Creating the All New 2012 LSM E-zine!

Happy New Year from Your Friends at Lone Star Marketing & Trade Shows!

 

Almost There...

Who would have though that creating a web e-zine would be this tough. Well here I am on the even of the new year and I am writing my Jan. Lone Star Marketing E-zine. It's tough becuase you want to say so much but not bore people in the process. What is important to me may not spike your heart rate! So here are some tips when writing your outreach newsletters: keep it simple, make it interesting and say it with pizazz!
People love to read things that hook them from the beginning. So make sure that what ever you put in your outreahc materials that it's a good read for the end user.
Ask yourself these questions: what benefit does this information have for my end reader? Does this help them in reaching their goals? It can be inspirational, a healthy tip, a biz info bit. It doesn't matter what it is as long as it meets those requirements. The second thing, and this can be harsh- but you might still have to spell it out. Our potential customers are inundated with a million ads nowadays! You will need to clarify why your bit of information is relevant and why they need to read it and have an action point! The action point is where you want people to respond to your information. It can be simple or a strong request.
I'm off to finish our for the Jan. edition. Good luck in writing yours and see you in 2012!

PS- if you'd like to receive the LSM E-Zine, please let me know and we will add you to the list! There are lot's of great tips and marketing ideas for businesses in it!

Happy New Year!

It's been a year...

It's been quite a year and we have been busier than ever! I cannot believe the growth and the amount of events that we have seen on 2011. It tells me a few things: the economy is slowly but surely bounding back, we have made it through the mud and the muck of a struggling economy that dumps advertising as it's first cost saving method and becuase of that- we are set to have a banner year in 2012! We wlecome new team members, new clients and new shows to the docket!
We promise to share some of the wisdom we have gleaned through this year and to be more present with what we are leaning and doing in the New Year. Good thing is, we were so busy this year that we just focused on our client's events instead of writing about them. This year, with a little more planning, and a great team, we will be able to do both!
Hope to see you at many of the events we have planned! Have a Great Christmas and an Awesome 2012!!

This week's event! I can't believe I am saying this...

I cannot believe that its come to this but here we are! LSM is actually able to say "this week's event" and that is because over the next few week's and months that is exactly how its going to be! Get on board the busiest ride in town and see what LSM has going on each week! This Week's LSM Event: The best bridal show in Dallas ~ The Duncanville Bridal Fair!!

Check out the event online or visit Google and run a search to see the action this new baby of ours is getting! Stay tuned for next week's event: The Lakeside Bridal Fair!

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Are-you-the-BIggest-Loser-Bride--.html?soid=1102448203982&aid=FiNGWyhihC0

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Are-you-the-BIggest-Loser-Bride--.html?soid=1102448203982&aid=FiNGWyhihC0

Snow Days

So here I am, knee deep in ice, 2 days into what looks like will be a 4 day no-school increment weather work from home and still entertain kids kind of situation. How am I handling it? With lots of creative outlets. Today baked home made banana bread and then moved onto double chocolate brownies and while they were both baking (did you know that banana bread takes over an hour to bake? I was shocked! Shocked I tell you!) I found these nifty sites to help me get even closer to the big launch of the Duncanvilel Bridal Fair. If you are an event planner or business owner you might find these resources handy in the future.

My first new love is the website EventBrite.com - great site for selling tickets online. What makes them so great? For starters it is almost idiot proof- it was so easy to navigate that I give it a two thumbs up on design and function. The style for the templates were easy to choose too- nothing over the top, simple but good options. This site is perfect for churches, small groups or businesses (like mine) or non-profits that want an easy way to announce their event and then pre-sell tickets.
Next new love? Speaking of tickets... we have my new favorite site: TicketPrinting.com. I have 1000 bridal show tickets on their way to me as we speak! Amazing pricing, easy to use- though I think that some might get frustrated with the tiny font on the designing part. But if you have good eyes then you'll be loving it too!
 At our bridal shows, I love to have our brides wear "I'm The Bride" stickers to help identify them to the vendors so I traveled on over to Zazzle.com - what a fun playground that is. I wish that stickers would make a comeback just so I can give them all my money! They have a vintage line that I am seriously in love with. But the fun does not stop there my friends- no I was able to make my own freaking postage stamps!!! Yes I said "make my own postage stamps!" Seriously can this world we live in get any cooler? I made some for Providence Place and I am going to get the LSM Logo reformatted to make ours as well. I am a huge believer in the US and International Postal services and actually like to get cards in the mail, so I try to send them out to my clients as well. How great will it be when not only will my clever little address labels are designed to perfection but that my postage stamps match as well? (can't do that with an email!) Life is good my friends, life is good.

With all that said and done, though it doesn't sound like work it really was a long day, we are moving along nicely in the world of trade shows and events. Even with kids running around in the back ground and trying to manage this company during the worst weather that Dallas has seen in 15 years- it was still a pretty good day of great cyber-finds and workplace success! I hope that these little nuggets of joy come in handy in the future for ya! I'll keep you posted on what I find and submit my credit cards to tomorrow on Snow Day #3!

It's been a while...

It has been quite a while since I wrote but that, in the end - or the beginning, depending on your approach - is a good thing. I have been working to re-structure the LSM group and it has been working to restructure me. As the new year rolls on I'll explain these changes and growing pains in depth but for now I'm wishing you all a successful New Year and many blessings in 2011.

2011 Focus Point: Lead Conversion 
 One of the focuses that I have this year is to excel is lead conversion for my projects. While doing research I found this great post in Johny Booker's blog. You can read more from him at JohnyBooker.com. And enjoy this insightful post on changing those leads into customers!

The Top 7 Lead Conversion Tips:

Posted on Monday Nov 29 18:18:00 GMT 2010

1. Separate suspects from prospects: Too many advertising/promotion dollars – and too much time – are spent on people who will never buy.  Unless your lead generation advertising weeds these people out, it’s not working effectively.  It’s putting a strain on those who process and follow up on leads.  The media you select, the offers you make, your creative strategy, and even your tone all play key roles in drawing out high potential prospects and screening out suspects.
2. Sell the next step harder than you sell your product or service: The whole objective of lead generation programs is to begin the sales process, not to complete it.  Your initial direct mail or e-mail should push for action on the next step – sending for more information, a free sample, a free analysis.  Once you have qualified prospects, you can concentrate on a full presentation of product benefits, features, and applications.
3. Construct meaningful, actionable tests: No direct response program – whether executed in direct mail, e-mail print, online or broadcast – can be improved without valid testing.  Make sure you test the most significant factors first – lists/media and offers.  Once you have a read of results, react quickly and incorporate them into your program.  Your results analysis should not only include number of leads and cost per lead, but cost per appointment and per sale. Making decisions on lead costs alone can be disastrous.
4. Once is not enough: Give suspects more than a single time to qualify themselves.  No matter how intrusive your direct mail package, email, print ad or online ad, your target may miss it the first time around.  Give prospects multiple opportunities to say “Yes” to your offer – whether that means getting additional information, a price quote, or a call/visit from your sales representative.  The more narrowly defined your market, the more time you have to spend on each prospect.
5. Understand their “hot buttons”: Executives are much more often concerned about their time than about saving a few dollars.  Direct mail/e-mail efforts that don’t demand a lot of time and that demonstrate how the product/service can save the recipient time works very well to management segments.  If the savings are enormous, that’s a different story. And the best story is getting the recipient to believe responding is the first step in MAKING BIG MONEY.  Middle managers may be more concerned about preservation (of their jobs) and about making a safe, unquestionable choice.
6. Use testimonials and case histories: Aside from the credibility they imbue, they provide the prospect with applications and usage guidance.  Large corporations should select testimonials or case histories that emphasize the company’s ability to provide fast, personal service.  Smaller marketers should use endorsements reflecting on the company’s strength and stability.  Include testimonials which underscore how customers were rewarded by finding out more when they were prospects.
7. Plan separate, creative strategies and offers for different levels of decision-makers: Even if you’re prospecting within a specific industry, copy and offer – and sometimes graphics – must change by function and by the objective of your communication.  The highly technical approach you make to the head of the IT department will not work in addressing the CEO.  And the CEO’s possible interest in your product/service will differ from the CFO’s.

Banner Ads are Not Good Investment for Your Small Biz Dollars

Good thing we have already noticed this trend and started looking for new ways to reach future customers. For many of the clients that we have had, and the projects that we do I have gone back to the classics- mass transit, billboard ahhh and the all too classic- radio. Online streaming stations count too! It's classic-redone! I have always believed that if you go back to the roots of mediums that you relish you will find a good source of outreach for your future clients.
 This mini-article came out in AdWeek today and I wanted to share it with you. Interesting stuff seeing as how many online "marketing companies" are competing to get your dollars in banner ads. Think about it, how often do you click on those?

Ignoring Internet Banner Ads

The oft-maligned promo unit takes yet another hit

Nov 29, 2010

- Mark Dolliver

It wasn't a banner day for Internet banner ads when an AdweekMedia/Harris Poll asked consumers to cite the kind of advertising they're most likely to ignore (see the chart).

Search-engine advertising also didn't fare very well in the poll, which was conducted last month.

Despite having come of age with the Internet, the survey's 18-34-year-olds were about as likely as their elders to pick banner ads as the genre they ignore the most (42 percent made that choice). Likewise, 21 percent of the 18-34s said search-engine ads are the genre they're likeliest to ignore.

The biggest variation by age cohort came with respect to TV advertising.

While advertisers might think of the 55-plusers as a comparatively docile TV audience, that age group had the highest proportion of respondents picking TV ads as the kind they ignore the most. Twenty percent of the 55-plusers made that choice, vs. 9 percent of the 18-34s, 13 percent of the 35-44s and 14 percent of the 45-54s.