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tomforgione

/Thomas Forgione

About Thomas Forgione

My mission is to help business owners find their prospects and turn them into customers by using proven and effective (traditional and web) marketing and advertising. In addition, I evaluate companies’ current marketing and advertising and show them alternative, cost effective solutions that could yield a higher return.

Best Direct Mail Ideas

Many companies feel that direct mail is too expensive or a waste of time, but a carefully executed, strategic campaign can make the cash register ring, cha-ching!

Don’t send out thousands of run-of-the-mill letters or postcards before reading this.

Here are some tactics to get you started.

Be creative and calculated.

Use A Highly Targeted List

Many companies use outdated means to acquire names and addresses. They guess (and usually are wrong) at their customer demographic and psychographic, and they buy thousands of names of people or companies who don’t have the slightest need for, or care about, their product or service. Make sure you run a fresh customer demographic and psychographic profile of the top 20 percent of your clients who bring in 80 percent of your income. Then buy more of THE EXACT SAME customer profiles.

Have a Fantastic, Can’t-Refuse Offer and Don’t Let Your Ego Get In The Way

Companies send direct mail and […]

2018-01-17T14:35:53-05:00 0 Comments
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Here’s why your marketing is NOT working.

So you start a business and you now need to get the word out. You search the web for marketing ideas and people you could follow that could help you on your quest for the hidden marketing Holy Grail that will have customers beating down your door. You try all the do-it-yourself marketing and nothing seems to work like described.

What are you doing wrong? Why isn’t anything working?  Why are you spending all this time and money and not getting a return on investment?

Reasons your efforts are not fruitful.

  • You were suckered into a marketing program that has no relevance in your industry.
  • You missed a “secret step” that you had to pay extra money to get.
  • You are trying to be a marketer but don’t have the time needed to make it successful BECAUSE YOU ARE RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS.
  • You don’t want to spend the money to do it […]
2017-02-27T17:55:53-05:00 0 Comments
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It’s not my problem.

The other day I was in a store and I heard an employee utter the words. “It’s not my problem”. Those words can kill a business. In fact, if you find your employees using these words it must be addressed quickly. You should invoke a policy within your company that if another employee hears someone uttering those words they should treat it like a bomb threat and report it immediately to a supervisor. Make sure such a policy is legal in your state first.

That short phrase not only shows disinterest in your company but also it show lack of customer service and customer retention skills. Keep this in mind. EVERYONE EMPLOYED BY THE COMPANY IS IN SALES AND CUSTOMER SERVICE. If a staff member cannot get on board with this, they must be removed from the company. They are a virus that will spread quickly and take your company down. […]

2017-12-22T15:54:00-05:00 0 Comments
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What are you doing to your advertising??!!

Many businesses still use traditional print advertising to promote their companies goods and services. Most are not doing it correctly and it bugs the heck out of me. If they are not going to do it right then save the money.

It happens all of the time. You see an ad either on-line or in a publication and you just can’t figure out what they are selling. They use company centric copy that extols how great the company is and they do nothing to describe the product or service they are promoting. It is such a waste of time and money. I can clearly tell the ads that were approved by an amateur and not created by a marketing professional. They might, in most cases they don’t, look aesthetically appealing but the content, WHICH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART, lacks benefit based copy. Nothing that answers the main question, what’s in […]

2017-12-22T15:54:00-05:00 0 Comments
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Using a Specific Content Marketing Video to Gather Qualified Sales Leads

Using video for business is nothing new. YouTube, Vimeo and other video websites allow you to upload your video content and share it with the world. This is great however; wouldn’t it be better for your business to actually capture the information of the interested viewers so you can later market your business to them? Of course, it would!

You do not need a degree in video production to do this. You only need a simple hyper-specific video created with your Smartphone, PowerPoint or Webcam, that solves ONE problem your potential customers are experiencing.

Here is how it works.

Determine why most of your current customers decided to do business with you. Then use this as the OVERALL subject of your video. Note: You really need to find the main problem your customer did business with you to solve. Something they need to solve NOW! How will your product or service eliminate that […]

2017-12-22T15:54:00-05:00 0 Comments
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Is lack of funds stopping you from marketing your business?

Lack of capital is a big reason many business owners do not perform the necessary marketing and advertising they need to grow fast. In addition, without marketing your profits suffer so setting up a marketing expenditures account is something you need to do. However, before you do so, create a comprehensive business plan so you know how much money you will need. EVEN IF YOU ARE ALREADY IN BUSINESS.

Then every sale you make you should put a percentage of the monies into your marketing account. I suggest at least 10% but whatever is comfortable for you and will satisfy your business plan requirements. This way when something great comes along you have the necessary funds to pay for it without doing a face palm.

Look to local banks that offer SBA loans. The SBA has programs of all sizes. They guarantee, to a certain percentage, the payback to the bank. This […]

2017-12-22T15:54:01-05:00 0 Comments
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Simple Marketing Strategy

Good marketing is making absolutely sure that you are placing the right valuable message in front of the right person repeatedly. This is true for all industries.

Before you read on keep this in mind. Marketing should not cost you anything if done correctly. It is necessary to keep a business full of new customers. It is also THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ACTIVITY A BUSINESS CAN DO. THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS. IT COMES BEFORE EVERYTHING ELSE. Think about it.

A valuable, benefit based, message.

A great message always gives value and shows the benefits of doing business with you to the customer. You usually only have one shot at this so going on and on about how great you and your company is will be a waste of time. Get right to the value and benefits. Let the services or products you provide prove you are a great […]

2017-12-22T15:54:01-05:00 0 Comments
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This Content Brought To You By…

Do you ever hear sponsorship tag lines for programs or other announcements? They usually say Brought to you by… or Sponsored by…. This is common in the media. However, did you ever think you could do this for your company content in your emails?

Many companies know they should keep in touch with their customers on a regular basis via email but they just don’t know what to send them so they don’t send anything. That is a big problem. Finding good content is especially problematic in industries were not much happens on a regular basis and if it does some of the information does not relate to the end client or customer or it’s too dry or academic.

So what do you do?

It’s a simple solution. Since you are sending emails to humans, why don’t you see what other things customers that purchase your type of products or services also like. […]

2017-12-22T15:54:01-05:00 0 Comments
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