The Lifetime Value of a Customer

Understanding the Value of Your Customer Base - By Robert Ciccone
It's a common occurrence for business owners to be uncertain about creating a marketing budget because they don't know how to estimate what they should be spending and where or how they should be spending it.

Some are even concerned that they can't afford to spend money on marketing. The solution to these issues is to understand and apply the concept of "The Lifetime Value of a Customer".

In this article, you'll learn the formula for calculating Lifetime Value and how to leverage this "hidden marketing asset" in your business.

Direct Response: The Key to Effective Marketing (Part 1 of 2)

How small businesses get the best results from Direct Response Marketing - By Robert Ciccone
This two-part article looks at how your business can apply Direct Response Marketing techniques to expand the effectiveness of your overall marketing strategy. Part 1 discusses the three most common approaches to marketing and why they either work, or don't work.

You'll learn about the Five Key Elements of a great Direct Response Marketing ad-and why Direct Response is so much more effective than traditional marketing approaches.

Direct Response: The Key to Effective Marketing (Part 2 of 2)

How small businesses get the best results from Direct Response Marketing - By Robert Ciccone

We continue our look at Direct Response Marketing by reviewing some specific examples of DRM campaigns.

We also discuss a case study showing how one company was able to leverage DRM.

Smart Marketers Pass the Test

The importance of testing your marketing approach - By Robert Ciccone

One of the most common mistakes companies make is the failure to test the marketing of their products or services. Businesses often neglect to test their marketing strategies, approaches and messages, on the assumption that they "know" which elements will get results. But how do you know unless you bother to ask?

The way we find out what will make the market respond is by putting our marketing methods to a "vote". This voting process is what marketers call testing.

In this article, we'll show you the benefits of taking the time to test the elements of your marketing plan, and we'll also show you what to test and why.

Your Quote-to-Close Ratio (Part 1 of 2)

Quick Tips to Convert Prospects to Clients - By Robert Ciccone

Business owners, in their efforts to acquire new customers, often neglect and overlook important leveraging opportunities that exist within their current marketing activities. In order to better optimize your current efforts, there are a few pieces of information/data you must know. One of these is your quote-to-close ratio.

In this two-part article, you'll learn why this statistic is so important, and how to work with it in your business with four "Quick Fixes". Part 1 defines the quote-to-close ratio, and reviews the first two of the four tips for applying this ratio in your business.

Your Quote-to-Close Ratio (Part 2 of 2)

4 Quick Tips to Convert Prospects to Clients - By Robert Ciccone

Picking up where we left off in Part 1, Part 2 of this article reviews the final "Quick Fixes" for implementing quote-to-close ratio.

We also look at some real-word examples of businesses who successfully applied this technique and increased their close ratios as a result.

Defining Your Unique Edge (Part 1 of 2)

Developing a Unique Selling Proposition or Extra Value Proposition - By Robert Ciccone

"Why should I do business with you, above all other choices I have, including doing nothing, or sticking with whatever I am doing now?"

That's the question every business must answer in its marketing strategy, and the answer is referred to in marketing circles as your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) or Extra Value Proposition. Your USP/EVP is the very cornerstone of any successful marketing plan.

This article (Part 1 of 2) defines the USP and the three forms your USP can take.

Defining Your Unique Edge (Part 2 of 2)

Developing a Unique Selling Proposition or Extra Value Proposition - By Robert Ciccone

In the continuation of this article, we look at the four steps to developing your company's USP or EVP, as well as some strategies for making your USP concise and effective.

You'll also learn how to avoid some common pitfalls to avoid in developing your USP.

Salesmanship-in-Print (Part 1 of 3)

How to build your business with the perfect sales letter - By Robert Ciccone

Just imagine if you could hire the ideal salesperson to sell your products and services: someone who will relentlessly deliver your message perfectly, every single time. A great sales letter is the equivalent of having the perfect salesperson on call and at your disposal-it is salesmanship-in-print".

This article, in three parts, provides you with a "how-to" for creating the perfect sales letter.

Part 1 gives you the A.I.D.A. formula of the four key elements of a successful sales letter, and talks about why a sales letter is something to get excited about!

Salesmanship-in-Print (Part 2 of 3)

How to build your business with the perfect sales letter - By Robert Ciccone

In Part 2 of the series, we get into the details of the sales letter, with the 11 components you can incorporate into each sales letter you write.

We also provide examples of some of the ways you can use each of these components

Salesmanship-in-Print (Part 3 of 3)

How to build your business with the perfect sales letter - By Robert Ciccone

In the finale of this article series, we'll focus on specific tips you can use in creating your letter, whether you decide to write it yourself or bring in a professional copywriter to support you.

Lastly, we'll wrap things up by talking about the two other important pieces of a truly effective marketing letter campaign.