Tina Gleisner

What Online Marketing Looks Like

More than 80% of the people buying a home use the web sometime during their search. An article I read on this topic also said only 62% of Americans have computers at home? That tells me they believe the web is key to making smart real estate decisions, and they have ready access to computers at work, libraries, etc.

The web is exploding! Even though I consider myself running with the pack, with respect to my websites (www.MyHandymanNH.com and www.4walls1roof.com) and newsletters (Handyman News and 4 Walls 4 You!), I'm quickly realizing that I've only just begun to tap into what's known collectively as "social media."

Turns out many of our peers, not just our children on Facebook and YouTube, are starting to communicate online through a wide range of web sites, software and the like. Here is a great visual that can explain the explosion better than any words. Credit for this picture goes to ActiveRain and one of their 80,000 members, Michael Leznik in LA. If you're using something not shown, please share it via a comment below.

                                 

Bagel Marketing for Hungry People

With all the focus on marketing online, it's also important not to forget about face-to-face marketing as ultimately that is how strong relationships develop. I found this blog post on Active Rain, a successful real estate network which I'm exploring.  As a confirmed bagel lover, I simply couldn't resist sharing. Thanks to Audrey June- Forshey, a realtor in Gaithersburg MD, for sharing this story.

This is not web based marketing, this was good old belly to belly stuff!

Another agent and I would go on Wednesday mornings to the local bagel shop, buy bags of bagels with different cream cheeses.  We would drop these bags of bagels (about 20 to 30 in a bag) off at different local business in our area once a week.  We would leave our business cards, magnets, brochures, contact information, and the like with the bagels for the employees to read.  It took a bit of effort, but it really paid off.

We did this for about 3 months and go leads from it.  We still get business from those bagels.  They were always waiting for us on Wednesdays to come with the bagels.  The bagel company gave us a discount because we were such regulars and bought  a lot of bagels.

We have since changed our format with these companies.  We now mail gift cards, movie tickets and occasionally drop off bagels.  The bagels were a way for us to get into the door and get to know the folks, who is going to turn away free food?  This let us get them in our database and build relationships.

Social Media in Plain English

Earlier I shared a great video on blogging. Then I explored the source web site, the Common Craft show. I found another great video on Twitter, a social media tool I heard about at a technology workshop hosted by MicroCredit NH, presentation by Kevin Skarritt, Acorn Creative.

What I like about Twitter is limiting messages to 140 words or less, a challenge for someone who likes to talk too much regardless of the medium. In fact I'm trying to learn to respond to email in 1 line or less, to keep up with volume approaching 200 emails/day.

I've signed up (tina_4walls) & sent my first "twitter"? Looking forward to hearing about your doings on Twitter and please, your comments and ideas on other great social media tools is always appreciated.

This short video will get you started.

Fantastic Video Explains Blogging

I just found an incredibly good blog with a simple, yet comprehensive description of blogging. I also think it's important to share with you how I found the video:

• Attended the Portsmouth chapter, 4 Walls 1 Roof member meeting on Wednesday
• Donna Rattee, a builder and realtor shared tidbits from an "online marketing" class. The instructor was "Monika McGillicuddy," and she said google Monika!
• Explored Monika's blog and found this video. I decided to learn how to include it here and soon, on My Handyman and 4 Walls 1 Roof web sites.
• Enjoy this terrific blog from Lee LeFever, the Common Craft Show

Enjoy the videoand please share your comments here. Why? When you provide comments, you include your digital signature with a link back to your blog/web site. Link backs help raise your rankings by the search engines.

The Power of Pink

Sometimes life gets too complicated and you have to make time for a little fun. It started about 2 weeks ago when Tomboy Tools announced a pink hammer special promotion. Later that day my friend and fantastic networker, Deb Sarhanis, called to check in with me. A half hour later we had planned our very first  Pink Pajama Party!

So what exactly is a Pink Pajama Party? It's simply a Friday night get together for women to relax with old friends, make new friends, eat healthy (and not so healthy) food and have a great time. The "pajama" part means wear comfy clothing which might be jeans, sweats or whatever you define as comfy (I couldn't resist these super girl pajamas.

The "pink" part is the fund raising to sell a 100 "Hammer Out Breast Cancer" hammers. They even say  Hammer out Breast Cancer on the hammers , so if you know someone who's been affected by this sad disease, here's a fun way to help find a cure. $3 is donated to Susan Komen foundation for every hammer sold ($14.95 for one hammer, March 2008 special is 2 for the price of 1 hammer plus shipping). 5% goes to www.breastcancerstories.com, as each quarter I donate 5% of all Tomboy Tools sales to a local non-profit organization that helps women.

So if you want more details about the party (Friday, April 4) in Hampton, NH or you want to support a good cause and buy some pink hammers, just email Tina, tinag@pobox.com

                                                   

The Profit of Color!

I've been busy as January was the first month I published two eNewsletters. While I've been writing Handyman News for a year and a half, this was my first 4 Walls newsletter, 4 Walls 4 You! What's really exciting for me is the opportunity to transform 4 Walls 1 Roof from an informal co-marketing group of women owned businesses & professionals providing products and services to Create, Maintain and Enhance the home ... into a marketing services company where I'll provide a full range of marketing services for 4 Walls members.

The first issue of 4 Walls 4 You! focused on color to celebrate the grand opening of a new paint store, Exeter Paint West. Nicole Durant, the owner of Exeter Paint and Exeter Paint West, is an amazing individual and member of 4 Walls. Several members joined Nicole for her grand opening and others contributed to the newsletter where our breadth of membership from paint (the material), to painters who can do everything from standard painting to faux painting and murals, wall paper (Jen Croteau) plus our great team of decorators begins to highlight the strength of 4 Walls offering a full menu of products and services to enhance the home.

So how important is color? Beautiful Living's newsletter offered an article from the Color Marketing Group which offers some insight into the answer. Consider these powerful facts from different marketing studies and if you want to learn more, read the full article ... The Profit of Color!

• Color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent
• Color improves readership as much as 40 percent
• Color accelerates learning from 55 to 78 percent
• Color increases comprehension by 73 percent
• Color ads are read up to 42 percent more than similar ads in black and white
• Color can be up to 85 percent of the reason people decide to buy

Please share (easy to add comments) your experience using (or not) color. 

Massachusetts Conference for Women

Called a friend earlier this month and learned she was exhibiting at the 2007 Massachusetts Conference for Women so in typical fashion, I volunteered to help so I could learn more about events and exhibiting. The conference brought together an amazing group of high powered women who have succeeded in a wide range of professions, as business owners and employees.

A great format to give you many different perspectives on any topic - each session was comprised of 4 panelists plus a facilitator. Here is the list of amazing women (mostly) speakers, many of whom are authors and/or published nationally.

My favorite speakers include:

• Rene Syler, anchor of CBS News' The Early Show and author of Good Enough Mother: The Perfectly Imperfect Book of Parenting
• Liz Lynch, founder of the Center for Networking Excellence and author of 102 Secrets to Smarter Networking
• Rosalyn Taylor O'Neale, entrepreneur and founder of Barnes, O'Neale & Associates. She's an internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, educator, and author of 7 Keys 2 Success
• Catherine Kaputa, founder of SelfBrand, a NYC based brand strategy firm and author of U R A BRAND! which I'm reading right now

 

Networking at Events

I attended the Massachusetts Conference on Women a few weeks back and met an amazing number of successful women. Women who have started their own businesses, have written books and/or been published in national publications. They're also interested in giving back to women as they did on some incredibly powerful panel sessions, i.e. the last one I attended was on Legacy - What Do You Want to be Remembered For (something like this).

Liz Lynch was one of these women and her company is the Center for Networking Excellence LLC. Her books 102 Secrets to Smarter Networking and I'm watching fascinated as to how she stays in touch with the people she met at the conference. She's using a "7 Days to Smarter Networking e-Course" where she sends out a daily email with some networking hints.

Here is a recap of today's lesson (almost feels like I'm back in school):

• Arrive early as that is when the energy is highest. With just 15 minutes you should be able to make 3 to 4 connections (maybe I'll do better after writing this).
• Eat beforehand as it's awkward to shake hands and ex change business cards when you're also juggling food plus a drink.
• Bring business cards to build your professional image. I actually keep extra packs of 25 or so in my car, my husbands car (finally) to avoid running out of cards. If you don't have business cards yet, you can get free ones at Vista Print.
• Wear clothing with pockets to make it easy to reach in and get a business card. I keep my cards in a rubber band in my right pocket, and then cards I receive are easy to keep separate
• Project a positive image as Liz says "Winners are drawn to other winners."

Always remember that networking is about building relationships for mutual benefit. I try to tell women that are nervous about going to events alone, to simply go up to someone who is standing alone and introduce yourself. By focusing on helping someone else, you'll forget to be nervous yourself.

Marketing to Women

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to attend the 2007 (3rd annual) Massachusetts Conference for Women. I'll be writing more about this conference over the next few weeks as I picked up books by some of the speakers. Right now I just want to log the items in the "goody bag" as unfortunately, I didn't do this for The NH Mirror fashion show in October and have regretted it ever since. Here's what's in the bag:

• Canvas bag (functional but not exciting) with State Street on one side, other sponsors 2nd side
• Luna Sunrise "blueberry yogurt" nutrition bar
• Premiere (1st) issue of a new Women's magazine, Lola, published by Boston Globe Media. The editor, Kara Baskin (editor@lolaboston.com) promises a "magazine of substance that respects and reflects the intelligence, feistiness, and dynamism of the Boston woman.
• An upscale key chain from goruneasy.com ... from Reebok by the look of the site
• BJ's one day shopping pass for the club closest to you
• Postcard from IRIDESSE Pearls with list of locations
• Postcard from EMD Serono Inc, a leader in US biopharmaceuticals ... looks like a recruiting tool
• Magnet from the Massachusetts Women's Resource & Referral Network
• Material (2 sheets, both 8.5x11) on Harvard Pilgrim Health Care ... sales tool
• Anti bacterial hand sanitizer (small bottle) from Raytheon, one of the event's sponsors
• Nice (3.4 oz regular package) of Blue Ocean Hand Cream  ... strange but I couldn't find a web site on the packaging or after several different Google searches

I didn't connect with too many of these items but maybe because I don't live/work in Massachusetts. There were quite a few more items (at least 20) in The NH Mirror goody bag and knowing they were LOCAL and WOMEN OWNED businesses (almost all) made me really think about them more, i.e. until I made some type of connection.

How to Ask Customers for Referrals

We enjoy interacting with our customers and do an excellent job of focusing on their needs. It is also fair to leverage these conversations to help build our business. Here are typical excuses for not asking for referrals ... and ideas to help you overcome these hurdles. Because your customers already know and trust you it should be easy for them to refer you, and the odds of winning new customers is greater when this happens.

• You think referrals should happen automatically? This is wishful thinking as very few people do this and it is a learned skill. Your customer may not think of this (unless they are in business and involved in sales themselves) ... until you simply ask them.
• You are afraid to ask (but it does get easier with practice, especially when practice brings success)? Wait until your customer has experienced your products or services. Most often they will say "Of course I'd be happy to."  One way to determine if they're ready to refer you is by asking for a testimonial which I'm starting to do for My Handyman.   
• You don't know how to ask? Listen for the perfect opportunities to ask. When they tell you "We love your product" or even better, "Thanks for helping me find a solution to this problem." That's the perfect time to ask if your customers know anyone else who would love your product.
  
  • One idea I haven't tried yet ... "If you were in my business, what 3 people would you call?" Any type of question that helps you learn how your customers feel should work - go for it.
• You are uncomfortable about asking a favor? If you believe you bring value to one customer, then  asking if you can provide similar value to someone they know, should be a win-win for everyone.

The ideas shared here are not mine along, but a summary of an article written by Barry Farber who is a noted speaker and author.