Radiance Road Marketing Blog

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Today, I attended my first Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce Schmooze a’Palooza and I am so glad I did! This “power networking” event, held at Florida Southern College in the Eleanor Searle Drawing Room, brought together about 50 of Lakeland’s shakers and movers to promote our businesses – to “sell the sizzle” – and enjoy lunch together.

We gathered in the elegant drawing room on the architecturally-awesome FSC campus about 11:30 this morning where a buffet of salad, grilled chicken, roast beef, pasta and steamed veggies awaited us. I started building my power for the event with some cheese and crackers while meeting some of my fellow Lakeland Chamber members and staff – many for the first time since I am a fairly new member. The Chamber of Commerce’s Vice-president for Membership Development Terry Ottinger and Communications VP Aaron Bates, along with our host – Account Executive Amy Wiggins (reach her at 688-8551 ext. 229) – greeted me and made me feel right at home.

Jessica Gutowski, standing-in for AllSolar’s Dillon Daniels, joined me at my table since we already knew each other from another event. Jessica is a real talented, young up-and-comer in the Lakeland biz world – a recent FSC Public Relations grad working on the Gow Field campaign for mayor.  Sitting to my right was Adam Baust of the Welborn Companies’ Adminstrative Service Offerings, who is opening a new branch here in Lakeland to help local businesses with their accounting, payroll and tax matters. Keiser University‘s Director of Student Services Ryan Reis joined us, as well, and we got got to talk about helping students develop practical business experience through intership and portfolio development with Lakeland companies. I taught at [then] Keiser College in Melbourne, FL and am really excited about mentoring local students. After a nice lunch to power-up for our presentations, the ever-effervescent Amy Wiggins got things sizzling.

At the Schooze a’ Palooza, each attendee gets to stand up and give a 30-second “elevator-pitch” for their business to the crowd. It’s a great way to hone your presentation skills! I enjoyed watching my fellow Chamber members give their pitches. The event gave me a chance to hear local enterprises’ marketing messages and get to know some of the people that are active in the business community. Its a real whirl to go through almost 50 marketing pitches in less than an hour and ‘where the rubber meets the raod’ in marketing. In the marketing world, you are competing against so many messages for attention and to gain interest in about half a minute. YOU GOTTA MAKE IT SIZZLE!

As a local internet marketing consultant, I analyze marketing messages for a living. As a prospective consumer, I want to know what’s in it for me as quickly as possible. This was a wonderful way to take a look at what I do – and how I present my business to prospects. After all, my job is to get your BEST prospects to visit your website and BUY your products and services. I better be able to deliver a clear, compelling message myself!

I recommend that local business join the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce for opportunities like this. If you are a member, I recommend attending the next Schmooze a’ Palooza. In the meantime, if you’d like a few tips you can use to develop or hone your 30-second elevator pitch email me and I’ll get those out to you. It really is a vital skill for anyone who needs to explain what your business does. I’ll be working on my elevator pitch to make the best impression – to make it sizzle – at ALL of the events and encounters here in Lakeland this year.

New Feature Article on Lakeland Internet Marketing

By Jack Duncan, internet marketing consultant, Radiance Road Marketing, Lakeland, FL

The successful business in your market continues to take advantage of opportunities to seize more of your potential customers and a larger portion of those customers’ wallets. They are watching their profits grow while having more time to enjoy life’s bounty. Meanwhile, your business struggles to maintain cash-flow to keep afloat. Why?

There are two basic reasons…

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Read More Marketing Articles at: http://www.radianceroadmarketing.com/articles.html

I really enjoyed my first Lakeland Chamber of Commerce Business & Breakfast at 7:30am this morning at Lakeland Habitat for Humanity 1317 George Jenkins Blvd.

OK, 7:30 in the am is a bit early for me to be out and about (unless I’m going to Disney World!), but this IS businees & BREAKFAST. Chamber staffers Amy Wiggins (membership account exec) and Christine Murphy (admin. asst) cheerily greeted me at the door and pointed me toweard the coffee <thank you>. There were about 40  of the other local shakers and movers grabbing some yogurt, bagels, sausage biscuits and the like while doing the morning networking thing.

I met local Realtor Janet Shearer (read her Polk County Real Estate blog here) and we talked for awhile. She just got her first internet marketing lead! It’s thrilling to meet sharp local entrepreneurs getting results from marketing online Keep up the good work, Janet!

The chambers’ Champions mentor newbie members like me and I got to visit with one of ‘em, Wade Altman, business support specialist with Superior Business Technologies. They sell and service computer systems, networks, telephone systems and security system for small businesses like mine. Good to know!

Claire Twomey, Executive Director of Lakeland Habitat for Humanity [contact her at (863) 682-3812], told us all about what the organization has done for low-income families here in the area. Did you know that the families have to work to help other families build homes FIRST? They also have to make a down-payment and get a loan, but Habitat makes it affordable for them to have a home. Claire said that they have helped 100 families so far here in Lakeland.

Our Lakeland Habitat is now offering more volunteer opportunities for churches and civic groups to get involved with their new A Brush with Kindness program. It’s a locally-operated program, Claire said,  serving low-income homeowners who struggle to maintain the exterior of their homes. Certainly, many of our local seniors and challenged citizens need this sort of assistance and it helps the entire community!

Unlike so many bailout and entitlement programs today, Habitat for Humanity helps people to help themselves. The organization has to buy land, materials and pay building contractors (like plumbers and electricians). And, they keep their administrative costs around 3% so donations mainly go to the actual program services in the community. If you are looking to get involved in improving our community, I would recommend that you check them out!

Claudia Tritton, business development director for the Lakeland Economic Development Council gave a stimulating presentation on how they are continuing to help the area grow by adding significant new businesses, keeping companies here  and helping existing businesses expand.  Some of their recent successes include WellDyneRx, Firmenich, Pepperidge Farm, Saddle Creek and GTECH Printing. Her excitement is contagious! Claudia reinforced the reasons I moved here and have made a commitment to grow my internet marketing consultant business here in Lakeland.

After the presentations, we were escorted out (Disney-style) through the “gift shop”.  The ReStore is Habitat’s thrift shop for building materials, furniture and the like. Yes, they even have the kitchen sink! And lighting fixtures, windows, doors, tile… WOW! I didn’t know this existed here. It’s a great place to shop for your next home improvement project and the money goes to a great cause, too!

I was really impressed by the business & breakfast event. I got to connect with some local business people. I learned more about our wonderful community – how we are helping each other and growing together. And, breakfast! All for only five bucks as a Lakeland Chamber of Commerce member…

Maybe you should call Amy at 688-8551 ext. 229 to find out how the chamber fits into your marketing plan. I’m really pleased how it’s working for me already! Tell her Jack Duncan sent ya…

If you have comments or a story to share about the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce, Habitat for Humanity or how we are growing as a community, please post it here [or you can call me at (863) 668-1086 anytime....].

Have a great day today!

Or FIVE MYTHS About Marketing Online

Lakeland businesses, like small businesses in towns all across the globe today, want to grow and make more money. As a small business owner, the internet provides a great opportunity to get your marketing message to your target market. However, there are some misconceptions about marketing online that may be keeping you from getting the results you want.

1. Build Your Website & They Will Come. If you’ve setup a website expecting visitors to flock to it just because it’s there, you’re probably disappointed in the results. You may have paid a website design company to build a site for you and it looks great. But how do people find it? Are you indexed in the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s new BING? Why should they come? These are the major questions facing any small business owner here in Lakeland who wants to generate leads on the web.
2. A Web Site is An Online Brochure. Many owners simply put up a list of what they do and expect a visitor to be impressed. Many Lakeland plumbers, for instance, say that they fix a leak in a faucet or do toilet repair or install septic tanks. But WHY should they choose YOU over every plumber in Polk County that does the dame thing? What makes your plumbing company different? How do you benefit the customers more than any other plumber?
3. If I Submit To Search Engines, Customers Will Find My Business. Getting found by the three major search engines is important. However, it’s where you rank that makes a difference. If you aren’t in the top ten results for the term “Lakeland plumbing company,” prospects won’t be visiting your site. As a matter of fact, you are more likely to get customers if you are one of the top three sites (among other things). Search Engine Marketing is a complex process that requires more than indexing.
4. The Secret to Getting Customers Online Is…. There’s no secret. There is a PROCESS. It’s not easy and it’s not simple and it’s not over-night. Like anything else worthwhile, it takes time and effort and a proven method. First of all, it’s really like any other form of marketing. It requires a marketing plan. You have to use the basics of marketing and apply them first, then add the internet marketing techniques that work. There are a thousand books on internet marketing and all the good ones say the same things as the marketing textbooks: target your market, create a powerful marketing message, deliver the message to your prospects and motivate them to take action. It doesn’t matter if you are a plumber or plastic surgeon or a dentist or an air conditioning repair company – it works the same way. There is no magic software to get you to the top and keep you there.
5. Once You Set It – You Can Forget It. OK, internet marketing is not the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie, but you use the same basic techniques as Ron Popeil to market your business. Did Ronco make one commercial and play it once? Hardly. It takes an ongoing effort. Repetition works in marketing. Think of all the hugely successful marketing campaigns. They repeat the same message over different channels consistently over time. Marketing research shows that your customer, on average, needs to hear your message at least seven times for it to even make an impression. The internet, especially, is competitive. You can be at the top of Google one day and not there at all the next.

Don’t get fooled by companies that promise you a magic bullet to make your internet marketing successful. Many companies waste their time and resources by not having a solid internet marketing plan. They fall prey to gimmicks and scams and get-rich-quick schemes. If you don’t know how to market online, get some reliable information and maybe some help from a professional internet marketing company you can trust. Avoid the outrageous claims – like guarantees to get you to the top of Google. The only guarantee is that if you do the right things in marketing, the right way, consistently, you will become a competitor in the online marketplace.

Lakeland Internet Marketing Read More Marketing Articles

It’s time to take a step backward and gain perspective on this whole “business” idea.

I examine several companies in Lakeland every day to evaluate their position in our economic community. Some are wildly successful in their field and very profitable. Some are struggling. And some have recently gone out of business. As a resident of Lakeland and a small business owner myself, I depend on the success of our community in order to survive and thrive personally and professionally. As a matter of fact, it’s Polk County and the State of Florida, too.

Cypress Gardens just went out of business. Closed. No more visitors. No tourists to spend their money along Cypress Gardens Boulevard shops and restaurants. More jobs gone. More county and state taxes gone. The Butterfly effect will ripple through Winter Haven to Auburndale to Lake Wales to Bartow to Lakeland and beyond.

The problem with Cypress Gardens, as with so many businesses here, is perspective. What is important to YOUR business? Go ahead – make a list. I’ll wait.

Ask most business owners this fundamental question and you’ll usually get these responses: location, product or service, management, cash-flow, traffic, the economy, employees, customer satisfaction, overhead, pricing and market share. Sure, all those things are important to achieving business success. There is a crucial factor that most of us don’t really consider and it may be the MOST basic and important reason business succeed or fail: communication.

A basic college degree generally requires a communication class and I have taught many, many classes. I always start off with a simple definition of the communication process.

Communication requires a sender to form a message and deliver it through a channel to a receiver who must provide a response. Think about it. Does any business get done unless that happens? You can’t get a location or employees or a bank account or a loan or customers or market share or profits without communication. It doesn’t matter if you are a plumber or air conditioning company or a dentist or an attorney or Wal-Mart. How and what and when and to whom you communicate will determine your business success on a very basic level. What is important to your business?

Your business depends on your ability to send the right message to the right audience at the right time in the right way to get them to take the action you want. Who is going to be more successful in business: an owner who communicates well or one who does not? How well you communicate is going to determine your sales and your profits (or losses). If you’re not satisfied with your profits (I’m not), then maybe you need to take a look at that.

Easy question: What is the fastest growing means of communication in human history? You’re right – the internet. How important is THAT to your business? Is your competition taking advantage of internet marketing? Are YOU? Are you getting the response you want from your website? What can you do today to communicate better to improve your business?

I’d be glad to take a look at your website and offer three ideas for improvement at no charge. No strings. The only condition is that your business has to be headquartered in Polk County. Email me at info@radianceroadmarketing.com or call me right now at (863) 668-1086. You may not qualify to be a client, since I only work with a few, select companies, but your business is important to all of us here in Lakeland. I want to help you to succeed.

Lakeland Internet Marketing

On Friday, I returned to the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce to turn in my membership form and fee. I only had to pay half the yearly fee upfront, which helps cash-flow and makes it easy to do. Since my account exec, Amy Wiggins email her, wasn’t there, Terry Ottinger, Vice President of Membership Development, took my application and we chatted for awhile. Apparently, Amy had already briefed him on my business, which was a nice surprise.

Anyway, I told him one of the reasons I am joining is because I learned about chamber membership results from Milburn Drysdale . He was a member of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce and landed the multi-million-dollar Clampett account. That’s my earliest memory of chamber identity and it’s stuck with me.

Seriously, membership has its advantages. Through my involvement in several chambers during my more than twenty years as a businessman, I’ve learned firsthand how it can help build your business. Here are a few reasons I join and participate:

1. Chamber membership brings creditability. Studies show that consumers place more trust in chamber partners and are more likely to buy if they know a company is in the local chamber of commerce.
2. The Chamber offers networking opportunities to gain clients. Radiance Road Marketing serves Lakeland businesses. There are regular and special events designed specifically for b2b contacts.  As a local company providing internet marketing for local companies, it only makes sense to look for clients in the chamber because that’s where most of the successful business will be involved..
3. The Chamber offers unique advertising and promotion opportunities. I get my business listed on their online and print directories I can place ads in them, as well. I can also sponsor and leverage their local events.
4. The Chamber is an advocate for local businesses. Politically, the more small businesses that band together, the more power we have. It’s important to protect the interests of entrepreneurs like myself!
5. The Chamber provides opportunities for professional development. We learn from the experience of our fellow small and medium businesspersons as we interact and at specially-designed events. It’s important for me to learn to grow my business.
6. I have always advised my clients to join and participate in the local chamber of commerce. That’s hard to do if I am not a member myself. I advise them to do it because it works. My clients’ success is my success.
7. It strengthens our community. Since chambers build businesses and business hire workers and everybody pays taxes (ok – everybody with an income is supposed to pay taxes) – we all win. Lakeland businesses success is in my personal and professional best interest.

Joining is the first step. It’s an investment. I add my willingness to participate, eagerness to help the chamber and my fellow chamber members, and devotion to building our community. I know from my experience that my business will grow and profit. I will probably build some personal relationships, as well. And, I know that I will continue to grow as a person from doing the right thing for the right reason at the right time.

If you have a chamber success story, let me know by leaving a comment here or call me at 863 669-1086 to share. Thanks

Does Internet Marketing work for your business?

Looking around the wild world web, I see countless stories about internet marketing. Most give generalities about how cost-effective it is and that you need to be doing it. Some, especially in the trade magazines online, give actual success stories of positive results from online marketing efforts.

I recently was doing some research on the remodeling industry and the effects of internet marketing to write an article. Two stories caught my attention in Remodeling magazine. One talked about how a construction company doubled the number of leads from its website over the last year and how marketing online is more cost-effective than traditional methods. The other company invested $12,000 and is now getting more business from its website than from past customers or referrals (their former leading sources).

These successes don’t happen overnight or without a focused effort and a willingness to invest. Certainly more companies are taking advantage of new technologies today and reaping the rewards. Some of them, like the ones above, have taken advantage of the current situation to GROW.

Lakeland businesses are my concern. As you know, a lot of local companies are struggling right now. They are laying off employees because of a lack of work. Undoubtedly, there is less work because of the economy. However, it also means that you have to get aggressive in your marketing to get the work that’s out there. Unemployment is bad for all of us here in Lakeland. It affects every business, consumer and organization in Polk County and throughout Florida. What can we do?

Working smarter has always been the answer. It was in the last challenging economy and it will help us now. However, the technology continues to change and the shift has left many local companies at a huge disadvantage. Today, more consumers rely on the internet for information. Has your website changed? Can your prospects FIND you online? Are you using social media? What about email newsletters? What are you doing to gain a competitive advantage online?

I’d really like to hear from some local businesses and the projects that are working – or not working – for YOU. You can reply here or give me a call at 863 668-1086.

You can also read my article mentioned above Internet Marketing Creates Opportunity for Lakeland Businesses

Thanks,

Jack Duncan

Radiance Road Marketing

Lakeland Internet Marketing

When blogging first came on the scene, I asked myself: “Self, this blog stuff is cool, but what’s the point?”

It really took me awhile to come up with an answer. As a marketing, advertising and public relations consultant, I had generally gone with traditional media and even websites didn’t make a lot of sense for most businesses until the new millennium. With the growth of the internet and the adoption of web searches for local business information, more and more revenue was being generated. Blogging has turned the same corner and offered some serious advantages for internet marketing.

Let me just clarify the difference between advertising and PR. Advertising is paid placement of a marketing message. In public relations, you don’t pay for the placement. PR is not ‘free”, because there are costs to running a PR campaign. However, public relations campaigns are a different means to getting people to notice what you do and understand the advantages of your business. Blogs are PR tools to create awareness and interest in your company. Done right, public relations does generate leads and those leads can be converted into sales.

Blogging leverages your reach with minimal additional cost. Since you don’t add much overhead, most of the revenue from those leads goes straight to your bottom line. And that’s what business is about: increasing your profits.

Blogging has the following advantages:

1. ENGAGES YOUR PROSPECTS – Since blogs, unlike websites, are truly interactive, you potential clients can get involved in the dialog.
2. COMMUNICATES DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY – You can speak one-on-one with you potential customer and let others listen in to your conversation.
3. PROVIDES RAPID FEEDBACK – Your prospects can post messages that are seen immediately and you can respond quickly. How often do you update your website? Your blog gets updated in real time. Sooooo much more effective!
4. CREATES COMMUNITY – With a blog, you see and hear the participants and it allows you to have a gathering place for people with the same interests. People enjoy being ‘a part of’ rather than ‘apart from’. We are truly social animals by nature and gravitate to crowds.

The point is that blogging is a highly effective way to generate buzz and you can convert that interest into sales that maximize your profits. The proof is in the results. Large corporations like Disney, Microsoft and IBM are all increasing their bottom-line through their blogs. Now, small, local services companies like remodelers, plumbers, dentists and attorneys are catching on and seeing conversions to sales from their blog sites.

What about Lakeland businesses? I don’t see many getting involved yet. We do suffer a bit from the lag we usually see in trends trickling down to local business. Those businesses in Lakeland that become early adopters of technology usually benefit the most over the long-term. It’s alot harder to play catch-up. Fortunately, blogs are new enough that local companies can enter the race now and get great results. There are real low barriers to entry – it’s simple, straightforward and inexpensive. What are YOU waiting for? If you need help, just ask….

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So you have a blog success story? Please share it with us…..

Thanks