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Thursday
September 30, 2010 Tip of the Day - Break into the Education MarketFiled under: Tip of the Day
HARTOWICZ: Have a great idea on how the program is going to run. Do a lot on the front end before you approach schools. It really helps to know how you’re going to work on your end. And make sure that you’re going to be able to handle it! HIGGINS: Be active and visible in your community. Go to scholastic events, because visibility and accountability are key. HINSHAW: Everybody knows somebody who’s in school. Just go and talk to other PTOs. I brought items I had done for another school and showed them to my prospects. TARADASH: Try and get an introduction to someone and drop off some items. We attended homecoming events where all of the clubs have booths. Get to know those people on a more casual basis. O’DONNELL: There’s more than one person who buys. It might all funnel through one person, but some people are in charge of recruiting new students, while others work with employees. There are opportunities in both, so recognize that there’s more than one door that can open. From Advantages’ October 2010 issue.
Monday
September 27, 2010 Tip of the Day - 4 Ways to Overcome Eco ObjectionsFiled under: Tip of the Day
Here are four talking points and details Chiu recommends sharing with clients to overcome objections:
From WearableStyle, vol. 132
Friday
September 24, 2010 Tip of the Day - Promote Your Business in an Eco-Friendly WayFiled under: Tip of the Day
Susan Singer, senior vice president of sales for The Corcoran Group and a self-proclaimed “eco-broker,” has branded herself “The Green Queen.” She promotes the sustainability of the properties she’s offering, and drives potential clients to her website with an eco-friendly self-promo product. “Years ago, I used refrigerator magnets and a mouse pad, and they both got me a lot of mileage,” Singer says. “But I wanted to do something that was eco-friendly this time and that could be used in an eco-friendly way.” To help spread the word about her business, she ordered plenty of imprinted tote bags made of recycled plastic material. The bags feature a stenciled image of the historic London Terrace apartment building, for which she’s a broker, as well as her contact information and branding for Corcoran Group Real Estate. She decided not to include the name of the London Terrace building so that the bag would have wider appeal – she wanted it to be “just about living in New York and having an eco-friendly bag … that way people will want to use them and it’s just free advertising,” she says. Singer sent the totes to her neighbors, clients and potential clients – and gave one to every unit in London Terrace. She also distributes them at events when the opportunity arises. For example, she recently offered the bags after she spoke at an Earth Day seminar at Baruch College in Manhattan. The totes direct people to Singer’s website, www.susansingerspaces.com. On this informational and self-promotional site, they’ll find information about her properties ranging from Brooklyn to Uptown Manhattan, as well as Tales of the Green Queen, a regular comic strip in which a cartoon version of Singer tours the city, helping people save on energy costs. Singer’s totes get an enthusiastic response. “I’ve had people call me or e-mail me saying, ‘I’m so grateful for this tote. It’s so sweet and reminds me of the building,’ and people from the building have just stopped me on the street,” she says. “It’s really been very good for me.” From Stitches Embroidery Business Insights, vol. 127
Tuesday
September 21, 2010 Tip of the Day - 3 ways to Create a Great Corporate CultureFiled under: Tip of the Day
Another Counselor Top 40 distributor, eCompanyStore Inc. (asi/185782), does something similar by conducting a drawing for additional vacation days, two to three times a year, says Heather Heebner, the company vice president of human resources. A vacation-day raffle takes place if the company has a successful fundraising event, for example. Heebner says such practices go a long way toward creating an energetic and positive work environment – and helping to place eCompanyStore on the Counselor Best Places to Work list. From Education Adviser, vol. 31.
Thursday
September 16, 2010 Tip of the Day - Get Customers to PayFiled under: Tip of the Day
From Wearables magazine’s Sept. 2010 issue.
Tuesday
September 14, 2010 Tip of the Day - 10 Questions to Ask When Starting a Business BudgetFiled under: Tip of the Day
From Counselor’s Sept. 2010 feature on budgets called Money Matters.
Monday
September 13, 2010 Tip of the Day - Ways to Generate a Creative TaglineFiled under: Tip of the Day Though Jeroen Bours, the founder of New York City-based Darling Agency, may not be a familiar name, readers are likely familiar with his work. The co-creator of MasterCard’s “Priceless” campaign and co-creative director on Liberty Mutual’s “Responsibility. What’s your policy?” effort, he has helped coin some seriously memorable slogans. Here he offers tips on devising out-of-the box taglines to help make promotions stick.
From Advantages’ Sept. 2010 issue.
Monday
September 13, 2010 ASI Radio Contest - Good Luck, We’re All Counting On You!Filed under: Uncategorized
The high-end prizes include a digital camera, camcorder, netbook and Roomba (bagless robotic vacuum cleaner), and all you have to do to win these great prizes is to call in during the show and tell us the word of the week that matches the week in which we said it. Don’t know the words of the week? No problem! We have them archived and you can listen now! Just click the image below and go to the appropriate archive file.  On behalf of the ASICentral Team, good luck, we’re all counting on you. –Dr. Diesel
Tuesday
September 7, 2010 3 Cold Calling Tips and StrategiesFiled under: Tip of the Day
1. Your Lucky Numbers Four years ago, Deborah Price, creative marketing consultant with Geiger (asi/202900), was getting shot down. After making some contacts with a security company at an event and following up with them for two years, they just were not interested in seeing her goods. But, she didn’t give up. As an associate member of the Building Owners and Managers Association, Price was determined to break through to the security company. She sent them a giant fortune cookie with a personalized message about the tremendous success the prospect would have if they used Deborah Price. In addition, the cookie’s “lucky numbers” were her phone numbers. Eventually, Price got the opportunity to present her gift ideas. “In my head, more than likely they would throw me a bone. I figured that the worst-case scenario was that they’d continue with their old rep, but they’d give me the opportunity to provide candy for the receptionists,” she says. The day of Price’s initial meeting was just short of disastrous. The address on her contact’s business card was in downtown Los Angeles, but the office was in Orange County. “It was off to a crazy, rocky, messed-up start. We’re all sweating and I walked in late,” she recounts. It turns out, she wowed the client. She set up the conference room with beautiful gifts, including items from Leed’s and Cutter & Buck. She presented everyone with a folder of the items she was presenting. She also provided a “Thanks a Dozen” box filled with bagels and cream cheese for everyone. “They ended up buying those from me as well. It turns out that they were so wowed by my items and passion that they gave me the order for the gifts,” she says. Since that meeting, Price has been the client’s only source for premiums and gifts. “It’s been amazing. I am their exclusive person. They told every salesperson to go through me for their giveaways and trade shows,” she says. Her total sales figures for the client are approximately half a million dollars. 2. Heartbreak Hotel When Dave Mann was selling copy machines, he knew cold calling was the way he had to go. “There’s not a lot of repeat business in that industry, so in order to be successful, it was 50 cold calls a day, rain or shine, sleet or snow,” says Mann, the director of national accounts for Promotional Designs Inc. (asi/300830). When Mann switched industries into the promotional world, he applied the same formula and sold over $1 million in his first year. “I approach cold calling as, ‘What the heck, they are currently buying nothing from me, how much worse could it get?’ ” he says. To him, cold calling is true selling, and the rest is just account management. Most years, he sells about $3 million. When Mann prospects for new clients, he finds pursuing a common interest works. For months, he called on a national music magazine publisher because it was 90 miles away and there wasn’t much other business in the area. He subscribed to the magazine and is a huge music fan, so he had some good ideas to present. The contact never called him back after numerous voicemails over about six months. “One day, I called the receptionist and told her my story and said, ‘What’s up with this lady? She never calls me back. What kind of person is she?’ ” he says. The receptionist told him that the contact was a huge Elvis Presley fan and her office was decorated with all kinds of Elvis memorabilia. Mann waited several weeks, until August 16, the anniversary of Elvis’ death. He left a voicemail in an “Elvis” voice saying, “Hey mama, this is Dave. I too am a huge fan of Elvis and your not returning my calls has got me ‘All Shook Up.’ In fact, I am staying at the ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ until I hear back from you. Any true fan of Elvis would certainly call me back on the anniversary of his death. Please don’t treat me like a ‘Hound Dog.’” Within five minutes, the prospect called him back and said, “You got me.” After a good laugh, she scheduled an appointment with Mann. He mentioned that he had some good ideas, he did local imprinting and could provide some services that she wasn’t getting. He also ordered a pair of Elvis sunglasses and an Elvis wig, and arrived at the appointment wearing his new accessories. His contact greeted him with delight, hugged him and proceeded to steal his Elvis stuff for her office display. Mann’s first order with the magazine was for polo shirts. Seven years later, he still does business with the client, even though his contact has since retired. He has been able to penetrate other departments within the account and continues taking orders for T-shirts, hats and other apparel items, pocket knives, chip clips, duffel bags and writing pads. He has sold approximately $200,000 worth of items to this client. 3. While You Were Out For Ryan Sauers, getting a return call required a creative push. The president/CMO of Sauers Communication (asi/319273) was trying to work with a religious-related entity in his area. “I called on them over and over again. They liked our company, we said all the right things, and they said they were serious about moving their business. The problem was, we couldn’t get them to move off dead center and pull the trigger,” he says. The tough part for Sauers was that he knew the prospect, he just couldn’t get a return call. “I’d get the receptionist, I’d get voicemail, but I couldn’t get them on the phone. If someone is telling you that it’s a great fit, how do you get their attention?” he says. About five years ago, Sauers went into the prospect’s office and noticed that the receptionist used a “While You Were out” slip. He decided to go in for the kill and make sure that his message got to the main part of the office. He took the slip and wrote, “Please call Ryan Sauers. He’s having a hard time reaching you. You’ve been chasing each other. Signed, Ryan Sauers.” He blew up the note to 8″ by 11″ and faxed it to the office. Within an hour, Sauers got a call from the prospect asking when they could get together. In the first meeting, the prospect mentioned Sauers’ creativity, his confidence and his persistence. The prospect said his unique thinking was the push it took to provide an opportunity. “We were able to develop a relationship and start talking about the people we knew in common. We set up a subsequent meeting with both of our staffs, which led to moving the first projects in our direction,” Sauers says. The new client started booking more orders with him, and eventually ordered apparel, giveaway items and brand-identity products. “This client has also helped get me business with its sister organizations,” he says. The client has worked with Sauers for about four years now. “They were loyal to their other supplier and didn’t have a desire to change. It took something to get their attention,” he says. He now books about $25,000 per year with the client. Even though Sauers’ staff thought the fax was risky, he has no regrets. “What would have happened if I had just quit? Try a different direction, try something off the wall. That was either going to work or bite me in the butt. I knew that fax would stand out,” he says. From Advantages September 2010 issue.
Friday
September 3, 2010 Top 10 Sexiest Celebrity MarketersFiled under: Uncategorized In this month’s issue of Successful Promotions, our editors want to know: Who are the 10 sexiest celebrity marketers out there today? So without further ado, I present the Top 10 list of the Sexiest Celebrity Marketers: Jennifer Aniston. The former Friends star is promoting her new scent, Lolavie, and appearing in Smart Water campaigns.
Patrick Dempsey. “Dr. McDreamy” is the spokesman for Versace and appears in ads for Serengeti eyewear and Unscripted, a line of colognes for Avon.
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino. The ab-fabulous Jersey Shore star charges $7,500 and up for an event appearance sure to attract the paparazzi.
Lady Gaga. The Twitterific pop sensation is now creative director of Polaroid, and has lent her name and image to Virgin Mobile, Monster Cable and Viva Glam by MAC Cosmetics.
Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese soccer stud is the official worldwide spokesmodel for Emporio Armani underwear and Armani Jeans.
Megan Fox: The star of the blockbuster Transformers is the face of luxury brand Armani.
Isaiah Mustafa: Portrayed as “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” the former NFL player helped Old Spice cologne become the number-one all-time most-viewed sponsored channel on YouTube.
Sandra Bullock: The Oscar winner is the face of Artistry Crème LuXury, an Amway company that hopes its connection to the A-lister will elevate its brand status.
Scarlett Johansson: The starlet evokes Marilyn Monroe in Dolce & Gabbana perfume and makeup ads, and is the new face of Moët & Chandon champagne.
Paris Hilton: The hotel heiress lent her mug to campaigns for Guess and restaurant chain Carl’s Jr. and reportedly gets up to $500,000 for appearances.
Though I don’t agree with most of the women on this list, I do think one is ULTRA sexy, but I’m not gonna say who! (The men? Yeah, I guess they’re OK, but I don’t really care, y’know.) What do you think? Post comments below. –Vin “The Situation” Deez |
If you’re looking to break into the education market, check out these tips from our successful reps.
Jennifer Chiu, product manager for Ash City (asi/37127), offers some smart talking points for distributors looking to sell their clients on green. “Clients need to understand the true essence of green products and also, from a business point of view, the marketing value of it,” she says.
Want to promote your business in an eco-friendly way? Take a cue from the real estate industry, where sustainability has become a key selling point.
It goes without saying that happy employees help create successful companies. Here are three ways to create a motivational, inspirational and winning workplace – all cost-effective strategies that can be implemented today.
Here are 3 ways to gently prompt customers to pay:
Joseph Anthony, a tax expert and financial-planning consultant based in Portland, OR, offers 10 questions that all business owners need to consider when beginning their budgeting process. The answers to these questions will help guide your financial decision-making when planning out budgets for next year.
Ladies and gentleman, this is it! For weeks now, you’ve been diligently listening to our 
Here are the success stories behind each selling strategy.
