When we were asked to write a quick 150 character summary of PinPoint Mailings, here’s what we put:

“PinPoint Mailings was created to help small businesses market like big businesses. Most marketing firms won’t talk to small businesses without hefty up-front fees. PinPoint loves helping small businesses grow to provide for the owners and employees.”

As you may know, one of the pleasures we enjoy is helping businesses grow. We accomplish that through a variety of products from simple business cards to help them at networking events, rack cards to display at their location and local businesses, targeted mailings to reach specific prospects, or any number of other printed materials (including extremely large “grand-size” banners for display on buildngs).

Right now, one of the ways we’re trying to give back to the community is through hiring. That may be why we were nominated for this grant. We’re looking to hire right now, and have been for several months. If you know someone interested in Sales, please refer them over.

If we are fortunate to win this grant, we will be able to accelerate our growth and hiring plans. We would be able to give back more to the community by hiring more quickly, and reach more businesses to help them grow, which in turn leads to improving the economy.

So, PinPoint Mailings is asking for your help! Each person we have helped, talked with, or are connected to may enter two votes for us: one vote online, the other by text. If you are comfortable, we’d like to task you to share why you Love a Local Business named PinPoint Mailings.

If you are comfortable sharing, you can vote online at http://bit.ly/lovepp. You may also vote by texting the word “pinpoint” to 244326.

We appreciate your help and support, as clients, business associates, and as friends.

Thank you! We look forward to giving back more to our wonderful community!

Selecting marketing plans can be overwhelming. There are options for radio, television, local newspapers, regional papers, neighborhood papers, flyering, direct mail, in-person networking, and many, many others. Choosing, designing and implementing any of these strategies requires a good amount of work, research and knowledge.

While we focus on direct marketing (postcards, letters, brochures, and door hangers), we also take the approach that we should one be one of the many strategies a business should use. In our consultative approach, we discover the current or planned strategies a prospective client may be using, and work through if our services would complement them.

In some cases, direct marketing strategies may not work. And when we discover that, we let the prospective client know. When there is a fit, we work to ensure what we develop is consistent with their other strategies, but can perform and be measured independently.

Going into a meeting, you may have a good idea what you’re expecting, or we may have an idea what we initially think may work. What we’ve discovered in our many meetings, what the client or we may have in mind initially changes as we brainstorm. Sometimes the changes are minor, other times, they are significant changes.

One last thought about selecting marketing strategies is that over time, the effectiveness of any strategy may change. Those that have been the “bread-and-butter” strategies may start to falter, while those that didn’t work in the past may generate great results when you try them again, in a different market.

In short, try many things, measure the results, and try some more. When one strategy stops working, or the results start to trail off, try something different. Always be marketing and know how it works for your business.

Laurian was referred to me to see if I could help her with some of her marketing. After a good conversation learning about all the services she offers and brainstorming a little about the market for each, we started into what we could possibly do.

First, we discussed each of the services to determine which would be easiest to market and most profitable. Unfortunately, those didn’t overlap in her case. We also discussed the work it would require of her for each of the classes to determine how much she could actually handle.

The markets for Colorado Life Lessons overlapped to some extent, but in order to effectively market, we had to get extremely specific, which removed some of the overlap.

As marketing goes, nothing is guaranteed, but when you can either get extremely specific, or hit multiple markets at the same time, you can measure the response. Ultimately, all your marketing should be tracking well so you can evaluate your strategies on a monthly basis and make any adjustments.

The lesson here to to always look for new marketing that complements your existing marketing. While some things won’t work, others will. Your goal will be to find out which methods work and how to integrate them into an overall marketing strategy.

While this blog is not intended to be a sales tool for PinPoint Mailings, if you think direct marketing may be a strategy you’d like to explore, I’d be more than happy to help you determine if it may be a fit for your business.

Each of us are experts in our own niche. Coming together allows to leverage our knowledge and experience. In running our own businesses, we found it to be most efficient to focus on using our skills and hire or outsource the other aspects of our businesses. Even running our group, we refer to each other for ideas and brain-storming.

An auto mechanic best uses his skills repairing engines, not mopping the floor, filing papers, or running his payroll. Non-profit employees and volunteers should provide their services, not fold and stuff envelopes, or create small give-away items. A veterinarian should be seeing people’s pets, not fixing computers or updating his website.

In reality, any business owner should focus on just one thing: running his business. Everything from payroll and accounting to marketing and office cleaning should be done by a hired employee or an outsourced contractor.

That’s where The Small Business Specialists come in. We provide the essential services to running any business. By working with one group, a business owner can streamline the entire process or selecting other vendors. Due to the familiarity we’ve developed with each other, we can easily work together to meet the needs of the client as quickly and painlessly as possible.

If you are, or know, a small business owner thinking of starting a business, talk with one of our consultants to see if we can help get you jump started. Visit our website or call one of our consultants at (303) 731-4363.

The shop owner wanted to test direct mail on a small mailing to evaluate if he should make it part of his 2010 marketing plan. We developed a campaign to market to the 500 BMW owners closest to his shop. The campaign was very simple; three monthly mailings of the same postcard to BMW owners.

The first set of cards was mailed in November. About a week after the mailing, Davis Repair received several calls for minor repairs and oil changes. However, they were also able to service one new customer’s BMW with a $3,000 repair. That one repair covered the cost of the entire campaign.

After the experience, the owner called to expand the marketing. He wanted to add the next closest 500 BMW owners. The modified campaign will now run for six months, alternating between the two groups. Since they have already covered the cost of both campaigns, all future business generated as a result of this mailing is profit.

This example shows how a direct marketing campaign should work. We defined the target market of BMW owners, developed a message tailroed to them, and reached out to them multiple times. As a result, new customers have come in, and with good customer service, will become regular customers.

We don’t yet have the Return On Investment (ROI) for this campaign, as it is only about halfway finished. The preliminary response shows promise, and the results have already paid for the entire campaign.

This campaign, though on the small side, shows what a direct mail campaign should do for your business. If you want help developing a campaign tailored to your business. I’d enjoy the opportunity to talk.

Holiday parties provide great opportunities for restaurant marketing ideas. Marketing for restaurant business events not only generate additional revenue, but bring in a group of customers that may not normally eat at your restaurant. Help the business focus on employee or customer appreciation. Providing employees with a social aspect outside of the office builds stronger working relationships. Getting to know other coworkers families develops deeper bonds.

For the family parties, there are several ways to build a marketing plan for a restaurant. One focus could be on not hosting everyone at your house. Another could be avoiding the mess and hassle of cooking. A third is having a place to go after the meal is over. These three themes could easily be tied together when marketing for restaurant holiday parties. Bringing families together without the stress of planning, cleaning and impressing the other members allows them to spend quality time together without the distractions associated with hosting at their house.

The third topic, a restaurant marketing plan to attract social parties, has the most creative options. There are many groups that would host a social party. There are the parties for people who only see each other a few times each year. These would require a restaurant marketing idea with a reunion theme. Another group sees each other on a regular basis and treat each other as family. Some simply want to gather in lieu of their family, since they may not be able to get together with them. There are plenty of new restaurant marketing ideas.

So, if you’re marketing for a restaurant, there are still some options this holiday season.

The final week of October provides a last opportunity to start or add some marketing for the holidays. We have been working with several clients to add targeted direct marketing efforts to their marketing plans. For it to be effective, any campaign should plan for three or more mailings.

With only four weeks to the busiest shopping week, Thanksgiving week, the rush is on! Most retailers have placed their advertisments in the newspapers, bought their TV and radio time, have put their signs in the grocery carts, are having flyers distributed, and have scheduled multiple mailings. If you haven’t done this for your retail store, this week may be your last chance to get any of it done.

In order to put your marketing in motion, decide on a highly targeted sector of your customer base. Then figure out a specific message or offer to send them. Finally, find a professional to complete the project. At this late time, even if you have the skills, knowledge, and capabilities for this project on your own, chances are you don’t have the time to get it done.

Be sure to find a professional with expeirience in marketing, finding the target market, and capablities to get the work completed. Once you find a professional, be sure to take his/her advice and make decisions quickly. By trusting the professional and making quick decisions, your marketing wil bring new clients in to help you acheive a great reatail sales season!

1. Define your most profitable customer segment.
2. Find a way to identify others like this market.
3. Pick the product or products for the segment.
4. Create a message or idea that appeals to the market.
5. Prepare the materials.
6. Send the materials!

Once you follow these steps, see what the response is and continue. If you have the time, resources, and inventory, continue the process with other customer segments. Bringing in your current customers, along with new ones, will ensure you have a great holiday sales season!

This year may be no different from any other. As a retailer, you should want to make money. To make money, you need to sell your products. To sell your products, you need customers. To find customers, you need to market. These are the basics of any business. This year the basics still apply.

If, as a retailer, you are thinking of cutting your marketing budget, your competition already has. You could cut yours and you’d both be investing the same amount and be on equal footing. Or you could maintain your marketing budget, or even increase it, and get more exposure.

If your main direct competitor cuts its budget by 50% and you maintain yours, your exposure is now 66%, 33% more than your competitor. If you doubled your marketing investment, your exposure would grow to 80% and be four times your competitor.

So, if you could get four times the exposure of your primary competitor for only twice your previous investment, doesn’t that seem like a good deal. Oh wait, is it starting to sound too good to be true? Well, this assumes you only have one competitor and you have both invested the same in marketing over the years.

The principle still applies. If most of your competition cuts their marketing, and you maintain or increase yours, your exposure is dramatically affected by their changes.

So, my advice to any retailer is, at a minimum, maintain the same marketing investment as last year. OR, if possible, increase it to take advantage of the increased exposure. The increase can be to expand your current and previous marketing tactics, or to try something new.

I’ve mentioned it before, the classic phrase in marketing is “I know I’m wasting half of my marketing budget; the problem is I don’t know which half.” It never hurts to try something new and different. At worst, you find a method that doesn’t work. At best, you discover a way to bring in more business than you every thought possible!

1. Communicate with your entire client base about the holidays.
2. Send special notices or invitations to last year’s holiday customers.
3. Review last year’s best sellers and find out why they sold.
4. Market directly to new prospects interested in your product lines.
5. Invest more, or at least the same, in marketing. Everyone else is cutting back!

While these seem simple, many retailers have forgotten the basics of marketing. I’m currently helping a few retailers who have received the final shipments of their inventory make sure they sell most, if not all, of it this holiday season.