Greeting Card Marketing

You probably already know about the power of personalized, custom greeting cards. Unlike standard cards, cards with custom images and personalized messages make a much stronger impression.

For more about custom greeting card marketing see my post on my Quantum Results Coaching Books site, at this link: Custom Greeting Cards.

6 Hot Tips for Using Selfies in Your Marketing!

So if you've been on social media or read any popular media the last few weeks, you've likely seen Ellen's Twitter-halting selfie at the Academy Awards.

Here's one I took recently drinking Shakeology after a workout.



For a real expert's look at selfies in marketing, check out Kim Garst's post:
http://kimgarst.com/6-genius-ways-to-use-selfies-in-your-marketing.

And, oh yeah, don't forget to drink your Shakeology..

Relationship Marketing Tip #31– Abundance in Relationships

This tip or strategy is actually more a philosophy or strategic attitude about business relationships. The message is one of abundance. Share your contacts, be free with suggesting and assisting new relationships, and make a focused effort to introduce your contacts to others.

Don't adopt the attitude or behavior that suggests you want to keep your contacts (clients, customers, prospects, and friends) to yourself. If you have a protective, excluding attitude, neither you nor your business will be attractive to new people - others might very well come to see you and your company, or at least your part of it as a closed group, or at least not a welcoming group, and look elsewhere.

One of the largest networking organizations, BNI (Business Networking International) has the slogan, "Givers gain." BNI succeeds because of its structured networking organization where chapters meet weekly and there can be only one representative per industry - while on the surface that policy may seem exclusive, in reality there are many opportunities within BNI to develop relationships outside the group and the welcoming, open atmosphere and attitude of most chapters demonstrates the members' practice of the organization's credo.

I'm not suggesting you refer all your clients to direct competitors and give away your business, but I do firmly believe that as you are open to make, develop, and share relationships with an ever-expanding circle of contacts, it benefits everyone, most especially you!

Relationship Marketing Tip #30 – Play Together

Here's a classic relationship marketing tip that still works - and for many is their main method of doing business. Seek and play with your significant business contacts.

"Working" on the golf course or tennis courts as a means of solidifying and building relationships isn't a new idea and of course not for everyone, but just because this behavior has been around for a long time doesn't mean it no longer works. Golf and tennis continue to draw 100's of thousands of business people on regular schedules who have fun, get exercise, and do business.

Golf and tennis aren't the only outlets, of course. Adult soccer, rugby, and lacrosse leagues, certainly bowling leagues, running, biking, and swimming clubs, the list goes on and on of active sports activities where adults congregate and do business.

Often there are other events and opportunities before, after, or associated with group athletic pursuits that may involve other activies together or even include other family members.

It is also easy to lose sight of the marketing purpose that might have initially justified the play, however, so watch out for signs that you're actually avoiding work in the name of "marketing". For example, if you play golf with the same three other guys every week, that activity is hardly expanding your customer base. Also, while drinking and gambling are often a side element associated with some sporting pursuits (golf is especially associated with betting), if involvement in any sport is really an excuse to get plastered or if gambling gets out of hand, the effect on your business as well as your life can be the opposite of the original intention (at least the original "stated" intention).

Shared physical pursuits, whether in service projects, charity walks, or active sports participation are a powerful way to contribute to the community and enjoy life while simultaneously building business relationships.

Relationship Marketing Tip #29– Is Your Posse Trainable?

Pass on info about good training events to your friends and contacts. Everyone in business needs training on a regular basis to keep up with trends, to learn new concepts and even for refresher in the basics. But there's a hitch -- many people don't get the training that can help them in their business for a whole raft of reasons: not enough time; didn't know about it; hard to know what's good; don't want to go alone; and so on.

So you be the one who knows about the best training in the area, perhaps for your specific field, but definitely for general business topics (that way you can share the info with more contacts). Have a mechanism, maybe a list on your blog or newsletter, or maybe just jot down good upcoming training events on a 3x5 card and carry it with you.

Even more powerful for you than just telling people about good training, go together. If the experience is a good one, and the stronger the better, a shared positive experience promotes powerful bonding.

Training classes or seminars are also good places to meet new people and broaden your personal sphere, which holds true for the people you attend with as well. Therefore, if you and a few friends do attend training together, balance your attention and time on the people you went with and with the opportunity to meet new people and add new relationships. Make this a conscious effort and be transparent about it, make sure you inform the people you go with and also encourage them, too, to make the most of the training opportunity to meet others.

Relationship Marketing Tip #28– Great Reading

This tip isn't appropriate for all of your contacts, but if you discover a book that you find particularly relevant and useful to business people, pass on the title to others.

Because most business people are very busy, especially self-employed entrepreneurs but also high achievers in any industry, and also because there are thousands of books published each month, it is very helpful to get recommendations for useful or inspiring titles. This tip extends to online content as well, including websites, blogs, useful videos, and webinars.

If you read, listen to, or view content you find helpful for your business, chances are you know someone else who will benefit from it. So pass on the suggestion to help your friends gain as you did and strengthen your relationship at the same time.

Relationship Marketing Tip #27 - Be an Agent

One of the best way for business people and professionals to differentiate from competition is to get published in local, regional, or even national publications. Because writing about topics relevant to one's business or profession confers an aura of expertise, more people should seek opportunities to contribute articles to publications.

In addition to writing articles yourself, you can do great service to other business people if you uncover opportunities for them to write for local publications. If you discover a publication that is seeking contributions in someone's field let them know about it.

If you use this marketing technique yourself, ask the editors what other subjects they are seeking articles about. You might even pre-pitch your friends or contacts and suggest articles they might contribute that would be in alignment with the publication's mission or market.

By helping your friends market, you build your relationship, it's as simple as that.

Relationship Marketing Tip #26 – Join Hands

Here's another tip that's a multiple win for you and your contacts. Ask your contacts to help support community events or work on charitable projects. For example, volunteering and working on a Habitat for Humanity house building project can be a great bonding experience at the same time providing significant value to the community.

There may be lots of opportunities to recruit people for fund-raising events or campaigns, but I'd recommend more active projects. Fund raising is important and great to be involved in, but if at least part of your motivation is to build relationships with people with whom you volunteer, the typical fund raising scenario where everyone gets an office or cubicle and makes calls to potential donors isn't all that conducive to relationship-building.

The best projects to recruit for when you're also working on relationship building are short term projects that require physical effort - that's why a Habitat for Humanity project is so good. Particularly if your efforts result in a visible addition to a community or the region, every time you see it it can remind you of the joint experience.

Relationship Marketing Tip #25 – Scan Cards

Have you considered scanning business cards? If not, there are several reasons to do so, all of which, with a little bit of preparation, can augment your personal relationship marketing system.

If you make a habit of scanning business cards you pick up daily or at least weekly, here's what you can do with the scans:

1. If you use card reader hardware or software, you can scan the info directly into a contact management program - you might want to check quickly for accuracy for each card, but it's still a lot faster than keying in data.

2. Scan an image of the card and save it in JPG or PDF format and save the file using the person's name. Later on if you want to send a copy of the card to someone else, all you have to do is attach the file. That's much easier, less time-consuming, and more accurate than e-mailing a phone number and e-mail address. When you send a scanned business card image also makes you look like you've got it going on.

3. If you send customized greeting cards to new contacts including an image of their business card in the greeting card will certainly get their attention.

If you set up a system for scanning business cards and follow through regularly, it won't take long before you have a mighty contact database for future action or reference.

scan business cards and keep the scans on file, perhaps in a contact manager, send to others freely, post on blog or personal directory

Relationship Marketing Tip #24– Get a Buddy or a Crew!

This tip is a double win. If you hook up with a buddy or with a small group of people to plan and track your networking and relationship marketing activities, not only will you have the advantage of peer pressure and expectation to keep you on your agreed upon course of action, you'll also build your relationships with your crew or accountability buddy.

The way it works is this:
1. You decide on a small list of measurable activitities - say, for example, you'll meet two new people, follow up with four people you met the previous month, and find a way to help two people in your current client or prospect list. The exact items aren't important - what does matter is committing to a set number defined activities within a specific period of time.

2. Write down your objectives and share the list with an accountability buddy - or perhaps with a group (note, this isn't the same as a Mastermind Group, though it can have some shared characteristics).

3. Each week check in with your buddy or group. You can do it in person (time-consuming), by phone (very convenient) , or be e-mail (most convenient of all but the easiest to let slide).

4. All you do during your weekly checkin is report whether or not you met each objective. It's not a time for excuses or whining or big explanations, just did you or did you not meet your objectives.

5. Set objectives for the following week.

Repeat for your buddy or for each person in the group. If done efficiently, this weekly checkin should take no more than 3-4 minutes each, so the time commitment isn't huge. the personal commitment, however, can be very powerful and you each will be providing an important service to the other.

Relationship Marketing Tip #23– Keep Track

Of course you're busy and sometimes have troubles prioritizing and keeping up with everything you'd like to do, let alone all the tasks and activities you're supposed to do. It goes without saying that if you're in business or professionally active you should be barely keeping up with the essentials. So join the club.

But you still need to spend a significant amount of time marketing and as is apparent in this series of tips, I firmly believe that the best marketing is when you work on relationships. While much of your work in relationships is subjective, it's also a good idea to set goals and keep track of your performance contact.

For example, while it's easy and gets even easier to always work with the same contacts and customers, if you don't actively reach out to grow your circle, your business will falter over time. Depending on your business, service, or profession the numbers will vary, but it's a great idea to set a quantifiable, measureable number of new contacts to make and with whom to follow up and build relationships over a set time period. For example, perhaps you can set a goal to meet two new people a week and get them into your contact manager and your relationship system.

If you don't set quantifiable numbers in your overall relationship sphere building, you're very likely to stagnate, so get busy, set a number and track it. It might help to set a reward for yourself for reaching your numbers, but the important point is to set a goal and keep track of it. Exactly how you do the tracking is less important than actually having a tracking system.

Relationship Marketing Tip #22– Joint Ventures (We’re Not Talking BBQ)

Forming joint ventures with other businesses and individuals is an extremely powerful way to build relationships. When you work together for on common business project, which may be focused on a single event or one-time occurrence or the basis for ongoing work, as each party does her or his part in meeting both the performance and income objectives of the venture, your personal relationship grows even stronger, which can result in future work together as well as a heightened opportunity for future cross-referrals.

Working on, supporting or promoting each others' deals or projects is a great way to enhance each other's presence in the market place (a team has a stronger impact than individuals or even small companies). Particularly in times when it seems that everyone is over-worked and over-booked, a joint venture's ability to provide a one-stop solution can often clear the way for harried decision makers.

The best joint ventures are those among equals, where each pulls for the common goal and benefits from the other's strengths and performance. In nature this type of relationship is called symbiosis, where two different species each aid the other in a mutually rewarding existence.

Unless you have a large support staff, don't attempt to set up too many joint ventures, at least at first, because if you spread yourself too thin and can't deliver the disappointment felt by all will outweigh the value of the lost opportunity.

The best way to start a joint venture is not to sit and wait for someone to propose one, and probably not to bring up the topic in general, but rather to actively look for a project where you could assist another business and then propose that you work on it together. Of course there may be a myriad of reasons why your first suggestions aren't embraced, but keep trying and when you finally engage in and succeed at your first joint venture, future work with that person and work with others will come easier.

Of course you have to be able to offer solid value when proposing a joint venture to someone, but even your asking them to consider working on a mutually advantageous project can aid your relationship.

Relationship Marketing Tip #21– Make Your Contacts Stars

If you publish a newsletter or e-zine or have a website or blog - and if you're in business and reading this you probably should - how about writing about your contacts? Assuming your business contacts like promotion and publicity, writing about them is a clear benefit to them and if their story is interesting and well written, it's good content for your publication as well.

If your contacts are in related fields to your core business, if they sell goods or services that many of your readers or viewers use, or if their stories are interesting and positive, you have the makings of compelling content for your publication or site and an extremely valuable promotional service to offer the people and businesses you write about. Your focus should be more on the personalities and human side of the people and their businesses to be most interesting and effective.

Of course you'll want to ask permission to write about a contact and to check the content with them, during and after publication - all of which are chances to relate to them on a topic related specifically to them. In my mind, it can't be much better than that.

Sometimes you may want to write about people who don't want the publicity - so back off (unless that's your business) because doing otherwise will have the opposite than desired result. Also, at times you might want to write about someone or a business that interests or appeals to you just because you want to share the news or story with others, with no thought of "relationship marketing" - that's fine, too, but still check that it's okay with your subject.

Promoting others when you can do it sincerely is a great gift to give; consider it super-testimonial.

Relationship Marketing Tip #20 – Testify!

Give testimonials. Whenever one of your clients, contacts, friends, or prospects gives you good service or provides a valuable product, consider giving some form of testimonial. Just sending an unexpected card or note can be a nice way to support others and you may be surprised how often those cards or notes will show up on desks, counters or walls in others' places of business, serving as a surprisingly public testimonial.

When you offer testimonials, consider other media in addition to cards and notes. For example, audio or video testimonials are powerful because listeners and viewers can relate better. Audio and view clips can also be used on websites and blogs effectively as well.

Here are seven types of testimonials:

1. A personable personality with or without a photo that your contact's market will relate to.

2. Measurable results - particularly in income but also in other measures such as weight, customers, profit, or speed.

3. A compelling short story.

4. A recognized expert in the field.

5. A recognized expert in any field.

7. A celebrity.

Offering testimonials for friends or contacts only makes sense when you have sincere reasons to do so, of course, but overall the value of a strong testimonial is such that it can be a major benefit to the recipient and therefore be a super relationship builder.

Relationship Marketing Tip #19– Toll the Bells

Be sure to take notice and spread the word about others’ good deeds, awards, and accomplishments.

This tip has to be so obvious that it can be very short. When you help promote others, even if by just sending a congratulatory note on social media, that act repays you multifold. You can't predict how, when, or from whom the repayment will come, and maybe it will be indirect and you won't get the connection, but taking public notice of others' wins is a nice thing to do for them and is an easy way to strengthen relationships.

Do be careful not to become overly promotional or hype-y in this effort -- that could rebound on you because it might embarrass the person and make you look pretty foolish. For example, if a client finishes her first local marathon, it's a nice idea to write about it and congratulate her. If you went overboard, however, and started talking about her as a future Olympian based on this won event, that would be pretty silly. So ease back, you don't need to go into promotional overdrive. A simple "Congrats to Megan for competing and completing the Lake to River Marathon last weekend." is sufficient.

Relationship Marketing Tip #18 – Who Do You Trust?

Trust is the key to relationship marketing. If you trust someone to do a good job, on time, and at the expected and you also trust them as a person, you will be much more inclined to use their services or buy their products again. You'll also be willing to refer them, or at least mention them, to other people looking for the same type business or service.

You can't buy trust and you can't gain it by advertising, though trust, dependability, and safety are common themes in advertising - though it may not be always obvious. For example, when a company states they've been in business for some number of years, the implication is, "You can trust us, we've been around for X years so we likely will be here when you need us."

When someone uses credentials, memberships, or associations in ads, the message is, "See, you can trust us, we've taken the training, got the license, belong to the group." This is borrowed trust from the credentialing or licensing organization or the professional or trade group."

An even more common use of borrowed trust is testimonials. Testimonials work in a couple of ways. If a celebrity gives a testimonial or just appears in an ad, even though we know they were likely paid for it, we are more likely to think, "Oh, well if I use it too I'll be cool like so-and-so (or whatever like whoever)." The second type of testimonial is from someone with whom the prospective client can identify - think of the weight loss ads that feature regular people, or the testimonials that state, "Just like you, I once blah blah blah. Then I found The Product and now my life has changed for the better." The obvious message here is that you can trust the product or service because someone just like you has used it and been satisfied. These ads are so effective, that in many cases disclaimers (even in small type) are required in the interest of consumer protection.

So trust is of major importance in advertising and marketing in general, but it's paramount in relationship marketing. And to gain others' trust, there are two elements:

1. Be trustworthy. If you are honest about who you are and do what you say you'll do, you'll earn others' trust.

2. Be trusting. While it's obviously not clear to them, people who are very open about their lack of trust of others are often not very trustworthy themselves. If you expect people to be trustworthy, and act and speak that way, others will assume you can be trusted as well. Please note - I'm not suggesting you leave yourself wide open or be naive. It's helpful to have good intuition or to exercise and strengthen your intuition, but at the same time have a general sense of trust and positive expectation about the universe and most people.

In short, If you trust, you will be trusted. Trust is the most valuable gift one person can give another. If you're not trustworthy, any efforts at relationship marketing will be pretty much useless.

Relationship Marketing Tip #17– Be Positive, For Sure!

I have to hold back my enthusiasm for this tip, because it's so important, so strong, and (should be) so easy that I'm inclined to go on and on.

Here's the deal: When you are positive in attitude and about others, it makes you feel better, makes others feel better, and therefore is good for your relationships and your business.

If you go into a negative space, everyone loses. And [dramatic pause], what do we call people who lose? Exactly. So don't do it.

You know it does no good to whine, to complain, to be negative about the world in general or the economy or business or pretty much anything. But there's more you should think about and decide to implement.

Make a point of only being positive, and let it show:
• Don't diss others, to their face or behind their back.
• Don't back stab.
• Don’t use sarcasm.
• Don’t set up people so they look silly or fail.

Please, please, please remember that what you deal out to others comes back to you, maybe not from the same person or at the same time. But if you have a habit of back stabbing others and are known for it, you'll get the same treatment - count on it.

Now, can you be perfect? Of course not. But if you slip and get negative on occasion, notice it, renew your commitment to be positive, and move on. Don't dwell on your mistake - that's self-serving and negative in itself.

Even writing about this feels bad to me. But I'll get over it and move on.

Relationship Marketing Tip #16 - Hold ‘em and Share ‘em

Keep other people's business cards with you at all times when you're out and about. Carry multiple (2 to 4) business cards of your most recommendable contacts. This simple tip pays off many ways.

For example if you always have cards handy for people in related fields or people your clients typically seek, it's a five-way win:

1. The person who needs the service or product gets a legible card with good contact info.

2. The person whose card you give out has a very good potential client who has already been somewhat pre-sold and roughly pre-qualified (it helps no one if you give a card for a Rolls Royce dealer to a new grad looking for a commuter car).

3. You get to be seen as a resource (by the person to whom you give the card).

4. You get to be seen as a good referral source (to the person who card you give).

5. You get time. You don't have to remember to get back to the person with the contact info (though there are times when that might be a better strategy because it gives you a reason to make another contact).

Don't allow yourself to dismiss this tip as too much hassle or bother or "too much like work". A system of carrying others' business cards is easy to set up and maintain and the payoff can be huge for all concerned.

Relationship Marketing Tip #15 – Clip This!

Here's a great way to add value and help your clients or contacts that costs nothing and doesn't take much time: act as an informal Internet clipping service for your key contacts.

Unless you to devote a lot of time to this clipping activity, don't do it on a wholesale basis, that is, don't do it all the time for everyone. If you have 10-20 main clients, however, it doesn't take much time to search on their names or company names on Google and, if you notice anything, take it a step further and let them know about it.

Here's how you can inform your contacts about what you found:

• call with congratulations
• send an e-mail with the link (in case they missed it)
• mention it in your e-zine, newsletter, or blog (and then follow up with a phone call or e-mail for a double win).

I'd recommend running a search once a month for your "A" list clients, but you'll have to balance the time and effort spent with the results. If you find that you have a significant number of contacts who are often in the news or mentioned on the Internet, there are for pay online clipping services you can use. Contact clipping searches is also a great task for an admin or virtual assistant to perform - perhaps sending you search summaries so you can decide which to pass on to your clients.

Relationship Marketing Tip #14 - Contacts as Content

Write about and promote your clients and contacts in your newsletter or e-zine, on your website or blog. By helping them directly, you'll build your relationship and help yourself.

This strategy can be very powerful for you and helpful to others, but it comes with some cautions. If your contacts are in business, they may very much appreciate your promoting their business; it's sort of like free advertising and your implied endorsement would most likely be seen as a good thing (as long as your own public image is positive).

There are some professions that regulate public mention tightly, licensed financial and investment advisors come to mind, so you might ask if it's okay before you write about someone in those fields. Possibly, though, even for those folks as long as you create the content and didn't do it at their request, it may be okay -- but check.

Another point of caution is when you write about or publish personal, non-business related content, particulary photos of people or their families. Many of us are used to freely posting photos on Facebook, blogs, and other social media but some people would rather you not post photos of them. This issue is particularly sensitive concerning posting photos of children -- many parents don't want photos of their kids on the Internet, no matter how well-intentioned the poster. Bottom line, check before posting or publishing personal photos.

If you focus just on business promotion, that is, promoting your clients' and contacts' businesses, there are many ways you can be helpful to others and it can also pay back pretty quickly.

A widely known "secret" about getting comments on your blog is to comment freely and frequently on others' blogs. Comments on blogs are significant because they increase Web rankings for by most search engines, possibly a lot more than just having links to your website or blog on others' sites. Also, if you comment on others' blogs they'll be more likely to post on yours, so you both win a little in the SEO game.

If you are going to promote others, for sure you want to mean it and provide extra content than just a company listing and web site link. For example, my good friend Star Sosa, the owner of Spectrum Art & Jewelry Gallery is a joy to write about. Star, whose given name is a wonderful slight secret, is a jewelry designer and gallery owner who holds monthly parties (oooops, I mean art events) at her gallery in the Forum Shoppes in Wilmington, NC. Star promotes the artists whose work she exhibits. While of course her efforts and business are about marketing and selling art and jewelry, Star's writing and postings ring true with appreciation for the artists themselves as well as for their work. Star is an avid athlete and enthusiastically embraces social and conventional media to communicate to the world about her gallery, her artists, and their work. Star is a poster child of positive promotion of others.

If you do promote your contacts, be sure to let them know. While that may seem like pretty blatant self-promotion, the fact is that people appreciate knowing about your mentions of them and also often would like the heads up in case someone gets in touch and mentions your writing about them. Another reality I've found is when I write about someone in a blog but make errors or mention something they'd rather not have public, it's a lot cooler if they have the chance to let me know early on about the mistake or preference so I can fix or remove it.

I do encourage that you be selective. If you promote everyone you meet and consistently go to hyperbolic levels of praise, you'll dilute the benefit.