It’s the World Cup, England are playing Algeria tonight and the time is right for World Cup Marketing offers and slants on what you do.

Here’s an innovative, relative and unique piece of marketing that just dropped into my inbox.

It’s an email from a recruitment firm:

“Dear Sean

Let the England Team pay your invoices today!!

Place your permanent vacancies today (18.6.10) and however many goals England score tonight (England v Algeria) we will deduct £100.00 from your fees!

1 goal – deduct £100.00
2 goals – deduct £200.00
And so on…..

If you want to place temp bookings – we will knock £0.10p per hour per goal off the hourly charge rate for the duration of your booking!

Place your vacancies by calling David Stew or Dawn Lawson on 02476 230800 or email

david.stew@irweb.co.uk  or dawn.lawson@irweb.co.uk 

With the exception of the above deductions usual terms of business for fee structure and rebate period will apply.

Interaction Recruitment – supporting you and the England team!!

Regards
Dawn Lawson
Branch Manager”

I’ve left Dawn’s email address and contact details on there because I want to promote this to you guys too.

Well done Dawn, a very effective piece of marketing.

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

Were you caught out?

7500 people were!

Answer this question honestly – do you read the small print when you order on the internet?

UK High Street retailing giant GameStation decided to put this to the test and inserted a new clause into their terms and conditions earlier this month that granted them legal rights to the immortal souls of thousands of their online customers.

Here is how they got away with it:

“By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and forever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamestation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions.”

GameStation’s fiendish clause specified that they might serve such notice in “six foot-high letters of fire” too, but also offered customers an option to opt out, rewarding them with a £5 money-off voucher if they did so.

Is it a surprise that hardly anyone noticed the clause, let alone the substantial bonus for spotting the joke smallprint. More to the point, the fact that it passed more or less unnoticed raises an important issue – too few people actually read the small print when they make online purchases.
According to GameStation, around 7,500 customers carelessly signed their souls away on the day. Were you one of them…?

Even if you weren’t, have you been duped by a message that you didn’t read thoroughly? Do you pay attention to everything you should? Is it possible you are missing things your customers are saying or not saying (i.e. insinuating through body language or ‘read-this-message-I’m-sending-between-the-lines)?

Although the joke by GameStation was an April Fool’s message, it just proves how gullible some of us may be. Sell my soul?

I certainly hope not!

Happy Marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultancy – Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker

At this time of the year blogs are full of “2,344 tips to improve your sales in 2010″ and “867 ways to make more money in 2010″ so I thought “Hey, what the heck – I must do a top tips posting too!”

So here are my top 5 marketing tips to make 2010 your best ever!

MARKETING TIP #1 – Join in the community

If you’re not embracing and joining in the social media frenzy then now is the time. Join in, write blogs, contribute to discussions, run shoulders with your prospects and clients online. Get to know what they are talking about and doing and you will be in a much better position to sell and market to them.

MARKETING TIP #2 – If it moves measure it!

Do you know how much you make for every £1 you invest in marketing?

Do you know how many people return to your website?

Now, more than ever before you need to measure what you do and refine, retest and modify what you do.

You cannot manage what you cant measure. You need to make every pound/dollar/effort count!

MARKETING TIP #3 – Have 4 marketing plans in place

When I say 4 plans I actually mean 1 big marketing plan split out into 4 sections.

You need to have a specific marketing plan for 4 types of people/organisations:

THOSE WHO YOU ARE GOING TO TARGET AS NEW PROSPECTS/CLIENTS (BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT)

THOSE WHO ENGAGE WITH YOU AND STALL ON DECISIONS/SAY MAYBE ETC

THOSE THAT SAY NO

EXISTING CLIENTS

MARKETING TIP #4 – Revisit your USP

Most Unique Selling Propositions are not unique at all.

Do the “So what test” on all of the key benefits and USP’s you claim for your products, services and business.

“Great service” is not a USP – it’s a given

“100% moneyback guarantee” is not a USP – it’s a given

Ask yourself “Are our USP’s really unique?”

By positioning yourself in a different way, it could really make a big difference.

MARKETING TIP #5 – Make your car a mobile university!

I worked it out the other day that I listened to 34 days worth of educational CD’s in my car in 2009!

Years ago I would listen to music CD’s or Radio 1 but today I use this “dead time” to educate myself when travelling to and from work and on my way to prospects and clients.

I don’t lose any time off work and at the same time I improve my knowledge and skills.

So less of the mind numbing chit chat and put on some CD’s that will improve your marketing, sales and organisational skills.

Follow these 5 marketing tops and make 2010 your best yet!

All the best

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker – Sales Expert

Just reading in the news that Disney is in the process of buying Marvel Entertainment that owns the rights to Spider-Man, The Hulk, Fantastic Four and a further 5,000 markatable characters!

Good ole Spidey will soon be rubbing shoulders with Mickey and Mini!

The price?

£2.5 billion ($4 billion)

And in my opinion it’s a snip at that price!

Having just come back from a magical time in Disneyworld Florida, I came to see at close quarters the money making machine that is Disney.

Just think of all of the additional super-hero films they can now produce on he back of this deal?

Just think of the merchandise for every film?

DVD’s, audios, books, key rings…

The theme rides and their merchandise!

I could go on and on and on.

If you look closely at Disney’s marketing model, they create a front end product i.e “the film” and then build everything on the back end. The film is a showpiece and then they make their millions (or billions!) on everything else.

It’s a great business model and one that you should look into for your business.

Sean

Sean McPheat

Sales Expert & Marketing Consultant