Offers — Grow Your Business in Dayton (Gybindayton.com)

Reflections on doing a good job for small businesses

October 6, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

Current and past successes

Over the last couple days I have been delivering sample magazines to my clients in REACH Magazine. It was fun and I will tell you why.

One client going National

At one location, I stopped in to pick up checks for the prior month’s advertising. Each time I go there, things are looking nicer and nicer. This client has been with me more than 15 years. Now, he has created a franchise fast food business that is expanding nationwide. There was a new sign on the side door that said, “Employee entrance only.” I asked the accountant if that applied to me and she said, “No Peter, your special, you can use that door any time.” I sat down with the owner of the business and he showed me some ads they are running in a national restaurant news magazine. He asked me, “What do you think?, no really I want to know your thoughts.” I looked at it and made some suggestions and he invited his graphic designer in and asked me to explain my thoughts again. “Okay, he said, lets try those ideas on the next run.”

New restaurant just hopping with business

At another business, also food, I stopped in for late lunch (after 1pm). The place was hopping to say the least. I had a very nice lunch then dropped of the proof for the next issue at the front desk. The owner had left before I finished my meal. While I was there I asked how many coupons they were seeing lately (REACH had just come out a couple of days ago). The fellow behind the counter taking my payment said between 40 and 70 coupons a day. A little guestimating… that ad paid for itself in 2-to-4 days max. Every day after than was pure profit.

Home remodeler’s business is up significantly

I talked with a completely different kind of business earlier in the week. A home remodeler that I have worked with for many years now. I wanted to confirm that he wanted to focus his advertising around his home community for November and December and I also wanted to confirm that he was okay to go. With the economic ups and downs over the last couple of years there have been times when I have had to let some clients skip mailings. When I asked him how things were going this year, to my surprise, he said his business was up over 30% this year. I know other businesses that have not done well this year who are not advertising and who cut back and back and back. However this fellow was almost too busy to advertise. He indicated that cutting back to his own neighborhoods would be a good idea since he was not sure that he could handle a full run of the areas he normally advertises in.

New Spa and Salon growing fast

I stopped off at another salon, spa client with their proof for their next mailing. The owner was not in, but I was chatting with the counter help. One woman chimed in with, “I told her that if she keeps on doing anything it should be REACH.” I asked what she had tried. The woman explained that they had tried all the other coupon companies, but that REACH definitely was bringing her more customers than any of the others did. How many coupons come in each day? Oh, she said, maybe between 2 and 5 each day and most of them are brand new clients. Based on their average ticket, they are doing just peachy.

Another salon sceptical

Just the other day, I presented to another salon near Fairborn. I explained that consumers in Dayton LOVE REACH magazine. You should get a profitable response from the get go, I said, with good offers that is. This salon owner explained all the things they had tried with various newspapers and other advertising and nothing worked enough to be worth the money spent. I explained again that everyone LOVES REACH magazine and she should do well. Her response was that everyone who sells advertising says that and how can I believe you? I was going to give her names from outside her market that she could call, but she was too convinced toward the negative. I’ll talk with her again and bring some more samples.

Why am I telling you this?

I am telling you this because I want you to know that I enjoy helping businesses to grow. You can trust me on that.

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Growing your business, more customers, More profits, REACH Magazine, The power of the mailbox Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Dayton, Dayton's favorite coupon magazine, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, Offers, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business

Your April REACH Magazine is packed with value and variety and is arriving this week

April 2, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

One thing that you will notice about the April REACH magazine in Dayton is the value and variety of types of business represented. There is something for everyone and for every need that you may have for spring cleaning and preparation for a great summer. Tell me what you think when you get yours.

Learn about REACH Magazine so that you can make informed choices about your advertising.

Peter DeMott • REACH Magazine Dayton • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Growing your business, more customers, More profits Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Dayton, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, Offers, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business

Dayton economy perks up as Daytonians wake up from the winter slumber

March 2, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

Three things to consider about your advertising:

Talking to various businesses, several have said that things are perking up significantly as spring seems to be showing little peeks of itself. This is not unusual for Dayton. April, May, and June is prime time for many home improvement businesses throughout the area. People’s attitudes improve when they see some sunshine and feel the warmth after being hunkered down in their homes trying to stay warm or dry. I see more people smiling, whistling, singing and humming when the weather is shiny and warm after a long winter.

When it comes to advertising there are a several things to consider.

Year round businesses

First, those who advertise consistently when business is down harvest a bigger share of the business when things perk up. Speaking to one fast food vender who advertises consistently in Dayton’s most popular coupon magazine (REACH Magazine) he said that his business is up 40% in the past several weeks. Impressive.

Seasonal businesses

Second, it is a good plan to put yourself out there in advance of your season when you can. With REACH magazine, we have found that it is much more easy to get your season started early of make your season last a little longer than it is to make consumers buy out of season.

Third, if you have a defined season don’t make the mistake of not advertising when you are busy. If you can work more hours to get your work done or fit in more estimates or what ever is needed, do that along with advertising when the birds are flying or the fish are biting. Too many times I come across businesses with defined seasons that want miracles during their off seasons. Like I said above, REACH magazine can help get the birds flying and the fish biting sooner and keep them active longer, but getting them to do something out of season is like the old saying, “you cannot sell Christmas trees in July.” No mater how busy you think you will be, most businesses can figure out how to do a little more business when it comes to them, but if the business runs out before you run out of year, you will wish you had been willing to do a little more advertising when the getting was good.

Advertising that works has several components

The right advertising in the right media with the right incentive or call to action at the right time. All these things are important for good results. These are factors for businesses whether they can advertise year round or if they have seasonal ups and downs. After advertising provides results its up to the business what happens next. If a business provides a good product, great service with great customer interactions , that will determine if that business grows and flourishes.

Peter DeMott • Dayton’s Favorite Coupon Magazine – REACH Magazine • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Growing your business Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Dayton economy, Dayton's favorite coupon magazine, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, Offers, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Seasonal businesses, Tools for business

Another call tracking victory for REACH magazine

January 19, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

PHone 01 Another call tracking victory for REACH magazine

Another call tracking victory for REACH Magazine in Dayton, Ohio:

I stopped in on a client today about their agreement for 2011. The office manager was preparing stats for the business owner to review. They have call tracking which means that for each media they use, they assign a phone number which has call tracking. They can then track each call that originates from that media source. In fact they can see how each call was handled and gain other important information as well.

The details and the REAL TEST…dollars generated in contracts:

In this case the office manager was tabulating all the call tracking reports from the year AND matching them up with the actual contracts associated with those calls. So, it was not just counting calls, but counting the dollars generated from each media. I asked her how things were looking for REACH and her comment was that REACH was right up there. One of our competitors, another coupon magazine, however, definitely lost money last year. This will be the second contracting company that will be keeping REACH and firing one of our competitors. Goes to show that when a coupon magazine in the Dayton market says, “we’re like REACH only cheeper”, a red light should be flashing in your mind. I won’t name names here.

Find out what makes REACH different:

A short presentation about REACH magazine includes a brief description of the factors that make REACH magazine so much more popular with consumers. We will discuss your company or business and whether you need to to target by geography or by demographics and a discussion of ad sizes and rate options based on frequency of advertising. As I mentioned in my prior post, you will only know what REACH can do if you give it a fair test which includes mailing with the right sized ad in the right market area with an incentive that has consumer appeal. I hope you will give me a call so you can be an informed advertising consumer. You can trust me to give you the straight scoop on REACH because I have the experience to know that I am looking for long term clients, not flash in the pan customers who do not match well with our program.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Peter DeMott • Senior account executive • REACH Magazine • Dayton, Ohio • 937-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Perception, Growing your business, more customers, More profits Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, Offers, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business

5 ways to make better informed choices about your advertising

January 17, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

Each day I talk with businesses that make choices about advertising without any information at all. Rather than waiting until you are desperate for customers, find time to learn about the advertising options that are available for your business.

The best time to learn more – when you don’t feel the need to advertise

1) The best time to learn more about various advertising options is when you don’t need to make a decision. When I call businesses and they say, “we don’t need anything right now”, my response is, “that’s great!” Why, because that takes the pressure off the appointment. If you don’t need to make a decision NOW, then that is one of the best times to get better informed about what various advertising options have to offer. I find that after an appointment such as this many businesses find that they have learned significant things about what is working for similar businesses, about things not to do and why, and about things they should consider and why. When the time comes, they can make a more informed choice about the options before them.

Ask other people about what is working for them

2) Network with other similar businesses. The key here is that these similar businesses need to be in different markets from you so that you get good information. When I go to a presentation for REACH I usually bring samples of similar businesses from some of our other markets. If I can show that these businesses use REACH magazine on a regular or seasonal basis, that is testimony that REACH is working for them, but a few phone calls can be effective in learning more.

Recently I left several examples with a restaurant and the business owner called each one. He explained that he was in the Dayton market, not Cincinnati, and he asked how REACH had worked for them. In each case he asked to talk with the business owner, explained where he was located and asked for the straight scoop on how REACH works for them.

When I returned for another visit, he told me they had all given him good reports about REACH magazine and he was prepared to give it a test for his business. You see local competitors are not likely to give you the straight scoop on their results from any advertising they do. Even if you feel you know them to some degree, they are likely to slant their response….well, it works Okay.

I have another company that I am working with that closely consults with the franchise headquarters to keep up with seasonal influences on his business. There are many of these franchises throughout the country and at training meetings he made connections with several so that they could continue to talk with each other about what is working and when. He also calls the original franchise business which has years of experience to discuss ideas and find out what has and what has not worked for them.

Be willing to test various advertising options

3) Don’t wait to test various options. Don’t let #2 keep you from testing things when you can. In one case, I worked with a company which is a franchise and the franchisor was opposed to any sort of incentive marketing. They considered it below them because they were uninformed about who responds to incentive offers. In this particular case, the new owner of this franchise had experience with REACH magazine in the company they had previously worked for and was willing to test REACH for this new product line. Where is REACH most responsive? In middle to upper income areas. These are people that know that if they get $300 off and the next guy didn’t get that, they have $300 dollars more in their wallets than they guy who called from the yellow pages and did not get the incentive. People who have money are smarter about how they spend it and can recognize a value. People who do not have money to spend tend to also make uninformed and poor choices about how they spend the money they have and are generally less responsive to coupons and incentive offers.

Don’t forget the cost of not knowing? And the cost on not doing?

4) There can be a cost to not using effective advertising. If because you did not do something, you gained less, is that not a lose to your business. An experienced sales executive should be able to present you with examples of similar businesses using their product to effectively grow their businesses. One thing about REACH magazine is that it is fully accountable for the results that come in. You can count the dollars associated with the people who redeemed and incentive offer. For example: This $20 off coupon resulted in a new regular customer that has now purchase over $900 in the past 6 months or perhaps this $300 off coupon resulted in a contract for a home improvement costing $40,000.00.

Unlike many other forms of advertising, incentive advertising is accountable. But, even with these measurable results there is also the marketing result of all the people who saw your ad, but did not yet redeem your offer. You are helping them to choose you when they go to the yellow pages and say, let’s see…I’ve heard of this company…I’ll call them. I can also make your other advertising accountable using CALL TRACKING. I can assign several phone numbers to you for a test period to use not only in REACH magazine but for you radio, TV ads and newspaper. You will know exactly how many calls and of what quality come in from each venue using the data that is collected. You can even see how your customers are being treated and how your phones are being answered (this has been extremely valuable to several companies that have used this service).

Give advertising a fair test

5) If you are going to test a form of advertising, be willing to give it a fair test. I see many businesses that try something ONCE. They say, I’ll give it a try, but they are unwilling to give something a fair test. Generally from what I have seen, three months seems to be a fair test for any form of advertising. After the first month evaluate the results. If the results are not there, talk with your account executive about making changes in the promotion, then give them the chance to show you what they know. With REACH magazine there is a chemistry between target area and an effective offer that has perceived value among consumers. If the perceived value is not there, the response will not be there. Other factors that come into play is company reputation in the community, and even how the phone is answered or not answered.

I’ve worked with and am still working with companies that did not have success at their first “at bat” in REACH magazine. After some tweaking of their ad, or perhaps changing the way the phone was answered or other factors, they found success and are continuing to grow there businesses with REACH magazine advertising. At the home show at Hara last weekend I was talking to a contractor who explained that after one month of TV advertising he had gotten nothing back, but that on the 2nd and 3rd month it turned around an he continues to get good results with TV advertising. My challenge to him was that he does not know what other advertising has to offer unless he is willing to give it a fair test as well.

If you not in the market for advertising, this is your best time to explore your options and learn more. Do not make your choices based on a lack on information or hear say. Your uninformed choices could lead to loss in the future as you are locked into choices based on your current and limited knowledge.

One last story. Last year I worked with a company that had not found any effective advertising to date. The first time that I ran an ad for him it did not do well, however the next time I was able to change his ad in a significant way. It was not something that he had tried before and I urged him to go with it. He had never spent more than several hundred dollars at a time in the past, but this time his ad was just below $1000. The results were outstanding as he explained that his phones seemed to be ringing off the hook and he had to get help from someone he knew in Cincinnati to keep up and accomplish the jobs that resulted from his ad. One job alone was over $5,000.00 even though his average jobs were in the $500 t0 $900 range.

This year he came in off season and signed up for every mailing throughout his entire season. We discussed how he would handle the flow of business and his plans for growth. We also worked out a plan, that if he could not keep up, he could skip a mailing if need be. Not every client has this experience, but I suspect in this case, he may have been out of business were it not for being willing to give it a fair try. As his REACH rep I will be able to see his business grow and flourish. That’s what I like most about my career as a REACH magazine executive.

Peter DeMott • 937-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com • REACH magazine • Dayton, Ohio

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Perception, Growing your business, more customers Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, Offers, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Tools for business, Your brand

Spring is prime time for home improvement businesses. Are you ready and visible?

January 13, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

Spring is prime time:

For many of the businesses that I work with spring is prime time, but many home improvement businesses such as landscapers and remodelers, since they are already “pretty busy” during that time choose not to advertise. The problem with that thinking is that when things slow down again, then they want to advertise. But it can be like trying to sell Christmas trees in July. The best time to advertise and be visible to prospective customers is when their interest is highest and for many that is spring time. If you wait and advertise after things slow down, in many cases you are advertising to people who are less interested in taking action.

March, April, May and June

If you notice that consumers are calling in spring, even if you are already busy, that is a great time for you to advertise. In the past I have advised business owners to talk to their wives. Explain that you will be very busy for a couple of months, but that it could effect the entire year for their company. If you tell them ahead of time and you tell them the possible results long term, then they can work around it.

Right now is the start of the Home Show season

If you have representation in the home shows that are coming up, consider also having exposure in REACH magazine. Each home show can bring 5,000 or 10,0000 or even 20,000 people past your business display. But, these are not the only consumers thinking about home improvements. REACH can reach targeted areas of the greater Dayton market or it can reach the entire market of 260,000 homes. Now you have a double impact. Someone sees the name of your company and goes to the home show and sees you there. They feel like the already know a little bit about you and now they can learn more. What about the other way around? Someone goes to the home show and they see your display there. When they go home their interest gets distracted. The next week your ad in REACH magazine reminds them about you and gives them an incentive to act now. Presenting your company to prospective customers in more than one venue can be powerful.

When you are busy, be careful not to start burning your leads

Many small companies make the mistake of “burning their leads”. What that means is that when they feel that they have more than they can handle, they start doing things differently. For example, lets say that you have gotten where you are today by being open and honest with prospects and getting to know them in their homes so that you can provide the very best services to them. But, now since you have a lot of leads, you schedule appointments closer together and start to rush the appointments. You don’t want to be late to the next appointment and you cut things short. Your prospects don’t feel that connection that made them want to buy from you in the past and so they consider the other estimates. Suddenly you realize that instead of selling one of every five appointments, now you are only selling one in ten. Even when you are busy, make sure that you do things the same way that got you where you are now. Don’t hurry and shortcut the process and end up losing the sale.

Plan NOW for your spring advertising

Another thing that I see happen every year is that businesses don’t plan ahead. The problem with that is that many times lack of planning becomes lack of marketing. If you want to participate in a home show, it may be too late now. Sometimes the home shows are full or you don’t have time to put together a compelling display. With REACH magazine, we work 25-45 days in advance of each issue. The magazines have to be sold, ads designed, ads proofed and approved. Then the finished publication is sent off to a printer for printing and addressing, then mailing, then delivery. If you come to me at deadline and want to place a full page, but we just put the magazine to bed and it has left for the printers, guess what… you will not be able to advertise for another month. PLAN NOW for at least the next 3 months. Each season of advertising should be penciled onto a calendar and reviewed one entire season in advance.

The power of writing down your ideas will amaze you

One of the most important things you can do for you business is write down the things that you want to accomplish this year. If the ideas you have are time sensitive, go ahead and write them onto a calendar. Once they are on the calendar, backtrack the steps that are needed to get that thing to happen. For example if you want to be in the January home show, back tract a month or two and put a note to call the home show managers and find out how to rent a booth. Then in the next month pencil in something about building your display etc. Review your calendar every month. If you want to be in the March, April, May and June REACH magazine issues, right now is a good time to be meeting with me, Peter DeMott. We just finished our February edition (1/13/11 for delivery 2/1/11) and now we are starting on Spring. Even if you don’t call me, WRITE DOWN the things you want to do this year and you will be amazed at how your mind will continue to work on those things and make them happen.

Peter DeMott • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222 • REACH Magazine • Almost 20 years experience

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Growing your business, more customers Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, Offers, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business

Diary of a REACH magazine ad in Dayton, part two

January 7, 2011 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

PROOF ready for review

Today I was pleased with the results of the PROOF for the ad for City Views Diner. Kim had gone so far as to visit the client’s web site and added something she liked from what she saw there.

Time to try the Bronx Bomber Burger Basket

I decided that I would stop by for lunch. I thought I would try the Bronx Bomber Burger Basket from the menu which I had selected as a price point coupon for the ad. If Paul Mussolino had time, I would ask him to sit down with me and go over the proof. If he was too busy I would leave the proof and arrange to stop by on Monday. As it turned out, I was a bit early for lunch and he had a few minutes to go over the proof.

Changes to the ad

As Paul looked at the proof a concerned look came over his face. “Paul, this is the proof, we can make any changes that you like,” I said. And he explained that he did not want to show a picture of his 9-11 memorial wall. He explained that he would not want to appear to be using the wall to promote his business and that when people come in, they can see it. At that point I showed him the other pictures that I had taken earlier in the week. I was able to pull them up on my iPhone. I explained that I thought his concerns were perfectly understandable and sensitive to people effected by the 9-11 tragedy. We found one of the other images would be just right and I made a note of it on the proofing form.

He added “kids meals” and something about his Sunday brunch as well and made one price change on the Bronx Bomber Burger Basket coupon by 4¢.

At that point he had to get back to the kitchen to finish up my hamburger which came with potato salad and pickle and was very filling and tasty. I payed my bill and when he came back for a moment, I asked if he had any other changes. Nope, that looks good. I explained that I would have the FINAL for him and would need to pick up his payment early next week which he said would be fine.

Back at the office I went over the changes carefully writing them out for Kim and turned the proof with changes in. When Kim had made the changes I will be posting the half page ad here (with Paul’s permission) and you are welcome to print it out and use the coupons even before it publishes in the February edition of REACH.

Peter DeMott • 927-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com • REACH magazine in Dayton, Ohio

Just as an aside, yesterday I was please to sign a large dollar agreement with a long time client of mine. This is just to say that I work with very small and very large advertising budgets in this market and also for Cincinnati REACH magazine (companies headquartered in Dayton). I work with clients spending as little as $395.00 per month to clients signing agreements for $100,000+ for a year long marketing plan in REACH magazine in Dayton and Cincinnati. I think that if you spoke to any of my clients they would tell you that I am their trusted ally providing needed input and ideas for the growth of there business here in Dayton, Ohio.

Don’t forget to stop by City Views Dinner for lunch or dinner some time soon.

City Views Diner is just East of I-675 on Indian Ripple Rd in the shopping center just as you pass the Speed Way gas station and only a couple blocks from The Greene. City Views Diner • 937-838-0812 • 3979 Indian Ripple Rd. • www.cityviewsdiner.com

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Growing your business, more customers, More profits Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Beavercreek, Business growth, Coupons, Dayton, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Offers, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business

Promote your business in 2011 with REACH magazine, Dayton’s most popular direct mail coupon magazine

November 17, 2010 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

This is just a heads up for many businesses working on their marketing plans for 2011. For businesses that do well in Jan-Feb-Mar time frame we have early deadlines for both January and February due to holiday scheduled down times with our printers and graphic design team.

Since I have been a top seller at REACH for over 20 years, you can trust my advice regarding your marketing dollars. I have clients that started with me using a half page ad who are now mailing multiple cities with me, businesses that have never missed a magazine in 20 years. My presentation includes the advantages of advertising in REACH as Dayton’s most popular direct mail coupon magazine. I help you match your goals with a promotional message that will have a high perceived value among prospective customers and clients. We also discuss pricing and targeting based on your location or target audience. Things like call tracking (custom phone numbers with tracking features) can be useful to some businesses as an add on feature to help you truly know where your leads are coming from.

I have testimonials from many businesses with regard to my work with them which I will share and I will bring sample ads from your category of business from other markets like Cincinnati and Indianapolis and Kentucky.

If I don’t think that REACH is a good fit for you, I will tell you so. That’s how I work and that’s why even businesses that do not use REACH thank me for my honest appraisal. In many cases I provide additional tools that can help a business to do better because I am aware of so many additional resources and marketing solutions here in the Dayton market.

Some categories that do exceptionally well in the January – February – March time frame can be:

Indoor home improvements (lots of people attending home shows and considering home improvements)

Tanning salons / Hair salons / Massage

Jewelry / wedding planning type businesses

Fitness centers (New years resolutions – too cold to go outside – time to get ready for swim suit season)

Restaurants work year around (REACH magazine is weather proof because it stays in the home for many weeks)

Automotive repairs are also year round but difficult cold weather starts can drive additional traffic

Call me today: Peter DeMott 937-478-6222 or email me at peter@ photosbypdemott.com

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Perception, Growing your business, more customers, More profits Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Centerville, Coupons, Dayton, Direct mail, Direct mail advertising, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, Kettering, Lead source tracking, Lead tracking, Oakwood, Offers, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Retail business advertising, Service business advertising, Springboro, Target marketing, Tools for business

Good marketing takes planning ahead for back to school

June 18, 2010 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

One thing that always frustrates us here at REACH Magazine is the business owner that calls us two weeks before our magazine goes out and wants to get into that issue. The problem is that we put it to bed (that’s printer lingo for sent it to the printer) the week before.

iStock 000010585912XSmall Good marketing takes planning ahead for back to school

Some types of business have “prime times” when consumers are more active in your category of business. Plan far enough ahead that you don’t miss critical deadlines and so that you are not rushed on your advertising decisions and development of advertising copy and creative.

Back to school is not just for school supplies

Many decisions about family involvements are made as preparation for school is happening. Sometimes a child going to school suddenly frees up time for mom to be employed or to take on volunteer work or other involvements. What sporting activities are our kids going to be involved in. Even though some of these decisions are made in September and October, if your business is effected by these decisions you will want to get out in front of your prospective customers early enough to prime the pump and get them thinking that you are one of the options.

Because of all the changes that happen in the back to school time period there are many businesses that are impacted significantly by marketing and advertising during this period.

Consider these businesses and how they might be effected by changes and plans that are made for back to school:

• Shoe stores

• Day cares / after school programs

• Clothing stores

• Technical schools / for mom’s coming back into the work force because their kids are now in school

• Dance Schools, Gymnastic Schools, Sports training, fitness, recreation

• Shipping stores (what did junior forget to take to college on move in day?)

• Computers, electronics

• Carpet cleaning and house cleaning

• Salons and spas

and more…

We are currently working on REACH magazine’s Back to school edition which will arrive in homes the first week of August. If you want to be in front of consumers with a compelling message and in the vehicle that consumers LOVE, please call me soon because we will put this issue to bed before you know it. Peter DeMott 937-478-6222

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Featured, Growing your business, more customers Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Coupons, Direct mail, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, Offers, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business

Some good lists of top 10 things you can do on the internet to get noticed as a small business

May 22, 2010 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

I subscribe to several other blogs about social media and internet marketing to feed me good ideas and keep me up to date. Both of these blogs are available as email subscriptions which makes it very easy to keep up.

Mashable is all inclusive and covers everything social media from the iPad and cell phones to YouTube and Facebook. When it arrives in my mailbox it starts with a list of links to each article so that you can scan the list and see what may be interesting to you and go straight to whatever interests you most.

TopRank is a bit more focused on SEO and getting noticed on the internet.

Here are three article links that I found informative and useful:

10 Easy Local SEO & Online Marketing Tips from TopRank

http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/05/local-search-tips/

7 Essential SEO Tips for Small Business from TopRank

http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/05/7-seo-tips-small-business/

From Mashable, this is more in depth for the business owner willing to invest more time

10 Small Business Social Marketing Tips

http://mashable.com/2009/10/28/small-business-marketing/

Although social media is growing exponentially, I have to say that REACH Magazine is still powerful marketing for many categories of business. I have been in incentive marketing for over 20 years now, and have a long track record of matching up the right businesses for the right media and with the right incentive offers. There are many coupon venues in the Dayton market, but none of them have the rank and power of REACH magazine (The Media Audit 2009) and for the right business, REACH can be a powerful lead generator or sale generator. Please feel free to give me a call to discuss your business and marketing in REACH magazine. Along the way you also get the information that I have found helpful in the realm of social marketing free of charge. In addition we now have a new viral internet marketing program for businesses trying to reach consumers in a new and interesting way with no up front investment at all. Peter DeMott 937-478-6222

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Featured, Growing your business, more customers, More profits Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Grow your business, Incentive marketing, Internet marketing, Local SEO, Offers, REACH Magazine, Reaching consumers, Target marketing, Tools for business, web site marketing