Tips and tricks for business success and growth

By Rama Beerfas

May 1, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – One of the workshops I am asked to present most often is "Developing Your 30-Second Commercial." Anyone who has ever attended a networking event knows that a concise, effective 30-second commercial (AKA elevator pitch) is critical. The hard part is putting one together that is concise, effective and doesn't sound like a scripted speech.

Tips and tricks for business success and growth

By Rama Beerfas

April 18, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) –  Good marketing is all about making you stand out from the others - building a brand that is recognizable, unique and compelling. Why, then do so many business owners insist on doing what someone or everyone else is doing?

For instance, how many times have you watched a commercial on TV and thought that it must have been written by, or stolen from, the same people who did an ad for a different company. You know, what I mean - it had the same feel, flow and concept as an ad you'd seen at least a month ago for a totally different product. Did it make you remember the new product being advertised, or simply recall the ad it seemed to be based on?

Tips and Tricks for Business Success and Growth

By Rama Beerfas

November 3, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – As we approach the end of 2012, it is time to review the year's business successes, challenges and (dare I say it?) failures. If we want to make a difference to the growth opportunities we have available in 2013, then it is critical that we evaluate what worked, what didn't, and where we didn't pursue opportunities that we should have. From that assessment, we can develop a more informed plan for the coming year that will be more likely to succeed than a plan made from hopes, dreams and wishes.

Tips and tricks for business marketing success

By Rama Beerfas

October 2, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – This is the season for me to be developing marketing plans for many of my existing clients. What I have noticed over the many years I've been doing this is that there is often confusion between the terms "target market" and "referral source." In order to market correctly, these two terms must be clearly understood, so here goes...

 Tips and tricks for business success

by Rama Beerfas

Marketing for a Reason

By Rama Beerfas 

June 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Most companies that have a marketing plan tend to market on a similar type of schedule every year – perhaps they have a winter campaign to kick off the new year, a summer campaign to boost business during the slow season, and a holiday campaign to maximize their share of consumers’ holiday spending.

All that notwithstanding, how about marketing for a different reason altogether? There are thousands of designated observances, commemorations and celebratory days that are just asking to be used as an excuse for marketing.

Is Marketing an Expense or an Investment?

By Rama Beerfas

May 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) –  There’s an old saying that 50% of  a business’ marketing expense is wasted. The question is, which 50% is it?

Admittedly, it can be difficult to track the success of a marketing campaign; even more so given the fact that most micro to mid-size businesses don’t set a specific goal, don’t put a definite call to action and/or don’t develop a metric that will allow them to measure the ROI and/or ROO on a given campaign.
 

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS AND GROWTH

By Rama Beerfas

March 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – This is a QR code:
 

You’ve probably seen them on postal packages, in print ads and catalogs, even on an iPad commercial; but do you know what a QR code is and how it can benefit your business?

A QR (Quick Response) code is a two-dimensional matrix barcode that can be decoded (“read”) by smartphones that have a QR decoder app installed. Created in Japan by a subsidiary of Toyota in 1994, these codes have been commonly used there and in Europe for over ten years for a variety of purposes. In 2010, they started appearing in the US in marketing applications.

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS AND GROWTH

By Rama Beerfas

February 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – We’ve identified the three components of a successful trade show marketing plan:

• Have a system in place for attracting potential customers to the exhibit.
• Qualify those people who visited the booth.
• Follow up with those visitors who left contact information.

Last month, we looked at some methods to qualify the people who visit your booth as legitimate prospects. This month, we’ll explore the most critical part of the trade show process: the post-show follow-up.

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MARKETING SUCCESS

By Rama Beerfas

January 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – We’ve identified the three components of a successful trade show marketing plan:

 TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS AND GROWTH

By Rama Beerfas

December 1, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – We’ve identified the three components of a successful trade show marketing plan:

• Have a system in place for attracting potential customers to the exhibit.
• Qualify those people who visited the booth.
• Follow up with those visitors who left contact information.
 

The fact is that exhibiting successfully at a trade show means developing good pre-show plan to ensure that the people with whom you would most like to make contact know you will be there and have a reason to come visit your booth.

Tips and Tricks for Business Success and Growth

By Rama Beerfas

November 1, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – It’s a sad, sad story and one that I have heard many times: A company spends anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a local tabletop show to tens of thousands of dollars for a national trade show and ends up with little or nothing to show for it – not even a breakeven on expenses.

Tips and Tricks for Business Success and Growth

By Rama Beerfas

October 2, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – I recently had a conversation with a contact who told me, “I need to meet with you to discuss my marketing plan for next year. I am just so busy that I don’t think I’ll have time to do it until things slow down in late December.” Of course, once “late December” rolls around, he’ll probably be too busy with holiday plans to give his 2011 marketing plan any thought either.

Tips and tricks for business success and growth

By Rama Beerfas

September 19, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Anyone who has known me professionally for at least the last eight months knows that I am a proponent of giving holiday business gifts for Thanksgiving rather than the more traditional time in December. I actually addressed this issue in an article in this publication in 2009 - http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/2201.

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS AND GROWTH

By Rama Beerfas

July 23, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Social networking seems to be the newest big thing in the marketing world. People are spending several hours per week (or day) updating their profiles, looking for connections,  tweeting, and more in the hopes of building their businesses.

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS

By Rama Beerfas

July 1, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Last month, we looked at various internet marketing outlets. Knowing what available marketing tools exist on the internet is but the first step. If we avail ourselves of these tools, we still need to be sure that they are working for us in the way we want so that we do not invest time, energy, and (possibly) money into “solutions” that don’t work. (This really applies to any marketing tool we use – from the internet to the yellow pages to networking groups.)

Direct Mail vs. Internet Marketing Part 2: Defining Internet Marketing

By Rama Beerfas

June 18, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Last column, we defined “direct mail.” This time, we will touch on the various avenues available for marketing through the internet, both paid and free.

Direct Mail vs. Internet Marketing Part 1: Defining Internet Marketing

By Rama Beerfas
 

June 1, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – There are many marketers out there who believe that direct mail is not the effective form of advertising that it once was, at least in comparison to the less expensive outlets available through the internet. The truth is that different advertising media can all be made effective if the message, positioning and targeting are done correctly.

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS AND GROWTH

By Rama Beerfas

March 1, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – We’ve talked about the concept of selling benefits instead of features in order to give your audience the inducement to make the purchase. Now, we need to solidly define the term "benefit."

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS AND GROWTH

By Rama Beerfas

February 15, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Anyone who has participated in a business networking event of any kind has heard about the all-important 30-Second Commercial, sometimes known as the “Elevator Pitch.” The purpose of this commercial is to make people aware of what you do and what type of business you are looking for, usually in a thirty to sixty-second timeframe.

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS AND GROWTH

By Rama Beerfas

February 10, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – If you’ve ever taken a sales training class, you have probably heard the features vs. benefits marketing approach. I call this technique the WIIFM Factor – What’s in It for Me. When it comes right down to it, when you are stressing the benefits, rather than the features of a particular product or service, you are telling your prospects what is in it for them when they purchase from you.

 TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS AND GROWTH

By Rama Beerfas

November 7, 2009 (San Diego’s East County) - While most people believe that the best time to give holiday business gifts is in the week or two leading up to Christmas, there are several compelling reasons to choose either Thanksgiving or New Year for business-related gift-giving.