If you need to advertise on a busget.  Try this – Viral Marketing Cheatsheet<b>++ Click Image to Enlarge ++</b><br /><br />Source: The Viral Marketing Cheat Sheet Infographic

Incentives align priorities. Rules do not create loyalty or empower employees. Instead of telling people what to do, outline goals and let them lead you to the destination. If you work with people smarter than you (and you probably do), then it’s important to listen and learn from them.

Give up control; you never really had it anyway.

However one of the sports stars was profiled on 60 minutes Sunday night and it has provided a new source of inspiration for me.  One thing that stood out about the interview for me was the amount of work this youg kid puts in.  His coach reported that for the last 5 years, Micheal trained every day. that’s over 1,700 days without a day off.  Whether you agree with that level of intensity or not, you can’t argue with the results. It really drove home to me the benefits of hard work. Sometimes we see the overnight successes and wonder how come we haven’t had such “good fortune”, this interview reminded me of why true success (and the enjoyment thereof) is directly proportionate to the amount of hard work that goes into it.

* Find evening classes or interest groups which meet on your quiet day and invite all of them to your restaurant with a special offer. If possible, go in person to invite them.

* Advertise one of your quiet nights as a special taster session. Diners are offered the option of trying new dishes which chef is developing. Invite your customers to fill in “tasting cards” as they go along. Remember to let everyone on your list of e-mail addresses know about this great event.

* Offer discounts the families of your staff who dine on quiet evenings. Give them a great meal and they will be proud to tell all their friends about the restaurant at which their auntie, daughter or Dad works.

* Offer a special menu available only on Monday or Tuesday. Try to include genuinely interesting and not just cheap dishes.

* Develop a loyalty card scheme. Make the loyalty points worth more on Mondays and Tuesdays.

* Offer an “all you can eat option” to fill tables. Make it fun e.g. all the chocolate cake you can eat. Collect pictures and contact the press with stories from your “All the Chocolate Cake You Can Eat” evenings.

* Run a promotion where you put all of the bills from the evening into a hat. The first one pulled out gets a refund on all of the main courses from their table (up to a maximum of 4). Diners do not need to stay to win but set a time for the draw and many will stay a bit longer to find out the result. Remember to offer them drinks whilst they wait.

* Find out who influences people to come to your restaurant e.g. the staff in the tourist office, taxi drivers and offer them special Monday and Tuesday deals.

* Offer a meal for two on a specific day of the week as a prize for a competition for your local radio station or newspaper. Remember to follow up by contacting the press with your story about the winner.

* Offer regular customers a reward if, on a Monday evening, they bring in a friend who has never eaten at your restaurant before.

* At quiet times ask a member of staff to hand out copies of your menu in the area surrounding your restaurant offering an instant discount to customers who walk in for a meal. Works especially well if you are in an area with lots of restaurants. Many people will come to the area without having made a final decision on where to eat before they get there.

* Approach local groups with special offers e.g. parents who attend toddler groups with their children, football teams, Neighbourhood Watch and encourage them to arrange a group meal perhaps on a Tuesday.

* Develop good relationships with key suppliers by inviting them and their family members in for a free meal at quiet times.

* Set up a special loyalty club e.g. the Tuesday Club.

* Offer a meal for two during a quiet period as a prize at a local fete.

* Target price sensitive groups e.g. students with special offers on quiet evenings.

So ok, referrals are great to have. So what’s the point? My point is that 99% of businesses out there are only gaining referrals REACTIVELY. Meaning they provide great customer service, fair prices, a quality product or service, in a great atmosphere … and then they only “hope” that customers will tell their friends.

Let me ask you something. Can you remember the last time you went out to eat at a nice restaurant and you really enjoyed it. I mean, you loved it! The food tasted great. The service was outstanding. The atmosphere was inviting. And the prices were fair. Ok, got that vivid memory in your head?

Ok, now what did you do after you left the restaurant? Did you immediately call everyone you know on your cell phone strongly urging them all to go try that place? Or did you rush home to email everyone on your list to rave about your new favorite restaurant?
Probably not right?

Chances are you maybe told a friend or two, but that’s probably it.

Why is that? I mean you loved that restaurant and couldn’t wait to go back. Aaahh … because you are busy, isn’t that right? You had other things on your mind. Such as the laundry you have to do when you get home. Or that you have to pack your children’s lunches for school tomorrow. Or maybe you have to get back to the office from your lunch break. I don’t know what you do in your own time. What I am willing to bet though is that you’re pretty busy and you don’t have a lot of time to promote someone else’s business, that’s for sure!

There’s a point I’m about to make and you probably see where this is headed. If you are not so inclined to go out and tell everyone about a positive experience you just had, what makes you believe that your customers are any different?

So I’ve got some bad news. Despite your best efforts to provide great service to your own customers, probably only a handful are telling anyone about you. And even when satisfied customers are referring you, it’s merely a small fraction of what you could (and should) be getting.

So if you are only getting a small portion of the quantity and quality of referrals awaiting you, what can you do?

Here’s 4 Key Steps:

1. Give an incentive to existing customers to refer you to their friends.

2. Give an enticing offer for new customers to try you out.

3. Reward employees for their involvement in your referral program.

4. Perfect the “delivery method”

This final step, the “delivery method” is the difference between understanding “why” you need to be more proactive, and actually succeeding in increasing the amount of referrals you receive.

Tips on perfecting the implementation of your referral program:

1. Keep it simple. Complicating the details only frustrates everyone involved, including employees who must implement it, existing customers who get easily confused, and prospective new customers who may feel its not worth the trouble if it seems to complicated.

2. Get everyone involved. Nothing looks worse than when a customer asks a question about a promotion or event in which an employee is clueless about. It undermines the credibility of your efforts and diminishes the customer’s initial enthusiasm.

3. Be generous. Now is not the time to try be “stingy.” Remember your objective for the program is to create more new customers. That’s it!

4. Be honest. There is absolutely no reason to hide away from the truth in what your motives are. A perfectly good explanation is, “Because we’ve tried advertising and consumers today just don’t respond like they used to. Advertising is too costly and our competitors are saying the same things in their ads that we are. However, word of mouth is our best way to attract more new customers. So if you know anyone we would like to reward you for recommending them to us.”

5. Stay consistent. The worst kind of marketing is marketing that ends too soon. If it works keep doing it! If you have a slow week, don’t give up just yet. Even if it “gets old” to you, as long as the referrals keep pouring in, keep at it!

6. Stay true to your promises. The whole reason referral programs are so successful when properly developed and implemented is because they play off of your greatest asset — your customers’ goodwill. The last thing you want to do is promise someone a reward for doing you a favor and then change your mind later and withdraw your promise. Remember, the financial return (dollars in sales from a new customer) will far outweigh any reward you’d give in return for a referral, right? (And in case you forgot, re-read Tip # 3 about being generous!)

Chris Philippi is president of Philippi Marketing & Associates, a retail consulting firm specializing in helping independent retailers and small retail chains increase sales quickly, easily, and without expensive advertising. Chris is co-author of The Worlds Greatest Business Mentors and is available for speaking engagements and consulting around the world. Contact him at chrisphilippi@philippimarketing.com
or toll free at (866) 391-5727 or online at http://www.philippimarketing.com. Article on one, customer, two by Chris Philippi

I like to tell my clients to stand back from the front door of their business and ask themselves three questions.

1. How do this storefront make me feel. If you didn’t know the proprietor, would you think she would do a good job at meeting your needs.
2. Is the entrance well lighted and accessible? Remember that new customers are strangers to your establishment. First impressions are lasting.
3. Is my entrance in sync with the rest of my marketing materials? If you want to communicate style and sophistication, does your doorway say fun, fun fun?

This brings home a time tested truism to always have a proofreader look at your public facing materials even somehting as simple as this.  Could save you some time and embarrassment.

One thing to keep in mind when you are going through the tough times is that you are not a failure, for making bad decisions.  We all do it.  One strategy for keeping a level head is to surround yourself with like-minded individuals, other CEO’s who are dealing with similar struggles.  Quite often this hive-mind can come up with  simple solutions to previously insurmountable problems.