I have always been anti-bidding when it comes to quoting jobs. The main reason I don’t like the “bid” process is that most companies don’t do it correctly. Most companies take 3 bids and always, no matter what, select the lowest bid. From a dollars and cents standpoint this sounds like a no-brainer. The problem is when you consistently take the lowest bid you often get a lower level of customer service, lower quality product or service, and are often left wondering if they money you saved was really worth it.

Companies that are constantly “bidding” jobs out have no loyalty. They are just looking for the lowest price. They do not care about a long term business relationship or high level of customer service. They prefer to do transactional business rather than relational business.

Would you rather save a few bucks or choose a company that has a fair price compared to others in their industry and has a reputation for following through with what they promise? Is that $200 you saved really worth it when you have headaches involved?

One of the biggest things I struggle with on a daily basis is criticizing and pointing out others faults. Why I tend to do this I don’t know. Unfortunately in today’s world we often look at this as a good trait to have. We feel we are helping others out so they don’t have the same bad experience we did. With outlets like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., we have the ability and power to point things out quickly and be heard by a large audience.

For instance, if I eat at a restaurant and the service is bad, I immediately feel the urge to update my Twitter account and let my followers know about the poor service. If I have a bad interaction with someone I am often quick to post a Facebook update letting others know about my negative experience. Although this can be good at times and under certain circumstances, I need to do a better job of stopping & thinking before I speak or post. The problem with online “social media” feedback, whether negative or positive, is that once posted, it’s out there. Sure I can rant a little bit and then a few minutes later delete the post and it’s gone from my profile. The problem is that in that short time there’s no telling how many people saw it.

What if that restaurant or person was just having a bad day? We all have our fair share of bad days. I know I have had many days when I was a little “off”, but I would hope that people would know the real me and realize that its just one of those days. So what I’m trying to get across is that you should be careful before you go off ranting. I am speaking to myself. I need to do a much better job of this.

¹⁹My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. – James 1:19-20 (NIV)

Magnets are one of the best ways to advertise. I’m not just saying this because I’m in the magnet business either. I truly, deep down in my heart, believe that magnets are the most cost effective way to advertise a business by getting the highest ROI. Think about it. What is on your refrigerator at home right now? How about your filing cabinet at your office? I’ll bet you’ve got magnets all over it. I would guess that there would possibly be one from a Realtor, a calendar magnet, a local sports schedule, a local take out restaurant such as Chinese or pizza, your Insurance Agent…the list goes on and on.
Here are some facts about magnets that are very eye-opening and seem to answer the question everyone has…Are refrigerator magnets really worth it when it comes to advertising??

1. More than 80% of all households in developed nations have magnets on their fridge, for both utility and purely decorative purposes.

2. A refrigerator magnet’s lifespan is typically between 5-10 years.

3. The number of times a refrigerator door is viewed in an average household per day is 40,

4. The fact above means that each magnet makes approximately 14,600 impressions per year. (That’s also 146,000 impressions for a single magnet over a 10 year period).

Now, this is a stretch, but follow me. If you are a local pizza chain and you send out a 3 1/2″ x 4″ magnet with each pie delivered, you would spend anywhere from $0.25-$0.89 depending on the quantity you originally purchased. If one of your good customers keeps that magnet on their fridge for 10 years, it ends up costing you $0.0000017 per impression over the life span of the magnet. When that customer orders just 1 pie, it more than pays for the cost of that magnet, but that same magnet keeps making you money and bringing in the repeat business.

What other form of advertising can give you those kind of figures for CPI (cost per impression) and ROI (return on investment)?

**Facts above from Wikipedia

I love technology. Each time I hear that Apple is coming out with a new product or update, I get pumped. When I switched over from Blackberry to my iPhone a little over a year ago it was a big step. Now I have come to rely on my iPhone and other forms of technology to run my business and do things on a daily basis. I don’t know how I lived without it sometimes.

Today’s marketing “gurus” have two ways of thinking. Some are still hanging on for dear life to the old print and mass-marketing techniques. Others think that print and older forms of advertising are history and we should focus only on mobile and newer technology. I think you should be using the best of both worlds.

For your next marketing campaign, how about this:

1. Choose a great promotional product that speaks directly to your target audience.

2. Pick a distribution strategy (personal delivery, mass mailing, etc.)

This next one is the most important point

3. Utilize the imprint area. Don’t just put your logo and phone #. Put your website, your Facebook page, your Twitter name, etc. It’s even better if you have all your social media links on your website at the top so you can just put your website on the item.

4. Follow up. Mix it up too. Call a few people, email some, send a hand written note asking if they received your item. (I know, hand written notes…what are those? They are a lot cooler than you think, and they will definitely catch the receivers attention).

Just like with any marketing campaign, you need to have a goal. If your main goal is to get more people to Like your Facebook page, then your Facebook page should be the main focal point. If your goal is to promote a special you have going on in the month of July, make sure that’s your focal point.

What are some ways that you’ve used promotional products to drive traffic to other places?

A friend of mine shared a quote with me about a year ago. This quote is at the bottom of my email signature and I believe it is a great quote for anyone in marketing or advertising.

“Companies that advertised aggressively during the 1981 and 1982 recession had sales 256% higher than those that did not continue to advertise.” Source: McGraw Hill Research Study, 1980 to 1985.

We are still in very tough economic times and many companies are uncertain of their future and are holding on for dear life. The stat above shows how important it is to continue to advertise even when times are tough. I have many customers that have cut back on their spending the past year, but for the most part they are continuing to advertise and grab market share. The way they see it, if their competitors focus on staying alive and quit advertising, they are able to capitalize on this, gain market share and grow in the long run.

The beauty of promotional products is that the price points are all over the board. It’s amazing what you can do with $1000, or even $500. If you know your target market and are very specific, you can do some amazing things with promotional products and a small budget. With a little bit of creativity and focus, you can gain some serious market share and ensure the future success of your business. So what are you waiting for? Is your company just standing around waiting for the economy to take a turn while your competitors pass you by? What are you currently doing to promote your business?

Laurie Tucker of FedEx on what it takes to build one of the world’s most recognizable brands—and why she’s a fan of promotional products.

Behind one of the world’s most recognizable and powerful brands is an equally mesmerizing marketing dynamo and chief brand champion who has dedicated her career to honing and upholding the FedEx promise.

Read the rest of this article here

This morning first thing I tweeted out “Happy Monday to everyone. Let’s make it a great week. It’s all about your attitude.” from my @magnetsfast account. I was very surprised at the responses I got back. For the most part people sounded pretty motivated and excited to get the week started off on the right foot. However, I got several replies back anticipating Friday and how they were counting down the hours and minutes until 5:00. I know there are a lot of people that are unhappy in their current work environment, but it’s all about attitude. Make the best with what you have and be as positive as you possibly can. Surround yourself with positive & energetic people and they will rub off on you. Remember that there are hundreds upon thousands of people out there, many of them your close friends, that are looking and have been looking for work for a long time. Be grateful that you are getting paid for your time and be positive and always produce your best work.

I was thumbing through the April issue of Advantages when I came across a great article about salespeople. Salespeople come in all shapes and sizes, all personality types, and most have different techniques. This article hits some key points to remember and try to avoid during the sales process. Take a look and see if you can apply this to your own daily routine.

Six Sales Sins by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE

I stopped this weekend at a Pilot Truck Stop in North Alabama and saw this ad above each urinal. It was very refreshing to see Pilot not only has a Facebook page, but actually does something with it. Once they drive you to their Facebook site, you can then redeem your FREE cup of coffee. Today most large companies have a Facebook and/or Twitter pages. The question is, what are they doing with it to interact? What examples have you seen of companies using traditional advertising like this flyer to drive traffic to Facebook and then giving something back in return?

Now is one of the best times ever to start a business. Unemployment is higher than ever. People that have been with companies for 20+ years are coming in on Mondays finding out that they no longer have a job. In my opinion the only true way to financial freedom is the take matters into your own hands and quit banking on the fact that your well established large company will continue to have a need for your services. There are so many entrepreneurs out there that are working their 9-5 and getting sick of the daily grind and ready to take the leap by starting their own business. I have compiled a list of great tools that I consider a MUST for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Of course some apply and some don’t depending on your industry, but here you go.

- DropSend – This is a great site where you can email large files. Even if you have a high speed internet connection sending 80MB files can take a long time and tie up your email for awhile. DropSend also has a great desktop tool for PC’s and Mac’s.

- Skype – I don’t use this as much as I probably should, but who doesn’t like to be able to not only talk to people around the world for FREE, but have video conferencing as well. This is a great tool because they have a desktop application for PC’s and Mac’s as well as smartphone applications.

- AIM – Who would have thought that what was cool back in middle school would be a great business tool. I can’t tell you how many times throughout the day I am able to ask quick questions and work with customers and vendors with a quick short instant message instead of sitting on the phone or waiting on an email reply. This is also great since you can print out your conversations if you have a long dialogue about a project.

- NotifyMe – this is a great iPhone app. I am one of those that has to have a To-Do list of Task List and if it doesn’t get on the list, it doesn’t get done. NotifyMe allows me to sets reminders throughout the day and put times with them so I can stay on target and on task.

- Evernote – this is a great app for entrepreneurs on the go. I have the desktop application on my iMac as well as on my iPhone. If I’m sitting in traffic and a great idea comes to me, I can open up Evernote and jot it down. Once is syncs its on my desktop back at the office. The free version works great for me, but they do have a pay version that allows you to use a larger variety of file types like .pdfs. (Simplest Way to Import Delicious Bookmarks into Evernote* )

- LockBox – this is another iPhone app that I love. I have so many usernames and passwords for different websites, accounts, etc. and it’s hard to keep up with them all. Anytime I set up a new account or have important numbers I need to remember I just put them in my LockBox for easy access.

- Hosted Exchange Server – this has to be the greatest invention ever. Before I had no idea what I was missing before I got my Hosted Exchange. I used to think you had to be some huge company and pay tons of money for this along with maintenance, but not anymore. With Hosted Exchange I pay $10/month for each email address and it syncs with my Mail on my iMac, Macbook, and iPhone. It not only sends instantly and much quicker than other email services, but allows me to send an email from my iPhone and then when I check out my Mail on my iMac it shows up in the Sent Mail as well. I also love the fact that you can have unlimited folders and they all sync together on all your devices, which means you can keep all your email organized no matter where you are looking at it. Your Calendar and Contacts are also synced on all devices.

- MobileRSS – this is a great way for me to sync to my Google Reader account and keep up with all the blogs and sites on my Google Reader account while on the go. If I am in between meetings or have a few minutes I can catch up on some blog reading and not have to worry about searching for all the blogs I subscribe to.

What are your favorite tools and applications that you just can’t live without or couldn’t get through the business day without?