change the text or add pages anytime you want (or outsource to an assistant, either way you could get it done right away)?
  

Those are just a few questions I ask my clients when they meet with me regarding their websites...there is really so much more to cover and to know. But you may not be a website or internet marketing specialist. I'm certainly not either, but what I've learned over the last two years has catapulted my business into huge success and it's allowed me much more freedom in my life and business.

Would you like to be more automated in some of your processes in your business in order to give you more free time? Think of all the new clients you could get, relationships you could cultivate and overall more money you could make if you really updated and automated your website to make it work for you, not just sit there.

So, are you ready to take action?

You can do one of three things the way I see it:

1. Contact your current web designer/developer - ask them these questions which might also stem into more then figure out how to maximize your site.
   
2. Hire me to do my JumpStart Your Website consultation to get a better handle on where your site could be improved, how to get it there, who to contact to get it done and/or how to do it yourself to maximize your site, automate more in your business and make you more money!
   
3. Do nothing. Get the same results you've been getting and be content with it.
   Which do you choose?
   

I'm here if you need me. I'm a very no pressure type of marketing person but I really only want to work with business owners and entrepreneurs that are competely MOTIVATED TO MAKE SOME CHANGES IN THEIR BUSINESS in order to create a more desirable life and business for themselves.

My specialties include building your list of contacts (through various ways), keeping in touch with that list (through all kinds of relationship marketing and follow up techniques) and niche services such as helping you get your email newsletters up and running so they are effective and bring you more referrals and repeat business and my website review and consultations.

Read all about my services on my Small Biz Services page now to get a JumpStart on your Marketing!

© Copyright 2007 K. Sawa Marketing

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Katrina Sawa is a Solopreneur Marketing Coach and marketing and promotional expert who helps small business owners and entrepreneurs make the most of their marketing dollars and time. For more info on her services or to sign-up for her FREE REPORT: "The Top 3 Ways to JumpStart Your Marketing", visit her at http://www.jumpstartyourmarketing.com.