However, by not disclosing the models affected and stating that the matter is ‘still under investigation,’ Toyota has a lot of goodwill to collect as it sorts out the recall problem.

The problem with sticky accelerators is not contained in just the U.S., but is a global issue. Toyota, therefore, has begun forming a global campaign to try and heal its image and restore faith in the name that has meant quality for years.

The First Steps in Healing its Name

While it continues to work on the recall problem, they must focus on their brand management. The Toyota brand image is what will save the company once the crisis is over. If consumers are to have faith once again in the Toyota brand, they must be assured that Toyota remains dedicated to excellence and quality.

The first step to rebuilding its image is already underway. By acknowledging the problem and offering a factory-sponsored fix for current owners, they already have taken the bull by the horns and are attempting to give current and future owners assurance that the company sticks by its products. In fact, Toyota stated that many dealers will expand their hours or even stay open around the clock to provide the service necessary to fix their automobiles. They even spent millions advertising during the Super Bowl to convey its message and “dedication” to solving the problems.

The Future of Toyota’s Branding

Once the problem of the sticky accelerator pedal is fixed, Toyota will likely be spending years fixing its image problem. Financial experts are already predicting a $2 billion loss in sales for the company in 2010, and this doesn’t include the money that will be spent on their image campaign.

Toyota has weathered problems in the past. While the recall problem is bad timing during a global economic downturn, Toyota will likely find its way back on top as one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers.

Negotiate the highest price for your services.  Overcome price resistance by your prospects and customers.

Here is a proven strategy to negotiate pricing in your favor when a customer asks for a lower price. This video includes sample dialogs you can use to show your customer why your prices are worth it.

Note: this video is streamed directly from YouTube. If it hangs or you have issues, try one of these other links:

• Negotating: BlipTV
• Negotating: Yahoo Video
• Negotiating: DailyMotion

From elementary school children to adults, text messaging is the vogue method of communicating today. Subsequently, small businesses can use a simple text message to offer special deals and promote their business to local customers.

Case Study: 7-Eleven and Text Messaging

Take, for example, 7-Eleven. The chain convenience store has announced that it will be conducting test marketing campaigns through text messages in San Diego. Locals who have a cell phone can send a text message to a specific number, and thereafter, they will be eligible to receive a text message back with a code to redeem a free beverage at a participating store.

The goal is to not only offer a special deal for a free beverage, but encourage phone users to “opt in” to receive future messages. 7-Eleven hopes that the opt-in user database will grow, creating a fantastic venue for marketing. Those who participate will be eligible to receive additional text messages for news and other special deals.

How Small Businesses Can Benefit

How can you as a small business owner learn from this experiment? It shows that people are interested in receiving deal offers on their phone while they are on the go. In addition to building your email list, you can also attempt to acquire cell numbers of your customers and other interested parties. With your ever-growing contact list, you can offer deals to customers that are redeemable at your store. You might even send time-limited deals to encourage recipients to act “today.”

You should always offer those on your text message list to opt out at any time. Of course, you want to avoid sending too many text messages that users might find annoying, giving them a reason to opt out. Two text messages a month might be a good starting number.

Texting has become a favorite pastime, especially for the younger generation of Americans. Take advantage of phone texts to help your business grow.

In fact, according to a study published by one of the leading online advertising companies, WebVisible.com, small businesses spent 91% more on PPC advertising in the third quarter of 2009 than the same period in 2008. That is nearly double the spending in one year!

Online Marketing 101

Small businesses particularly benefit from search marketing and advertising, but what is search marketing? Typically, search marketing involves advertising through the search engines or directories, with an advertisement appearing at the top of search results when a certain keyword or phrase is used.

When these ads appear, a user can simply ‘click’ on a link or ‘call’ the provided number to get more information. Hence, with pay per call or pay per click advertising, this generates a highly concentrated set of leads for the small business, and the best part is that the business only pays for the advertising when a click or call occurs.

Why Search Marketing Continues to Grow in Popularity

Why is search marketing continuing its rapid growth in popularity? PPC works and is the most cost-effective form of advertising available today. Hundreds of millions of web searchers are performing searches every day around the world, mostly using the top search engine, Google. Subsequently, over 60% of small businesses chose Google as their main search marketing agent.

What did small business spend on search marketing in Q3 2009? According to WebVisible.com, the average spending for search marketing was around $1,600. However, the top tier of small business search marketing was between $2,000 and $3,000 for the quarter. That translates into big gains for online advertising revenues, and it is expected to continue to increase at the pace we’ve seen in the last year.

Online search marketing is quickly becoming the model for results-based advertising. If you operate a small business, consider the benefits of an online search marketing account. The cost per lead can be much more cost effective than traditional advertising strategies, and you will likely be pleased with the results on your bottom line.

Tremendous Growth in Text Messaging Potential

Called Short Message Service, or SMS for short, this marketing channel seems to be a highly effective way for businesses to communicate with their customers. The Wireless Industry trade group, CTIA, reports that SMS has nearly tripled since 2007 and is now more active than cell phone calls! It is important to recognize that the largest increase in SMS involves people under the age of 30.

Industry analysts note that SMS is a much more effective form of communication than emails. Research on this subject revealed that a whopping 97 percent of SMS marketing messages were opened, and that 83 percent were opened in just one hour.

This is likely due to the fact that many consumers have their phones with them 24/7 and generally respond to them at any give time. It therefore only makes sense that text messages will then be read by most mobile phone users.

How to Use SMS for Marketing

There are a number of ways to begin using SMS to market your business:

1. Hire a text-messaging company, such as MobiQponsis and 8Coupons. These web-based services can perform a number of advertising strategies, from sending out text coupons when consumers are in the vicinity of a business, to allowing consumers to text themselves coupons as they desire.

2. Consider a custom approach that allows you to register your own proprietary short code, thereby allowing dialers to access your text marketing campaign. Companies such as Mobile Commons and HipCricket allow you to share a short code.

3. Use your traditional marketing resources to inform customers about your texting campaign.

4. Consider offering customers “exclusive” access to something in return for their mobile phone number.

5. Don’t irritate consumers by texting constantly; instead, focus on less than five times per month, or if you have a good reason for sharing information with them.

Indeed, you may be soon texting your way to more profits!

With cell phones in everyone’s pockets, it high time that advertisers start taking advantage of them as marketing tools. Mobile marketing is taking the telecommunications field by storm. Soon, users will be exposed to a plethora of different types of advertisements trying to get them to buy products.

What is mobile marketing?

Mobile marketing comes in a variety of different packages. For example, a text message containing details about a special offer or new product is mobile marketing in its simplest form. Voting campaigns on television shows are another type of marketing that is growing in popularity. Viewers of shows like American Idol can text message their votes in as part of the campaign. In the future, video downloads to cell phones will also become more important mobile marketing mechanisms. These tools are all fresh and interactive. Cell phone users enjoy them, and that is part of the reason why mobile marketing has the potential to explode in the near future.

Who is advertising on cell phones?

Today, most cell phone advertising is conducted by phone companies, in particular whoever your service provider is. Some entertainment companies that produce games for cell phones are also making use of mobile marketing initiatives. Currently, mobile marketing is essentially limited to these two entities. That could change in the very near future as new players are jumping into the market. Companies with financial resources, like car manufacturers and film studios, are exploring the possibility of executing targeted mobile marketing campaigns.

What does the future hold?

There are some companies that are looking at using advertising to support their entire cell phone service offering. This means that much like the television set in your living room that provides basic channels for free, cell phone service might one day be completed funded by mobile marketing. Mobile marketing may very well change the face of communication as we know it. One day, the display on your caller ID might feature a 10-second advertisement for Toyota before the call from your best friend is connected. It won’t happen tomorrow, but it is a definite possibility in the near future. Mobile marketing is much more than a fad; it is a mechanism that will ultimately drive the future of commerce and the cellular phone industry.

Studies show that the closer to the top of the list that a website appears in a collection of search results, the more likely a user is to click on it. In fact, Google users prefer to click on “natural” listings 70% more than pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements.

Thankfully, SEO is easy to implement and at no extra cost to a business owner. Therefore, using SEO is one of the best “free” advertising sources for your business. How can you maximize SEO to get the best results? Use these tips to help you transform your website into a higher performing tool:

1. Use Keywords. The best place to find out words and phrases that are commonly searched for on the internet is by performing an internet search yourself. Websites like Keyword Discovery, Word Tracker, and Google AdWords provide comprehensive feedback on the most commonly used words and phrases. Keywords change regularly so check these sites every few months for what your customers are using to search for your type of product or service.

2. Optimize Your Page Titles. Use keywords and phrases in page titles. Search engines scour through page titles before tackling the actual text included on websites.

3. Optimize Your URLs. Use keywords and phrases in URLs and file names on your website. Search engines use these as part of the search criteria. The more keywords and phrases you use, the more likely your page is to show up in a list of search results.

4. Publish Content. Online, “content is king,” and the more content you publish on your website, the more likely that the search engines will rank you appropriately for your particular keywords. Consider starting a corporate blog or publishing resource articles on your website.

5. Revise & Revisit. SEO is not something that you do one time. It is a process that must be revised and revisited frequently. Dedicate yourself to a schedule and look for opportunities to enhance SEO features on your website at least once every three months, more if possible.

Generally speaking, you can use SEO techniques on your own at no cost, or for a minimal fee with the help of a professional. SEO can enhance traffic to your website by tenfold. It is worth the investment of time to generate such a return.

This week, one of our MailerMailer clients, Give More Media, just released a wonderful little free ebook that will help you find just the right words to use in different sales situations.

This fast-reading guide includes a checklist to help you prepare yourself prior to the call or meeting. Plus, it provides 30 sample open-ended questions that are designed to get your prospect talking – something you definitely want to do because you close more sales if they talk, not you.

Here are two excerpts of sample dialogs from this ebook that I really love:

WHEN THE PROSPECT PERCEIVES IT IS SAFER TO DO NOTHING:
“The exciting part of this [solution/ program] is not only the additional immediate revenue you’ll likely generate, but also the added referrals that become possible as a result— in addition to the competitive barriers you’ll create by getting the primary customer relationship going now.”

TO CREATE A SENSE OF URGENCY:
“It seems like a great fit to what you’re trying to accomplish, and I’m fairly confident we’ll have the inventory available, but we can only guarantee it [today/ this week/ this month]. What concerns do you have about moving forward now?”

If you are new to sales or need a little inspiration to help close a deal, Be Sales Ready is pure gold.

Download Be Sales Ready for free here.

1. Create an Attractive Website

The first thing to do is to create an attractive website and register it. You can register your business name as your website if it is available. Mention your company history on your site, along with any milestones that you might have achieved.

Showcase your products in an attractive manner. If you do not want to mention the rates of your products or services for fear of your competitors finding out, then offer an e-mail address where your customers can post their inquiries.

2. Get Your Online Store On The Top Of All the Search Engines

Your website designer along, with an SEO expert, should insert keywords into the code of your website so that it ends up on the top 5 or 10 for any of the search engine results pages (SERPS).

This will ensure that your website has a greater chance of getting hits by qualified prospects than it would have otherwise. If you don’t use keywords that are related to your target market, then your online store probably won’t see many sales.

Your website should also have the capability of accepting online payments through credit card or through traditional methods such as check or cash.

It should also be secure to prevent anyone from trying to hack into your site and defraud you or your customers; your website programmer can help you by integrating SSL (secure socket layer) security into your online store.

3. Offer Special Discounts

In order to get an accurate feedback on how many people are actually placing orders after checking out your online store, you can offer special discounts or freebies for customers who place their orders through the Internet. This will provide you with accurate data on how many people were actually able to get access to your online store.

4. Form Virtual Partnerships

Form online partnerships with different companies that are not in competition with you, but offer related products to their customers. This opens the doors for more customers to enter your site – and this move will benefit not only your business, but also your virtual partners.

5. Sort Out Shipping and Tax Matters

Your online store will enable you to get orders from customers that might be in another state or even in another country.

You should form relationships with reliable shippers who will deliver your products on time to your customers. The tax to be charged to your customers will also vary from state to state and from country to country. Make sure that you know who to tax and how much.

So how do you go about marketing your website inexpensively and effectively? Here are five easy steps for achieving just that.

Step 1 – Make Certain It Is User-Friendly

Visitors to your site will be looking for information or will have an interest in purchasing your products or services. Hold their attention by providing precise information in easy-to-read language with no spelling mistakes.

Navigating your site should be simple, easy and quick. Make sure that tools like shopping carts are compatible with your design and that there is no undue delay in processing. Visitors are easily put off by cumbersome websites and favor sites that are fast and easy to use.

Try to create a signature website in bold colors and images, and try and keep the same template on every page. This helps visitors remember it.

Step 2 – Search Engine Optimization

A revolutionary method of cheap and effective marketing of your website is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In this method, you need to include meta tags such as keywords, titles and descriptions in your website content.

You should register your website with as many search engines as possible. SEO works through keyword placement and density; when a browser searches for the keywords included in your website’s content, the search engine will show your website in the results.

The higher your SEO rankings, the more visibility your site will get.

Step 3 – Spread the Word

Give maximum visibility to your URL by including it everywhere—on your business cards, letterhead and other stationery, on shopping bags, and in all your advertisements.

This helps your existing clients remember your website and also draws other clients in.

Another way to market your site is by submitting articles on other websites and providing your website address at the end of the article, along with a subtle sales pitch.

Step 4 – Make it Interactive

Visitors prefer interactive websites that help them get answers to their questions in a much more efficient manner. Include a feedback form asking your visitors to rank the various functions of your website, and be sure to reply to the feedback.

Newsletters are also effective marketing tools by helping to grow your list of customers that you can market new products and services to.

Step 5 – Affiliate marketing and PPC

Sign up for affiliate marketing programs, where you accept advertisements of other websites on your own website. These companies will pay you every time there is a sale on their website that comes through your site, and vice versa.

You can also ask other websites to include your website in their list of links, and do the same for them.