I predict that most programs you use will have a ChatGPT option in the near future (in less than a year). Even though ChatGPT has a Microsoft AI driver, even Apple's SIRI is going to be using it soon. So how can you best use ChatGPT in your business? Here are a few ideas:
*OK, the emotional support idea needs clarification. While ChatGPT cannot take the place of a licensed counselor, therapist or psychologist, it can provide you with "someone to talk to". Being an introvert, I cannot imagine needing that, but some folks could use a friend.
One of the first forms of entertainment on my first Mac, was a therapist program called Eliza that would talk with you and seemed to answer your questions - even asking questions of her own. It seemed like the first form of artificial intelligence, but ended up repeating itself frequently. Today, you'll get a more varied, creative, and entertaining response.
AI based language translation has improved. One of my translator friends recently told me that ChatGPT is putting many translators out of business. AI is talented with obscure regional dialects and accuracy.
Finally, please note that I did not suggest using ChatGPT to help you with writing your company brochure or blog. We've been experimenting with AI for quite some time and the writing it produces (even when you ask for it to be in a certain style or voice) is painful. It uses cliched phrasing, puff-speak, is overly sales oriented, and produces poor writing.
I guess that makes sense since most of our population writes and reads at a fourth-grade level. I do not recommend ChatGPT to fill your need for a writer.
Need help with other marketing ideas customized for your business? Give us a call: 573-221-3635.
©2024 Poole Communications
What are Google Ads? I don’t know, Google it! The majority of consumers find themselves doing research online before purchasing a specific product. The benefits of an optimized Google Ad campaign compared to a newspaper or Radio ad is that it can target a wider demographic and the specific target audience for your business. According to Google, “Google Ads makes it easy to show the world what’s unique about your business, so you can reach customers searching for what you offer.”
One of the advantages to Google Ads, compared to other advertising options, is Google’s flexible marketing platform. This means that it is suitable for all sizes of businesses. You can set your budget based on business type and zip code. The budget is based on how many estimated client clicks your ad will receive based on the budget you have for the ad.
One of the key factors of a Google Ad is keyword themes. When someone searches for a keyword or phrase related to your business, your ad will show up in their search. When you create your ad, you will select a few relevant keyword themes that will help increase your advertisement reach.
In order for your ad to reach the correct audience, Google lets you choose the location where your ad will appear in relation to your business. You can target potential customers from within walking distance to even the whole country. The possibilities for your Google Ad are endless.
Google Ads specifically targets and selects the potential client for you. It has something for any size of business with different budgets, goals and target audiences. This is why if you are wanting an Ad that will reach your target audience, Google Ads are the way to go. If you need help with your Google Ad, give us a call and we will get you set up for success!
“Never let a good crisis go to waste.” – Sir Winston Churchill
The COVID crisis will position every business for the "Next Normal". Will the position be positive, status quo, or negative? Visionary companies will use specific strategies to use any crisis to their advantage. According to research by global leaders like IBM, Deloitte, and McKinsey & Company, businesses that turn COVID into a (non-virus) positive will approach the future in these five ways:
1. Purposefully
A crisis is a magnifying glass. The people, products, processes, and relationships that are essential come into sharp focus. So do gaps in service and opportunities that may have been overlooked before. Businesses should enhance and elevate the “essentials” and find ways to:
2. Virtually
It’s no secret that COVID has accelerated the use of digital or virtual channels and products. Companies positioned to advance will expand these opportunities, specifically after reviewing data on how and when they can increase efficiency and links to customers. This analysis, combined with anecdotal feedback will determine when to dial back on digital expediency and when to tune in to more authentic, in-person methods.
KEY FINDING
Finding a balance between virtual and in-person operations may be the biggest way to succeed in the long term. According to April 2021 business findings by McKinsey Management company, 60% of companies said that remote sales operations were 30% more effective than traditional face-to-face methods.
3. Urgently
Companies that waste a crisis will slowly return to the status quo when it comes to operational pace and job descriptions. Businesses that refuse to return to life before COVID will:
McKinsey found that many leaders will check in more often with their teams to learn what is working and what is not. In a matter of hours, they will solve problems, pivot, and create new ways to deliver better service and more valuable products.
4. Nimbly
Many traditional processes and organizational charts are far from nimble. Even how companies match talent with tasks should shift to ensure a competitive advantage in the future. Deloitte, a global consulting group, shared that organizations are learning to connect the right employees to the toughest challenges, regardless of where they fall on the employee chart. According to both McKinsey and Deloitte research, successful leaders will:
5. With a Distinct Human Touch
If COVID taught us anything it is that we need thoughtful human connection. McKinsey and Deloitte share that progressive companies will use this lesson to focus on employees and customers. They will take the time to ask, consider, and review how employees perform best. In fact, 61 percent of CEOs in a 2021 Deloitte survey said they will re-imagine how employees work compared to just 29 percent the year before. People-centered companies will:
KEY FINDING
An IBM study showed that 80% of CEOs and 46% of employees shared that supporting the emotional and physical health of the workforce was important.
KEY FINDING
74% of leaders indicated to the IBM Institute for Business Value that they will invest in employees to help them learn the skills needed for the future of work.
To stay on the positive side of any crisis into the "Next Normal", it all comes down to perspective. Approaching the future in the five ways listed above will help any business turn any unforeseen circumstance into far-reaching and creative opportunities.
Need help planning for your future? Give Poole Communications a call. For less than 1 full time employee, we can handle all of your marketing needs. Let us be your Marketing Department and grow your business to the next level.
©2021 PooleCommunications.com
Sally just got done reading Manage Your Day-To-Day. The subtitle of this book is Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus and Sharpen Your Mind, edited by Jocelyn K. Glei. Here's some of the best business take-aways from the book:
If you find you've been working hard and hardly getting ahead, this book is for you. It focuses on how our work day and work world has changed. Too often we're reacting and not working on our daily to-do list. The first thing to do is schedule your creative work first and schedule it at a time when you work best. This may take a little time to find - but instinctively you may know this already. Set routines and stick to them. If a project isn't complete one day, calendar it and move it to the next day. Your capacity is limited. Schedule your renewal or "sharpen the saw" time. Stick to it. Schedule thinking time or alone time to plan. Plan blocks of time to work - calendar it and stick to it. Stop multi-tasking - it doesn't work. Work on one project at a time, focus and finish it. Understand your temptations and resist them. In other words stay off Facebook and quit texting. Keep your workspace organized. Protect your DO NOTHING time. Your brain needs some R&R. Send really short emails. There is magic in a six-word email. Schedule your social media time and use it effectively to promote your business. Sally does hers at the same time she's updating client posts. Sometimes your soul needs to rest - take a long break from being connected. Finally, stop thinking everything must be perfect. We are human. Only God is perfect.
Get the work done, do your very best and let it go.
"The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say 'no' to almost everything." – Warren Buffet
Here are some quick tips to get your press release published.
1. Make sure it's news worthy - if it's not it won't get published.
2. Take the time to develop a catchy headline that will attract attention.
3. Write in a concise, news-style with the most important information first and the least important information last. When editors cut an article, they cut from the bottom.
4. Find a photo that complements your release. It is much more likely to be printed with a photo.
5. Include your complete contact information: name, title, business, address, phone, email, website. The media needs to be able to get in touch with you to do a larger story if they have time and space. Make it easy for them.
6. Find the right person to send the press release to. You can usually find this on the media's website.
7. Send that person an email with the press release in the email and attach a PDF or WORD document of the release too.
8. Realize that you may have to send the press release more than once. Editors are busy people and your release will only be publicized if there is space or time. This week might be too full of news to print your release, but next week might be great.
If you need help writing and sending press releases, give Poole Communications a call at 800-900-3635. We'd be happy to help.
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Rose Anne Huck, manager of our Poplar Bluff office brings you today's book review.
Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers.
By Seth Godin
Internet marketing pioneer Seth Godin says we must change the way almost everything is marketed today.
Our author, Seth Godin, speaks to us about the demise of the age of interruption Marketing with the arrival of Permission Marketing. In this groundbreaking book, Godin describes the four tests of Permission Marketing:
With case study after case study, Godin walks us through good and bad examples of using the power of Permission Marketing to grow a business and customer base.
We are encouraged to follow-up with a full “suite of follow-up messages” for permission given. The suite of messages is a leveraged sequence of communication designed to strengthen our position and build trust.
You can easily do the math. Drive traffic to your site to collect their contact information. For every x percent who give you permission, you’ll generate $Y in sales. To finish the equation all you need is your conversion rate which you may be able to pull from your sales and marketing records.
The key is not to focus on permission acquisition on-line but rather build to it into what you’re already doing in your marketing efforts.
Think of it this way: an Interruption Marketer is a hunter. A Permission Marketer is a farmer.
Seth Godin uses a charming analogy to demonstrate the differences between Permission Marketing and Interruption Marketing.
First Scenario: A man gets a new suit, shoes, all the accessories and heads to a singles bar. He has an engagement ring in his pocket. He proposes marriage over and over hoping for someone to take him up on his offer. As you can imagine, he suffers many rejections.
Second Scenario: A man chooses a likely prospective date. Asks her out to dinner and a movie (appropriate incentives). They spend time together. Go out again. Meet the family. Eventually he proposes marriage and gets an emphatic “Yes!”
This approach is about building quality connections where there is mutual trust which in the long-term should result in greater sales per contact than any other system.
When we look at it this way, it is hard to imagine doing marketing any other way. It is also obvious that Permission Marketing requires a greater investment of time and resources. Permission Marketing results grow over time. They is measurable. These are the opposite of Interruption Marketing.
One hundred years ago small businesses ruled the world. They were responsive, trusted and capable. They offered samples or use of products before purchase and the company owner or sales person spent extra time with customers before the sale. It would not have been unusual for the company owner to be your neighbor. Oh my, how times have changed for most companies.
The KEY to Permission Marketing is in building a series of steps designed to get prospects to take the next step in the process. Let’s take a look at this example: Camp Arowhon
At each step the goal is to expand permission, not to make the final sale.
By not focusing on the sale, marketers are able to get far more out of their expenditures. Response rates to free samples, an affinity program or birthday club is 5 to 10 times higher than responses pushing for the sale.
When you are making your offer, the less you ask and the bigger the bribe, the more likely the consumer will bite. This guarantees your chance to deepen the permission with the next level.
Three important keys to keep in mind:
The first sale is the beginning of the relationship, NOT the ultimate goal. The Ultimate Goal is mutually beneficial - a relationship which grows over time. You supply their need. They pay you. You provide more. They buy more and so forth and so on.
If you find need to start with high cost interruption marketing, you want to leverage the cost of the first interruption across multiple interactions. In this instance it definitely pays to approach your audience in as many ways as possible.
TRUST is EVERYTHING! Without trust there are no sales. Trust means the prospect believes in the product and the company. Think of it this way, you have a different level of trust with a high-end jeweler versus the guy on the street with a briefcase of jewelry.
Building trust is a Step by Step process which requires time, money and commitment. Frequency builds familiarity and familiarity builds trust. When you first run your ad 10% of your market will remember it. If you run 30 days in a row, by the law of averages, eventually everyone will remember your ad. Frequency causes the consumer to focus on the message. Like repeating yourself to a 4-year-old helps get the point across - or training a dog or horse.
Statistically when you increase your frequency by 100% you increase your effectiveness by 400%! Frequency and trust outweigh reach and its glamour.
This book is packed with the fundamentals needed to connect with you audience in a way that resonates with them and will lead to relationships that are beneficial for you both.
One of my favorite examples used in the book is the LL Bean catalog company. Their inventory stays relatively unchanged year after year. There are a few tweaks but nothing extensive. LL Bean sends out catalogs over and over again even though the last book you got probably has not changed very much. Their loyal followers welcome these new books and peruse them and continue to buy from them year after year. This is the relationship we all need. Customers and prospects who are happy to receive our sales message and who trust us to deliver quality.
Permission Marketing was written in 1999 but remains an authoritative source of information. Many if not most of Godin’s predictions have come true. He was and is so far out front that even now, we are still working to implement what he preached then.
One last suggestion: Read it and read it soon.
To find out more about Seth Godin's Permission Marketing book, visit http://sethgodin.com/sg/
Today's review comes from our owner, Sally Poole.
Enchantment
by Guy Kawasaki
Build your company by building trust.
“The best overall treatise on interpersonal relationships since Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
— Michael Gartenberg, Research Director, Gartner
If you haven't read anything by Guy Kawasaki, it's time to start. His books are entertaining and filled with usable information you can apply to your business or organization right away. Guy started out as the chief evangelist at Apple and he knows business and marketing.
In Enchantment, he talks about winning over people to your company, product or service. It's much more than persuasion or influencing. It's about providing a lasting benefit to others that transforms people and relationships. It cements customers to you. And the process is outlined in this book.
A few of the chapters include: How to Achieve Likability, How to Achieve Trust, How to Prepare, How to Launch, How to Overcome Resistance, How to Make Enchantment Endure.
I'm going to highlight pertinent points from a few of the chapters. Kawasaki talks about how to align yourself with others by becoming more likable through smiling, acceptance of others and even dressing in similar ways. He talks about building trust by being transparent and fully human. That means admitting mistakes and acknowledging personal flaws and passions. He suggests giving for giving sake.
He gives examples of products and companies that enchant, such as Virgin America, and Apple Macintosh. What makes them different is that they are deep, well designed, intelligent, complete, empowering and elegant. I personally love design and to me this is what great work is all about. Thinking a product or service through so that it provides the best possible experience.
I love this book because of all the working examples and the tools he gives you to succeed. One important part of the book is about giving to others. He suggests you give with joy, give early, give often and generously and give unexpectedly. This is part of what builds trust and relationships in business. He even gives you ideas of how to use technology in a better way. For
instance, the six sentence email. Many emails are too long and don't get read. I've even heard of a SIX WORD email. Try it and see what success you have.
Finally he talks about enchanting your employees, your boss and even how to avoid enchantment! Guy Kawasaki covers it all and you'll enjoy his style and information. It's a quick read and it will help you, your business or organization.
To find out more go to: http://www.guykawasaki.com/enchantment/
Your customers may know about your business, but do they feel like they really know you and your staff? You can share a lot more about your company with a newsletter. Tell everyone about your wonderful employees. Explain a new product. Brag about that recent award. Share your accomplishments. Offer helpful advice. It's easy to do with a newsletter. It's a great way to stay in touch with your customers on a regular basis. Monthly, quarterly or semi-annually - It's up to you. I like quarterly because it's a little easier to maintain. You have lots to share and great stories to tell. Get started on your company newsletter today.
