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Joe, hello!
A Note from Ruth
Upcoming Events: How to Leverage Your Book and Your Brand with Online Social Networking
Feature Article: "Is It Time To Revamp Your Brand"
Ruth Recommends: Here’s the Scoop in the Laser Secret Society
The Ruth Klein Report, published bi-monthly, is your resource for timely news, emerging trends & analysis, and smart advice that will help you boost your bottom line. Please add rklein@ruthklein.com to your white list or address book to ensure receiving future issues! P.S. Forward newsletter to a colleague. |
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March 2008
Published bi-monthly. You are on our newsletter list because you signed up for one of our programs. To amend your subscription, see link at end of email.
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Dear Joe,
I have been working on several projects to help you in your business at a quantum level. I am so excited to be sharing these projects with you. For example, I know you’re busy and overwhelmed with the tasks at hand, let alone find the time to spend hours reading research trends and marketing strategies. Since I am your Branding, Marketing and Productivity partner in your business, I have created a report to save you time, money, and energy.
Every year, the nation’s largest companies spend millions of dollars on outside specialists who track and analyze trends. The average high-level CEO and his staff pore through hundreds of pieces of information each day for that one idea that will grow profits.
Instead of success, studies show these companies lose billions each year in lost productivity and blocked innovation because of information overload. (The economics research firm Basex puts a $588 billion price tag on information overload.)
In one ABC News poll, nearly half of senior managers (43%) report that important decisions are delayed because of too much information overload! In fact, the same percentage report feeling physically ill from the stress of information overload.
Why waste hours and money every day following their lead. You can capitalize on research worth millions of dollars with one monthly report that collects, distills, analyzes, condenses and delivers to you the exact strategies you need to profit at warp speed.
Become a Charter Member of my new Laser Secret Society Report, and erase the high cost and wasted time of information overload.
This report delivers research worth millions of dollars that is provided to you in a simple format to keep you light years ahead of the corporate learning curve. What sets us apart is that our expert research teams and analysts laser in on the most critical information of the greatest value to you. We then go one crucial step further to provide you those strategies specific to your business that can be immediately put into place to grow your business.
It’s no wonder that small and big businesses are missing out on how to capitalize on the most lucrative trends and innovations in today’s global marketplace. Information in this digital world that used to be measured in gigabytes now is being measured in “exabytes” (1 exabyte equals 1 billion gigabytes).
IDC researchers defined the 161 billion gigabytes of information available to anyone with an Internet connection in 2006 as the equivalent of “3 million times the information in all the books every written.”
You can’t hire a staff large enough to troll through this astronomical overload of information; you don’t want to waste valuable productivity and innovation time collecting, storing and analyzing this exponentially growing amount of information when you can receive vital information through the Laser Secret Society Report. It will save you time, money, and energy in Research, Business Trends, Consumer Trends, Cutting-edge Marketing Strategies, and Creative Online Branding & Marketing Tips.
I’ll share with you how to becoming a charter member later in this newsletter.
Also in this issue is an important question for your business at this time of economic upheaval. Is it time to revamp your brand? Learn how other companies are approaching this question, and how you can benefit in this issue’s feature article.
Here's to your Marketing & Productivity Success!
Ruth Klein, Branding, Marketing & Productivity Coach, consults hundreds of clients ranging from solo entrepreneurs to the Fortune 500. Visit RuthKlein.com for more information on the Ruth Klein catalog of small business and corporate services. |
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How To Leverage Your Book or Brand with Online Social Networking |
Are you ready to tap into the multi-billion dollar industry of social networking? It’s a hot market and I’d love to show you how to increase your brand, multiply your marketing strategies easily, while you double or triple your database and income.
March 26, 2008
5:30 – 6:30 PM PST (8:30 PM EST)
Go here to find out more
BONUS!
Go here to receive my new Ruth Klein’s Online Social Networking Report |
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Is It Time To Revamp Your Brand?
By Ruth Klein
There are two ways to respond to a downshift in the economy: you can sink, or you can start thinking creatively. Many of the major corporate players are revamping their brands to stand out in an even more hotly competitive marketplace, and so can you.
CNN and the Wall Street Journal made much ado about the recent decision by Victoria’s Secret to revamp its brand by toning down products that leave too little to the imagination and start embracing a wider (read: more mature) market. With sales down, Victoria’s Secret executives announced plans to revamp its brand to make it still sexy, but a little less flamboyant, hoping to attract older shoppers back into the stores.
Cell phone companies, too, are searching for new ways to revamp their brands. LG Electronics, the maker of the Voyager and Chocolate phones, this year started holding focus group meetings to dig deeper into what customers really want that will allow the company to stand out among so many choices. “We constantly have to be reminding ourselves that we tend to be geek types, and our customers are not,” Ehtisham Rabbani, an LG vice president for product strategy and marketing, told the New York Times. “Our job is to be behaviorists and psychologists.”
These new efforts are following the success of Apple, which introduced an iPhone that also plays music and surfs the Internet. Now competitors are asking, what else do consumers want?
The Wall Street Journal reports that T-Mobile is introducing test models of a new system that will allow cell phones to connect with home landline phones. The service, “Talk Forever Home Phone,” is being introduced first in Seattle and Dallas. It will allow the use of a cell phone account in combination with any corded or cordless home phone with multiple extensions for only $10 a month after a one-time $50 router charge, the newspaper reported. In this case, the goal was to be different and also affordable.
Is it time to revamp your brand? In the cases above, expensive focus groups and studies are behind tentative steps to revamp brands. However, the same downshifting economy that is pressuring the corporate giants to rethink their branding can create more severe constraints on small businesses and solo entrepreneurs. Fortunately, there are cost-efficient ways to revamp your brand to make you stand out and attract new customers, even in a tough economy.
5 Easy Ways to Revamp Your Brand
- Engage your own focus group. Gather a group of your best customers and also new customers (and don’t forget co-workers, employees and mentors) to meet for at least one hour to discuss whether it’s time to revamp your brand, and how this can be accomplished at little or no additional cost. You might be surprised that a simple change in wording or packaging or marketing is the answer. For ideas on how to conduct a successful focus group, visit www.managementhelp.org/evaluatn/focusgrp.htm. Or www.ixisxigma.com/vc/focus_groups/. Or, from the University of Arizona, http://ag.arizona.edu/fcs/cyfernet/cyfar/focus.htm. The goal is to adapt ideas from these how-to guides to holding focus groups to fit your budget and preferred group size.
- Refine your focus group results. Once you have received a set of suggestions, realistically study them to determine what will best suit revamping your brand without major changes or expenses. In a tough economy, zero in on what will save customers or clients money (or be the best value), and what can bring you new customers.
- Zero in on extras. Revamp your brand to embrace “extras” that will bring more old and new customers to your door. Can you repackage your services to add a “bonus” or “free” service such as a newsletter, calendar, or a 10-minute mini-consultation? The difference is in whether you focus on the array of services or products, or in introducing new products that revamp your brand. In Victoria’s Secret case, it’s a matter of introducing new (less flamboyant) lines. In the case of T-Mobile, it’s a case of offering the same service as more compatible with another brand (landline phones) with just the addition of an extra router.
- Think compatibility. T-Mobile decided to revamp its brand by experimenting with how to become more compatible with traditional landline telephone service. Can you revamp your brand by making it more compatible with another product or service? If consumers are feeling rushed, can you make your service more compatible by reducing the time frame of your service? If consumers are less inclined to drive long distances, can you make your services or products more compatible to online availability? Compatibility is a topic you should include in your focus group.
- Rethink your customer base. If consumers are spending less (and they are), is it time to rethink your customer base? How can you revamp your brand to appeal to customers outside your niche demographic to make up for less business by existing customers? Victoria’s Secret is branding out by toning down its lingerie to appeal to older shoppers. Cell phone companies have branded out from “useful” purposes of its phones to “fun” uses such as playing music and games. Sometimes it can be a matter of just rephrasing your marketing to appeal to a wider customer base, versus introducing new gadgets or product lines. If you offer an editorial service, isn’t that just as important to graduate students and job seekers as it is to business executives? Are the services you offer to young professionals just as important to retired workers who now find themselves back in the workforce, or working from home? Revamp your brand by changing the wording of your marketing and informational materials.
© 2008 Ruth Klein
DO YOU WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? Please do, as long as you include all trademark and copyright marks and use this complete blurb with it: "Branding Strategist & Productivity Coach Ruth Klein publishes the 'Ruth Klein Report' bi-monthly with 7,000+ valued
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Branding Strategist and Productivity Coach, Speaker and Author Ruth Klein is
the owner of the award-winning boutique firm The Marketing/Time Source.
If you liked today's issue, you'll LOVE these bestselling books: The Everything Guide to Being a Sales Rep and Time Management Secrets for Working Women
Listen to Ruth at the 'Office Depot Web Café' on: Branding Out...Harnessing the Power of Your Business & Personal Brand via www.ruthklein.com. Stay tuned for updates on Ruth Klein's upcoming PBS Special, coming in 2008.
You can also get some of Ruth's time management and productivity tips at AOL Coaches.
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The most important business invitation you’ll receive this year!
Every year, the nation’s largest companies spend millions of dollars on outside specialists who track and analyze trends. The average high-level CEO and his staff pore through hundreds of pieces of information each day for that one idea that will grow profits.
Instead of success, studies show these companies lose billions each year in lost productivity and blocked innovation because of information overload. (The economics research firm Basex puts a $588 billion price tag on information overload.)
Become a Charter Member of my new Ruth Klein’s Laser Secret Society Report and Erase The High Cost and Wasted Time of Information Overload!
WHY MY REPORT?
No matter how large your knowledge staff is or how many outside consultants you hire, it is mathematically impossible for you to keep abreast of every piece of information that may or may not be of value to your business. We can’t either!
What we can do is zero in on our most trusted sources and our trademarked trends tracking system using top expertise to analyze (using demographics, psychographics and six additional success measurement tools) and condense new information. We then provide you the Smartest Tips to use this information RIGHT NOW to innovate and grow your business.
As a Charter Member, you reserve your place in a Limited Opening. As a Charter Member, you always receive my MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE that will refund your investment if you are not IMMEDIATELY satisfied with the information you receive. Why? I’m that confident in our product that I KNOW you will stay on board.
LIMITED MEMBERSHIP
LIMITED TIME
Make Your Smartest Business Decision this Year
(Before the Competition Does!)
If you want more information, please check this out…
OH…besides receiving this incredibly well-researched report, you’ll be entitled to bi-monthly telecoaching sessions with me! |
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Smart Women's Coaching is an incredible resource to check out for free and paid coaching sessions by very qualified professionals.
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Questions? Contact me directly at rklein@ruthklein.com.
A note to my readers: I welcome your comments, questions and suggestions.
Here's to Your Branding & Productivity Success,
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Copyright © 2008 Ruth Klein. All rights reserved. |
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