Buck Up

Gumby (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We are asking what all of American business is asking.  Is the economy in our country going to turn around any time soon?  We don’t have an answer to that, but we have decided we don’t care.  We are “Gumby Entrepreneurs” – flexible to a fault, and always looking for the most positive aspect of any situation.  At Evergreen Marketing Group, Inc  we help business become famous.  Small, medium, large, our goal is to help you find your niche in the market, through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, WordPress and others,  and we know, like you do, that the more people who see you in a positive light, who come to affectionately know your name, the more customers you will have.  We look at it this way.  During this time when money is tight and customers are harder to come by, the urgency to turn up our marketing efforts is greater than ever.  This is not the time to hide your light under a bushel, nor is it the time to pretend that people will find your light on their own.  We are great at seeing our clients for the brilliant people they are, and we spend our time exploiting that to their benefit.   More than ever, this is “go time” and we’re fired up about it. Hard times call for good attitudes.  Got yours?

Day to Remember

Memorial Day Commemoration 2008 (Photo credit: davidyuweb)

We call this day Memorial Day because we are meant to remember the people in our lives who have been lost to death.  We deem remembering so important, in fact, that we have set aside a whole day, for thinking of the people in our lives who have crossed the threshold into eternity.  The day seems to be spent, often with family and friends, cooking outdoors, sharing some pre-summer sun, perhaps working in the yard.  All of those things are worth doing and we wish everyone safety and fun in their endeavors, but we wish everyone something else.  If on this day you have a lost someone you are thinking of, we hope that your thoughts will be filled with joy, with memories of all they meant to you, with laughter for all the funny times that life throws our way, with tears for the days you wish you could talk to them just one more time, with contentment for knowing that you have loved someone enough to carry them in your heart always.  Evergreen Marketing Group, Inc. wishes you a happy and memorable Memorial Day!

The Unpopular Blog

Official seal of City of Cleveland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the blogging world, which in reality encompasses the entire world, it has been proven that there are certain subjects that rise above all the rest in the “followers” category.  We seem to love to read about food – making food, eating food, shopping for food, sharing food with friends.  Recipes rise to the top of the “food chain” as it were when it comes to readership.  We are also as a species drawn by words about other species – our pets in other words are perfect fodder for the well read blog.  We are equally enamored by travel and the photographs of such.  If you’ve been anywhere at all and taken pictures of your time there you will have a popular blog.  A trip to Cleveland documented in quirky photos will get more readership than a well informed blog about how to avoid financial crisis, because living a financially sound life just isn’t entertaining enough.  But here is the point.  If you are a financial guru, the people you want to reach, the ones that will truly pursue your wisdom and join your clientele, will seek out your blog.  They will search your key words and find you because they want to, like you, live a financially sound life.  The folks who want a recipe for muffins infused with lavender probably will never give you a second, or even a first look, but that’s okay.  Your goal is to grow your business, not your fan club.

I Don’t Always Drink Beer

The beer of the year has to be the Dos Equis brand, because they aren’t just selling beer, they are selling a lifestyle that is bigger than anything that exists in reality.  They have brilliantly branded themselves by doing three things.  They found an actor who looks like he spent the first half of his life wrestling sharks off the coast of Brazil, and the rest of it counting his money.  He is James Bond and Clint Eastwood and a little bit of Sir Lancelot rolled into one very successful persona that is so secure he can even make fun of himself within reason.  Secondly, they have a tagline that the rest of the beer moguls are salivating over.  “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.”  Brilliant in spades! Then let’s talk about their logo, two huge red exes, unmistakable, bold and brash.  They are unapologetic about their image of being a “man’s” beer, because they know who their target audience is.  They aren’t selling champagne, it’s beer for heaven’s sake and they are making the most of it.  Smart marketing doesn’t try to grab the entire population, it goes for the people who will use their product, a lot!

Relationship Marketing

Never underestimate the power of your personal network when you are building your business.  The people you run into in the local coffee shop may not be potential customers, but there is a good chance they know someone who has an aunt who would be your ideal client, and that third degree of separation will be closed quickly if you play your cards right.  People love to be saviors, and if your friend or acquaintance hears of a need for your services, and they trust you, they will be thrilled to recommend you to their friend and be the hero.  That element of trust cannot be purchased or manufactured.  You have to be good at what you do, and you have to convey the message that you care about the outcome for your customers.  Build that trust in the people you know and they will happily and proudly tell their friends that they know someone who can do exactly what they need.  Be sure to follow through with a thank you, and even a small gift to the one giving your name to the right people.  They are without exception your best advertising vehicle and the cost cannot be beat.

Marketing Math

If you like to talk in percentages, the percentage of your operating budget that goes to marketing is directly related the percentage of your overall profit increase.  In other words, if you are spending more money on anything in your company than you are on your marketing, especially if you are just getting started, then you are destined for failure.  We love the analogy of water on the rock.  If you throw a bucket of water on a rock, it makes a splash but when it dries up, which is rather quickly, it is as though it never happened.  However, if you cause a slow run of water to fall on the rock a drop at a time, what happens?   In time, and it does take some time, the rock begins to erode, the water leaving a permanent impression in the stone.  That is marketing to a tee-the constant effort that embeds itself in the psyche of the buying public.  Social Media, be it Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, Link-in, Pinterest, will give you a presence on the web that will make your company a known entity, but it takes consistency and time, and a commitment to the business you want to be tomorrow.  All the buckets of splash campaigns in the world will only get you noticed for the moment they are seen while a true marketing strategy will leave a lasting impression.

Urgency for Colorado Small Business

There is constant analysis that goes on about small business marketing through social media, some of it worthwhile, a lot of it just clogging the drains, but there does seem to be a point of connection where all of the experts, and even the wannabes, speak with one voice.  Word is that content, quality content, with refreshing, innovative, useful information is the name of the game.  Well constructed blogs and posts will get you noticed not only by the readership you are targeting, but it will get you noticed by the Google Ranking gods and they are powerful beings.  The analysis suggests that frequently posted, well thought out information is hard to come by for the small business owner who is there from open to close and everything in between.  Marketing professionals, who have done the job by traditional means for years, are now encouraging small business to pay a percentage of your marketing budget to a company that will keep your content Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and your blog up to date, relevant and fresh.  Standing in the station as the social media express passes you by is putting your business in danger of losing ground that you won’t be able to regain.  Step up to the window and buy a boarding pass before the train leaves for the last time.