Lawrence Kirsch Marketing

A Few Hours A Week

2011-12-08T20:37:00.000-08:00

Too many companies simply don’t take the time to conduct long term planning, midterm planning, or even short term planning.

The process is not difficult but it does require a mix of thoughtful review, dedication to improvement, and action.

The single most important advice I share with my clients (small to medium sized companies) is to conduct weekly management meetings separate from the day-to-day, impromptu sessions that pop-up to solve immediate issues and problems.

It is critical for business owners to take this time on a weekly basis to focus on strategic planning and the necessary tactics and processes required to achieve their goals. It is the concept of working ON your business, instead of always working IN your business.

The first step is to designate a specific day and time each week for this important meeting, allowing for a couple of hours to complete the tasks.

Here is a sample agenda outlining the topics to be considered:

Short and Long Term Strategic Planning (Reviewing your business model, and identifying upcoming short and long term opportunities and any changes or updates to your business strategy).
Marketing & Promotion (Identifying your resonating value proposition and the tactics you will use to build awareness and communicate to your target audiences).
Product and/or Service Review/Update (Recommending improvements and changes to current product and service offerings).
Operations & Equipment (Updating current operating procedures and the necessary equipment and tools required).
Human Resource Issues (Reviewing requirements for staffing, necessary training and any problems relating to the management of your employees).
Financial (Analyzing the current financial health of the company, and financial requirements to achieve selected goals and objectives).
Next Steps (Identifying the activities to be performed and the individuals responsible prior to the next meeting. This serves to hold everyone accountable for their specific actions).

The “Suspend File:”

It is recommended each member of the executive team create a folder to collect items (ideas for new products, equipment, etc.), the discussion of which can be “suspended” until the next management meeting. This will guarantee important issues that come up during the week will receive the necessary time required for thoughtful discussion and analysis during the weekly management meeting.

For information on conducting more effective management meetings call us at 760-845-1633.

Do you have weekly management meetings?

A Marketing Assessment For Growth

2011-11-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

In today’s poor economic environment, ineffective marketing could be costing you thousands of dollars and even your business! Prepare now for 2012.

Now is the time to take a closer look at your marketing and sales activities.

Are you happy with the results? Are you growing?

If not, it’s time to conduct a Marketing Assessment.

We bring over 30 years of Marketing & Sales experience helping companies just like yours.

We can help you.

What is a Marketing Assessment?

Focused time with a highly experienced, strategic and tactical marketing expert.

Careful review of your company’s marketing activities – whether successful or not.

Frank discussion of your goals and expectations for 2012 and onward.

Tactical strategies that will positively impact your sales and growth goals.

A proven plan of action – designed for your company.

The Marketing Assessment will be some of the most valuable hours you will spend on your company. Uncover new avenues for growth and identify proven marketing programs.

The Marketing Assessment will show you what you need to do right now.

This dynamic process uncovers new methods and tactics for greatly improving your marketing results and growing your sales. You start the New Year with a proven marketing direction, finding and capturing new business.

Don’t start another year with your same old marketing plans. Take action today!

To learn how the Marketing Assessment can help you grow, call 760-845-1633.

A 30-year strategic and tactical marketing veteran, Larry Kirsch has helped companies such as Rainbird, GlaxoSmithKline, and The Brady Companies increase their profitability and achieve greater ROI for their marketing dollars. Larry has founded three companies, co-owned a food manufacturing operation, and co-founded an e-commerce business. As a consultant, he has guided literally hundreds of companies in their marketing and growth strategies.

The Marketing Assessment will show you new ways to grow your company faster, and more cost-effectively.

You can’t afford NOT to do this for your business.

Call us at 760-845-1633 to begin your Marketing Assessment.

If you know a business owner who would benefit from this special Marketing Assessment, please forward this information to them. Thank you.

Improve Your Marketing with Free Google Tools

2011-07-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

I recently reviewed a special report* on seven important tools offered by Google to help individuals and companies market their products and services. I thought I would share with you this valuable information.

These tools leverage the powerful search engine services offered by Google and provide companies with a tremendous opportunity to greatly improve their inbound marketing activities. The end result is increased numbers of eyes viewing an organization’s website and a greater likelihood for more sales.

Google Adwords: This program offers you the opportunity to bid money on specific keywords, allowing you to appear in Google paid search results. The more you bid, the better your position. Keep in mind that 75% of searchers click on “organic” search. Whereas only 25% of online searchers click on “paid” results (from Google Adwords). Organic search results from bringing in many inbound links and ensuring your website is well optimized for search engine activity (SEO).

To learn more about Google Adwords, click here. (Adwords.google.com)

Google Docs: This tool allows you to create a document (Word document, Spreadsheets, Presentations, etc.), and then share it with anyone who needs to view, edit or manage it.

Go to Docs.Google.com to begin the process.

Google Keyword Tool: We use keywords all the time to help us find information, conduct research and make purchases. It is critically important for any business to understand the keywords used to locate their goods and services by prospects and customers. This tool helps companies identify the most appropriate keyword ideas.

Begin this process by clicking on this link: (GoogleKeywordTool.com)

Google Alerts: This tool that allows you to monitor the Internet for company names, industry terms, the competition; basically any desired keywords.

Let’s say you would like to know what is being “said” about your company on the Web. By setting up an Alert, Google does the work for you and will conveniently email you the results right to your inbox. I would recommend everyone at least establish an Alert for their own name, and any “nicknames” they use (or aliases). Then, you can select the type of content you want Google to look for (including video, articles, press releases, companies) and how often notification is sent.

To set up your alerts, click here (http://www.google.com/alerts)

Google News: This tool keeps you up to date on important news stories and allows you to leverage this information to position yourself as an industry “thought leader.” You can quickly identify interesting news articles and other recent information to keep you and your audience educated on current events.

Go to News.Google.com to begin your query.

Google Reader: This tool allows you to efficiently follow news on the Internet by filtering through news stories, blog posts, videos and other relevant information. When you add blogs and news sources to your Reader, you can quickly browse through them using this tool.

Go to Google.com/Reader to begin.

Google Places: This tool will help you increase the visibility of your business. It is a free way to get your business listed on the first page of a Google search result. For example, a company buyer is looking to contract with a manufacturer of custom office furniture. The person enters “custom office furniture.” Using the buyers IP address and advanced search algorithms, Google knows where this company buyer is located. The search results listed by Google will initially list those websites located in the same area as the buyer. Pretty cool.

To claim your Google Place listing, go to Google.com/Places.

If you want to learn more about the power of Internet marketing, using the tools of Google, or the many diverse marketing tactics available to you, contact us.

*Hubspot Report: 7 Google Tools

Quick Check Strategy System

2011-04-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

A manufacturer located in Southern California recently requested some management assistance.

Although they had weathered the nearly three-year recession storm, the owners were rather beaten up and exhausted from the experience. These are feelings that many company owners have had recently.

The client had a solid company, with good products. But they needed to get back on track and put into place new and more robust management systems and procedures. Fortunately, the client agreed to have the Quick Check Strategy System applied to their situation.

During our sessions, we identified a particular problem area with their new product development process. The engineering department had strayed from the original core strength of the company, developing a small line of products within a completely new product category, reducing the resources available for their current product line, both in the areas of research & development and marketing.

Due to the personalities involved, the new product development meetings became somewhat dysfunctional, leaving the company without a viable process of identifying new and appropriate new products. This was not a good thing. Especially since the industries in which the company competed had become very competitive with new technologies being introduced or updated nearly every quarter.

The Quick Check Strategy System was designed for companies such as this one. As we applied a series of “quick checks,” focusing on marketing, sales, operations, and goal identification, we were able to quickly identify the problem issues, and work to resolve them. The System encouraged all parties to acknowledge specific problems and agree to move in a concerted direction, working together to meet the newly identified goals.

The result was a clearly identified new product development strategy. This strategy also calls for ongoing facilitated support to be provided ensuring the initial efforts become part of the long-term process. For more information regarding our Quick Check Strategy Session, click here, or call us at 760-845-1633.

A Wonderful Season

2010-12-22T22:35:00.001-08:00

Growing up in the Washington, DC area, the holidays were always a time of anticipation – not just of gifts, and gatherings of family and friends, but of weather – in particular, snow. Will it snow? What’s the chance for snow? These were often the questions that filled our minds.

We became experts at tracking the barometric pressure. If it was dropping and it was cold enough, there was a distinct possibly for that glorious white stuff. Oh boy, we could hardly contain ourselves.

And when it did happen, that perfect convergence of dropping pressure, cold weather, and moisture coming in from God knows where, snow would fall. We’d dash outside covered in coats, gloves, hats and scarves ready to do battle, or build snowmen, or reach hair-raising speeds on our Flexible Flyers.

Those were the little moments that formed wonderful, lifelong memories. And these little moments are happening all around us today. Enjoy these moments now and into the New Year. Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Best Wishes,

Larry

Picking The Low-Hanging Fruit

2010-09-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

The low-hanging fruit. It’s there, always has been.

As we move through our day, we try, from time to time, to pick it from the tree and enjoy it.

Sometimes, in our rush to a new orchard, or to other farming and cultivating tasks, we overlook this fruit. That’s a real shame.

Okay, enough with the farm metaphor.

I’m talking about additional, new business from your current and past customers.

These folks are already familiar with your company’s products and services and have displayed a degree of interest in, and loyalty to, your company. There is typically a high likelihood these people will purchase again (or more frequently), if given the opportunity, or if simply reminded to purchase.

Past customers are also familiar with your company, but may not have purchased in quite some time. They may not be aware of your new product and/or service offerings, or even of your continued existence (that would be sad). By re-connecting, you are also re-introducing your company to them, increasing the likelihood they will purchase from you - once again.

The key is to have a process that quickly takes you through the steps of opportunity identification, development of the message, and implementation - with the final result being new sales.

And that is just what we’ve done. We’ve developed a dynamic system targeting a company’s low-hanging fruit to capture immediate, additional revenue.

We call it The Rapid Sales System

The Rapid Sales System…

Identifies sales opportunities (and prioritizes the most promising)
Produces compelling sales messages (to motivate customers to buy)
Incorporates effective marketing tactics (to reach more customers and capture more sales)
Moves quickly (implemented without delay)
Creates high impact (it’s aggressive, it’s immediate, and it works)

The Rapid Sales System is all about going after sales NOW. It’s about taking ACTION.

If you would like more information, click on the button below.

And good luck to you on the farm.

Big Brother Is Finally Here – and We Are Him

2010-09-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

In George Orwell’s terrifying book, 1984, he presents a bleak future controlled by the ever watchful eye of Big Brother, the personification of a brutal, totalitarian regime. In Orwell’s world, one cannot escape the pervasive government surveillance. No act goes without notice.

In our world today, one cannot escape the presence of the cell phone camera or handheld video device. No matter where you go, someone, perhaps many are equipped with devices at the ready to capture your next utterance, faux pas or indiscretion.

Big Brother is finally here. And we are him.

We have entered the age of mass surveillance, perpetrated by our desire to capture the world around us in digital images and the instantaneous mass sharing of this media. We may not set out to focus our lens on the activities of others, but we are often attracted to the unfortunate blunders of our fellow man.

This mass surveillance does not require orchestration by a central, controlling force. The Internet, with websites such as YouTube and Facebook, serves as a prime vessel to capture, categorize, warehouse and share the many millions of images we, the general public, decide to record, upload and download.

The Big Brother image of the 21st century looks more like a photo mosaic comprising thousands, if not millions, of little images, captured by us, then compiled and arranged in a visual sequence that presents to the observer a somewhat confusing, conflicting and disturbing picture of our current civilization. A culture made up, as it turns out, of many, little Big Brothers.

Creating a Message That Sells - Handout

2010-06-04T11:07:00.001-07:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Creating a Message That Sells - Handout

View more documents from Lawrence Kirsch.

2010-04-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, April 10th I was on the San Diego 6 morning news show with Elex Michaelson discussing financing options for small businesses. My objective was to identify some real options currently available for those companies seeking money. For those of you who may have missed this segment, I wanted to list a few of the resources available for lending assistance:

CDC Small Business Finance
This non-profit is one of the most popular organizations for SBA backed loans. Their financing programs include opportunities for women, minority and veteran-owned organizations.
http://www.cdcloans.com/index.shtml

Accion USA
This organization provides micro loans for US based companies and entrepreneurs throughout the world. Most loans are from $300 up to $35,000, and are based on the person’s character.
www.accionsandiego.org

Credit Unions
These non-profit companies often provide loans at lower interest rates then standard bank loans.

Commercial Finance Companies
For those organizations with assets (typically manufacturing companies), a commercial finance company may be a good fit, due to their ability to provide loans of greater risk.

For a free list of potential funding sources, visit this website: http://www.businessfinance.com/

What is Your Personal Social Media Objective?

2010-02-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

I was on television yesterday with KSUI – a local San Diego channel – discussing some of the pros and cons regarding participation in Social Media.

An article was recently published in national and local media on how divorce attorneys are turning to Facebook and other social media sites to uncover incriminating evidence against their clients’ soon to be ex-spouses. Yes, it is a sad commentary of how far we’ve gone with social media – and so quickly. But it is certainly understandable.

As I mentioned in my segment with Sandra Maas (an anchor with KSUI), people perceive a false sense of intimacy when they are communicating via their computers. They are sitting at their desk, or dining room table, often alone, with their computer; not necessary thinking that many thousands of individuals could rather easily access their written musings or enjoy their recent photos from some ill-conceived activity.

I believe people, just as companies, need to consider what their objectives are with social media. What do you wish to accomplish with your participation? Is it finding new friends, folks with similar interests or beliefs? Finding love? Promote your business or interests? Or is it to expose yourself to new things about the world around you? And how much are you willing to reveal about yourself? When these questions are asked, you allow yourself time to reflect on personal feelings regarding privacy and how you wish to be perceived by your family, friends and peers.

Take the time to reflect and figure out your objective with Social Media. It is worth it.

To view the KUSI segment, please use this link.

Differentiation – It’s More Than Just Being Different!

2010-02-01T20:56:00.000-08:00

It’s really a fairly easy concept: figure out a way to make your company different from the rest.

The problem is most companies either don’t bother, or end up differentiating themselves along lines about which the target audience could care less.

There are a number of companies that first focus on what they do well. That’s okay as long as their customers really want that. But what if the customers aren’t all that interested in what a company does well?

Then, it’s time to find out what your chosen customers really want and care about. You need to uncover those differentiating points that resonate with the audience, and drive them to your business. And let me fill you in on some key information – rarely is the main resonating point about price. Sure, most folks will mention they want a low price, but when push comes to shove, you will find other, more important issues behind their motivation to purchase.

And once you figure out what excites them, then work on being the first and best at delivering it, and doing it consistently well. This is a whole lot easier than it sounds. But, if your research is correct, and you’ve nailed a key differentiating element that truly resonates with the audience, then it is well worth the effort - and you will capture incremental sales.

Be A Fundamentalist

2010-01-20T11:58:00.000-08:00

It's time to get back to the fundamentals folks. The Marketing Fundamentals, that is.

I know, it's hard not to pay attention to the new and shiny stuff that comes along. I do it as well.

Take Social Media. Wow, is that ever shiny and cool. It’s loads of fun and everyone (seemingly) is talking about it (hey, I am too).

But here is the rub – you need to know and apply the Fundamentals of Marketing for this Social Media stuff to work.

Know your target market, and understand their wants and needs. Understand your competition, and how they talk about their products and services. Know how to differentiate yourself from everyone in your space – but do it in such a way that resonates with that target audience of yours.

These fundamentals apply to all the marketing and communication tools, including Direct Mail, Email Marketing, Telemarketing, Advertising, Pay-Per-Click, Public Relations, and so on. And they apply to Social Media as well. You can’t get around it.

So, it’s okay to keep an eye out for the shiny, new stuff, but don’t take your eye off of the Marketing Fundamentals.