The price of your product or service should be a reflection of its value. Most consumers intrinsically believe in the “you-get-what-you-pay-for” philosophy. So what’s the right price for your offering?

I don’t have a magic formula for setting price, but I will share with you a key to determining the right price: value.

What is Value?

Value is the inherent desirability of your product or service to your customers. It is reflected in your brand. The greater the perceived value of your brand, the higher the price you can and should charge.

Take chocolate, for example. Bulk chocolate is cheap. It’s not the tastiest treat, but if a customer is making a buying decision based on price, its good value. A good mid-range chocolate such as Nestle or Hershey’s will be a bit more costly, but customers will value the established reliability of the mid-range chocolate brand and will be prepared to pay the price. At the high end of the price scale there are chocolates that sell for more than $1000 per kilo. And yes, customers are willing to pay the price. Why? Because they want a chocolate of the finest quality, guaranteed to tantalise their taste-buds and melt in their mouths. The price of these chocolates makes a bold promise, and to these customers the value of that promise supports the price.

Is your Business offering Bulk or Prestige?

When you set your prices, you need to consider your value to customers. Low prices may equal bulk sales, but they reflect low quality. That’s OK if that’s what your customers want and that’s how you want to position yourself. High prices equal high quality, and if that’s your position you need to make sure your customers know the value you provide with the price. If you clearly communicate your benefits and target the market that values those benefits, your customers will be more than willing to pay your price.

The Painful Pitfall of Pricing too Low

Some businesses, especially in these difficult economic times, are tempted to discount their prices or set their prices too low. The motivation behind this decision is usually fear rather than overall brand or business strategy.
My friend, a plumber, fell into this trap. He intentionally set his price at $40 per hour when his competition was charging between $50-$150. He was a new plumber so he was scared he wouldn’t get any business if he charged what the others did. He advertised, and then he waited. And he waited. But he didn’t get any calls. Eventually he asked his mentor, another plumber who charged $120 an hour and had a booming business, what he was doing wrong. It turns out that people are scared of hiring plumbers who charge less than the going rate because they equate price with value or quality and they’re usually right. The mentor was often called in to fix problems that cheaper plumbers had left behind. My friend the plumber increased his rate to $90 and quickly grew a profitable business.

Low prices send a message of low value. That can be damaging to your business image and brand.

What’s the Right Price?

To set the right price you need to consider 2 things:
1. your positioning strategy: bulk, midrange or prestige
2. your customers’ perception of value

Clearly communicate your value and set your price to reflect it. Don’t be fooled into thinking you need to compete on price when it is just as viable and often more profitable to compete on value.

About the Author/Author Bio

Deborah Jackson helps coaches, consultants, trainers, accountants, service professionals and small biz owners understand how positioning, brand and other key marketing strategies contribute to their success. She helps her clients identify and communicate their brand value to ensure they attract great clients, charge premium prices and enjoy profitable returns. To receive her gift, a special report on ‘5 Simple Marketing Strategies you can use to Attract More Clients, Make More Money and Have More Fun’ visit www.jaxon.com.au plus you’ll also receive a complimentary subscription to her marketing tips and resources ezine.

The only way you can get a new customer is to find ways to get that customer interested in your company. Great products and services are wonderful things, but if the customers out there don’t know they exist, then it’s a lot like that proverbial tree falling in the woods. That’s why having a great company brochure is a key element to bringing awareness of your company, its goods and services to those customers.But simply putting a brochure on the table at a trade show doesn’t mean a customer is going to pick it up and put it in their bag. That brochure has to reach out and say “take me!” and simply putting them in a holder that says “Take One” isn’t always going to be enough incentive for someone to do so. The brochure has to stand out. It has to be impactful enough that someone walking by that may only have a marginal interest in your product will want to detour to your booth long enough to get that connection.

Using color and graphics to catch people’s eyes is certainly one aspect of a great brochure. Making sure those splotches of color or pictures are impactful enough to grab attention is an important aspect that has to be paid attention to. However, there’s a lot more to a powerful presentation than simply having a great graphic or eye-catching color scheme.

Make sure you put quality information about your products or services inside the brochure. The ‘flash factor’ may make someone pick it up, but that information is what will cause them to keep it, and to use it to connect with your company. But don’t try to deluge the customer with every single aspect of your company or product, unless the brochure is designed to highlight only that aspect. Too much information, especially within the confines of a tri-fold brochure will cause the customer to put it down, unfinished.

Another important aspect of a good brochure is to make sure your company information is easily attainable. Putting contact information in two or more notable locations will give the client multiple opportunities to see that information, and it makes it easy for them to pick up the phone and call, or to type in that web address for more details.

Something else to keep in mind is to use a good quality paper. Let’s face it, if you use regular copy paper, or even regular brochure paper, the average customer won’t pay any particular attention to it. But if you use a high gloss finish paper, or a rag bond, then that will leave its own impression on the customer. Superior quality paper will leave the impression with them that your company is also superior quality, and that alone can be worth more than the words and colors used alone.

Creating a great company brochure isn’t as simple a process as one would think. But by paying attention to the details: color, content and paper, creating a great brochure is something that will pay dividends for years to come.

About the Author

In the marketing business, Andi Beark needs to stay on top of the game. She uses creative solutions with a tri fold brochure design to enhance the visibility and product images of her clients. Use PaperDirect’s brochure design and printing to maximize your company’s exposure in a big way.

It’s a funny thing about business cards…they always seem to find their way into the trash! Now, some of you may be thinking, “WHAT?” but follow me for a second…

Let’s start with what happens at a networking event. People are milling about, shaking hands, handing out business cards, etc. You meet new people, establish possible referral relationships, tell others about what you do and above all, you collect business cards…sometimes LOTS of business cards. Now, let’s fast forward to the next day…

There you sit at your desk…a stack of business cards looms before you. You flip through the stack, then put it in your desk. “I’ll get to these later” you say, and you go about your day. A few days later, you open up your desk drawer and BAM…there are those cards again. “I have to make time to get back to these people…” you say, and again shut the drawer. After a few weeks, you don’t even care, and chances are, that stack of cards will make its way into your trash. Well, if this is what YOU are doing, you can imagine that the cards you give out will eventually have the same fate in the offices of folks you have given your cards to. It starts to seem like business cards are just a waste of time and money, but is there a way to change this outcome and make them incredibly valuable tools for business? Absolutely…

First of all, think of your business cards as merely a barter tool to get business cards from others. It is THEIR card that is really valuable to you. When you are at an event and you get a business card, it is what YOU do with THEIRS that matters…follow me on this…

When someone gives me their card, I hold it up at eye level to the side and look at it as I ask them questions. “So, tell me more about ABC company.” Looking at their card while I speak with them helps me to imprint their face along with their information at the same time. This will become extremely valuable as I am looking through the cards I received after the event.

Once our conversation is over, I thank them and tell them I will be following up. Then, I turn over their card and write a few key points of our conversation on the back. This will help me to refer to these points when we speak again.

Finally, after the event (aim for WITHIN 48 hours) I follow up. This could be a phone call, an email, a letter, whatever you decide. Because I have taken the time to imprint the person’s face with their business, and write key points about the conversation on the back of the card, AND follow up, I will make myself stand out from just about anyone else that will contact them after the event. The fact is, most won’t even bother so not only will my competition be light, my technique will ensure that I am the one that makes the most memorable impression on them.

There you have it. The information above can greatly increase the value of business cards and how they can positively impact your business. Remember, business cards are NOT a waste of time and money…you need yours to get theirs and getting theirs and following the tips above is what will set you apart from most of the other business people they come in contact with.

About the Author

Stephen Labuda is an entrepreneur who built his business by networking with other professionals. You can connect with him through his Boston web design website or Boston Professional Networking.

I LOVE REFERRALS! If you like making easy money, then you should too! Referrals are a business person’s dream because most of the work has been taken out of the process and all you have to do is follow up properly on the referral and the business is likely yours. The fact is, though, some referrals are better than others. Knowing the difference between the kinds of referrals that exist in the world of business and how to give and get them more effectively can be the key to your closing more business and making more money.Below is a list of the 3 types of business referrals and when you should use them (OR NOT!)

1. The USE MY NAME referral-You know this one. It is the kind we as business professionals give and get all the time. Someone you know tells you to call someone they know and they say, “Just USE MY NAME.” The person giving this kind of referral may have the best of intentions, but the fact is, these kinds of referrals are really not all that valuable. unless the referral is properly warmed up, it is not likely to turn into real business. You should only use this kind of referral when it is impossible to warm the referral up or time is of the essence.

2. The VITRUAL INTRO referral-Virtual intros are great. These have come about since the advent of the internet. It is simply a way of introducing someone to someone else via email. It is a great way to give and get referrals because all parties are attached to the email. It also gives you the opportunity to explain in detail why you think the two parties should get together and do business. It also offers an easy way to follow up on the referral using the initial email text. Use the Virtual Intro email whenever you can…it is second only to…

3. The FACE TO FACE INTRODUCTION referral-Obviously, there is no better way to give and get referrals than through a face to face introduction. Introducing business professionals face to face is a perfect way to start and build business relationships. It allows the parties to chat and get to know each other a bit. Face to Face introductions are certainly the most valuable type, but it can often be difficult to get all parties in the same place at the same time. Therefore, a 3-way call works great as a second choice here. Now that technology allows us to do 3-way calls from just about any phone that exists, this can be a great way to help refer business.

There you have it, 3 types of referrals and the times to use each. Practice turning USE MY NAME referrals into Virtual Intros or Face to Face Introduction referrals and you will quickly become the star of your personal network!

There is an added bonus, by giving great referrals you can help shape the referrals you receive too!

About the Author

Stephen Labuda is an entrepreneur who built his business by networking with other professionals. You can connect with him through his Boston web design website or through the Boston Networking Group.

Remembering people’s names is one of the most important parts of social etiquette. Even if we don’t admit it, we dislike when people can’t remember who we are. One remembers the scene in American Beauty when Kevin Spacey’s character says, “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t remember me either”. Having one’s name forgotten makes them feel unimportant.

Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to remember the names of lots of people. However, there are some fairly straightforward tricks you can do to help you jog your memory. Most of them come from the tricks of medieval poets who had to remember long lines of verse. The trick is that, while sounds (especially arbitrary sounds, like names) are difficult to remember, patterns and images are very easy to remember.

Some of these tricks will work better or worse for you, depending on how your mind works. Pick and choose from the following list:

Make a rhyme: Take the person’s first name and rhyme it with something starting with another word starting with the first letter of the person’s last name. So, for example, if the person’s name is “Jane Smith”, think of the name as “Jane Smane”. The rhyme will stick more easily in your mind than the actual name, and you’ll be reminded of the name when you hear it.

Turn it into a number: If you’re one of those people who is very good at remembering numbers, but not names, just turn the initials into a number. Every letter of the alphabet can be mapped onto a number from 1 to 26. So, when you meet Jane Smith, you can turn her name into 1019. With a little practice, you can easily remember everyone’s initials, which can be used to remember the names. Don’t forget to use zeros, so that you’ll always have a four-digit number. For example, Andrew Barnes should be 0102.

Use an image: If you don’t remember rhymes or numbers very well, try using an image instead. In these cases, what you should do is to think of something that sounds similar to the person, and then imagine that thing right on the person’s face. So, for example, Jane sounds a little like “chain”, so when you meet Jane smith, imagine a chain going from her nose to her ear, for example. It takes a little imagination, but once you’re good at it, you’ll be able to recall anyone’s name with ease.

Different people remember differently. However, for most people, rhymes, numbers and images are easier to remember than the arbitrary strings of sounds in which names normally consist. The above three tricks can help you remember others’ names.

About the Author

Alexander Rorty, M.A. has been writing articles on the internet since 1997. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Janet, and their two children. Their latest site is called Island Hood, and features articles such as the one on under-cabinet range hoods.

You probably know that many personal trainers make the mistake of doing all of the work themselves. That can cause you to lose money and opportunities in building your business.Please pay attention because this is vital…

One night I was at my favorite movie theater watching a great release…

Then, I saw a couple sitting on the far left whispering while I was trying to watch the movie. All of this was bugging me, but I noticed how the woman paid attention to her partner’s every word.

The guy was talking about his life, work, goals, and accomplishments as if he had traveled the world before this night. It was amazing in the beginning, but I never heard the lady say a word. In a way, the guy tried to control the whole conversation without letting her join in with her opinion or personal experiences. Basically he thought the movie and the girl he was with was less important than himself.

Now, I was curious of why the lady just sat there listening to him go on and on about his life. All of this drew me to the fact they met over the internet and were at their first movie together. His problem was the inability to listen to her when she wanted to speak.

With this in mind, how many fitness professionals go on and on about their accomplishments without listening to their clients? The list is utterly ridiculous and your ability to listen is probably the reason your clients quit their programs.

If you want to build your business, you have to listen to your clients. Any personal trainer trying to build a reputation needs to understand what their client wants so they can create programs to do just that. Never take the initiative to change your client – your client has to want the same thing if you want to keep them long-term.

Stop and think about this….

You have to LISTEN to them if you want to make money.

No matter what kind of personal trainer marketing strategies you use. You have to know what’s going on in their minds and hearts or else you will lose their respect.

Build a relationship by providing WHAT THEY WANT.

Then create workout programs to match their goals in a realistic manner.

I have not met one customer that cared about a trainers certifications, degress, or years of experience more important than their ability to focus on their needs. What does your client want to achieve in their workouts? How can you emphasize on that and build a stronger presence in their hearts? The ball is in your court on whether you listen or not.

The 23 year old college graduate wants to hear about her losing her love handles… so you give her compliments once she overcomes each milestone.

The 41 year old entrepreneur wants to know how great his golf swing has improved so you create programs to help his swing improve over time. You have to focus on how he needs to increase his stamina and energy to make more money so he can have more time to focus on his game. Not only will your workouts make his golfing better, but it will also make him a better businessman to build a strong financial future.

Now, what makes you think YOU are the answer to making more money? It’s not you or your personal trainer marketing strategies – it’s your ability to listen to your client’s every need and the ability to try to fulfill it.

All of your clients want to achieve their goals by working with you, but you have to step out of the picture so they can grow into their own level of success.

Just as I mentioned in the beginning, the two at the movies were only a simple example. Imagine how bad it could be for you if you were on that date. If it were your choice, would you go out with that guy again? Or would you choose someone who wants to listen?

About the Author

Steve Hochman is a personal training marketing expert and gives away tons of his proven client getting tips for free. Check out his Personal Trainer Marketing Tips here

Email marketing is one tool that an increasing number of businesses have latched onto within the past couple years as it is an amazing opportunity to double or even triple profits. If you have decided that this method of marketing to your customers is a strategy you’d like to tackle, plenty of resources are out there to help you get started. However, it can be difficult distinguishing among the many different email marketing companies. Here are several characteristics of a reputable email marketing service.Building the Opt-In Permission-Based Mailing List

A crucial part of email marketing is having easy-to-use contact list management features. First and foremost, an email marketing service should allow you to be able to important your existing mailing addresses from a file on your computer. This is often the preferred method when adding a lot of contacts because manually entering your existing contacts email address one-by-one is more time consuming and leaves lots of room for errors to occur.

Second, one of the characteristics of list management that an email marketing provider should contain is a feature that allows your list to be segmented into multiple groups. As you build your email list, you’ll see why the segmentation is important. Remember, not each contact is the same and having different segments lets you treat them differently.

A third feature that your provider should have is the easy-integration of a sign-up box on your website. Being able to use a sign-up box from your email marketing service is perhaps the most important feature you should be looking for. A sign-up box that’s strategically placed on your site acts as an automatic marketing tool that works on autopilot adding subscribers as soon as they enter their email address.

Sending Emails

An automatic email service should offer a variety of options when it comes to sending out your emails to subscribers. There should be pre-designed HTML templates, image galleries that you can use if you want to include images, and there should also be the option to customize your own design. In addition, there should be guide points along the way and systematic instructions to help if you get lost. An intuitive, user-friendly, and easy-to-use interface is what you ultimately need in an ideal email marketing service.

Tracking Tools

An important part of the marketing process is tracking your efforts. In order to know the success of your efforts, you need to know what your subscribers do with the information contained within those emails. A reputable email marketing provider should contain such data like how many emails were opened, which links your prospects clicked on the most, and how many emails bounced because of invalid or full email addresses. In addition, important subscriber statistics that you should have access to include what your email-list growth rate it as well as how many subscribers have been added and removed. Ideally these reports will be updated in real-time so that you don’t have to wait to gauge your success.

All of these issues are important to look out for when attempting to choose an email marketing service. The ability to customize emails, easily maintain your list, and have data readily available at your fingertips are all features that will help you succeed at the highest level with your email marketing efforts.

About the Author

Rudy Barell is a Senior Account Executive with Elite Email, the #1 email marketing program used by businesses around the globe. Experience how easy it is to build your mailing list, create eye-catching emails and track your success using detailed reports with the complete email marketing software. Try it free!

To grow your business in today’s online-dominated environment you’ll need an amazing eNewsletter. Creating a monthly eNewsletter is easy with the plethora of online email marketing companies offering low-cost services. The more difficult part of effective email marketing-once you’ve crafted a catchy newsletter, of course-is building your list. Here are easy steps you can take to make sure your email marketing list is maximized for the most open clicks:

* Make it easy for readers to sign up for your email marketing campaigns. Don’t request too much information-the more you ask for, the fewer people will likely sign up. Just ask for their name and email address.

* Make sure your eNewsletter subscription form is easy to find. If it makes sense to add this to every page of your website without creating clutter, feel free to do so. You can even add a form at the end of popular articles, in addition to having one at the top of the page.

* Utilize social media. Integrate your sign-up forms with your social networks.

* Create an archive so that potential subscribers can see past eNewsletters and are able to decide if they want to sign up.

* Reward your subscribers. You can offer an opt-in bonus for those who sign up for your emails, but you can also reward those who respond in some way-such as answering poll or survey questions or providing testimonials. Appreciated subscribers will want to stick with you-and your email marketing campaigns

* State your Privacy Policy. No one will want to subscribe to your eNewsletter if they think their personal information will be published, so let them know by providing a policy page that clearly outlines you won’t share their information with others.

* Blog often. This helps to build a community with prospects and potential clients, along with complementing your email marketing strategies. You can also post comments on others’ blogs with links back to your site.

* The No. 1 way to build a larger email marketing list is through publishing useful content. No one is going to want to sign up for your eNewsletters if you don’t provide them with unique and worthwhile content. Don’t send out newsletters too often, and make sure your content is worth reading.

For information on email marketing services, including reviews of popular companies, please visit www.Email-Marketing-Options.com.

About the Author
Darcie Duttweiler is a copywriter at ChooseWhat.com.

by Ben Cummings

This article reveals a chiropractic marketing strategy that is one of the most reliable ways to get patients. It costs almost nothing. It can jump start a stagnant practice and has been utilized to build six-figure practices from scratch. You are about to master the power of the Community Meet and Greet.

About the Author

Read The 1.3 Million Dollar Chiropractic Marketing Case Study. Further, make sure you watch free chiropractic marketing video training’s of visual walk-throughs teaching the very best methods for getting patients. (just click on the blue links!) Good luck in your chiropractic marketing endeavors. — Ben Cummings

If you’re still not sure what a podcast is don’t feel bad. You are one of millions of intelligent, informed people who are missing this piece of the New Media puzzle

Having excused you, now permit me to chastise you. All businesspeople should know what a podcast is, especially considering there are tens of thousands of them and their legions of listeners are growing. Podcasting can also be very beneficial to your company or you as a business professional.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, a few basics.

Podcasts are audio files, mostly composed of people talking and often including music and sound effects. They can be downloaded and listened to on a computer, or transferred to your iPod (hence the “pod”-cast name) or other MP3 player. The vast majority of podcasts are free of charge through iTunes, Podcast Alley and other outlets.

To give you some idea, I subscribe to more than a dozen podcasts that range from audio versions of TV shows such as Meet the Press and Face the Nation to Nation Public Radio interview programs Fresh Air and the Diane Rehm Show, to academic and business programming like the Harvard Business IdeaCast, McKinsey Quarterly Podcast and The Economist magazine.

It’s great stuff that will feed your head and keep you atop modern day events.

Podcasts are convenient because they can be listened to while driving, pumping iron at the gym, hiking, zipping to the office on the train, sitting on your sofa or dozing in bed at night (one of my favorite ways to enter the Land of Nod). It is this kind of flexibility that helps make podcasts so popular.

That’s one of the big advantages audio podcasts have over video – they require one rather than two senses, meaning they don’t require your undivided attention. You can listen to audio while participating in any number of activities. It’s probably not a good idea to watch a video while you’re riding a horse or trying to stay balanced on a treadmill.

All one need do is check out some of the organizations that podcast to realize its value and implications. There’s the legendary consulting firm of McKinsey & Co, accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers and academic icon Harvard Business School. These are sophisticated organizations that don’t waste time on useless activities. Why do these organizations podcast?

Here are seven good reasons.

DISPLAY EXPERTISE. When McKinsey & Co. conducted its annual global survey of business spending on Web 2.0 technologies, it not only released a written report, it produced a podcast consisting of an interview with one of the research report’s authors. Another example is a podcast titled Connecting Climate Change and Economic Recovery, featuring an interview with economist Nicholas Stern. People seek out expertise. Demonstrate it and you will win customers and respect.

DISPLAY LEADERSHIP. Harvard Business School does exactly that with its IdeaCast. The Harvard Business IdeaCast has tackled subjects bearing the following headlines:

>> Use right incentives for Gen Y, Gen X >> Winning in a turbulent economy >> Redesigning health care >> When high performers struggle >> Is executive pay broken? >> The 5 leadership essentials >> Being a good boss in a bad economy

EDUCATE. The Britain-based podcast The Naked Scientists uses British humor and interesting topics to teach people about scientific and technological breakthroughs. It’s an effective and entertaining approach. Some recent subjects were:

>> Where do lost socks go? >> The diseased brain >> High altitude adventures >> Why does water expand when it freezes? >> Catching up with cancer research >> Building bodies and mending broken hearts >> Can you run faster on the moon?

PROVIDE VALUE. Grammar Girl and her brief 10-minute podcasts have become widely popular in part from publicity she has received in magazines such as Business Week. But she has sustained that audience by giving them valuable information pertaining to the proper use of grammar. She makes it fun and easy to learn proper English skills. And who doesn’t want to sound like they didn’t fall asleep in English class?

BRAND YOUR COMPANY. If you’re British Petroleum and you’re trying to position yourself as a forward-thinking company, wouldn’t producing podcasts about clean and sustainable forms of energy help immensely to burnish your image as a company operating in future tense? Podcast about topics that core to the company’s brand.

BRAND YOURSELF. If you’re the brilliant management consultant or life coach you claim to be, prove it with a weekly or monthly podcast with a snappy title. Consider how much credence would be lent to your reputation by podcasts that offer terrific advice and success stories about your own clients? Demonstrate your ability and your podcasts become testimonials.

CONNECT WITH KEY PLAYERS. Imagine you’re a regional bank that wants to reach out to key players in your market. Rather than your standard sales letter or cold call, what if you invited your target to be featured on the bank’s CEO Spotlight podcast? Now the CEO can share his or her wisdom and is likely to be flattered by the invitation. You get a face-to-face interview out of the deal and the start of a personal relationship that could be parlayed into a client relationship. The caveat, of course, is that no one will be interested in subscribing to your podcast unless you provide interesting and educational content. So don’t make the mistake of using it strictly as a relationship building tool. That will bore or offend people and cost you listeners.

About the Author

Mike Consol is president of MikeConsol.com (MikeConsol.com), which provides business writing seminars, PowerPoint presentation skills training, Web 2.0 strategies and media training. Consol spent 17 years with American City Business Journals, the nation’s largest publisher of metropolitan business journals.