After you get the idea for the business fully formulated, you will need to start reaching out to others who may be able to get your company’s plans off the ground. You will seek investors if you do not have enough money to pay for your venture and not enough experience to qualify for a loan of any kind. When you come to the investors or the loan agency if that is the case, you will establish a working relationship that will hopefully be in place for many years. No one comes to the business world thinking they only want to work a year or two and then fold. They want to be successful for a very long time, until they chose to retire or sell the company and live out the rest of their lives. This is relationship capital. Anyone you will have contact with more than a few times will have a working relationship with you- and you must nurture and grow it just like you would any other relationship in the world.

Human capital is established every time that you speak to or deal with someone that you may never have called to deal with again. A customer who is calling to complain about a product wants more than to just vent; they want to know that they have valid concerns and that these concerns matter to the company from the ground up. They want to know that someone is listening to them and that their disappointments are not going to be overlooked. They want to know that someone is going to be looking out for them, and that someone is going to make it right.

Of the three, human capital may take the slight edge of importance. After all, it does not matter how great your business idea is if you cannot get anyone to listen to your thoughts because they cannot deal with your personality. You cannot build a relationship if you do not have good human contact skills. All of the mental capital in the world will not do anything to increase your business capital if you do not have the basic human skills to back it up.

When a customer expresses interest in your product or service, they are expressing interest in your company and by default, in you. In the world of internet marketing there may be times where a million transactions can be carried out without a single human connection being made. On the other hand, there may be days where the technology itself is faulty and you will field hundreds, thousands or millions of calls from bewildered consumers. By providing excellent service at this point, you are adding value to the product that the customers are interested in, an inherent quality that perhaps no one else offers as well. How many times have you been forced to choose between two similar products with comparable prices: what is the deciding factor in your final choice? The human quality may be what edges out the others- even if it means spending an extra few bucks. Remember: most people are willing to spend a little more to be treated specially.

The bottom line to selling is creating a need for consumers. You need them to need your products and services. You need them to want to come back time and time again. Just having a great product at a reasonable price is not enough in the super competitive market places today. The edge is going to come down to the old-fashioned personal touch, even in the global, computerized world of today.

Once you have created a driving need for the products, you start to add value to your customers by treating them with a little extra care- what does it cost you to say Good Morning to a caller, even if you know the caller is going to complain? It does not cost a dime, but what does it give you in return? Perhaps a customer who was calling to complain because they were unhappy about a small detail walks away with their complaint resolved, product and discount in hand and still a loyal customer. You have saved a sale, practically ensured another sale as well and you invested nothing more than a bit of time, a cheerful greeting and a discounted amount on a product. (Your marketing budgeting should be flexible enough to take these types of transactions into account anyway). In essence, you have spent nothing at all.

The human quality in business is often lacking, especially when all marketing, sales and other transactions are handled online. Even a cheery email to say thank you for a past sale that invites the customer to a future sales event is more than just a good idea, it is imperative.

For other people, the musical industry can be broken down in to genres, which can then be broken down further into sub genres. The sub genres can then be even further broken down to the point where only one aspect of the industry is being focused on; the niche.

Finding a niche is like doing a mathematical equation without numbers: you keep subtracting facts and descriptions until you get down to the lowest common denominator for that market- the niche in other words. When you are doing niche marketing, you are exploiting the needs for that particular part of an industry- that small segment of the targeted audience who may have a specific and very definable need.

Keeping with the musical industry theme, we focus on this genre of the musical industry: the marching band. For each section of instrument types, there is a sub genre: the brass, the woodwinds and the percussion sections. Taking the brass section sub genre then, we can break that down into the niches: trumpet, French horn, tuba and trombone. Of those four niches, there are some similar needs that can be addressed, but each will have specific needs that have to be focused on as well. Niche marketing would address those specific needs for each of the four niches found within this sub genre.

The music that is written for a trombonist for instance, is different from that of a French horn. You could never fit a tuba into a trumpet case, and if you did, that thing is never coming back out of there, and you owe someone a tuba. There is never a trumpeter that will need a comfort strap to play his instrument. All of these separate aspects of the same basic family have different needs that must be met. Have defined your targeted audience? Have you defined your niche? Now its time to find the best ways to market your product or service to that audience.

For example, the product is music lessons. You could offer the generic “music lessons” but then would find that you are being flooded by calls for oboe or electric guitar. The problem is simple- you do not know how to play neither the oboe nor the electric guitar. By clearing defining the niche that you are marketing to, you save yourself needless expense on ads that will greet the wrong people and you save your customers time by spelling out exactly what you can offer to them.

The more defined or specialized a niche, the higher the demand and the lower the supply meaning that you will be able to garner top dollars for a need that is not being fulfilled. The wider your appeal, the more likely you are to have competition and therefore have to keep your prices low to remain comparable and fair.

Define your targeted market and you can rule that particular niche. Find the lowest common denominator that will satisfy enough need to be a valid pursuit and keep enough customers to be financially worthwhile and you will be struggling to keep up with the demand in no time.

Regardless of what product you are selling, what service you are marketing, you are going to be selling to relationships. You may never see a single customer’s face and you may never even hear their voices. You may only do your business online over the computer. Who exactly do you think is placing the order at the other end? You don’t think that the computer has developed independent thinking and needs, do you?

Building relationship capital should be the easiest aspect of your business venture. It should be far easier to treat everyone with dignity and respect than it would be to get venture capital from reluctant investors, but still somehow this is the sticking point. Imagine for a moment, a business person; Susan. Susan has given a really stellar presentation on what she predicts will be a million dollar seller in its first year. The investors are impressed by the presentation and give her the venture capital to go forth with the idea. It is a good product after all, the need is there and the market is wide open for exploring. But, each of the investors has a reservation, not about the product, but about Susan herself. She seems cold, unemotional and disconnected somehow. After the presentation was over, the others all agreed to go out for a meal to celebrate. Susan simply packed her charts and graphs and left.

A month goes by and the numbers for this new product are lousy. The investors are concerned so they do some investigating. What they find is that Susan cannot keep employees because she is robotic at best- and impossible to deal with when she is frustrated. Because Susan’s employees have such a high turnover rate in nearly every department, there are poorly trained and working positions that are not right for them. Desperate for help, Susan has taken to just hiring whoever shows up without an interview. No one who is worth having will stay in this horribly mismanaged company.

Customers are frustrated because the untrained staff lose calls, or worse do not answer them. Orders are being cancelled, products are being returned. The company that Susan is running is losing money hand over fist. The investors call an emergency meeting and discuss their options. Susan is brought in and given the facts. Reluctantly, she agrees to step down and give the day to day operations over to her second in command, Lisa. Lisa does not have a high degree from a fancy college like Susan does. What she does have is relationship capital. She is likeable and funny, but hardworking and dedicated. Within a month, most of the open positions are filled with qualified, competent workers. In two months, the flow of orders and sales is at the level of its estimated potential. The workers are well trained and happy. They are more than willing to give good customer service. Lisa keeps things running with good business sense and the intangible business assets that they do not teach in any MBA program in the world. Sometimes in business, just as in life, either you’ve got it, or you don’t. Nurture and cultivate your relationships and your business will flourish.

Let’s take one product from your last four: an exercise circle we will call the AB-Joy. This product, while certainly no different from many other exercisers on the market, caught your eye by speaking to your needs- the ones that were identified by market research to be the ones most important to your age group or sex. Let’s say that you are a 35 year old woman who has had children. That is your demographic group. The psychology of marketing will then analyze what are the key concerns for this group. In most cases the women in this age group would like to: lose weight, flatten their stomach (lose their post-baby bulge), and narrow their waistlines. It may also be suggested, either subtly or expressly that they will regain their youthful appearance as well. For the next level in the age demographic, these benefits would be described as well as the strengthening of the lower back and assistance with posture. As the women move into new age demographics, the key benefits that are suggested by the marketing campaign as well as their own key needs will continue to change.

Smart marketers, those who keep the psychology of buying in mind, will of course realize that needs change- make up may start off advertising that it makes you look more “sophisticated” (read: older). In the next phase, the advertising will move up to exploring the benefits of having clearer and healthier looking skin by using these products. And so the progression will continue. Of course the marketing will target the younger crowd; those are the new customers just entering the buying world. But, they will continue moving through the demographics with other customers, analyzing the needs that will drive them to once again buy one of their products.

Psychology, the study of how the mind works is very important to the successful marketer. Knowing how a bit of interest can turn into a sale is vital to making that and many other sales. You have to be able to read the demographics and to read between the lines. Return to both the Ab-Joy and the makeup line for a moment. What are they actually trying to sell you, what need are they really trying to fulfill with what they are selling? The AB-Joy may purport to sell “physical fitness” but in truth they are selling self-esteem, the ability to feel better about your physical being. As you look better, you will take on more confidence and start behaving in new ways. Everyone notices these changes immediately. Did the AB-Joy truly change your life? Not exactly, but the psychology behind what made you buy it in the first place suggests that you simply needed a gentle nudge to make a few changes. This exercise machine, far from being a magic cure-all was a tangible way to kick off better habits that were actually the reason behind your positive changes.

Brand image is important, not only because it locks a product into the consumer’s mind, but because it does so with a pure economy of words. If a product can come up with a strong enough branding image, all others of its kind will be relegated to the bottom of the heap, unable to climb out from the shadows. Are there off brand, store brand and regional brand cola flavored sodas? Of course the answer to that question is yes, but they only survive in the market by their undercutting prices, not by head to head competition. It is the rare person who says that they prefer a Royal Crown over the two big dogs, Pepsi and Coke, yet RC remains on the shelves and by all accounts probably sells fairly well, all things considered.

People brand themselves as well, regardless of whether they are the CEO of a huge corporation, a small business owner or the young graduate just starting at the bottom rung of her career ladder. Even the freelance writer is a brand onto themselves- and depending on how hard they work and hustle, their brand image can be a positive one or leave a lot to be desired.

Remember when you were asked to think of three soda drinks? Now think of three people who exemplify the quality of “honesty”. Did you think of the three people easily or did you have to work at it? Were the names of those you know personally or famous people that you admire? Every person that you come in contact or that you have knowledge of have an image, which becomes their brand. We know them by their brand, their brand image. We know that Phil from accounting is “honest” and “hard working” but may not know that he plays baseball every Saturday or that his wife’s name is Jillian. His brand, the image that he is known for at the office is what is the important factor in this situation. If we knew Phil from the baseball games, we would possibly not know nor care that he had the highest grade point average of his graduating class or that his accounting department lead thinks that he is a financial genius.

What image do you want to present to your professional contacts and coworkers? Whenever you are at a meeting, or on a business trip you present your image, your brand. If you make a bad impression, you harm your image and may not be asked to go back to represent the company at the upcoming trip. Opportunities may start passing you by because of it. Negative branding may then slow or stall your career.

Branding, whether for a product or for personal branding is rarely permanent. As soon as a campaign is released, a new one is already in the works. By the time the marketing images for a product are becoming stale in the target audience’s mind, a new one is ready to recapture their attention. The product did not change at all, only the way it was presented to us, and yet we sit up and take notice of it.

Personal branding works the same way. So, we made a poor impression at the business meeting last week. A new one this Friday is a new opportunity to really wow them with our knowledge and our poise. We can work hard to learn everything we can about the topic being presented. We can make sure that our physical appearance is beyond approach and that mentally we are laser beam focused on what we need to do. Just as Pepsi changes its image, but not its inherent properties, we can present a different image of ourselves to our coworkers but not have to change who we really are.

Think of your customer as the motor oil. You do not want them to run all over the place- you do not want them having to investigate this company and that company before they come to you for a product. You want them to be one-minded, to be focused on your name, your product, your brand, discounting and disregarding all others. From the moment they first hear about your product or service, from the first time they notice your name or other information, they should be directed by the funnel to the sale, and hopefully to the level of satisfied and repeat customer.

At the top of the funnel is the curious customer, at the bottom is the satisfied customer. When you do the right marketing research for your particular product, you will know what it takes to make the sale from those most likely to need or want it. In business, this is known as “creating interest”. You create interest by speaking to a customer about something they need, or something that they want in the words and style that makes them feel as if you were directing your attention to them, expressly. After all, everyone wants to feel special and important!

After you have created an interest, you must then make sure that the customer develops a sense of urgency, a sense of need. (Need can be something that they would like to have, whether it is important or a legitimate ‘need’ or not.) The need can be overwhelming to some customers or may be important enough that they will check things out, but may hold off a day or so before committing to a purchase. That is okay, as long as you keep both the interest and the need levels high enough.

With needs comes certain expectations that are inherently or expressly given by the marketing campaign and by the product itself. The customer wants the item to work well, of course, and to accomplish all of the promises made. But, the customer also expects other needs to be fulfilled as well. They expect that they will receive prompt and competent customer service when they order, check the status of their orders, complain or contact the company for any reason. They expect that the site will be secure, so that their personal information, especially their billing info is free from thieves. They expect that there will be adequate follow-up after the sale is completed (especially important in goods and services that will have built in use life) for instance a supply of vitamins will only last for 30 days or so, and then will need to be reordered. If they were not as good as advertised at the start of the funnel, or the customer service was lacking in any step of the chain, that customer is less likely to continue on with that product then.

The funnel concept is very simple, whether it is at a local shop or you are talking about an online marketing funnel: the start of the funnel is the point when your name, your brand, your product is introduced to the targeted audience and interest is created. After interest builds, the customer will start to feel a need for the product or service that you are marketing to them. With this need comes expectations that must be met or you will lose the customer either from the start or as a repeat customer. If the expectations are met, there will be fulfillment and customer satisfaction which are more likely to turn into future, repeat sales as well as potentially mean other new sales as the customer recommends the product to friends and family.

To put it succinctly, we will use the following math problem:

Marketing + Customer = Interest

Customer + Interest= Need

Need + Marketing= Expectations

Expectations + Good Customer Service + Good Product = Fulfillment

Fulfillment + Satisfaction = Future Sales and Continued Success

As with most elements of Internet Marketing, the concept of social media marketing is widely misunderstood. Enhancing the performance of your business through social networking, online and off is a distinct possibility. However, it requires more than simply slapping a few social media website pages together and hoping for the best. It requires forethought. It requires education. It requires strategy. It requires a specified plan for implementation. In short, if you wish for your social media marketing to be effective, then you need to realize, that even though it is very enjoyable, it is still a very serious undertaking.

Give your business a human touch with social networking!

Every online entity wants clickthroughs. That is a given. But a clickthrough by itself holds no real value. What you want are clicks from customers who feel a personal attachment with your products, services and information presented. People need human connections. That is the very reason why social media is so hugely popular and widespread on the Internet. In fact, it is what is shaping all online trends more than anything else in existence.

Rules for effective social media marketing:

➢ Firstly, you need to understand that this is not a game. Major organizations including Coca-Cola,
Nike, Starbucks, Dow Jones, GM, GE and so many others dedicate an ever-increasing percentage of their marketing budgets to their social media efforts. They do not do this haphazardly.
➢ Identify the behaviors, desires and needs of your targeted audiences.
➢ Define specific objectives and desired outcomes for your social media marketing campaigns.
➢ Develop a comprehensive strategy including which tactics and technologies you will utilize.
➢ Have a preset plan in place for measuring the success of your efforts.
➢ Remain focused and stay on track.
➢ Consistently and effectively manage your available resources.
➢ Remain accountable for the success, or failure, of your campaigns. Learn from your mistakes.

Do not make the mistake of thinking that you can simply throw a FaceBook and Twitter site together and expect marketing miracles. Your business is not a game; it’s a business! You need to bring your marketing efforts together with effective communication standards, customer-pleasing public relations and enjoyable socialization. You need to realize that even though search engine placement algorithms are constantly shifting, high-quality content and the creation of solid community relationships are still the most significant factors for success.

To realize your marketing goals and maximize effectiveness, you need to approach social media marketing with a mindset based in business success. Of course, you still need to enjoy yourself and make sure that your visitors enjoy themselves as well. Just don’t forget what your focus is.

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Cognitive psychologists are very interested in determining how the brain works. Social media marketing practitioners are very interested in determining how to increase conversion rates. When these two groups of people share information, it becomes very evident that including specific types of effective imagery on your social networking websites becomes imperative for your success as an entrepreneur.

The visual interpretation of images has a profound impact on increasing conversions!

You see, when we understand the detailed mechanisms that affect the brain’s performance levels, we are better able to communicate and collaborate with others. That is what social media marketing is all about! We want to establish a positive vibration with every visitor on our sites. We want to stir their emotions. We want for them to remember us and return to visit us often. We can accomplish this efficiently by tapping into their brains – by giving them physical representations of what we want for them to learn in addition to the text-based content that we provide for them.

Human beings use vision as a primary input device for knowledge building.

Information that is taken in through our eyes is transferred directly to the primary visual cortex in the rear of our brains. This information is then classified and transferred to up to more than 30 other parts of the brain. The three main parts of the brain that deal with our visual input patterns are:

➢ The ventral stream – determines what objects are;
➢ The dorsal stream – classifies objects according to available physical space;
➢ The limbic system – attaches emotions and feelings to those objects;

In order to be optimally effective at social media marketing, we need to stimulate each of these areas of the brain. When we make our visitors’ brains fire up with activity, we create more engrossing and memorable experiences for them. That is interesting. That leads to increase sales.

Characteristics of effective imagery:

An effective image inspires visual interpretation by inviting the eyes to move around on it. Human beings create meaning in a large way through visual interrogation of their surroundings. Therefore, you can increase the power of your social media marketing endeavors by:

➢ Using images to clarify what you wish to communicate;
➢ Making your images more fully engaged by including an interactive element in them;
➢ Making your images more memorable by creating an unmistakable persistence about them;

Learning how the brain works, and how to inspire visual interrogation of the images that you include in your social media marketing vehicles, are imperative elements to the success of your campaigns. You have to take the time to get to know what your visitors are looking for – and then deliver it to them in the most powerful, simplistic ways that you can. Effective imagery will increase your conversion rates!

Your personal brand identity affects every area of your life. The Internet has been integrated into every avenue of our personal and professional lives. As we endeavor to generate money and enhance our business dealings, we realize the critical importance of effective personal branding.

In order to benefit maximally from your personal branding efforts, ask yourself the following questions:

➢ Am I developing my online presence based on expertise and quality?
➢ Do I consistently strive to improve the concepts that I represent?
➢ Is my appearance representative of the personal branding goals that I have set?
➢ Do my company logo, business cards and other marketing tools send the right messages out?
➢ Do I maintain a consistency between my various online social networking site profiles?

More questions to ask yourself about creating your own brand:

➢ Do I take the time regularly to consider my core competencies and values?
➢ Do I demonstrate mixed messages between the various communication platforms that I utilize?
➢ Do I take the time to monitor my online reputation?
➢ Do I respond to the feedback that I receive from others on my social networking websites?
➢ Am I honest and forthright in whenever I represent online?

Personal branding is about dictating the thoughts and emotions that you instill in others. They want you to be honest with them. Your brand identity is constantly evolving and is a part of permanent history. Whatever you create within the minds of others is going to last for years and years. Make sure that you are creating your own brand in the manners that you would choose to. In a large way, it will determine your personal and financial successes in the future.