Will Targeted Television Advertising Change Your Marketing

In today’s landscape, businesses need to find ways to reach the exact customer base they need. This type of marketing, based on segmenting, has been a boom to direct mail and internet marketing to name two, but has been a challenge for mass media marketing.

In many markets, it’s simply too expensive for small and medium sized businesses to advertise on television. It’s hard to measure the return on these campaigns and with all the channels available to television watchers, commercials are often passed right over or never seen in the first place, limiting any return on investment.

But it seems like all that is about to change.

Beginning with DirecTV toward the end of 2010, the move is being made to target television advertising, making it more effective.

Thanks to those boxes that change the channels on your television, providers and advertisers can now see exactly what you are watching and when you are watching it. And with that information, they can tailor a specific advertising campaign for you.

But what makes this idea even more incredible is that the technology exists for people to get different commercials based on what they are interested in. So in one house, while watching American Idol, one family might see ads for new cars, while another family might see ads for toys at exactly the same time.

Imagine if you could reach just your ideal customer base through televised advertising? Do you think it could make a major impact on your lead generation and your business in general?

For years talented marketers have known the key to successful campaigns was reaching the target market with ideas that called that market to action.

Now it seems the opportunity is there to reach people directly with mass media marketing for specific niches. How will your business take advantage of this new opportunity?

Make Every Negotiation a Win- Win

From finding the perfect venue for an event, to developing a host/ben relationship or even bringing on a new client, many parts of business coaching involves negotiating.

That’s why it’s so important to understand what makes a proper win-win negotiation. Nobody wants to deal with someone that simply wants to beat them. Crushing someone and winning every level of negotiation is not the way to build a healthy symbiotic relationship.

If you’re going to be doing business with someone over a period of time, you want to develop a reciprocal relationship, one in which you both benefit and win-win is a great way to do just that.

So what are the important elements of a win-win negotiation?

First, it’s important to never assume you know the other party’s objectives. Doing so can limit the scope of your negotiation or cause you to negotiate against yourself in some respects.

Let them tell you want they want and do your best to accommodate them, so long as you are having your objectives met.

Second, don’t limit the scope of your negotiations to just one area. Finding a win-win solution on one topic can be harder than on multiple topics. That’s why you’ll often see bargainers bring topics into the discussion that are irrelevant. In this way, they lose an issue they don’t really care about, so they can win on those they do.

Another important factor to consider is that negotiating plays by a certain set of rules and there are typical issues that come up no matter what you’re negotiating. This is a good thing because it makes negotiating the kind of thing you can practice and even script.

By practicing your negotiating skills, you can figure out what some of the main objections your opponent might have and do your best to answer those objections in a well-thought out way.

The most important thing to remember is that at the end of a win-win negotiating session, both parties should feel like they’ve accomplished something positive.

Negotiation is an exploration of both your position and the other person’s position, with the goal of finding a mutually acceptable compromise that gives you both as much of what you want as possible.

If one party comes away from the negotiation upset with the outcome, you haven’t accomplished your goal of finding a compromise that everyone can work with and that may hinder your relationship in the future.

ActionCOACH Earns More Hardware

We must be doing something right because the awards keep piling up for ActionCOACH.

Our latest comes from the Communitas Awards, which honored ActionCOACH with Excellence in Community Service for our pro bono work with Coaching for a Cause in 2010.

The Communitas Awards seeks to honor companies, organizations and individuals that go beyond rhetoric and whose commitment sets them apart from their competition.

The companies recognized by the Communitas Awards, like ActionCOACH, are dedicated to helping the less fortunate in their communities by changing the way they do business to benefit their employees, communities and environment.

I want to offer many thanks to everyone that contributed to us winning this award, including all the coaches that worked so closely with charities in their community.

We couldn’t be prouder of your efforts and we share this honor with you.

How important is SEO to your business?

Do you use the proper SEO strategies to bring as many people as possible into your business? You may not realize it, but if you aren’t at the top of search engines you are losing business every day.

According to studies:

97% of American internet users shop on the internet and 57% typically shop online and then make their purchase offline

90% of online commercial searches result in purchases made offline

82% of local searchers follow up with an in-store visit or phone call

80% of shoppers’ budgets are spent within 50 miles of the home

74% of internet users search locally

73% of all online activity is invested locally

66% of Americans use online local search engines

61% of local online searches lead to purchases

54% of Americans have substituted the internet and local search engines for phone books and 35% of all searches are local in nature

25% of all internet searches have a purely local, commercial focus

So are you gearing your SEO strategies around these facts? Do you make it easy for people “in your neighborhood” to find you online? Do you leverage the resources of your brick and mortar business with your online presence?

If you aren’t, as you can see from these statistics, it’s time to start.

Les Brown to Speak at Business Excellence Forum

Les Brown is one of the top motivational speakers in the world and we are very excited he will be offering his wisdom Saturday, August 19, 2011 at the Business Excellence Forum at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida.

Brown’s life story is one of perseverance. As a baby, he and his twin were abandoned by their mother. They were adopted when they were six weeks old, but that was just the first challenge Brown faced.

He was labeled a slow learner and developmentally challenged until a former teacher convinced him to go beyond the expectation of others.

Through education and growth he found the greatness that was inside of him. He went from a disc jockey to community leader to a political commentator and then a three-term state legislator. His greatest talent is as a keynote speaker and trainer and that is where he makes the biggest impact.

He is also a best- selling author, having written It’s Not Over Until You Win and Live Your Dreams.

Brown delivers his message eloquently and with passion, so don’t miss his him on Saturday August 20 at the Business Excellence Forum.

ActionCOACH Rates High in Satisfaction

If franchisees are satisfied and happy, things within the entire franchise system are probably running smoothly.

That’s why it was such an honor that ActionCOACH was ranked 31st in the latest Franchise Business Review in the large systems category for the most recent poll.

This is an award we strive for every year and we are proud to be recognized by the Franchise Business Review again this year.

We know no matter how great a company is, if the franchisees aren’t happy, growth and success simply aren’t possible.

Our franchisees are our business partners, so keeping them happy and satisfied is one of our top priorities.

Are You Nominated for the Business Excellence Awards?

The Business Excellence Forum will take place on August 19 and 20.

The Forum will feature the Business Excellence Awards Ceremony, which will honor some of the best companies and entrepreneurs in the world of small business on Saturday August 20.

Awards will be given in 19 categories ranging from Most Innovative Company to Entrepreneur of the Year.

If you know a business that has done a terrific job in 2010, it couldn’t be easier to nominate them.

Just click here and follow the instructions and nominate your business today.

Are You Attending the Business Excellence Forum?

The Business Excellence Forum will be hosted at the world famous Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida on August 19 and 20 and it promises to be one of our most exciting, newest global initiatives.

The Business Excellence Forum will be an outstanding time for small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to network with and learn from successful business people in one of the most beautiful settings in the world.

Of course, the Forum wouldn’t be complete without the Business Excellence Awards Ceremony, which will honor some of the best companies and entrepreneurs in the world of small business on Saturday August 20.

All in all, the Business Excellence Forum promises to be a “Can’t Miss” event for any small business owner, entrepreneur or Business Coach.

Indeed, anyone who is involved in a small business will get tremendous value from the training, workshops and speakers scheduled for this event.

For more information on the 2011 Business Excellence Forum, just click here.

The Importance of Coaching for a Cause

The nature of the work ActionCOACH Business Coaches do is a help to local communities by making small businesses profitable.

But ActionCOACH’s Coaching for a Cause program is a global initiative that truly focuses on spreading the principles of gratitude and abundance by applying “for profit” systems to the non-profit and charitable world.

Through Coaching for a Cause, ActionCOACH business coaches teach non- profit organizations how to operate like businesses, how to build systems and implement them and how to make the most of each and every contribution they earn.

Last year the program helped increase donations to non-profits and and participating charities by more than $3 million.

This year, we expect to teach even more non-profits how to be successful.

To see how Coaching for a Cause works and how it has created success for participating organizations, just click here.

Winners Announced at 2010 Asia Pacific Conference

The 2010 ActionCOACH Asia Pacific Conference took place at the Sofitel, Broadbeach in Queensland, Australia.

During the conference, dozens of coaches were honored with awards signifying their outstanding results and achievements throughout 2010.

The award winners were:

Coach of the Year: Bruce Campbell

Rookie Coach of the Year: George Zenon

Most Improved Coach: Nick Ikonomou

Best Client Results: Brett Burden

Best Awarded Client: Andrew Masi

Best Client Retention: Hank de Smit

Associate Coach of the Year: Christine Beard

ProfitCLUB Award: Rueben Taylor

ActionCLUB Award: Business Coaching Sydney

GrowthCLUB Award: Simon Harris

Master Licensee of the Year: Vic Ciuffetelli

Coaches’ Choice ActionCOACH: (tie) Gavin Bassett and Craig Brewster

Coaches’ Choice AbundanceCOACH: Gerard Liddy

Coaches’ Choice SeminarCOACH: Craig Brewster

Coaches’ Choice NetworkCOACH: Terri Billington

Coaches’ Choice BrandCOACH: Gavin Bassett

Coaches’ Choice MarketingCOACH: Ben Fewtrell

Coaches’ Choice SalesCOACH: Ashley Thomson

Coaches’ Choice TeamCOACH: David Guest

Coaches’ Choice Forum Poster of the Year: Cynthia Wihardja

ActionMAN Awards:
Mark Blum
Mike Rady
Wayne Gillan
Andrew Laurie
Paul Henshall
Leon Bingham
Anil Puri
Nathan McDonald
Blair Harding
Ariel Inigo
Rob and Faye Caughey
Maresa Ng
Steve Leach
Maylani Wiaji

Congratulations to all the winners and we are looking forward to what each and every one of you accomplish in 2011.