This is a simple concept that I covered on the podcast previously, but it's a really big deal and I want to address it here as well. You already know that one important step in earning more referrals for your business is by asking for them. But have you ever thought about when the ideal time to ask your clients and customers for a referral really is? And have you created a system to make sure that it Read More
How to Use “Price Anchors” to Make More Sales
The most popular item at any steakhouse is almost always the second-most expensive steak on the menu. That's because the second-most expensive steak looks like a bargain next to the most-expensive steak. If you want to sell more of your $1000 watches, start listing them next to a $3000 watch. This works because of a cognitive bias that's built into all of us. We don't judge prices objectively - Read More
A Personal Update
A personal update... After seven AWESOME years building Spotlight Branding, it's time for a new chapter in my life. I've officially sold my share of the company to Marc Cerniglia, my partner since day one. It's been an amazing journey. We started the business in late 2011, from a spare bedroom in my apartment, and it was just the two of us for the first few years. We had all the energy and Read More
Why You Have an Obligation to Market
Some business owners are squeamish about marketing. They view it as disreputable or even unethical. This mindset will hold you back. If you feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, or ashamed when it comes to marketing and selling your products and services, you won’t succeed. Let’s start here: Do you believe that your product or your service is legitimately valuable? That what you’re selling is making the world a Read More
Snail Mail Isn’t Dead
I built a million-dollar online branding agency. And you don’t need me to tell you that we live in an increasingly digital world. So you may be surprised to learn that some of the most effective marketing I’ve developed involved physical, old-school snail-mail. There are a few different reasons why "old-fashioned" snail mail still works well. First, we’re over-saturated with digital marketing. Email, Read More
Three Tools to Create More Referrals
As discussed in our previous blog entry, in order to create referrals, you have to create top-of-mind awareness with your network. That's why even top brands like Coca-Cola spend billions of dollars in advertising for this purpose. Here are three tools you can use to make this happen in your business. Referral Tool #1 - Your Email Newsletter. Every business should have an email newsletter sent monthly if Read More
The Two Key Ingredients of Referral Generation
Earlier this month we talked about why referrals are the best way for most businesses to grow. Today we'll dive in a little deeper in order to help you generate more referrals for your business. There are two main ingredients present in every referral - understanding, and awareness. Understanding. In order to make a referral, the referral source needs to know what you do and who you help. That’s why it’s so Read More
Why Referrals Are The Best Way to Grow Your Business
Referrals and word-of-mouth marketing may not be the sexiest way to grow your business, but it’s often the best way. Referrals are generally superior to clients and customers that come through other channels, for the following reasons: Referred clients are cheaper to generate. It costs little or nothing to generate referrals. Instead of investing resources into expensive ad campaigns, you can create referrals by Read More
Marketing Simplified: The Four Main Parts of an Effective Marketing System
The purpose of your marketing is to generate qualified leads. But there’s a lot more to building an effective marketing system than a one-sentence objective may indicate. There are a multitude of different opportunities, strategies, concepts, and tactics that you can leverage. As an analogy, consider the game of football. The object of the game is simple - score more points than your opponent. But within Read More
Marketing Simplified: 5 Tips for Better Messaging
This is Part Two in our series on effective messaging. Click here for Part One. Here are five key concepts to remember as you sharpen your messaging: 1) It’s not about you - it’s about your customer. Effective marketing tells a story, and every story has a hero. The mistake most business owners make is that the hero of their story is themselves and their business. But to create a truly compelling story and Read More