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Can WBE (Women Business Enterprise) Certification Skyrocket Your Promotional Products Sales?

Did you know that major corporations and government organizations are actively seeking women-owned businesses as their vendors? They have entire entire diversity departments set up to scout for companies that have obtained WBE (Women Business Enterprise) status.   

Perhaps you’re a woman business owner or independent contractor in the promotional products industry who has considered getting WBE certification for your business but were not sure if you qualified. Or, maybe you looked into the process but felt it was too time consuming and overwhelming.

I can tell you from actual experience in my own promotional products business that getting WBE certification was one of the smartest things I ever did. It took months to obtain the status,  and much time and documentation,  but my business revenues dramatically increased the years after I obtained my WBE status.

Want to learn how you can qualify and start dramatically increasing your sales?

Contact me anytime at Rosalie@promobizwoman.com or 877-570-6766. 

New Marketing Tools For Promotional Products Sales Professionals

Posted by Rosalie Marcus, Rosalie@promobizwoman.com

Need some help convincing your prospects and clients that now is the right time to promote their products and services? 

Here are some new marketing tools that fit the bill:  

New end user marketing tools were  posted by Don Mennig,  Executive Director, Marketing at ASI. These prove the excellent ROI, (return on investment) of using promotional products. These would make a great addition to any mailing you may do. You could also post a download of these at your web site. Check the tools out at the following link:    http://cdn.asicentral.com/MKTGemails/MarketingMicrosite/

Another excellent marketing tool is this “white paper”  posted in the PPAI newsletter: Why Incentive Programs Endure Recessions. http://www.incentivecentral.org/pdf/why_incentive_programs_endure_recessions.pdf

If that’s not enough material , here is a third study by Harvard Business School on: Marketing Your Way Through a Recession. http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5878.html

I’d love to hear what you think about these marketing tools and how you plan to use them. You can post a comment below.

What’s Your 2009 Promotional Products Business Game Plan?

By Rosalie Marcus

Rosalie@promobizwoman.com 

No doubt about it, 2008 has been a challenging year. Lots of uncertainty and things changing at record speed. Regardless of the economic turn down, there are steps you can take today to insure 2009 will be a better year.

Now is the time to work ON your promotional products business Personally, I’m working with my business coach  (yes, coaches have coaches) on my plans and strategies for next year. It’s been a real eye opening process. I am excited about the possibilities and all the new ideas I want to incorporate into my business.  

Ready to get started planning your promotional products business success? Spend some time before the end of this year answering these questions and your business is certain to be more successful in 2009.   

1. Where are you now in terms of gross revenues and profit margins? 

2. Where would you like to be in 6 months and one year from now?

3. Who are your most profitable, ideal clients?

4. What can you do to get more business from your ideal clients?

5. Which promotional products sales generated the highest profits?

6. Which marketing strategies were the most successful?  

7. Who are your top 10 preferred suppliers?

8.  What rebates or preferred pricing do your top suppliers offer you? 

9.  What’s working well in your business that you need to do more?

10. What’s not working that you need to stop doing?   

Feeling stuck trying to answer some of these questions? You are not alone! Ready to take your promotional products business to the next level in 2009? 

The Women Working Smarter Success Circle will give you the answers you need to prosper in any economy. Don’t go it alone. Get ongoing support and great promotional products business tips from industry experts every month. Click here to get all the details and get a one month trial membership for less than the cost of a sandwich.

Rosalie Marcus, The Promo Biz Coach,specializes in helping women in promotional products sales get more sales, a higher income and have more fun and freedom in their businesses. Get a free Promo Biz Woman Success Kit with business tips and supplier savings at http://www.promobizwoman.com 

Reach her at Rosalie@promobizwoman.com or 877-570-6766

Five Smart Reasons To Start Online Social and Professional Networking

By Rosalie Marcus, http://www.promobizwoman.com

You already know networking is one of the smartest ways to build your business. If you’re like most women in promotional products sales you’re already building sales through in-person networking. What about online social and professional networking sites? Are you using them to gain business and referrals?  

Online social networking sites can be a valuable marketing tool. You’ll instantly have a network of millions.  

Here are five smart reasons to test the waters:

1. You’ll boost your credibility and visibility. People do business with other people they know, like and trust. Having a presence on the web increases your visibility and credibility and can help build your promotional products sales and referrals.

2. You’ll be search-able on the web. These days everyone is using Google to check out the competition. You can control the profile you create on sites such as Linked-In, Facebook and Ning and what your most wanted clients read about you.

3. You’ll make valuable contacts and be able to form joint ventures and alliances. In tough economic times joint ventures and business alliances are a smart way to boost your promotional products sales.

4. You’ll attract business without having to leave your home or office. Increased gas prices are here to stay. Social and professional online networking lets you make valuable contacts that can lead to increased business without expensive transportation costs.

5. Clients and friends you’ve lost contact with will be able to easily find you. The web presents a global networking of millions of contacts. You’ll make connections with people from your past who may become valuable to building your sales.

 To suceed with social networking you need to be knowledgeable. Get started the right way by attending The Women Working Smarter Success Circle call on November 20th!  

Click here to attend this interactive call with special guest expert,  Allison Gower, from The Platform Group Gallery, and get started attracting more business, more credibility and more visibility.

Allison is a social networking wiz and one of the most knowledgeable women in promotional products sales. You’ll learn what works and how to start your online presence. Plus, you’ll get a very special discount from Allison’s company The Platform Group Gallery, that you won’t find anywhere else. Register for the call here.

PS I’d love to connect with you on Facebook. Click on the link to view my profile and join my network of friends.

Have you tried social networking? What are your favorite sites ? Your comments are welcome.

Protected: What Does It Take To Grow A Three Million Dollar Promotional Products Business?

Protected: Women You Can Emulate

Protected: A Trailblazing Woman in Promotional Products Sales

What’s The Most Persuasive Promotional Product?

By Rosalie Marcus

I love sticky notes(Post-it notes and generics) and use them all the time. They are my favorite self-promotion. I always have a large batch on hand with my company logo.

I use them in a variety of different ways, but here’s my favorite: When I send an invoice, I include a 10 sheet sticky note with ” thank you” written on the top sheet. (This is in addition to handwritten thank you notes that I send to my clients.)

That’s why I was excited to read in Yes, 50 Scientifically Proven Ways To Be Persuasive,by Noah Goldstein, Steve Martin and Robert Cialdini, that attaching a handwritten sticky note to a survey or direct mail  dramatically increased the response rate. This is just one of the 50 valuable persuasive ideas that are in this gem of a book.  I highly recommend reading it.

What does this mean to you, the promotional products sales professional? It means you’ll get a better response rate when you attach a sticky note with a personal message with your own direct mail and correspondence. How easy is that?

How can this help increase your promotional products sales? Share this information with your top clients. Helping them to be more successful is your primary goal.  Let them know that you can provide sticky notes with their logo, helping to make their message stick even more.

Looking for more ways to be persuasive and get more sales?  If you’re new to promotional products sales or stuck at a sales plateau (under 250,000) and want to kick-start your business fast, check out the FAST TRACK to Promotional Products Sales Success!  No other program is as easy to use, instantly accessible and has as many resources.

If you’re a woman in promotional products sales and you would enjoy learning, connecting and getting valuable sales-boosting tips every month, I have a coaching group just for you. Get a one month trial membership for less than the cost of a sandwich! Click on the link to get the exciting details:  Promotional Products Women Working Smarter Success Circle.

Have a great day and keep on selling.

Rosalie Marcus, promotional products industry speaker, author and educator, specializes in teaching women in promotional products sales how to get more business, better clients and a higher income. Get a FREE Promotional Products Women’s Success Kit  with sales and marketing tips, a free monthly ezine and supplier savings coupons at: http://www.promobizwoman.com: Reach Rosalie at Rosalie@promobizwoman.com or 877-570-6766.

Winning The Battle of Commoditization/ Guest Blogger- Jill Konrath

The other day I met with executives from two very different businesses. One firm sold products that cost a couple thousand dollars; the other sold services costing hundreds of thousands annually.

Yet both had one thing in common - in today’s marketplace, their clients view them as commodities. Differentiation is difficult because truthfully everyone is offering pretty much the same thing.

So what can you do in this situation? It’s a question most every organization is wrestling mightily with in today’s rapidly changing sales paradigm.

Some tell their reps to stress the company’s great service. Unfortunately, since that what everyone says these days, it’s pretty ineffective. Others tout their technological superiority. But customers don’t believe they’ll be the industry leader for long. Product/service bundling is another option, but ultimately it drives prices down so much that only low-cost providers survive.

“Added value” is another strategy companies are using in their misguided attempts to keep ahead of competitors. They have free analysis, free delivery, free testing, free advertising or free anything. But pretty soon the “freebies” become the norm and profitability declines even further. You can only give away so much.

If you’re like most sellers today, you’re looking behind every little nook and cranny to find that one single area of competitive differentiation that will set you or your company apart.

You may be begging your product development for something that can’t be immediately replicated by other firms. You may be screaming at your marketing for help in getting qualified leads in who are ready to buy your products.

Unfortunately, you’re looking for salvation in all the wrong places.

You see, there is a way to consistently stand out from the crowd … to become irresistible to prospective customers … to command premium pricing.

And you don’t have to wait for marketing or product development or anyone else to save you! Nor do you have to pray for the untimely demise of your biggest competitors.

* * *

You see, the answer isn’t “out there” somewhere. You can stop looking for the “missing link” that will eliminate the ongoing Battle of Commoditization.

Instead, go look in the mirror. The answer is YOU, the seller.

Absolutely no one can replicate you - your knowledge, your expertise, your problem-solving capability, your ability to create new options and solutions that didn’t exist before.

Don’t give me this baloney that you’re really selling software or services or some sort of trinkets. That’s old stuff! People can get that from anyone. They can go to e-lance and get a brochure or website designer for peanuts. They can go to e-bay to buy just about anything.

But they can’t buy your brain!

Just ask Mark from a storage equipment firm in New Jersey. He recently emailed me to tell me that he was using my suggested approach to get into big companies - and it was working like a charm. He was setting up appointments like crazy.

Curious to learn what he was doing, I contacted Mark - and met a real pro! His company sells all sorts of different types of filing systems. Everything he selles is available hundreds of places online. But Mark’s brain isn’t!

Several years back he was selling into the flavor and fragrance industry. They have thousands of teeny containers that need to be kept track of at all times. Rather than just selling these customers “storage stuff” he worked with them to develop software and laser pointers to keep tabs of these tiny samples. He figured out a way for these clients to process their orders that literally revolutionized their industry.

You see, he doesn’t think he’s selling storage equipment. He sees himself helping customers run their operation better. He throws his brain into their business challenges to come up with unique solutions that are unreplicable.

He doesn’t just add value - he creates it!

Another person who “gets it” is Tim from an experiential marketing firm in Austin, Texas. He realizes that it’s all too easy for his services to become a commodity. So he focuses on the “experience” of working with him and his firm. And what does this entail?

A laser-focus on who he wants to work with.
An immersion in their business which may extend for months.
An immersion in their competitors, marketplace trends and more.

Using what he’s learned, he noodles over what his company can do to really make a difference. He thinks about it and plays with different concepts in his mind. When he finally meets with decision makers, he has an in-depth understanding of their problems and pains related to his offering. He has invaluable insights and ideas to offer which totally set him apart from his competitors.

Your personal expertise is what sets you apart today. Your ability to think for your customer is what makes you irresistible. Your creative genius in finding new solutions makes you indispensable.

Instead, focus on YOURSELF! Become the person that everyone wants to work with because you know so much that can help their business grow.

Become a “value creator.” When you do that, you’ll never fight the Battle of Commoditization again. End of story!

****

Have a comment about this post? What do you do to not be viewed as another commodity vendor?

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies and founder of the Sales Shebang, is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and industry events. For more articles like this, visit http://www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com. Sign up for the newsletter and get a BONUS Sales Call Planning Guide.