Testing is the heart and soul of direct marketing.

As a direct marketer (that’s you) you must follow certain guidelines in order to get good results.

Here are the nn guidelines, rules and suggestions to get the most out of your direct mail marketing testing.

1. Have goals for every test. What do you want to learn? What response would you like to achieve? Write down the questions you would like answered and run a test for each. Every test should answer one speci@257; c question.
2. •Develop a hypothesis for every test. Each test you run should be a test of a speci@257; c idea. Every hypothesis should be based on a sound rationale. For example: “This is a test to see if adding a lift letter signed by a well-known doctor will lift response to our package. Our rationale is that since people respond to authority @257;gures, such as doctors, adding a lift letter will increase credibility and boost response.” Your test, then, will prove or disprove this hypothesis for a particular product marketed to a particular audience.
3. Use hypotheses as a platform for creative work. Hypotheses can help you create genuinely different ideas for testing rather than retouched versions of your control. For example, if you have @257;ve hypotheses, you can test a series of @257;ve direct mail pieces, each incorporating one hypothesis.
4. Test one element at a time. Testing more than one element will make it impossible for you to know what makes a difference in results. For example, if you’re testing price, change only the price. I call this the Evolutionary Testing Strategy.
5. Test all-new direct mail pieces. There are some disadvantages to testing elements indi­vidually. It takes a long time and conditions change. So for some, it may be better to test totally different mail pieces against your control in hopes of a big breakthrough. I call this the Revolutionary Test Strategy.
6. Track results meticulously. Keep detailed reports on the number of pieces mailed, the number of responses you get, response source, the conversion percentage, the income those responses generate, the average order, the percentage response, your income per thousand, your cost per order or cost per response, your net dollar return, returns, bad debt, and every other fact that you need to calculate speci@257;cally how your piece performs.
7. Use your tests to determine strategy. Mathematical results are the best way to end de­bates on issues such as creative approaches, formats, and offers.
8. Keep using your control until you beat it. Never shelve a control just because you’re tired of it. If it’s making money, keep using it. Until you have the @257;gures in black and white that conclusively demonstrate that you have a new control, keep that old one going.
9. Keep testing. Testing is a long-term commitment. It’s not something you do once and forget about. It’s not something you do only when you have a little extra in your budget. Testing should be part of your routine. You want to follow what I call the Testing Loop:

To chunk it down to the very basics

• Run a test
• Analyze the results.
• Act based on the results.
• Repeat.

Therefore it will be extremely important that you manage your time and have a schedule devoted strictly to Internet marketing.

Are you the type of person who works off a to do list? Many small business owners make lists to help them keep organized. I would suggest that you do the same thing when it comes to spending time marketing your business online.

The nice thing about most forms of Internet marketing today is you can automate them. This means you can schedule in advance things such as article marketing, email marketing, blogging, video marketing and so on.

Either you or someone in your company can spend time each week setting up an entire week or months worth of marketing online.

Beginning with the basics you must decide how you are going to organize your schedule. Are the type of person who likes to write everything out by hand on a piece of paper?

If you are, that is okay and you should keep your notebook handy to refer to. It can also be beneficial to look back at to determine things you have done.

If you or someone in you company is Computer oriented, you can use other things that help keep yourself organized. Microsoft Word or Works is a good way to set up files. A spreadsheet works just as well.

Spreadsheets are good because it gives you an overview and helps keep you organized. The benefit of typing your notes is anyone can read them. If you are like most of us hand written notes sometimes are hard to decipher.

When setting up your schedule here are the primary things you need to keep in mind.

1. Who is going to handle your local business marketing? If it’s you that is great, but you probably need some Internet education. You should plan on devoting some time every week to learning how to market on the Internet.

If you are going to hire someone for this important chore you need to find a high quality person to handle your Internet marketing. This takes you off the hook in terms of setting things up, but you should still monitor the results you are getting.

2. What day of the week are you going to devote to marketing online? After you get your Internet marketing campaigns up and running you may not need to devote as much time to this. However you should always be tracking your results and spending a little time looking at those.

3. What kind of Internet promotions are you going to do? We will spend more time on this in another article regarding specific forms of advertising online.

In summary when developing your local business Internet marketing plan it all starts with setting a schedule and sticking to it. If you are committed to building an online presence you must devote adequate time to making it happen.

If you enjoyed this article by Jeff Schuman on setting up a local business Internet marketing plan please visit our local business website today. Learn how you can uselocal business marketing to rank highly on search engines and get more traffic to your small business website.

How to Create a Marketing Calendar

Fast Marketing Plan works great to help you create your next marketing calendar.

Once you have selected the fast start plan to get your plan and calendar going fast, you should begin filling it in with holidays and important dates so that you can see how these will affect your marketing campaigns.

Once your important dates have been added to the calendar, you should begin adding specific marketing tactics.

Is one month consistently busier than another?

Do you offer an annual sales event?

Are there any upcoming training events?

These are the items that you should add to the marketing calendar next.

With some basics already added to the calendar, you can plan your marketing campaigns and find the best way to fit them onto the calendar.

You should block off your marketing campaigns.  Color coding works great for a marketing calendar and it’s built in by showing each category in a different color.

You should mark off the entire time frame of the marketing campaign and add campaign goals and important notes to the calendar.

How to Use Your New Marketing Calendar

Once your new calendar is filled in, you now have a powerful tool under your control.  You should first be using the calendar to make sure that you know what marketing strategies and tactics you should be working on.  There are also certain tasks that you should be completing on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis.

Weekly

Your Fast Marketing Plan Monday Morning Marketing Email Reminders will help you start your week of knowing what need to be done. Your calendar will tell you what marketing campaigns are happening which weeks.  Every week you should be checking the calendar to make sure that your campaigns are beginning and ending on schedule.  You should also be making sure to add the budget and actual expense of each campaign.

Monthly

On a monthly basis, you should be making sure that the funds needed for the marketing campaigns are available.  You should also look over the month and decide if you need to hire any additional support for the proper execution of your campaign.  By looking at this at the beginning of the month, you will be sure to have all the staff needed to support your marketing efforts.

Annually

Annually, you will be reviewing the calendar for patterns and trends.  Never throw away a past marketing calendar.  It holds so much information about the upcoming year.  You will be able to gather a very accurate estimate of your current marketing costs.  You will also be able to combat cyclical income by reviewing your past marketing calendar.

Your task for this week is to set up your marketing calender, as you have seen above,  it is a simple and easy process and will keep you on track for the next twelve months.

There you have it. Now start creating your next marketing plan now while it’s fresh on you mind.

The big secret of dealing with people (or customers) is often overlooked or forgotten. It’s simply saying “thank you” consistently, personally and, above all, sincerely. These two words work marketing magic because customers want to feel important.

Saying “thank you” is an act of kindness, besides. But don’t say “thank you” for the sake of flattery. It must be sincere. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “You can never say anything but what you are.”

“Thank You” Promotes Referrals

The uncertainty of referrals can be disconcerting. Can you control them? No. Can you influence them? Absolutely.

First you must provide a valuable product or service for customers. (You’re already doing this, right?) But perhaps you can make an even bigger difference in their minds by your continued interest after you’ve delivered the product or service.

Each customer has a different level of satisfaction with your products and services. However, all customers to whom you say “thank you” are satisfied that they’re important to you. This can determine whether you’ll continue a relationship with them and get referrals.

“Thank You” as Direct Mail or E-mail

If you’ve never used direct mail and are considering it, start a thank-you correspondence program. If you’ve used direct mail or e-mail but haven’t sent thank-you letters or e-mails, start now.

The thank-you letter or e-mail to your customers is targeted (you know them, they know you), personal and effective. It’s guaranteed to receive a positive response.

Furthermore, it’s a pleasant surprise if it’s snail mail. They see your envelope. They think, this must be something for me to review, to sign, or worse a bill. Surprise! They’re appreciated; they’re important. And you’re the one telling them so.

Write a thank-you letter or e-mail at every opportunity. But don’t send one with an invoice or other correspondence. Always send it separately.

Writing the Thank-You Letter or E-mail

The thought behind a thank-you letter or e-mail may seem simple, but writing one can be tricky. Here are 9 tips for writing a winning thank-you letter or e-mail:

1. Keep it brief. A half dozen lines (or fewer) are sufficient.

2. Make it sincere. This is crucial. If you aren’t careful, it can sound awkward, even when you’re trying to be sincere.

3. Start with “thank you.” Dear Ms. Johnson (or first name, if appropriate): Thank you for …

4. Make the tone warm, but professional. Be friendly, but keep it businesslike.

5. Reinforce a positive. Jog their memory of a positive aspect of the relationship.

6. Offer your continued support. If I can help, please call …

7. End with “thank you.” Thanks again for …

8. Use an appropriate closing. Sincerely, Best regards.

9. No ulterior motive. Make it a pure “thank you,” otherwise sincerity is jeopardized.

Remember: Saying “thank you” is part of building strong customer relationships over time. Use these two magic words consistently and watch your repeat business and referrals grow.

You can never say Thank You too much

Thank You For Being A Fast Marketing Plan Member

Look for something that is totally unexpected; something that could even come from a client or user of your product or service. Write down 10 selling ideas. Look for things like:

1. What is dominating the market right now and why?
2. How can you radically go opposite the market?
3. Where is the gaping hole that needs filling?
4. What is the one most surprising, shocking thing that makes my product/service different?
5. What is assumed true, but is not?
6. Ask your prospects (NOT your family or friends),”Which, if any, of these ideas is the most surprising to you?”
7. Does your product/service leave your clients begging for more?

One of the most important basic tips is to take your most unexpected idea and condense it to one or two sentences. Now ask yourself:

1. Is the overall idea easy to remember after being heard a few times?
2. Can my prospect relate to it?
3. Is the idea emotional?
4. Can the idea be told in a story?

How do you determine if you have a giant selling idea that will work? Again, it’s back-to-basics. Try it; test it out. The market will tell you if your idea will be a success or failure.

Back-to-Basics Bonus Tip:
What is the positioning of your products, services and ideas?

Is a Cadillac the same as a Kia? You know they both have four wheels and a motor. You also know they will get you were you need to go. Positioning – creating that compelling reason to purchase – is what makes each car unique. You buy the Cadillac for image and luxury and you buy the Kia for value and gas mileage.

Think about your business. While exceptional service will distinguish you from average companies, it won’t separate you from the top 10 or 20 percent of firms in your market. To make your business stand out from the competition, consider these 15 potential areas of differentiation for your positioning:

• Speed – response time/time to deliver
• Price – including perceived value
• Specialty – niche services
• Reliability – consistent service
• Unique service or processes
• Payment terms
• Guarantees
• Location – convenience
• Sales methods
• Technology
• Innovation
• Problem solving capability
• Persistence
• Size
• Range of services

Here’s your Big Selling Idea challenge: Pick the one thing you can do much better than anyone else most of the time. Whatever you pick, it must solve your clients’ or customers’ big problem.

The key you utilize the most when going through your email is the delete key.

First, you start deleting all of the email from senders you don’t recognize.

Next, you delete the email you know you’ll never read.  Finally, you read the emails that grab your attention.

So, is it the sender’s name, URL or subject line that grabs your attention?

Often, it’s that and more.  Read on to discover nine ways to get your own emails opened and read so that your recipients will be enticed to take action.

1. Be consistent with your “From Field” so your recipients see exactly from whom the email is coming.  Setup your name, company or brand name in your email management program by referring to your help guide for setup instructions.
2. Ask your recipients to white list your email address to avoid your emails being blocked or routed to their spam folders.
3. Always stuff your emails with value.  Your recipients will gladly open them because they will expect something interesting.
4. Be creative with your Subject Lines.  Create curiosity.  For example:  “They don’t want YOU to know!” creates more curiosity than “The marketing experts don’t want you to know.”
5. Test your subject lines on small segments of your lists.  One subject line will always get a higher open rate than another.  Use the best one to email to others on your list.
6. Be careful to avoid list rot.  People change email addresses, get new spam filters and lose interest because of your lack of contact or old content.
7. Email once a month at minimum.  Most marketers simply do not email often enough.
8. Surprise your email readers every so often with something completely new.  Make your emails fun so your recipients will want to open them.
9. Always ask for some action on the reader’s part.  Get your recipients to do something like clicking on a link to your website or blog.

If you’re not totally convinced that these tips can pay off, let these email marketing stats marinate a bit:

• 35% of email users open messages because of the subject line content (Juniper Research, 2007)
• 17% of Americans create a new email address every six months  (Juniper Research, 2007)
• Those who buy products marketed through email spend 138% more than non-readers of email (Forrester Research, 2008)

Email marketing can really pay off by focusing on the right elements.  By

always

delivering valuable information to your readers, you’ll rarely have to worry if you’ll get a favorable response.

It’s been another fast-paced year on the Internet. Just when we though it was safe to venture out with our marketing plan, Google introduces Google Wave, Microsoft launches Bing and tells us it’s joining forces with Yahoo.

So to clear our minds, we came up with Ten Easy Internet Marketing Tips we know to be true, so it doesn’t matter how you choose to go about it, you’ve got some facts to go on:

• SEO is important, but there are many things you can do yourself before you decide to blow the budget on a specialist. Think well-written content, regular updating and getting people to link to you.

• Email newsletters work if you divide up your target audiences (where possible), check the statistics and include a “call to action”. Overall, finding new ways to communicate with your customers is a good thing as long as your copywriting is good. If it isn’t, find some help here.

• Blog, but only if you’re an expert! You probably have it in you if you’re passionate about your subject. Blogs are unique and give followers the opportunity to get a feel for you, your business and the way you work.

• Statistics. The brilliant thing about Internet marketing is that everything is trackable. If you don’t do it already, get Google Analytics on your website, it’s free.

• Get your business on Google Local Business Centre.

• Introduce video into your websites, blogs and emails. The search engines love rich content like video and it’s very low cost to do. Use YouTube to get started and link back to your website.

• Venture into social networking. It’s not going away and as more of us “sit” in our social network of choice, be it Facebook, Twitter or one you’ve created – they’re a whole new channel to market to. You can set up a Facebook Business Page, which is public (so Google will find it), and promote what you do to gain “fans”. Remember to add a “Find Us on Facebook” (or whichever social networks you’re using) button on your website.

• Offer information that people want to read, not just what you want to sell to them. We’ve got many writing tools at our disposal now and the Internet has made it possible to share more information (for free) than ever before.

• Other free giveaways are a hit and remarkably easy to do. Can you provide articles about your product/services/subject that people sign up to receive? Can you create a free download or other value added content?

• Remember that any PR you do “off” line can be tweaked and used online too. Add a press release into a news section on your website, tweet about your event or update your wall on Facebook to tell fans what’s new.