TRUST - The Key To Prosperity

Who Can You Trust?
The change in business, economy and marketing rests on changes in Trust. This Visual Marketing and Social Media Marketing blog has said a lot about trust and the need to understand your customer's needs and motivations.

To understand how to Market and Thrive today, your business must understand trust. Hype in advertising, lies in politics, and lack of integrity by leaders of all sorts has made trust a rare thing. People do not trust companies -- their web sites, their brochures, etc. Many companies have reacted by doing more and more advertising that is less and less effective. Even the most benevolent of businesses still have an obvious agenda -- to sell, to make money. Because so many scams have unscrupulously targeted the unwary, trust has been driven underground.

By that I mean, consumers do not trust the "frontmen" of companies. In a day in age where our president is little more than a game show host, smiles, handshakes and promises cannot replace integrity, follow through and results. Entire marketing budgets are wasted if they are not trusted -- whether they are online, on TV, in print or otherwise. The public has tuned out the increasing "sales noise".

So where have they turned? To whom do they give their trust?
The answer is to Friends. A friend has become the last bastion of trust. While some insurance salesman may simply tell me what I want to hear, a friend at least is in a longer-term relationship with me and looking out for my best interests. EVEN IF a friend's advice is not perfect, at least it is sincere.

The result is the massive explosion in Social Media online: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Followers, etc. In the huge vacume of trust left by self-serving companies, there is a huge rush to get "more friends." The core reason for this is we need people and messages we can trust. We don't need advertising; we need truth. If a company has limited effectiveness selling to you; your friend still has your ear. (hence the dramatic rise in the number of direct marketing companies)

Simply look back and you will see that, as a society, we used to trust "experts" (before experts were shown to have lied and lied to us again and again for money under the table) -- doctors and scientists. They were "in the know" and were used by companies to sell us anything from tires to baby food. But in the eorsion of trust in "experts" our need for trust is so strong that we will trust a friend with less exertise than anyone with an agenda.

I am here to tell you that YOUR company can thrive.
No matter where your cashflow is today, you can absolutely thrive IF you are willing to be friends with your customers. When prospects are shopping around online for the services they will use, it is effortless for them to jump to your competition. The only thing that prevesnts this and brings brand loyalty back into the equation is trust -- and as we said, trust is built on friendship.

Corporations have been full of themselves, heady on the easier profits of the 80's and early 90's -- they got this attitude that it is all about them. They have given off the message that they are untouchable and their customers should be grateful to them, but that they are not accountable to thier customers. If you dislike a policy of your bank or cell phone company, can you really get your voice heard to someone who can actually make a difference in the situation? I never have.

Companies that are not loyal to their customers will recieve no loyalty back. In an era of distrust, it is probably true that not everyone you give to will trust you or give back. Even when Jesus Christ healed 10 individuals of deadly Leprosy, only one came back to thank him! Does that mean to return harsh distrust? No, it means to make a profound choice to give and keep giving despite anyone's reaction or the immediate apparent outcome. It means to choose contribution as a way of life, trusting that your business will then attract those it is best suited to serve.

One Customer's Loyalty
I have gone to the same bicycle shop now for 12 years. There are closer and cheaper shops to me. I go there becuase at my first bike purchase from that shop, I met and spoke with the owner. He went out of his way for me. He took the time to listen to my needs and purpuse for my bicycle and to direct me to the best product match for me. 12 years later and 3 bikes later, I still only go to them. Now, I do not see the owner; I see a different bike tecnician each time. They continue to be so busy that I have to wait longer to be served. But the store is thriving through superior customer service.

Even though I have not seen that owner in years, there was a personal enough connection made to keep coming back, and prefer that store to more convenient stores. That store's one act of trust has earned them $2,000 of my business and been referred 5 new customers. Just think if a company did that that was selling Houses!

Rule of Thumb: the more trust a decision requires, the more personal the service is and the saleperson has to be more and more of a "friend."

I don't need anyone to be a friend when I buy batteries becuase they are a commodity. I still don't need anyone to fill the trust role when I buy a toothbrush -- a commodity but more personal since I stick it in my own mouth. But buy a car, and you have your own individual salesperson. Take it farther and buy a house and you need a personal real estate agent that you feel is looking out for your interests. There are countless examples, but each purchase ranks differenty on the trust scale. Where do your company's products and services rate? Where could you marketing change to better facilitate trust?

Some companies (a bridal planner for example) know each customer by name. Other companies that is simply impossible. The rule has been that the bigger the company is, the more impersonal it is. Well that does NOT have to be the case. Even the biggest company of all -- WalMart -- could benefit by giving each customer UNREASONABLE time, attention and care. Becuase even the biggest giant can fall becuase it only rests on thousands of little decisions to trust or not tru

Conclustion

What are you doing to EARN trust? To PROVE yourself trustworthy? How quickly do you want to reposition yourself for massive success?

Future posts will continue to address this Key To Prosperity, and how Promise Productions marketing services, social media and marketing consultation will make you Thrive and Love Doing Business!

Read about our commitment to you here. For personal service, call Promise Productions direct at 972-822-3587.

Web Video: Your Ideal Advertising and Marketing Tool

Video can deliver a message as powerfully as TV, but with audience targeting and ROI measurement not possible with Television.

When it comes to promoting your company, web video gives you the best of both worlds — both the ability to convey your value proposition in a compelling video story, along with the metrics formerly only possible with print display advertising. We give you the opportunity for a very successful branding opportunity along with a very successful direct response opportunity.

But beyond print or TV, web video marketing enables your prospects to respond interactively: you can click on links, fill our forms and interact in ways that help you, while helping the customer.

It is precisely this ability to brand while also offering the ability to take immediate action (like getting more information) that results in such high financial value for video advertising on the web.

Contact 972-822-3587.

What recession? Social Media Profits Are Exploding Right Now!

By now, most businesses have come to understand that how and where the public consumes (and now interacts with) media is changing, but few consider the long-term impact of the subsequent shift in dollars. The changes in how customers connect with products and services is transforming the way you need to market to your industry. To say that it is changing "quickly" is an understatement!

Social Media is exploding by the month, so the same tactics that worked the previous fiscal quarter have evolved several generations in this quarter. In particular, the large corporations and larger ad agencies are burdened by too much sluggish infrastructure to respond quick enough and are dragging in the dust in the rear view mirror.

Unless you have a dedicated Social Media person on staff (or outsource your social media marketing campaign to experts like Covenant Designs), it is frankly changing faster than many companies can comprehend. This leaves even the best-intentioned companies generations behind in their taking advantage of social media marketing opportunities.

The economy is an easy scapegoat; most people conveniently blame the recession and are simply awaiting the recovery out of laziness, fear, or a lack of other options. The truth is that there are amazing opportunities right now for short-term and long-term profits for companies that position themselves properly in their marketing.

For the first time in history, the most important entity in the media equation is the advertising agency and its marketing strategies.

Yes, you heard that right!

Historically, advertising agencies have always controlled where ad dollars are spent. But times have changed. Media budgets now include social media marketing. Advertising agencies control how many media dollars are being spent in media as compared to social media -- a completely different industry. In most cases, dollars spent within the social media space are dollars not spent with a traditional media outlet--TV networks, newspapers, or gawker-esque blogs. The media dollars used to pay an agency (whether a social media shop or an international giant) to create, manage, and grow a Twitter profile are media dollars that once funded a banner campaign. The money used to pay an agency to create a brand's own viral site content and then get that content bookmarked on the homepage of Digg once funded a TV campaign. And so forth.

Marketers may not all completely understand what it is or how to do it, but they want (and need) social media. Savvy companies that will survive the economic downturn all want engagement with their consumers, they want conversation with their target market. They aren't getting these things on NBC. They aren't getting that on CNN. They aren't even getting them on NYTimes.com.

The age of interruption is over. No longer should your company's value proposition interrupt a TV show or article. It will be placed where people want and need it. In other words, you will not attempt to gain marketplace mindshare by force, but rather by attraction.

The "interruption" mentioned above refers to interrupting the consumption of traditional media with advertising. That interruption is over not because the media world is changing its branded executions, but because brands have moved past the era of traditional-based advertisements.

This development is very significant. For advertising agencies, it means they need to be creative and learn how to advertise within the social media world. Today's smart marketers are doing a very good job of that. The media world however, can't change that fast--and the marketing executions (ad dollars) themselves are actually being removed from their airwaves, pulled from their pages, and nixed from their websites.

Talk to the icons of advertising and you will hear them uniformly say that "traditional media outlets are freaking out." They should be. They no longer offer as much value as interactive media online and on cell phones and so they have been bypassed. Today's average iPhone user, for example spends more time each day getting information through his phone than through newspaper, TV, radio, magazines... combined.

What characterizes the successful business of today.. and of tomorrow? Expect change, embrace change and prepare for change. Evolve with the times, not against them. Shred your old business model and don't wait to react. Instead let industry changes inform how you change the way you operate.

Got expertise? Got results? Got strategy? Let Promise Productions show the way with effective online marketing and social media campaign management. Call 972-822-3587.

Short Term Summer Profits For Struggling Companies

Hello collegues, marketers, CEO's and associates. I wanted to share today what I am seeing out in the marketplace. I see many companies that are committing slow suicide and that bothers me. They hunker down hoping the "economic weather" will change as they become leaner and leaner. They ignore the kind of seasoned marketing advice you will find on this blog and have gone into reactionary mode, into pulling back instead of pushing forward. Or, to say it another way, any promotion they do is so half-hearted, resigned and tiny, that it is doomed to make any meaningful financial impact.

Companies with a superficial grasp of marketing will react by thinking "money is tight; I will not spend money and horde what I have." Companies that position themselves to score big think "I need to market myself more than ever, but need to be careful about the right marketing investment to target my best prospects more effectively than ever."

It is time for a reality check. If you have NOT been marketing consistantly, you too will likely find yourself, in the Summer business slowdown, in a cashflow crunch. This post are for the increasingly desperate.

1• Don't Panic. Strategize. Get our of reacting into proactive. I realize there are many half-baked ideas out there that can distract you from solid marketing, with tempting scams or confusing rabbit trails. Well forget all that and read on...

2• You need short term cashflow. I will make that mean 1-3 months.

3• Do keyword reasearch and SEO your company website, quickly. This can be done usually in 3-4 days. Then, based upon the reasearch, you may find very popular and relevant search terms for which your site is not specifically addressing. Build landing pages for these -- one page per term. Your organic page rank will improve in the search engines usually within 2 weeks, better positioning you for more visibility, attention from prospects and profits. But depending on your marketplace and service area this by itself may not be not enough.

• Keyword Research Costs: $895 flat fee.
• SEO each page of your site based on the keyword research results: as low as $20 per page.
• Web Site Analysis for your specific marketplace and service area: $300-$2,000 depending on how involved your website is.
• Build SEO-Friendly Landing Pages for the best terms: $120 per page. I usually start with the top 5 terms and expand from there.

4. The next step is to create a strategic blog for your company if you do not have one. A big reason for this is to create blog posts which are geared to link to your corporate website. This is an inexpensive and fast way to futher boost your web site's visibility in search engines in 24 hours! The secret sauce for getting this kind of quick-but-lasting boost is all in the strategy behind the setup of the blog. To setup a blog is simple. However, to setup a blog that best promotes your company in the search engines requires a strategic series of steps.

We know 2 ways to do this right and 200 ways to do it wrong. If you don't have months to experiment and refine your blogging in a strategic business way, oursource it to us knowing it will be done right.

Cost: $400. With subsequent blog posts as low as $25 each.


5. The next most valuable thing that will get fantastic shirt-term results is to create simple web videos. There is a lot that could be said her about how and why, but just look at my other blog posts on Dallas video production. One primary value lies in distributing your video -- putting it on your Corporate Website, Your Strategic Blog, and many Social Media Places including YouTube.

All this creates more links that reinforce each other and raise visibility in the search engines and put your products and services in front of new prospects.

Cost: $800 and up.

6 • Activate a Google Adwords campaign. There are many ineffective and expensive ways to do this, but again the foundation of accurate keyword research will be the key. Pick only the juiciest key terms -- ones that are relevant with decently high search volume. Then spend only what you can afford, but we recommend $50-$150 per day or there may not be enough visibility generated to impact your cashflow significantly.
By the way, "significant" to us means specifically that a small business can target a local area and make an additional $8,000-$17,000 per month. Targeting profits less than that is not worth our time.

We are aware of 107 tips and techniques to get the most out of your AdWords account, so if you are serious about results, call us at 214-703-0360 to manage that for you. However, even a novice can expect some cashflow gains by (a) targeting the most relevant terms, and (b) not overspending on those terms while you learn how your market and prospects respond to your ad and can establish a ROI from the results. Remember not all traffic is profitable traffic. Don't throw mad money at Google AdWords Pay-Per-Click, instead keep it controled, monitored and strategic.

Cost: $895 to $2,000

One tip: take the profits you make from this and invest 25-33% straight back into your marketing, including your AdWords spend.

All the above is achievable in less than 3 weeks, if you commit to it and recognize its value.

6. From there, limit your focus to marketing activites you can follow through on and perfect.

• Make ongoing blog posts in a strategic way, each targeting specific key words. Create these posts in the order of the importance of the key words and link them to your corpoate web site.

• Monitor your AdWords account for effectiveness, look for click rates of 1-3% or more. Make sure you are selling items that make you enough profit to justify the cost of gettting those customers.

• Expand into more Social Media Marketing outlets (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. etc. ) and link all these activites to each other as much as possible.

• Look for ways to better understand your customers needs and meet them.

There are a lot of good businesses that are sadly headed for extinction because they are not adapting to the current marketing landscape. Yes, we know times are changing quickly, but we humbly do have the answers and are willing to share them with you. Change = Opportunity. You can be crushed by a wave or surf that very same wave – your next actions will choose which outcome will be your experience.

~~~

Promise Productions provides marketing experts in many media including Print Marketing, Direct Mail Marketing, Internet Marketing, Social Media Marketing and Video Marketing. We have distilled the strategies that work for today's business.

All you need is the willingness to change and embrace success, along with modest financial investment to activate the profit strategies with the most leverage for your marketplace. How big do you want to succeed? We welcome your inquiries at our Dallas offices at 972-822-3587.

Top 10 Internet Marketing Tips

Aside from a well-designed website, the success of an online business relies on effective internet marketing. Below are 10 practical strategies for business marketing on the web:
1) What is your vision for your business? Do you have a definite vision for your company? Knowing exactly what you want will help you set short term goals and work towards those goals accordingly. Planning the steps works best when you set specific goals.
2) Choose the marketing strategies that you want to focus on. There are several online marketing strategies that you can use. Some are more short-term, some are long-term. Each has a unique ROI. So, study your options and choose at least two to three online marketing tactics. Focus on these and make sure that you executing them correctly. Remember, one marketing campaign executed correctly is worth more than several unfocused and incomplete attempts.
3) Monitor the results and act upon it. Regardless of what online marketing strategy you chose, you need to closely track your results. Are you gaining positive response from your target market? If yes, how can you improve your tactic further? If not, are there certain steps lacking with your execution of your marketing campaign? Don't fall prey to haphazard marketing as that is a recipe for failure.
4) Focus on your target market. Defining your niche market or target market is crucial before launching any kind of marketing campaign. You need to make sure that you’ll be promoting your products and services to the right people. Within your broad market, there is a group of ideal prospects. Identify them and target them.
5) Take advantage of today’s technology. Consider the ways on how you can enhance your online store. Remember, your goal should be to provide your customers with a safe, reliable and convenient shopping experience.
6) Set a deadline for your plans. When setting short term plans, be sure to appoint a definite time period for your plans to complete. This will encourage you to take action without unreasonable delays. You will see progress and keep going.
7) Calculate in terms of figures, not emotions. When it comes to monitoring online marketing results, don’t forget to study the figures. These include the costs you spend on marketing, your conversions or ROI (return of investments).
Tip: one of the most valuable things you can do is get an online marketing analysis done. This will tell you how many people are searching for your products and services, and exactly what they type into Google when they search. Knowing this tells you 3 vital things:
A• The volume of business you can expect to do if you market properly. If only 30 people search for what you provide a month in your service area, you'd better have a high profit margin!
B• How to reverse-engineer your website and other marketing communications to speak in the language of your prospects, not the way you are used to naming your services. (I see this mistake all the time!) For example, if 4 times as many people search for wedding photographer, than wedding photography, then use that same ratio in your marketing verbiage. If you've been trying to sell "wedding dresses" but your prospects are searching for "wedding dress" (singular) or "bridal gown" then change your marketing language to match.

C• Third, this will tell you how much budget for online marketing is needed to succeed.
Tip: Check out your competitors. Are you aware of who your competitors are? How well are they doing in the marketing sense? Studying your competition and learning from them is a smart strategy. Doing so will enable you to make better decisions in planning your own marketing tactics. Emulate the successful to position your business for success.
9) Do you use and effective brand for your business? Is your brand easy to remember? Does it have a strong impact in the market? If you’re still not enjoying a strong brand recognition, this should be something for you to primarily work on. For example, we offer logo services, viral video marketing and online press releases to boost your brand.
10) What kind of website do you have? A well-designed online store can make a big difference but don’t forget to consider the functionality of your website. Will it be easy for your customers to find the items they want in your online shop? Are all the links properly working? Are you using a reliable and easy-to-use shopping cart? Are the items easy to browse? Do you provide a Privacy Policy for your customers? These are all important aspects where fine-tuning results in recapturing otherwise lost dollars.
For marketing and branding experts that attract your ideal prospects for optimum profits. Call Promise Productions in Dallas at 972-822-3587.

July & August is Your Critical Marketing Strategy Window

This Summer is the critical time where your marketing direction -- right now -- determines your business' success, not just for the rest of 2009, but your business' survival and market share for the next 5 years. Yes, that is what I said, it is THIS time of change, where your course and marketing approach will determine the next five years.

Now is the Ideal Time to focus on marketing because it will determine feast or famine.

Sometimes businesses take it easy in the Summer. But THIS Summer, that is a big mistake. Now is the ideal time to position your company for success. You see, as business kicks into gear come September (for psychological, economic, and sociological reasons), your company has to be ready for that. Get up to speed and positioned now is vital, or else your company will be lost behind those better positioned than yourself. People will be doing business with whichever company they see serves them best -- will that be your's?

I do not want you operating out of fear or scarcity, but rather to simply realize the vital importance of wisely shifting with the times. Market trends, economic trends, and the shift in communications through Social Media is happening so quickly that if your marketing goes on vacation in July and August, you will be so far behind those companies who Marketed through the Summer, that you will be eating their dust. Again, I stress that THIS particular Summer is unlike any previous summer because of the non-stop growth of Social Media Marketing even since May 2009.

When I say to "move forward" with marketing, I am not necessarily saying to spend a lot of money buying visibility in July and August. I am saying to put in the smart strategies now or you will soon be too busy simply reacting in survival mode to do so in September.

Here are Your Most Important Assets as A Business.
1• Your Name & Reputation (your brand and its PR)
2• Your Network of other businesses and customers that know, like and trust you.

It used to be that the big companies could get away with being selfish or minimally innovative and simply throw enough advertising dollars at their Image and maintain a positive reputation. That is no longer true for two reasons:

(1) People have wised up to this scam. They distrust overly slick advertising and are no longer naive to the fact that money has often been used to spin the facts for ulterior motives.

People don't believe it when you praise yourself. A generation ago, customers gave you the benefit of the doubt; today they see it as a red flag.

(2) The blog and social media commentary and online reviews let customers find what the community and global reputation has experienced from their business and customer-relationship with your business.

This underscores the fact that companies are not islands to their customers. Companies are in relationship with their clients and NO company (large or small) will survive long without serving those that feed the company through the money they give in exchange for goods and services.

You see, your business survives (or dies or thrives) based on cashflow. Cashflow depends on customers wanting what you offer. Customers wanting what you offer depends on if it really is of value to them -- satisfying a current need or desire. Your customers have what you want - money. If you are not serving them, they will easily go elsewhere where they are served, leaving your money sources cut off.

It is so simple, but many companies are absorbed by looking out for their own immediate interests to truly focus on how to gain an edge in the marketplace by understanding the motivatioins of their customers and by out-servicing their competitors.

Thus hype is less and less effective to falsely boost the benefits of a company, service, or product. A company cannot be inauthentic and get away with it anymore becuase technology allows information to flow more and more freely. Thus your business either sincerely commits to serving others or it will die.

Servanthood Marketing
Attraction marketing means giving your prospects a real reason to want you and choose you. It means compelling benefits that solve a problem or fulfill a need/desire.

Contribute to your prospects and they will give you their attention. Teach, inspire, and spread positive influence in others. This climate of giving, generosity and service will attract business. Companies with a self-serving orientation can no longer get away with it and will be bypassed for companies that give more value.

Social Media Marketing is about leading and attracting through spreading positive influence. It is about empowering instead of dominating. It is about recruiting those around you to support your cause, to see things your way. It is about positive persuasion. Today's customers will not care about what you know, unless they first know you care.

How people talk about your business (and they ARE talking) is your brand. Future posts will explore how to genuinely enhance your reputation. They will talk about how impulse buying can no longer sustain a business model. And we will address how your marketing has to be innovative to keep generating profits.

To put Promise Productions to work with innovative strategies for your short-term and long-term prosperity, call 972-822-3587.

How Effective is Your Online Marketing?

Many Business owners struggle with their day-to-day operations. From the moment they sit down in their office, they are confronted with the anxiety created by the day's marketing events. How many calls? How many emails? How many new sales? Are we headed up or down? Understandably they are consumed with moment-to-moment management and operating their company.

With all that, it is easy to lose focus and start reacting to the immediate and seemingly urgent, instead of responding to what's really important to grow your business.


One of the best ways to avoid "paralysis of analysis" is to write out the next days activities before you go to sleep. This will help you to avoid the morning feelings of "I don't know where to start". It also helps to imagine yourself completing all the tasks with ease.


As you plan and prioritize, allow yourself to feel the satisfaction as you know the most important tasks were accomplished, or at least forwarded to the next step.

When it comes to Internet marketing, there are many paths one can take to make their marketing efforts successful. However, many of them can be costly. So where is the best value for your business - both in the long term and short term?



If your budget is tight, article marketing and strategic blogging can be a very helpful source to get your message out. People are always looking for new and improved ways to do the things they are doing. That is called "value" by the way: people want value.

Online Marketing On A Budget?

By writing articles for e-zines and your own blog articles, you will simply share much needed advice to people actively looking to be helped. This is also helps get your message and name out to the communities you are looking to target.

Sharing your expertise through blogging and articles also positions you as a giver, which is exactly what you want to be.
 You see, Branding is becoming even more paramount as website marketing becomes flooded with competition. Just having a company landing page that looks like everyone else's just won't cut it. Your web site has to quickly and effectively communicate your value proposition before you lose your prospects attention -- remember they are busy just like you.

Insider Tip -- video is the absolute best way to powerfully convey your value in a short amount of time. It gets the most responses and is most remembered, so if you want help doing that right, contact Promise Productions. Reality is that from being hardened by too much hype in bad marketing, your prospects are more skeptical these days, and they want to be able to connect with the someone attached to a certain product or service. When you produce a video about your business and the product or service you offer, your conversion rates will be much higher.

Another advantage to video marketing is overcoming the "trust gap" and eliminating any skepticism in your prospects. They see You (or a spokesmodel) and your authentic passion about your products and services. A face they can feel good about is sharing with them in plain English.

The Value Of The Right Plan & Right Strategy to Your Online Marketing
A strong marketing plan is always valuable and it must be written down on paper with actions steps. Otherwise you have just vague wishes that continue to take up space in your mind but never become reality.
 As they say, to be successful, you must plan your work and then work your plan.

It is helpful to be able to cross off "money getting" activities as you go. This will also help you keep a log of your progress. There is no way way to track the effectiveness of what you are doing without this. If you don't make note of it, part of your brain will stay in "spin cycle" mode and decrease the energy and passion you could be using to develop and enjoy the business you want.



How effective is your marketing? Without a plan, without a measure it will be ineffective. Without the right strategy the best intentions are never enjoyed in reality. So don't' just fantasize about success; live it!

Promise Productions offers many marketing and advertising services that other guys do -- web site design and development, logos, corporate blogs, even video production. The essential element that enables us to deliver superior results is the marketing savvy we put behind each activity and the smarter strategy that positions you for sweet success!

Call our Dallas strategic marketing communications office at 972-822-3587.

The Future of Advertising for Small Business?

Small business sales and revenues have declined over the past several months, motivating many entrepreneurs to take a critical look at their traditional marketing, business development and advertising and ask why it is not working. Many are wondering if it every really worked that well in the first place.

Stopping your marketing and advertising is not the answer, so the search for a better solution begins. Perhaps we need to begin with a better question: If your advertising ever worked, WHY did it work?


Once you “get it,” you realize that relying on interrupting/annoying people as the core strategy to grow your business is fundamentally flawed. You will always be disappointed with the results of your advertising and business marketing if that is the most creative solution you can develop.

A successful business development strategy may be the most important ingredient to your long term success. So, at this point you have two options. First, become part of the conversation, interact with customers and prospects. Let them find you... but POSITION your company to be EASILY found. STAYING in the social media conversation means you are very findable when your prospects are ready to take action and BUY.

Proper internet marketing is very good way facilitating this process. To be successful you need to realize it is a process, you’ll need to spend a bit of time to find your voice and engage your audience (your future customers), just like you do in the real world.

Back in the days where there were only 3 main TV stations, we as customers had little choice, so we accepted being pushed at by ads that interrupted what we were actually interested in.

But today it is the reverse. We are glutted with options, entertainment and information. 200 cable channels. The one trade magazine on your industry is now 12 trade magazines. The waters are muddied and results have become hard to get and even harder to measure.

Seize The Future Today
In 5 years, ALL businesses will have a regular strategy to become apart of the conversation their clients and prospects are having. It will be common sense -- like a listing in the yellow pages was 10 years ago. But in 2009, it is still an innovative concept and a powerful tool to grow your business.

NOW is the time to gain the marketing edge, position yourself for optimum profits, attract new customers and gain significant market share.

What is the future of business marketing? Don’t advertise, entertain. Don’t interrupt, intrigue. Don’t annoy, engage. Now that you've read this, you have just been handed a 5 year head start on your competitors who are slow adopters. How will you handle this opportunity?

Promise Productions provides savvy marketers who are specialists at clarifying murky messages and making complex ideas refreshingly simple. Use our marketing services to gain market share and optimum profits -- call 972-822-3587.

Dallas Advertising During a Recession - Top Tips

"He who stops advertising to try to save money, could just as easily stop his clock to try to save time." - Henry Ford

Businesses that advertise regardless of economic times actually have an enormous competitive advantage over businesses that trim their ad budgets. Advertising during a sluggish economy boosts the confidence that potential customers have in your company, delivering a consistent message that you are a strong, viable and stable company. That boost to propsect's confidence and trust is a priceless advantage.

A study conducted by McGraw-Hill during the 1981-1982 recession found that companies that cut advertising increased their sales 19% following the recession while companies that continued to advertise during the recession experienced a 275% increase in sales.

That is why advertising right NOW -- in July & August -- will pay for itself MORE than 12 TIMES OVER -- even in the short-term. There simply is no better investment than to invest in your own success!

As the economy continues to improve, the top-of-mind awareness you've built will result in a sustainable competitive advantage, increasing brand identity and lead generation. You have created your own success momentum -- if you market yourself right, right now. More visibility in the right places right now puts your business on the fast track to right profits.

For strategic marketing, taking advantage of such technologies as Web Development, SEO, Video Production and Social Media Marketing, call the top-rated Dallas Marketing and Branding Firm of Promise Productiosn at 972-822-3587.

The Psychology Of Success Marketing

As a Dallas marketing firm, the essential value we provide our clients comes from knowing how to elicit a strong positive response from your best prospects.

Marketing is letting people in on the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of your products and services. Selling is trying to get or make people do what you want. That is pushy and domineering.

On the other hand, when we say "marketing" we mean causing your prospects to hear and welcome the ways you can serve them. There's no pushing because a marketing communications means an intentionally designed conversation where both you and them win.


The WHAT Of Our Marketing Services
Sure we offer all kinds of services from web site design and web site promotion to social media marketing to video production to graphic design to photography and video marketing. But what makes each of these services so effective for our clients is our mindset, our perspective -- our understanding of the psychology of success.

Here's a case in point: most anyone (your geeky friend for example) can make a blog. Nothing unique there. But can they guide you to make that blog a strategic marketing success? A place where prospects find and gladly go to get value and want to share it with their colleagues - further increasing your success? Therein lies the value! A blog, a website, a video -- if not done with smart marketing psychology, is just more noise in the system. There is no connection to motivate anyone to give you their business. It becomes clear that the incredible key to real value comes in physiological strategies of success, that USE various marketing channels and technology. The technology is never the answer; only the strategic use of it to best serve your profits.

Let me say it this way: it is ALL in the Performance and Results you get back in return for your time and money. What makes all the difference is causing your best prospects to WANT to do business with you. There is no pushing your business on anyone -- that does not work. Rather your marketing becomes more effective with less effort through marketing distinctions of success. Some call it "inbound marketing" and others call it "pull marketing" (vs push marketing).

Yes effective marketing involves your value proposition -- a communication of benefits -- but there is no "selling" when your prospects are best encouraged to already welcome and want to do business with you.

Here are some elements of marketing psychology that result in success and profits for your company:

1. Trust-Based Marketing: the psychology of trust is foundational to cause clients to want your products and services. Our marketing strategies foster trust at every level -- from the colors of your logo design, to the layout on your website design, to your direct mail and even your candid communication on your social media marketing. You need to show them what you value. You need to reassure them you will not grab their money and run. You need to show yourself trustworthy.

2. Effectively Understanding your Clients: in order to best appeal to them and actually create opportunity for them you must understand them -- their current challenges, their needs and their desires.

3. Mind, Will and Emotions: successful marketing reaches your prospects at every level so it works on all personality types and decision-making styles. As a businessperson, you naturally tend to communicate in the way that most makes sense to you. Bosses naturally tend to lead with the motivational approaches that work best on them. And so forth.

But all of that is self-centered. There is no reaching INTO the world of your prospect and thus little motivating connection for them to bond with your business. Without meaning to, you are making your prospects WORK to understand and relate to you. Good marketing, is prospect-centered. It shows you understand them and opens the doors to trust, to relationship and to profits.

CONCLUSION
Your customers don't need to see things your way. You need to see things their way. Through demonstrating understanding of both their challenges, wants and desires now you can communicate with them in a way whereby they naturally HEAR the VALUE you intend to provide. Rapport is established. Trust is established. You are not struggling to be valued any more. You are wanted and profits flow.

We all want to be served. Companies that actually serve the highest well being of their prospects get business in ANY economic conditions because there is ALWAYS a demand for good service in the largest sense of the word. But until you communicate in the best way for them to HEAR your value, you will remain in financial struggle and frustration.

Let's put and end to any struggle in your business and replace that with clients who understand you and appreciate all that you offer them.

CUSTOMIZED FOR YOUR NEEDS
Each business has a unique value proposition and a unique marketplace to dominate. When you best serve your marketplace and communicate that service you will naturally enjoy the largest market share. Let us serve you be creating a match, an alignment, regarding what you want your prospects to think about you that opens the door to them giving you their business.

If you are a company that is willing to be of service to your marketplace, we can translate service into the specific strategies and marketing communications that will turn on the tap for all the business you can handle.

At Promise Productions, we look forward to freeing your business to enjoy the profit share you've always wanted. Let's start with where you are today -- call  972-822-3587.

Dallas Advertising and Marketing Requires An Effective Value Proposition

One of the most valuable assets both your company and your prospects possess is time. Business relationships are both formed and dissolved faster than ever -- based on effectively meeting customer needs (or not).

If you want to make the most of precious time to attract the best level of new customers for optimum profits, then you will want to keep reading...

Marketing Communications is the art of most effectively appealing to your ideal customer's needs. The appeal must touch their minds, emotions and wallets. There is no better investment for success than to get your Marketing Communications FINE TUNED in all your Advertising and Marketing (print, web, social media, etc.).

The 3 Biggest Marketing Mistakes That Rob You Of Profits
There is business being done all around you right now. Opportunity abounds in every economical climate. If it is not abounding for your business, (1) either you have a lousy product or service, (2) or you need professional marketing services (from a company like Covenant Designs of course) that attract new business using today's successful marketing strategies.

Unless your company uses a dedicated marketing communications professional, doing business becomes like trying to saw down a tree with an old, dull saw -- it can still be done, just slowly and with a lot of unnecessary struggle.

These are the three avoidable mistakes that we, as a Dallas Advertising Agency see most often that kill off the profits you could be enjoying:

1• Not getting to the point. You must quickly state your Value Proposition to your prospect. Respect everyone's time and communicate what you have to offer in the way that best appeals to them. What is the value for them to engage with your business proposal or your services? Unless your marketing and advertising quickly states your value, you are missing opportunities left and right. Many businesses fail badly here and don't even realize it because they...

2• Fail to focus on benefits. Businesses know themselves and their business. Good right? Not entirely! The most successful businesses know their customers. Marketing and advertising that speaks your language but fails to speak your customer's language is simply wasted money.

Many businesses sincerely imagine they are promoting benefits, when in reality, they are pushing Features at their prospects. There is a world of difference. Put your marketing in the hands of a professional that clearly knows the difference between benefits and features and your ROI will gain much more traction. Read More on Banefits vs. Features here.

3• Behind The Times with Social Media Marketing. The third reason we see so many businesses struggling is that their advertising methods are not in sync with their customers. Today social media marketing has exploded in size and popularity, but many businesses are at a loss as how to take advantage of this powerful new media.

Social Media Marketing communicates in a different way than corporations are accustomed to. Your value proposition must attract, not push. It must be short and it must be often. Bypass any awkward or ineffective stabs at social media and use Promise Productions to go direct to the most effecitve methods and strategies.


CONCLUSION
If there is a mismatch in the way you present your benefits or neglect to communicate them because they are choked by your features, even though you may have something great to offer that could make your company a fortune, your prosect will not "get it" (shutting down that enthusiasticly open wallet). If your Value Proposition is blurry, your business will be passed by.

Lastly, if you are not leveraging social media, you are missing an enormous opportunity to engage with your best prospects in the media they prefer and trust.

Each marketplace and business is unique. So at Promise Productions Marketing Communications, our strategies are custom applied to bring your business both short-term and long-term properity. Call 214-703-0360.