June 20, 2008

How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth?: Powerful Lessons In Marketing & The Psychology Of Selling - The Fin

Filed under: Biz Stuff — admin @ 9:35 am

Additional Lessons from Popcorn Marketing

I’m assuming that the movie theatres have tested their price point and figured out what the highest price is that they can charge and get away with - the highest price the market will be willing to pay.

And, that’s what they charge for their popcorn.

I believe that’s a mistake. Here’s a better way of doing it:

Test your price point. Find out what the highest price is that the customer is willing to pay for your product. Then, bring the price down considerably! Offer a ‘better’ deal than your competitors. Or offer them a lot more value than others, by adding additional bonuses to increase the overall perceived value.

Sure, you can take advantage of your customers by charging as much as you possibly can. But, I wouldn’t recommend that strategy. Instead, tell them what others are charging and what a great value you’re giving them. Break it down for them and explain the difference. Show them how they’re unique and why buying from you is in their best interest.

Remember, you can either corner them into buying from you, or you can just make your offer so much better, and so much more irresistible, that they will want to buy from you!

Moreover, I want the customer to feel good ‘after’ the purchase as well. I’m not a fan of buyer’s remorse, and I assume my customers aren’t either.

You ensure that they will continue to feel good about their buying decision after the purchase by delivering on your promise. In fact, you can go a step beyond and ‘over-deliver.’

When you do that, you will also:

1) Dramatically decrease your refund rate, and

2) Ensure that the customer will buy from you again, in the future, because his first purchase from you was a positive and rewarding experience.

And, besides, the only reason I’m “in business” is because of the ‘customer.’ Why would I want to cheat him or trick him? We’re in this business because we want to help people and create real value in their lives. Not because we want to suck every penny out of them, right?

Most marketers are bad marketers because they think that marketing is about ‘tricking’ people into giving them money. That’s absolutely not true.

If you do it right, they will want to give you the money, and feel good about it. And, you’ll be able to sleep well at night.

Marketing is not a one-shot deal. If you try to trick the customer into giving you as much money as possible just so you can get one sale out of him, you’re seriously missing out.

Instead, if you make the first buying experience a pleasant one, the customer will continue to buy from you again and again, and will happily give you more money. So, don’t forget about your existing customers after they’ve made that first sale. That’s just the beginning of your mutually-beneficial relationship with him.

Well, there you have it… “popcorn marketing” explained, and then some! :-)

There are many extremely powerful marketing strategies and psychological motivators at work in the above ‘movie popcorn’ scenario.

Remember, just ‘knowing’ about these strategies and concepts won’t do much to increase your profits. Start applying as many of them to your own business as possible, and I guarantee you’ll sell more, and sell more often.

In fact, you’ll get much better results than the movie theatres ever will, by always keeping the customer’s best interest in mind.

Here’s to your dramatic increase in profits!

Sincerely,

Ian Canaway

To read the rest of this special report, you can download it here: http://www.trafficstrategiesonsteroids.com/popcorn.pdf

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Small Business Newsletter Dilemma: Which Day Do I Send?

Filed under: Biz Stuff — admin @ 9:18 am

If you’re just ramping up your small business email newsletter, you might be wondering what day you should send it to your opt-in list. After all, you want it to get opened and read and you know your prospects may be weeding through a ton of email clutter. What to do?

There is no magic bullet to figure out the science behind when your small business prospects will open your email. But you can help yourself along by doing some up front legwork. And the answer is right in front of you.

Don’t do what I see so many other small business owners do. They ask their friends and colleagues what day is best and then move forward on that advice. Bzzzzzzzt — wrong answer. Unless those friends and colleagues fit your target market, you will be wasting a lot of time with this approach.

One of the best ways to determine the day to send your newsletters is to think about the details of your target market. Do you get emails from them on a regular basis? What time of day are their emails written? What day of the week? Do you feel comfortable asking your current subscribers? By assessing the habits of your market, you can figure the best day and time to send.

Test it out though. The decision is yours and it’s not cast in concrete. That’s the beauty of owning your own business. It’s in your control.

EzineArticles Expert Author Denise O\'Berry

Small Business Expert Denise O’Berry helps small business owners take action to grow their business. Find out more at http://www.deniseoberry.com

How to Find Very Cheap Car Insurance

Filed under: School of Insurance — admin @ 12:42 am

No one wants to pay for more than what they’re actually getting, and no one wants to pay for services they don’t need. The same is true whether you’re purchasing telephone services or car insurance. If you’re looking for very cheap car insurance (and who isn’t?), take these tips into consideration.

1. It’s easier to find very cheap car insurance during a soft market, also called the buyer’s market, rather than a hard market, also called the seller’s market. During a soft market, rates are low, companies are competitive, and you can find coverage on more areas.

2. Find out whether or not your other insurance providers offer car insurance as well. For example, you may call your home owner insurance provider and discover that they offer car insurance, too. If so, ask for a quote and any discounts or deals they might have. Or, you may find a car insurance provider that also offers home insurance and discounts for switching to them for your multiple insurance needs.

3. If you already have car insurance, make a point to look critically at your policy and ask questions before you renew rather than just pay. You might find that you can make variations to lower insurance costs.

4. Also, if you already have car insurance, consider changing your deductible amount. People with good driving records and who are willing to pay higher deductibles in the event of an insurance claim can lower their insurance costs.

5. Ask about multi-family and multi-policy discounts. Some insurance providers offer discounts if you insure more than one vehicle.

Understand that other factors such as the type of car you drive, years of driving experience, geographic location, your credit history, driving record, occupation, and marital status can affect your car insurance costs. Some of these factors can be changed; some can not. Yet, those that negatively affect your insurance costs can be avoided in the future.

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