What’s New in Marketing for 2014?

This year is set to be the most competitive year for online marketing.

It makes perfect sense because more and more business is being transacted online and there are more people looking for products and services on the internet. Most people who want or need something often use Bing and Google to look for it and getting your New Jersey business to appear on these search engines require a certain kind of expertise which guys like Matthew Steffen could provide.

Last year, business owners have resorted to external link spamming and keyword stuffing to get ahead of the game. These are forms of cheating which Bing and Google have taken action against. So, they’ve altered algorithms and are imposing punishments like losing on ranking or even getting completely banished on search engines. They will constantly be on the lookout for violators to even out the playing field.

This doesn’t mean that appearing online is now impossible. It can happen but only with ethical strategies for SEO and Matt Steffen knows exactly how to get you to that top spot. Substance A clean way to increase your online ranking is through providing your target market with valuable content. More than giving visitors your business contact number and a list of what you’re selling, it also becomes your responsibility and opportunity to tell them about your products or services and the people behind them.

Great Customer Experience

Complementary to being informative is making sure that each visitor who comes across your website becomes satisfied with what he sees. Matthew Steffen says that with the new system, your aim is to transform every visitor into a potential customer and you can only do that with a good online experience.

 

External linking 

External linking is not totally unethical. It can be used provided that it lies within the context of social networking and localization. This simply means that you have to promote your website through links on Facebook or Twitter courtesy of people who share them. Also, it pays to make sure that you are searchable when people type in specific areas. Matt Steffen says that if your interior design business is based in New Jersey, you have to make sure that you’ll appear when they search for “New Jersey interior design” or “New Jersey designer”.

Don’t Believe in Marketing Experts!

When some “marketing expert” tells you to seek out their advice when it

comes to improving your business, turn them down. In fact, don’t run to agencies, professors or whoever that claims to know all there is to make your New Jersey business a success. It may seem odd but according to Matthew Steffen, the only (and he means THE ONLY) person who can give you reliable advice is your customer.

If at some point you think you aren’t making the best decisions for your New Jersey business or are wondering why things aren’t going as planned, make an effort to communicate with your target market. TALK with them. STALK them. Matthew Steffen emphasizes the importance of getting to know what makes them tick, what makes them happy and what makes them sad. This part of business delves more into psychology than on marketing strategies.

What type of content should I create for my website?

If your customer is a male aged between 25-34 who just received a warrant of arrest and is in need of advice on aggravated assault, Matt Steffen suggests building your website so that it becomes accessible to asking questions regarding possible prison time, fees, their rights and steps in looking for a good defense lawyer.

Where should I advertise? If your customer is a middle-aged woman with kids aged 4-16 who goes to work during the day and goes to Atlantic City on the weekend, a strategic location for your billboard would be on the Atlantic City Expressway. Another would be signing up for a radio advertisement so she could hear your message during rush hour.

Matthew Steffen encourages businesses in New Jersey to be obsessed with the lifestyle of their customers. After all, marketing starts and ends with them.

Am I Doing My Headlines Right?

A good advertisement has a sort of hypnotic effect on readers

because it tells them what exactly to do. Otherwise, it’s as good as nothing. It should generate attention, create interest and establish an internal desire for your product or service. A well-designed headline also explicitly states your target market is.

You want your headline to grab people by the collar and get them to write the preceding information on your advertisement. Matthew Steffen says that if your headline doesn’t draw your audience to the body’s text, it is a complete failure. Utmost care must be observed in phrasing your headline. Now knowing how complicated and difficult coming up with a few words for a headline can be, this is some consolation. Matthew Steffen picked out some examples you can follow for making your headline:

1. “______ Way to______” Matt Steffen’s book makes this one of the most attractive headlines for the fact that people generally prefer lists because of their simplicity. At first glance, people have the assurance that they won’t be reading a litany of explanation for this and that.

Ex. 8 Ways to a Leaner Body

2. “Could It Really Be this Easy To _____________” As Matthew Steffen explains it, people need to obviously see what benefits they can get from your New Jersey business. Many people don’t look at advertisements for something they want but for something that could be used to solve a particular problem.

Ex. Could It Really Be This Easy to Protect Hardwood Floors?

 3. “Warning _______________” This is one headline that not only grabs attention but gives out a sense of urgency and seriousness. Matt Steffen puts this on a Multilevel Marketing feel which can be very effective on all sorts of marketing.

Ex. Warning: These Household Chemicals Can Kill You!

4. “If You Are ____ You Can ______” The approach of this headline is more personal and speaks directly to your audience as individuals. If done correctly, this can be very effective in motivating people to do what you want while identifying with a problem they are facing.

Ex. If You Are Tough Enough, You Can Get Rock Hard Abs 5. “How to ________” Similar to the first headline idea that Matt Steffen gave us, this is an invitation to engage readers by helping them out with their problems. People can be big babies whining about what they can’t do and this is where you come in to show them how they can. Ex. How to Find the Best New Jersey Divorce Lawyer

Keep Customers Loyal for the Rest of their Lives

The value of having customers enter into long-term

subscriptions is something Matt Steffen puts emphasis on because this doesn’t only allow you to reasonably forecast future economic weather, it also helps in customer attraction and other benefits that could maximize your profit.

With the kind of products and services being sold by small New Jersey businesses is widely varied, there are some tricks that work flawlessly for most:

1. Do you run a hair salon? Create a customer rewards card system. The more they spend, the more they save and according to Matt Steffen, this will minimize your advertising cost. 
2. Do you own a tree removal or pruning service? Matthew Steffen suggests offering quarterly tree analysis at a very low price. Use the subscription to encourage customers to save money on their next pruning. 
3. Are you an accountant? Create monthly videos aimed at helping manage and save their money more effectively. You can charge existing customer $50 a year to see them. Matt Steffen taught a friend this technique and now, he has 700 clients. In the interest of selling your products/services more effectively, you should keep inviting customers to be part of a system where they can get them for lower prices on a long-term basis. To OWN customers, your target should always be make the buying of your new products and services easier for existing customers. For Matthew Steffen, this is how you maximize profits.

How NOT to Kill Employee Motivation

New Jersey business owners who get to hire hard working

and trustworthy employees are lucky. They not only have people who can supply a steady stream of revenue for the company, but they people who can also be great sources of business ideas. Hiring the right people can be very difficult but losing them can be very easy.

Below are 7 mistakes you need to avoid to avoid killing employee motivation:

#1: “I have no idea” 
So you don’t have any idea why your employees lack motivation in your workplace. Why don’t you ask them or hire Matthew Steffen to figure it out for you? Surely there are reasons that I, you or your employees may not be conscious about. There’s a way to get to the bottom of this and it all starts with you approaching them.

#2: Bad Image 
A company with a bad image makes employees feel uncomfortable in the same way that someone’s dating a serial killer. Unfortunately, things may get out of hand and the press could get their noses on it but a good way to avoid this is to ensure that you establish good communication with the press. Frequently send them press releases and try to be on a first name basis with key editors. If you’re a long-term advertiser of theirs, they might just brush the story under the rug—this is Matthew Steffen’s advice as someone who’s an experienced reputation management consultant.

#3: Inconsistency 
Studies show that inconsistency is one of the most undesirable traits in a company. Employees rely on a certain degree of safety and security while they are working for you. This means that they would like to avoid any situation that could bring in fear and anxiety. Matt Steffen warns New Jersey business owners to NEVER operate in a culture where rewards, promotions, raises and bonuses are not delivered under terms which were previously agreed upon.

#4: Casual Fridays 
Your employees can be casual at work. The bottom line is that you, as the boss, have the interest of maintaining a superior status. Don’t do anything unprofessional to bring down your company’s reputation or demoralize your employees.

#5: Public Scrutiny 
Matthew Steffen believes that there’s a proper time and place for an employee and his boss to talk about poor performance. And doing it in public is not one of them. Never confront, much less scream at an employee for poor performance where customers and other staff members can see what you’re doing. The employee will never forgive and never forget you.

#6: No feedback 
Even the US Army knows the importance of performance evaluations. It lets both you and your employees know where you are regarding your expectations and performance.

#7: Hiring outsiders 
Matt Steffen sees this as a way of indirectly insulting your employees. Imagine the feeling of climbing up a mountain only to be beaten by people who didn’t start from the bottom… that’s how it feels. It’s better to first consider people to promote from within your existing talent pool before even considering people who are aliens to your culture and to the workplace. Never forget that a little caffeine, a little desire and a lot of passion can increase your sales and build you that bigger ship.

Learn Marketing from the Business Pros

Matthew Steffen is a keen observer of the behavior of small New Jersey

businesses. He takes note of which competitors come and go and examines the approaches of seemingly non-competitive parallel competitors to see if he can improve on his own business practices. I know you are observant, too. The fact of the matter is that this method of learning is beneficial in terms of gaining more knowledge for your personal advantage and in terms of acquiring techniques from bigger players for your New Jersey business.

Reading the Wall Street Journal is a daily habit for Matt Steffen. This is his way of getting a panoramic view of the business world and answers to “what company is acquiring who and why?” If you think topics like these don’t have any effect on your New Jersey business, you’re wrong.

Matthew Steffen...

believes that the rules of business and how to succeed are not written on stone. It’s only natural to buy low and sell high but there are many elements that large public and private companies leverage on a daily basis which you could use to your advantage.

Here are some examples with very good lessons:

• What can La Salle’s recent communication flop teach you about being honest to customers?
• How did Domino’s Pizza manage to minimize value and cost while maintaining the same pricing point? 
• What can CEO Ron Johnson’s failure at J.C. Penney teach you about running sales and coupons?
• What can you learn about labeling your products or services with the mistake Target made? Matt Steffen’s got ESPN to know the latest on your favorite football teams and there’s Wall Street Journal for getting better at business.

Great Tips on Billboard Advertising

Matt Steffen knows the importance, power and art of a well-written headline.

If you doubting your skill in writing a proper advertising copy AND would really like to know how to advertise on billboards, this is what he recommends: CLICK HERE

Basically, a headline does these things:

1. Catch the reader’s attention 
2. Generate curiosity 
3. Communicate value 

While a headline does magic in magazines, newspapers and websites, they won’t be effective on billboards in the way they are leveraged for print advertising. Matthew Steffen explains that is because two-thirds of the purpose of a headline is to generate attention and curiosity. Doesn’t a billboard do that in and of itself?

Driving down I-95, you don’t just see a billboard. You see and automatically read it very quickly. Therefore, it shouldn’t focus on drawing attention on itself. Rather, it should aim at making sales for you. This is where billboard advertising is different.

Instead of having a headline that draws viewers to the body, it directly gives value or differentiation of the offering. So how do you advertise on billboards? Matt Steffen gives you the answers: First of all, he suggests that you disregard all the rules regarding constructing a powerful, motivational headline. You should do one of the following as substitute:

1. Make a headline with a high value proposition. (Matt Steffen reminds all those who’d like to make billboard ads to write in first person, present tense.) For example: “We get small business more customers,” “We sell your home for more.” “You buy the freshest fruit from us.” …..OR…... 
2. Create a bulleted/numbered list that communicates value and/or differentiation. List at most 3 characteristics: *more than 1000 satisfied customers *open 24/7 *money-back guarantee I hope you enjoyed this lesson from Matthew Steffen. There are more lessons on how to successfully market your New Jersey business coming up!

Space sells your Ad!

Advertising should not only be seen for its purpose in attracting potential

customers. It should also be seen as a work of art resulting from the careful placement of its many elements.

While there are sure to be words that communicate the message in you ad, Matthew Steffen believes that space contributes just as much to its success.

Here are three reasons why space can help you sell your product or service far better than images and words:

1. When potential customers are out walking, driving or whatever normal thing they are supposed to do, you can expect that they are constantly being harassed by advertisements. It’s like several people screaming sales pitches at them wherever they go. So, while other ads cram as much information (that often people eventually forget), Matt Steffen says that you can use space instead to say one thing they can never forget. 
2. Space allows you to lead people’s eyes to exactly where you want them. Matthew Steffen explains that with fancy images and words clumped together, people are most likely to look from left to right, up and around and just lose interest from the mess. On the other hand, enough space can give you control over what they need to see. This means that you have the ability to make them look at your headline and contact number for at least 3-5 times before they walk away and take out their phone to call you. 
3. Space gives people something to look forward to. A painting with lots of colors and strokes overstimulates in an explosion of interruption. Matt Steffen suggests that you give your message enough room to operate for it to stand out. Steve Jobs once said that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. One only need to pick up an IPod and compared it to a Walkman to see the unforgettable elegance and attractiveness of space.