Recently I was interviewed by Jeremy Knauff of Wildfire Marketing Group.  The full interview can be viewed at:

http://www.wildfiremarketinggroup.com/thought-leader-thursday-melissa-rich/

Wildfire marketing has a great website and offers a wide range of services including internet marketing, direct mail, and website design.  Their blog also had a great deal of information that may be helpful to you.

Publishing a newsletter (in print, online, or via email) is a great way to educate your prospects and can eventually lead to an increase in sales.   Keeping your company name and offerings in front our your prospects is vital to enhancing closing rates and using the phone, internet and mailing can certainly accomplish that goal, but publishing a newsletter provides you with another tool to continually stay in front of your prospects. 

Newsletters can include:

• Industry news – What changes are occuring in your industry?  What headlines impact your market?
• Company updates – Announce new changes within your team.
• Product or service updates – Keep your future prospects informed about your latest developments.

A newsletter should be another tool at your disposal.  Providing quality content may just transform your prospects into your new clients – and that is the end goal in sales.

In past years, we have been open to offering our telemarketing services to Canada, but really focused on the US market.  As time and economics have changed business,  we have noticed an increase in business coming from the Canadian market.   Thus, we are preparing to focus additional efforts on our Canadian client base. 

Times can be tough in some respects, so you may be required to adapt to changes in your industry as well as changes occuring due to the economical market.  For Rich Enterprises, the end result of these changes is new marketing techniques and catering our core business services to a new set of potential clients.

As you review your planning for 2009, remember that there may be new markets that can help you expand your client base.   Always keep your eyes, ears, and attitude open to exploring new potential markets.  Business requires you to be ready and agreeable to adapting to changes within your market.

Wow!  The amount of economic news is overwhelming right now.  Stock market plunged and the credit market is in trouble.   I have talked to many business owners that are placing marketing efforts on hold and taking a “wait and see” approach.   While I understand their hesitation, I also know that “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”.  

Depending on your business and industry, now might be the time to engage in stronger marketing tactics.  We have worked diligently all summer long on business growth and are hoping those efforts pay off in the long run.  Those same efforts may not contribute to growth, but those efforts will hopefully allow us to maintain.

If your business wants to maintain, you may have to get more aggressive in marketing.  You may need to change your presentation to focus on financial savings and related aspects.   NOW is the time to increase marketing efforts - rather than the time to pull back and risk losing business!

Wow!  Guess it is time for Rich Enterprises, Inc. to join the blogging world.  Seems like it can really be a struggle to keep up with the latest technology and new ways of marketing.

However, the old ways of marketing are still effective and alive.  Telemarketing and cold calling is a tried and true method for bringing in new qualified leads and/or appointments.   We have been at this for over 8 years and just when we think we have marketing covered, along comes a better way to communicate and keep in touch with our market base.

Remember, a mix of the new marketing and the old marketing is the best way to make your business succeed.   Marketing and sales is not about jumping on every bandwagon of new marketing techniques,  but rather making strategic logical decisions that are good for you and your business.   It is easy to get lost in the sea of available technology and marketing methods, but we need to take small steps each and every day towards the end goal – which is business success!

I would love to hear your comments and feedback!