Over the weekend I attended a seminar held by Universal Events called The Ultimate Marketing Seminar. It was a three day event and there were a lot of great speakers that presented fantastic content. As this was a free event, I was aware that each presenter would be offering something at the end, and most of their presentation was a long sales letter geared around their products. Nevertheless, I still attended because I heard Brad Fallon, Adam Ginsberg and John Carlton were going to be there and I wanted to see their presentations and meet them in person. Amongst them, I was also introduced to a few other speakers who I have not heard before such as Siimon Reynolds, James Schramko, and Ari Galper. I was very impressed to say the least and also took away some really simple concepts and when applied to the business will increase revenue substantially. This is what I wanted to share so keep reading.

Siimon Reynolds Recession Proof Strategy

Siimon’s presentation really captured me from the start. He gave an excellent opening talking about his plane trip to Australia on how branding and perception plays a vital role in the business. He did present a very cheesy story and you had to be there to see it. If you don’t know who Siimon Reynolds is, here’s a little background on him:

“Regarded as one of the most respected names in marketing, Siimon has lectured nationally to over 30,000 business people and appeared on numerous television and radio shows. He has won almost every major advertising award for creative thinking in the world including the Golden Lion at Cannes and the Grand Prize at the London International Advertising Awards.

Siimon co-founded OMON Ltd when he was just 23. Within four years Omon had won Agency of the Year twice. In 1989 OMON opened in New York and was voted one of New York’s five most creative new agencies by the New York Times. Its clients included Toyota, Phillip Morris and the Trump Organisation. In 1993 Siimon opened Andromeda, which within 2 years won the highest advertising award in the world – the Grand Prix at Cannes. Andromeda, Australia’s only publicly listed advertising agency was bought by John Singleton and Siimon was appointed Executive Director and board member. In 1996 Siimon bought half of VCD, which within one year grew by 500% and won 1997 Advertising Agency of the Year.

Siimon Reynolds was a Director of the Photon Group and Executive Chairman of the Group’s subsidiary, Love Communications from its 1999 establishment until 2007. He continues with the group as a Strategic Creative Advisor and as Chairman of the Photon Foundation which provides pro-bono marketing assistance to selected charities.”
Universal Events and Christopher Howard Training

Siimon said there were only three ways to grow a business:

1. Get new customers
2. Get your current customers to spend more
3. Get your current customers to come back more often

We all know how much time and money it costs to generate new customers and Siimon recommends focusing on 2 and 3. Though if your company is still at the startup phase, then by all means generating new customers is what you need to do first. If you have a business that is already established then Siimon explained to us “how to” encourage your current customers to spend more and come back more often. Here three strategies he recommends:

Referral System Strategy

Siimon believes not enough businesses do this and it is very simply to do:

1. At the point of sale when a customer purchases your product, ask this question, “Do you know anyone else who may be interested to buy?”. Immediately you have the potential to sell more products to your customer’s friends or family.
2. Follow up with your customers after their purchase and ask, “Did you like the product and was their value in your purchase? If you liked our product do you have any one you could recommend?” This is another opportunity to increase your business and it was very powerful yet simple.

Branding Your Business

Siimon mentions that even the smallest businesses need to use branding and it’s not just for the large corporates. He defines branding as:

“The thoughts people have about your products and services”

He encourages us to be creative and to think of ways you can start to brand your business. The cost is very low but very effective if you can implement it. Some examples he gave were:

If you were a restaurant owner you could provide an exceptional experience simply by calling your customers the day before to confirm their reservation and asking if they had any dietary requirements. Or opening the toilet and exit doors for them before they enter. These are services that average restaurant owners do not do, and imagine if you could do this for your customers? It helps build your brand and become renown for your great service.

How about going branding your record company with a night club? Most night clubs require a stamp on your hand to gain entry. What if you were a record company and you negotiated with a night club to use your company stamps that said “If you like the music you heard last night visit Record Company”. That is powerful and you could just gain hundreds of new customers overnight. Did it cost much? Just the stamp and some ink.

Revolutionize Your Website Design

The last strategy Siimon presented was how to get your websites to stand out. He did say to have a professional website created will make a different, but to give it the edge it needs include the following:

• Have at least 80+ testimonials or even create a book of testimonials that you customers can download.
• Choose a domain name that includes keywords to describe your business. It will be better for search engines
• Ask yourself what are 10 service experiences you can add to your business both on your website and offline?

I know I gained a lot of ideas just from creative branding and it’s simple to do. If you can take away and just implement the three strategies and apply it to your business, imagine the impact it would have? If you have any ideas or comments about this please add your comments below. I would love to hear your creative ideas!

Also stay tuned as I will share with you in the next post Creating The Human Touch With A Live Chat System.

Tyrone Shum
Creating A Strong Brand