Business Attitude: marketing

Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts

July 12, 2016

Selling Real Estate - Make More $$ by Reducing your Cost of Customer Aquisition.

"Cost of Customer Acquisition" (CoCA) is an important metric no matter what business you are in. In real estate, where selling could be considered 100% of the time spent, CoCA, and reducing it, is the metric.

There are two very important things to know here:

1st - Reducing the CoCA is NOT about reducing costs, its about increating the number of customers with the same dollar.
2nd - There is no "right" method of calculating CoCA; choose one of my suggestions from previos blogs (or from this blog) and run with it. The important thing to remember is not to change the way you calculate this metric - It's not the number itself that has meaning, it is the movement of that number over time.

There are many different methods and scenarios to consider and calculate CoCA.

In the case of real estate agents, take all of the out-of-pocket (OOP) costs you have in a year (or any other time frame) and add it to the amount you want to make - your desired income. Then divide it by your new customers (or projected new customers); the result being your Cost of Customer Acquisition - Keep it that simple - KISS it.

Simple Example: I want to make $95K/yr and I have $5K in miscellaneous OOP expenses totaling $100K in expenses (your salary is an expense to the business even if it is just you). Take that total and divide it by your new customers - let's say 100 new customers - cost of customer acquisition - $1000. Being a real estate agent, where I may make $5K-$6K per sale (or more) - that a pretty healthy return - I'll take 600% all day long.

Whether your an agent or a broker - know this metric, and measure it in any way you want - just do it the same way every time - be consistant.

One of the ways we are testing CoCA, in an attempt to reduce it, is to increase the number of leads, and thus customers, by doing some dense marketing around both "SOLD" properties and around "Open Houses". We are using multiple methods, some traditional and some unique to Dense Market, We will not only test our dense marketing for CoCA but will also test Diminishing Returns, another important metric not covered in this blog..

If you would like a copy of our findings and results, email me at rleonard@LightsOnGraphics.com - They should be available by October 1, 2016. Only the first 100 will be provided at no cost. Follow me on Twitter for progress reports @T4Leonard.

Quote: "Costs in Marketing should NEVER be about cost; it IS about diminishing returns on the next marketing dollar spent" ~rel

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

Connect with me on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/in/robertleonard5699
Follow me on Twitter
@T4Leonard
Add me to Your Google+ Circles
https://plus.google.com/+RobertLeonard5699/about

May 8, 2016

Find Where Data Is Hiding - Guest Blogger Kelly Mank

Think you don’t have enough data to drive personalized print marketing programs? To boost your targeting and personalization efforts, maybe you need to invest in data gathering or purchasing third-party list. Or maybe — just maybe — you have more data than you think.

Let’s look at some of the many types of data that can get overlooked.
•    Transactional Data. This includes both brick-and-mortar and from the online store.
•    Submissions through Web Contact Forms.
•    Customer Care (found in your CRM system)
•    Business Reply Cards. Too often, your BRCs are left at the fulfillment house and the valuable information that can be obtained from them is left unused.
•    SMS/Cell Phone Marketing Contacts. If you have a standalone system, get that information out of your text marketing solution and back into your CRM.
•    Responses to e-mail Campaigns. Like text messaging, these data need to get back into your marketing database so what you learn through email contacts can be integrated into your direct mail and other channels, too.
•    Trade Shows / Events. Get those “card swipe” responses back into your system after post-show follow-up!
•    Customer and Prospect Surveys.

Aggregating the data from these disparate sources will give you a more well-rounded picture of your customers and target audience. This data can be cleaned up, de-duped, and filled in if necessary so that you can use it to create more relevant communications and drive sales.

If you need help locating or integrating data from all of these disparate sources, give us a call. We can help!

Kelly Mank
President, Time4 Printing

Kelly@Time4Printing.com

Google+ - Time4Printing
LindedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/KellyMank
Twitter - www.twitter.com/Time4Printing

March 23, 2016

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Your Needs and the Flavor Choices

SEO is one of those abstract needs where the return is difficult to quantify, but we know we need to do it because that's what everybody says (?#?#).

Here is my bottom line on this - if you have a need, learn to do it as the return is high (assuming you have the need). The cost of good SEO is also high and since it is very much abstract, you want to know you are getting what you pay for. Watch out for the snake oil salespeople - they are on every corner in every town.

SEO comes in many flavors and levels.

The first, and least expensive, is that tuneup you may hear about frequently ($149 - $499). My opinion on this - if your website was built correctly in the first place it is already done. If you are being sold this, you probably don't need it. But then again, its 500 bucks - it may be worth getting someone elses opinion. You will hear people say things like relevant page name, page titles, page descriptions, meta tags, keywords, backlinks and search engine submissions at this level.

The next level comes from those service providers who do monthly SEO service - it's kind of like getting maid service for the first time - a start-up fee (like $499) and then a monthly fee of anywhere from $39 - $199 per month. Here we begin to move in the right direction as SEO is not a snapshot, but a process. Regretfully, customers rarely see a return fast enough and terminate the service as this becomes apparent. When this group is selling you, you will hear all the same words from the previous paragraph plus "content" and "relevance"...

Finally, for those people who can actually benefit (financially speaking) - learn to do SEO as the process (yes, a process) needs to be continuously worked. Think of it like marketing - it's not something you do once. Add to that, people who know what they are doing with SEO are either doing something themselves or charge BIG $$. Test your need with PPC (Pay-Per-Click (or CPC - Cost-Per-Click); it is not abstract. If PPC provides a return, so will SEO and you will want to do BOTH - this, is not an either/or.

Finally, Finally :) there is Pro-active SEO; Read more about it in my article The Importance of Tweeting in Your SEO Plan.

Good SEO is like a good salesperson - they (you) live it.

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

February 22, 2016

What MakesTwitter Such a Great Tool - Making Us All BetterCommunicators - Marketing 101T

Twitter at 140

Tweet World - Twitter teaches us to be more concise in our statements as we only have 140 characters to make our pitch.
Real World - This is not a new thought - 35 years ago I used to practice elevator speeches - yes speeches. We had to know when we could repeat our favorite, when we had to use a new / different one, and how to keep it short enough that we could always include a link ( Hand shake, say your name (introduce yourself ) and hand them a card) - Ahhh, let's call that a oldern days tweet.

Repeating Tweet

Tweet World - When you find a good tweet, repeat it, maybe as much as every couple days. Every time you tweet, your audience is only about 3% of your followers (my estimate). That being the case, you can repeat your tweet 33 times without repeating it to the same audience.

Real World - Sometimes, people need to hear your pitch multiple times for it to sink in. This is no different than using the same sales pitch to different people at trade shows, sales calls and even over the phone - It's called following the script.

Understanding the Impact of Individual Tweets

Today, we can measure the impact of our tweets instantly allowing us to test more frequently, more broadly and more accurately with less subjective inclusion. This same need has always existed, but the online and social tools did not as they do today.

The key 'take-away' here is that the same data, information and techniques have always been needed, we just use different (and better) tools today. Old marketers / sellers need to adopt; new marketers / sellers need to learn why - "Knowing why we do something is what allows us to adapt" ~rel.

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

February 16, 2016

Why There Will Always Be Salespeople - Listening, Translating and Educating

First, let me open and say that marketing is an imperfect science - imperfect in that marketing never gets it right. New ingredients are added to the marketing mix all the time - the objective of marketing is to educate the buyer so to make the sale simpler - but it's a moving target - it's in the salesman's skill set to adjust the aim.

Salesperson

Without the salesperson, who would tell the prospect how their product fits the prospect's need (I think I took this, at least in context from something Steve Jobs once said).

It's the salesperson that educates / translates / explains to the prospect that their product is exactly what they are looking for. In the printing business we see it almost every day; I will introduce myself as part of a local printing company and that we can print "anything"; the person I just introduced myself to will then ask someone else "do you know anyone who does brochures" ???? The prospect did not need "anything" printed, they needed brochures ???? See the problem?

When I was in the systems business (systems integrator) I would never try to explain what we did as it was to complex. I would ask the prospects why they were attending this conference / trade show.(if they were) The prospects would describe in detail what he needed - abracadabra - my response- "That is exactly what we do..!!! What the prospect needed - from the prospects eyes.

I guess we could call this a lesson in listening - Don't bore the prospect with what you do; repeat back to them what they want - You must listen first and then tell the story.

A Wrapped Filing Cabinet

So what brings this whole thing up? I was talking to a prospect who was describing how he wanted his file cabinets custom painted to reflect what their business did (I'm listening). I suggested he wrap them (kinda like we do vehicles - you see the similarity, vehicles and file cabinets :/ ). Better, more damage/scratch resistant, easy to clean and much less expensive. Best of all, I had one in the office to show him. Who da thunk... He would have never knocked on my door for this.

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

September 20, 2015

How to Calculate your "Cost of Customer Acquisition" - The Most Common Question

Since writing a few articles about "Cost of Customer Acquisition" I have been asked several questions about it; the most common being, "How do I calculate my own Cost of Customer Acquisition?" Lets try to answer this.

First, there are both many different scenarios and many ways to calculate Cost of Customer Acquisition.

The simplest of the scenarios is the Commissioned Salesperson. Take all the out-of-pocket (OOP) costs you have in a year (or any other time period) and add it to the amount you want to make - your desired income. Then divide it by your new customers (or projected new customers); the result being your cost of customer acquisition.

Example: I want to make $95K/yr and I have $5K in miscellaneous OOP expenses totaling $100K in expenses (your income is an expense to the business even if it is just you). Take that total and divide it by your new customers - let's say 100 new customers - cost of customer acquisition - $1000. Two factors I did not consider here are 'cost of customer maintenance' and 'diminishing returns' as both come more into play when you transition from sales person to small business.

A second example would be of a small business large enough to have a few sales people. In this scenario, the owner will want to consider more of the costs as their will actually be more costs. Consider everything, from the cost or marketing, advertising, signage on the office, promotional pieces and lets not forget the base salaries, commissions and the costs of having salespeople employed as well. All these things, and potentially more, can be included in the cost side of Cost of Customer Acquisition. In reality, it's all up to the 'measurer' and his or her metrics and/or analytic desires. I have never seen two companies measure it the same way, but I have also never seen a company inconsistent in the way it measured this metric - this is good.

So no matter what size company - know this metric, and measure it in any way you want.

The objective in using this metric is to, over time, reduce the Cost of Customer Acquisition. This is accomplished, by either reducing costs or increasing the number of customers - if you know what I write about, you know where I lean. Marketing efforts, sales pushes and product mix changes will also affect this metric.

A few final notes:

Diminishing returns are important to at least think about, especially if this number is going into a business plan.
High margin / big ticket items have different metrics as does service businesses that may get clients who come back forever,
Cost of Customer Acquisition is much different than Cost of Lead Acquisition / Generation.

I believe it is one of the best metrics for any growing business.

Cost of Customer Acquisition

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

August 27, 2015

Giving Your Customers What They Want - Online vs Brick & Mortar - It is the Same

To often we see websites that first, tell visitors all about themselves - who they are, how long they have been in business and about their owner's background. In the Brick and Mortar world that would be equivalent to having a customer ask "where are your mattresses?" and you, instead for asking them about 'their' needs and wants (and taking them there), telling them about your qualification and expertise in mattresses. Sounds kind of foolish from the Brick & Mortar perspective - so then why do we take that approach online?

Websites need to act more like their Grand Fatherly predecessor and take the client directly to the products being asked about - to the "Mattress Department". In the online world that would be a deep link directly to the mattress pages.

This is just common sense - isn't it?

Deep Linking your SEO and PPC down to the brand and product level will get you both higher conversion rates and less costly PPC. If someone search "Prince Tennis Rackets" and your sporting goods store comes up, the link should take them to the branded page of and for "Prince Tennis Rackets" - not to your home page. In the PPC model this also means less expensive searches; which do you think is a more expensive key word search? - "Tennis Rackets" or "Prince Tennis Rackets". This is also true when you go from the brand level to the product level - both a less expensive click and a buyer that knows what they want. Take them directly to the product and put a big "Buy Me Now" button there as well as a phone number to your local store just in case they want to pick it up now.

Exercise a little common sense in your online marketing plans and efforts.

Marketing and sales have not changed, we just have a few more tools today.

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

August 7, 2015

Getting your SEO / Ranking Possibilities Right from Day One - SEO Tips Series

So you are creating a website and your objective is to get found. The first thing you do is go to the network registrars and get your domain name (URL). From the beginning (NOW) lets do it right. Let's get your website's SEO off to the right start.

One of the first things the search engines look at is how long the website has been around. It's the first piece of information in establishing and setting a level of trust. Think of it in terms of job hunting - recruiters look for stable people who have been stable in their job history (funny oxymoron their). The search engines have been programed the same way; has this website been around a while? This one is tough to control if you are just out of school or a new website.

The next thing they look at is how long you (your URL) plans on being around. Again, like job hunting, planned stability counts; like buying a house or any root planting scenarios. In the case of your website URL, if you bought it for one year verses buying it for 7 years speaks loudly to your plans and confidence. One Year domain are many times just flyers - not a lot of confidence in its existence thus not a lot of trust given by the search engines in return. Buying for 7 years is like saying: “I want to be taken seriously.

SEO Tip Bug

Start out on the right foot with your website - for the extra $100, the search engines will take you a bit more seriously from the get-go.

This SEO tip will always be current.

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

Connect to me on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/in/robertleonard5699
Follow me on Twitter
@T4Leonard
Add me to Your Google+ Circles
https://plus.google.com/+RobertLeonard5699/about

July 16, 2015

Real Estate Agents - Best Marketing Practices - Best Business Increasing Practices

Local and Localization is about sustainability and no group defines Local better than Real Estate Agents and Brokers. This creates unique opportunities for agents and brokers to market themselves and marker their brand. Remember, even though the product is the home, it's the agent that we hire.

Because Your Customers
are your Neighbors

In Real Estate, the Cost of Customer Acquisition is high whether it is for a listing or for a buyer - much higher when you consider the time invested to both obtain the client and maintain / service the client (time is a real cost). Agents and brokers market themselves in many ways - each serving a different purpose.

Internet and Social Media - A necessary evil. MLS, Zillow, brokerage website and your own website are all things you need to get going. There is plenty of help available as these are the easy ones to begin your business venture. People may also "check you out" on Yelp or Facebook. High labor cost - low direct / measurable return is the norm from Internet marketing. I don't want to underplay this; your Internet presence is required in supporting your brand - ask me why (for another article).

EDDM with a Call to Action

Direct Mail - EDDM (USPS Every Door Direct Mail) has the highest return for real estate agents, but is the most overlooked. Let's analyze a few scenarios. EDDM, if you are unaware, is a USPS service that give you the capability to target, not only Local, but a neighborhood - making YOU a neighbor. NO mail list, or cost of a mail list, required.! What better return can you have; Retail EDDM is inexpensive in that it is less than HALF first class postage rates, and your message touches all the homes around the one you just listed or sold. It's targeted by the mail carrier route that your listing is within. It contains a very custom message about THAT LISTING. It contains a "call to action" on that house ("Open House on Sunday, June 3rd from 1-3 PM). It contains a message about YOU. YOUR SELLER WILL LOVE THIS. Neighbors will visit your open house (because it's in the neighborhood (Curiosity)) and you will meet a lot of people - isn't that what the real estate business is about? Does this generate some ideas?

EDDM is also a very cost effective way to introduce yourself to the neighborhoods you want to specialize - the neighborhoods where you are an expert.

Return on EDDM marketing is huge.

Referral Marketing - This one is not a new concept in the real estate business and is definitely the big winner. Your good relationships (goodwill) with local mortgage companies, banks, the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses will put you on their referral list

So how can you add to your referral marketing opportunities and returns? Do some proactive referral marketing.

Everyone you know (have touched) at mortgage companies, banks and The Chamber of Commerce should have a referral card - one custom to themselves. Why? First, because it is also about them, thus they are more likely to use it. Second, you can measure the return. Provide some sort of motivation to each side - a home evaluation, free local packet of info /coupons (from friends) to prospective clients and maybe a referral reward to your referrers / friends. I purposely use the word "Friends" here - "we all like to do business with people we like" first.
Referral Cards

On the sale / buy of a home, print a set of thank you / referral cards / announcement cards that are specific to that client - One with their big smile and the words "The Williams New Home"; these will go everywhere. Your referral card will go from your customer, to their friends and colleagues. Remember, include a call to action - several - about both you and the new homeowners:
"Directions to The Williams New Home". Cool approach, huh.
Possibly the most important task you have to improve your referral selection: Be Part of the Community - Be a Recognized Face = Be a Recognized Smile.

Call Me for advice - We Consult and We Build your referral program. We Print and we will measure (count your money) if you like..

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

EDDM and Referral Marketing Programs
are Services Provided by all LightsOn / Time4 offices.

Connect to me on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/in/robertleonard5699 Follow me on Twitter
@T4Leonard
Add me to Your Google+ Circles
https://plus.google.com/+RobertLeonard5699/about

July 13, 2015

Tax Preparer / CPAs - More Sales Forever - Know your "Cost of Customer Acquisition" - Case Three

For independent tax preparers, bookkeepers and CPAs, this is how you can make your business boom. The public would rather find you (You Are LOCAL) than use the major brand temp office preparer or one of those scary seasonal offices with the curtains in Walmart.

But let's start with knowing your "Cost of Customer Acquisition" - it is important to know.

"Cost of Customer Acquisition" is probably one of the most important pieces of knowledge to have in business. This tidbit of information makes your small business act very big. This tidbit of information is what makes businesses grow. This Tidbit of information is what makes you more money and builds you a business that has asset value (sellable (ahh retirement)).

So let's figure this out. How do I figure out what my Cost of Customer Acquisition is? Probably the best way is use some industry averages. They are available in your profession - attend a marketing seminar (they are at every major business show). Note, if someone who is selling you marketing, claiming expertise in your business, and can not tell you what your profession's Cost of Customer Acquisition is, they ARE NOT an Expert.

The Tax and Tax Preparation business is heavily seasonal and you want to leverage, not only your own marketing and sales effort, but your competitions as well..


Tax Preparation and Accounting Your Customers Marry You

Tax Preparation, CPAs and Bookkeepers

Local tax preparers typically have a low Cost of Customer Acquisition. Most of their business comes from traditional hand-to-hand daytime marketing and referral. We are assuming you want to grow, so we are going to throw out some ideas. One real nice thing to remember, when you get a customer, they are typically FOREVER CUSTOMERS returning year after year. So where should you be?

Internet and Social Media - The Internet and doing SEO are the easy parts for your business; there are a dozen computer geeks in every town that can make this happen for you - just don't over due it. You are LOCAL, thus Google does most of the work for you (or them). Social Media doesn't play a big roll either - You maybe should have a closed group for customers and / or an open page for general tips. A blog is always good to have as well because Local people will find it on their searches ("CPAs in Albany" or even just "CPAs" because Google favors local).

Note: People will "check you out" on Yelp and Facebook

EDDM

Direct Mail - YES - EDDM (USPS Every Door Direct Mail) probably has the highest return for Tax Preparers; your clients come back over and over and over - for their lifetime in many cases - retention rates are high. We have Tax Preparers that spend a large percentage when compared to their first years client fees (seems like a loser, but...) - they know, once the client is in - they are in for life. Retention rates on someone who walks in the office are 80% to 90%. The returns on such are almost unbelievable - huge - to big to quote because they are so unbelievable - think about it. Remember, this is a "Local" Bang-for-the-Buck; there are diminishing returns, but doing once a year makes this a non-issue. Do EDDM in surrounding neighborhoods, LOCAL to you . Another nice thing is that this is a once-a-year event - December / January.


Referral Card

Referral Marketing - This is a no-brainer. Your good relationships (goodwill) with local people and businesses gets you referrals.

So what can you do to help this referral marketing along? Do some proactive referral marketing.

Each client, on each visit, should walk away with a hand full of referral cards. Those cards should reward the referred with some monetary incentive to come see you first; "$$$ toward your Consult (remember, they come back year after year)". In addition, the referrer needs to be rewarded with some credit as well (make it worthwhile) such as $10 for new clients (remember, they don't spend it till Next Year). Clients will grab extra cards and give them out to all their friends for the sake of saving a few dollars (repeat - Next Year). If you are a bookkeeper or a CPA, you are likely to get a few business clients out of this as well.
Possibly the most important task you have to improve your referral selection: Be Part of the Community - Be a Recognized Face = Be a Recognized Smile.

We will set up the complete program for increasing your business.

Call Me for advice - We Consult, we Print, and we will measure (count your money) if you like..

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

We do business all over the Northeast, Austin, South Florida and in the SF Bay Area.

Referral Marketing services provided by all LightsOn / Time4 offices.

Connect to me on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/in/robertleonard5699
Follow me on Twitter
@T4Leonard
Add me to Your Google+ Circles
https://plus.google.com/+RobertLeonard5699/about

July 10, 2015

What is your "Cost of Customer Acquisition" - The Orthodontist

"Cost of Customer Acquisition" is probably one of the most important pieces of knowledge to have in business. This tidbit of information makes your small business act very big. This Tidbit of information is what makes businesses grow. This Tidbit of information is what makes you more money and builds you a business that has asset value (sellable (ahh retirement)).

So let's figure this out. How do I figure out what my Cost of Customer Acquisition is? Probably the best way (aside from hiring an expensive consultant - which I DO NOT Recommend) is use some industry averages. They are available in your profession - attend a marketing seminar (they are at every Dental Trade Show). Note, if someone who is selling you marketing, claiming expertise in your business, and can not tell you what your profession's Cost of Customer Acquisition is, they ARE NOT an Expert.

In the dental business there are at least two cases: The Dentist - your patients are forever; The Orthodontists - your patients are mostly single purpose.


Orthodontists Live or Die on Referrals and Reputation

This Article Addresses Orthodontist

have a high Cost of Customer Acquisition. The service they provide is expensive (per customer) and has a high gross margin all within a time compressed dental service. Orthodontists need to market themselves in many different ways - each serving a purpose.

Internet and Social Media - A NECESSITY. The Internet and doing SEO are the easy parts; there are a dozen computer geeks in every town that can make this happen for you - just don't over due it. You are LOCAL, thus Google does most of the work for you. Social Media, is a different animal though.

Let's use our customers and brag, in pictures, about our product. You want to get permission to post (or not post) pictures of your finished work; the kids will love it and as far as seeing before and afters, once you get the ball rolling, the patients (kids) will post them as well (and for you). Make sure they TAG your practice's Facebook page (your staff will need to ask them to do that).

People will "check you out" on Yelp, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

This is a high labor cost - high indirect / difficult to measurable return; the nice thing here is that you probably have an expert in the office already playing on Social Media during their work day - embrace it. Done right, social media will make your local brand.

EDDM, not so for Orthodontists

Direct Mail - Unlike dentists, EDDM (USPS Every Door Direct Mail) does not provide the "Lifetime" return to the Orthodontist. Your patients hopefully never come back and, as far as their siblings, their parents will never forget you. That said, we have Orthodontists that do EDDM, but not with the frequency or return that Dentists enjoy. When Orthodontist's do EDDMs, the mailing still needs a hook - that free evaluation or a consult.


Referral Card

Referral Marketing - This one is not a new concept to Orthodontists and is definitely the big winner. Your good relationships (goodwill) with other local Dentists gets you on their referral short list. Your objective now is to be the one picked from that referral short list.

So what can you do to be the one picked (from that short list of 3 or 4)? Do some proactive referral marketing.

Each patient, on each visit, should walk away with a hand full of referral cards. Those cards should reward the referred with some monetary incentive to come see you first; "$50 toward your Consult and analysis". In addition, the referrer needs to be rewarded with some credit as well (make it worthwhile) such as $10 for new consults and $50 for new patients. Parents will grab extra cards and force their kids to pass them out.
After the patients braces are removed, print a set of referral cards that are specific to that patient - One with their big smile and the words "Erin's New Smile - By Dr. Thomas, DDS"; these will go everywhere. This may seem self-serving (to me here), but this is far less expensive than any promotional toy you give out. Your referral card will go from your patient, to their friend to their parents. Cool approach, huh.
Possibly the most important task you have to improve your referral selection: Be Part of the Community - Be a Recognized Face = Be a Recognized Smile.

We will set up the complete program for increasing your business.

Call Me for advice - We Consult, we Print, and we will measure (count your money) if you like..

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

Referral Marketing services provided by all LightsOn / Time4 offices.

Connect to me on LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com/in/robertleonard5699

Follow me on Twitter
@T4Leonard

Add me to Your Google+ Circles
https://plus.google.com/+RobertLeonard5699/about

July 9, 2015

What is your "Cost of Customer Acquisition" - The Dentist

Because Customers are for Life,
Returns Just Continue to Grow

This article addresses Dentists.

Dentists have a high Cost of Customer Acquisition - sometimes much higher than the charge of an initial visit (which is many times discounted). Dentists market themselves in many ways - each serving a purpose.

Internet and Social Media - A necessary evil. People may "check you out" on Yelp or Facebook. High labor cost - low direct / measurable return. I don't want to underplay this; your social media presence is required in supporting your brand - ask me why (for another article).

EDDM with a Call to Action

Direct Mail - EDDM (USPS Every Door Direct Mail) probably has the highest return for Dentists; your patients come back over and over and over - for their lifetime in many cases. We have dentists that spend 500% - 1000% their initial appointment fees (seems like a loser, but...) - they know, once the family is in - they are in for life. Retention rates on someone who sits in the chair range from 80% to 90%. The loss leaders are typically a cleaning, x-rays and /or a heavily discounted initial visit. The returns on such sound almost unbelievable - well over 10,000% (no typo - ten-thousand percent and I am being conservative). Remember, this is a "Local" Bang-for-the-Buck; there are diminishing returns. Do EDDM in a neighborhoods then move on to the next LOCAL neighborhood. Do not repeat more than once every 4 month to the same neighborhood (every 6 months is better). Believe it or not, there are even better times of year to do this.


Referral Card

Referral Marketing - On EVERY patient visit, the patient and / or their parent should walk out with a stack of referral cards (business card size). This referral card should provide an initial visit hook (like the EDDM) and some type of monetary return to the referrer - like a $10 discount for every referred new patient - they will think $100s - you will get new patients for life. Massive returns and massive branding for your practice - Everyone is a winner.

Call Me for advice - We Consult, we Print, and we will measure (count your money) if you like..

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell)
772-905-4383 (On the Treasure Coast)
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

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June 23, 2015

"Relevance" with Every Tweet - Who is coming to Verify that Tweet and that the Link is Real. It's a secret

People ask how we know what we know (this is still the biggest SEO secret out there). Well here it is. When you Tweet, as we did here about "Frosted Oval Plastic Business Cards", and place a link within the tweet, to the
"Frosted Oval Plastic Business Cards" web page, we are demonstrating relevance between the words and the web page. We call that Proactive SEO. Below is the actual tweet and the hits from the "Aggregators of Relevance" - that is what I named them.

Get it?

Just an FYI - Our reporting tools are custom, by us, for us, and as, Localization.

Bob Leonard

561-371-4113

Twitter and Periscope @T4Leonard

The Tweet @ 2:26PM PDT

Frosted #Oval #Plastic Business Cards Full #Color > http://www.lightsongraphics.com/plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html #BusinessCards #Print

Who (which BOTs) came out and verified the Tweet? Apple, Twitter(2), Incero, Inktomi, Amazon(2), Topsy, Google(2) and RackSpace Several duplicate verification hits occur as well..

IP Address is 17.142.151.80.
My ISP is "Apple".
I am from Cupertino, CA 95014.
I Came Direct and I am trying to go to /plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html.
The Time is Tue 23 Jun 2015 02:26:16 PM PDT

IP Address is 199.59.148.210.
My ISP is "Twitter".
I am from San Francisco, CA 94107.
I Came Direct and I am trying to go to /plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html.
The Time is Tue 23 Jun 2015 02:26:17 PM PDT

IP Address is 23.29.122.195.
My ISP is "Incero LLC".
I am from Austin, TX .
I Came Direct and I am trying to go to /plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html.
The Time is Tue 23 Jun 2015 02:26:17 PM PDT

IP Address is 74.6.254.144.
My ISP is "Inktomi Corporation".
I am from Sunnyvale, CA 94089.
I Came Direct and I am trying to go to /plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html.
The Time is Tue 23 Jun 2015 02:26:19 PM PDT

IP Address is 54.198.122.232.
My ISP is "Amazon Technologies".
I am from Ashburn, VA 20147.
I Came Direct and I am trying to go to /plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html.
The Time is Tue 23 Jun 2015 02:26:28 PM PDT

IP Address is 54.162.47.199.
My ISP is "AMAZON".
I am from Ashburn, VA 20147.
I Came Direct and I am trying to go to /plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html.
The Time is Tue 23 Jun 2015 02:26:33 PM PDT

IP Address is 199.16.156.126.
My ISP is "Twitter".
I am from San Francisco, CA 94107.
I Came Direct and I am trying to go to /plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html.
The Time is Tue 23 Jun 2015 02:26:54 PM PDT

IP Address is 74.112.131.244.
My ISP is "Topsy Labs".
I am from San Francisco, CA .
I Came Direct and I am trying to go to /plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html.
The Time is Tue 23 Jun 2015 02:27:55 PM PDT

IP Address is 66.249.64.161.
My ISP is "Googlebot".
I am from Mountain View, CA 94043.
I Came Direct and I am trying to go to /plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html.
The Time is Tue 23 Jun 2015 02:27:57 PM PDT

IP Address is 66.249.89.82.
My ISP is "Google".
I am from Mountain View, CA 94043.
I Came Direct and I am trying to go to /plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html.
The Time is Tue 23 Jun 2015 02:27:59 PM PDT

IP Address is 104.130.125.119.
My ISP is "Rackspace Hosting".
I am from San Antonio, TX 78218.
I Came Direct and I am trying to go to /plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html.
The Time is Tue 23 Jun 2015 02:35:47 PM PDT

IP Address is 157.55.39.186. Micorsoft's BOTs came 4 seperate times from 4 seperate IP addresses located in 4 different places.

My ISP is "Microsoft bingbot".

I am from Redmond, WA 98052.

I Came Direct and I am trying to go to /plastic-business-cards/96-frosted-oval-plastic-20-pt-business-cards.html.
The Time is Tue 23 Jun 2015 02:45:47 PM PDT

Very Very Cool.!!!