Welcome to Veretekk™
Veretekk Marketing Integration
Hello %%name%%!
Thank you for being a Vereconference™ subscriber.
I have been running Veretekk and it's predecessor for over 10 years. Prior to that I built online communities. Learning and teaching have been the constant throughout this Internet experience. People need good information to make good decisions. We make decisions everyday based on the information that is presented to us.
There are a lot of buzz words these days. Internet marketing, automated marketing, social marketing, integrated marketing, etc. Did you know Veretekk has been an integrated marketing system since it started back before the year 2000. For instance, ebooks, PDF fliers and classified ad submitters. Rss feed systems and 20+ Marketing Portals that carry your campaign out to the search engines. An emailing POP and autoresponder system to build legitimate lists and allow you to mail to them without fear of being accused of Spam.
We have also incorporated a version of Social networking internally since we first started. We just didn't know what it was called. And another major feature of Veretekk since it began has been the live web based conferences for our meetings, presentations and our trainings.
Interesting how Veretekk has quietly been doing this all these years while the rest of the Internet now seems to be catching up.
Enter Educational Marketing. The newest buzzword. With the continued massive advancements and new technologies, it is enough to make your head spin. But the way I see it, there are a few fundamentals that I doubt will change much in the coming years.
The quest for knowledge. The need for a mentor. The power of good content and information. Yes it is also necessary to build videos these days, because our culture has become media orientated and their attention is short and in demand. But the bottom line is, content.
Educational Marketing is something Veretekk has been doing within its members back office with the Veretekk training for years. That is about to change. The Veretekk conferencing system is about to open it's doors to the public with multi part presentations and seminars. These presentations will be generic in what they present. Some of the presentations you will find will be "How to determine a good autoresponder, what to look for and a thorough analysis as to all the different options you have out there. What is double opt in vs. single opt in. Deliverability rates, costs and the many functions each systems offers. Another example would be a seminar on how to get top SEO results illustrating top positions and showing what they are doing to get to the top. And yet another would be how to research and determine good keywords, purchasing domain names and how subdomains and title tags also play into the campaign. I think you understand this so far, right?
Related to Educational Marketing is a Veretekk exclusive called "Veretekk Integrated Marketing". Successful distributors would hold seminars in their specific company showing their success, their properties and the system they built incorporating Veretekk into it to achieve that success.
Education Marketing is a powerful new advertising concept that converts skeptical shoppers into informed buyers, intentional, and customer service driven education of your current and prospective clients for loyalty and longevity by direct response.
Companies find that Education Marketing is more effective than traditional "image" or "price and item" advertising. They help consumers do their "homework" by providing useful information about their product and category.
Stop selling. Start helping your customers buy.
The old "hard sell" faded long ago. Consumers avoid being sold. They embrace information that helps them buy the right products.
Build a relationship with your prospects
By providing useful information, you build a relationship of familiarity and trust. You become an expert resource instead of "just another vendor."
Veretekk's Education Marketing presentations will be available from our Veretekk presenters, specializing in helping you, our subscriber, by directing your prospects to your Veretekk site so they can attend through you to get needed information to generate new business. We'll convert your prospects into your business category and convert your "traditional advertising" into effective Education Marketing. All you have to do is promote the presentations, send them to your site to easily log in and we will do the rest. We will also give you the needed advertising copy for the presentations so you won't have to worry about that part either.
The broad appeal of education is inherent in both the learning process and the improved decision-making and performance an individual or business experiences as a result of learning. Education is recognized globally as a route to security and success. Good educators, whether they are individuals or organizations, are respected and heard.
But learning does not need to be a formal education process. Conveying knowledge can take place in a lot of forums: Whose opinion do you seek? Who taught you to ride a bike? Drive a car? Hit a baseball? Remember that moment? The gratitude? The subsequent success? Those are powerful moments. Maybe learning how to select the proper motor oil for your antique car or knowing how to pick an additive that gives your new product just the right appearance isn't quite as memorable, but you probably remember the person who taught you how.
As the names implies, educational marketing is a specific type of marketing where you engage potential customers and clients through education and consultation. It is about taking a leadership but also an expert, instructional, and training role in engaging customers and clients.
Educational marketing is often used in large businesses where a high degree of technical understanding is part of the customer-buying process. The computer hardware, computer software, Internet, medical, and pharmaceutical industry are large-scale examples of businesses that engage in educational marketing efforts. Even late-night infomercials engage in educational marketing when they demonstrate how to use new, innovative products.
How you perform as individuals is a direct reflection of their business. The individual-company relationship cannot easily be separated with the business.
Fundamentally, there are four basic ways potential customers and clients learn during the educational marketing process. They can read, listen, see, or do. They can read text information such as books, brochures, newspapers, ads, and other media. They can listen to a live or recorded audio program such as a speech, training, or presentation. They can see (watch) a video (such as instructional tapes, videos, and DVDs) or a live demonstration through a class, workshop, or seminar. Or they can practice on or work with the product itself such as product and software trial periods.
I believe powerful educational marketing tools include published books, audio programs, and videos. They are powerful because they are also the same tools used in credibility marketing. In fact, successful educational marketing efforts result in a dual benefit. Good educational marketing also translates to good credibility marketing.
I am an advocate of using published products as part of any educational marketing strategy. Even if books don't get read, they command the highest respect out of all the media available including newspaper ads, brochures, radio, CDs, videos, and TV. This stems from the academic and scholarly symbolism we attach to books to this day.
An author is often bestowed by the public with expert status on the subject they have written and published on. I often hear, writing and publishing a book is like getting a GED for the college degree. Depending on the subject and quality of your book, it may be like you getting a Bachelor's, Master's or even a PhD degree. The difference is that it takes far less time, money, and effort to write a book than to earn an academic degree. Becoming an author is a worthwhile investment for any high-achieving business professional, entrepreneur, consultant, and CEO.
Publishing a book or an audio program are excellent ways to engage in educational marketing. In addition to being great business symbols and calling cards, they help teach and spread your message. They empower your potential customers and clients with your expertise, knowledge, and wisdom.
In closing, I am a huge advocate of Educational Marketing. Large or small business, you will have to educate your customers and clients about your business, product, and service before you can sell them.
There is a misconception in service businesses that your marketing's most important function is to promote what you do, or in other words, your services. But the fact is, the most important function of your marketing should be to establish that you are knowledgeable, capable and can be trusted.
Most people don't do business with people they don't trust, especially when it comes to buying services. When they buy your services they are, in fact, buying the talents, skills, and personalities of YOU or your team of professionals.
Even if you have the lowest prices, if your prospect doesn't trust you, it will be difficult to close the sale. This is the basis for Education-Based Marketing.
Education-Based Marketing is a powerful marketing strategy that establishes trust and credibility using educational messages. It is the direct opposite of traditional marketing, which uses selling-based messages.
People are tired of hearing worn-out, old sales pitches. Barriers shoot up the moment you begin delivering a sales pitch. In contrast, people sit up and listen when you share important facts and expert information that help them make a good buying decision.
Determining Your Educational Message
Imagine stepping into the mind of your prospect and listening to their mental conversation at the very moment they decide to begin shopping for your services. What questions are they asking themselves? The secret to attracting qualified prospects early in the sales cycle is to find out the answers to those questions and use them as the basis for your educational marketing message.
For instance, suppose you are a marketing consultant. Perhaps your prospects are asking themselves, "How can I market my business at the least cost?" or "Why are my marketing efforts not succeeding?"
Now that you know what your prospect's questions are, now you can craft a marketing message that answers those questions. In the process of answering those questions you'll be building a relationship of trust with your prospect.
How To Package Your Educational Marketing Message to Generate Qualified Prospects
Once you have developed your educational message you need to package it and offer it for free in exchange for your prospect's contact information. This is critical. Effective marketing is not just a matter of getting the word out but more importantly, getting a response back.
You can package your educational message in a format your prospect will respond to such as a written special report, an audiocassette, a video tape, an email course, a CD-ROM, a live seminar, or even a toll-free phone message.
How To Deliver Your Educational Marketing Message
Now that you have developed and packaged your education message, you should develop strategies and processes to give it away. To do this you must first identify all the "customer touch points" in your business and offer your educational message at each one of those touch points. Common customer touch points are your business phone, website, advertising, publicity, networking conversations, public speaking events, social networking sites Facebook, Youtube, Skype, etc.
For instance, instead of ending your business phone conversations like this, "Well John, thanks so much for calling and if you ever need my services just let me know." End your phone conversation with an offer like this, "Well John, thanks so much for calling. By the way, I've just developed a great special report that talks about the top 10 tax breaks for people that set up a small business. If you'll give me your address I'll send it to you free of charge. Would that be okay?"
You've just accomplished three very important things with this telephone strategy, (1) you've generated goodwill by offering a valuable free gift, (2) you got your prospect's contact information so that you can continue to market to him, and (3) you now have a reason for a follow up phone call after he receives and has read the special report.
Resist the Urge to Give a Sales Pitch
It's easy to set your services business apart using Education-Based Marketing because most of your competitors are using selling-based marketing. The beauty of Education-Based Marketing is that you give prospective clients what they want, information and advice -- and remove what they don't want, a sales pitch.
By offering helpful advice, you establish yourself as an authority because prospects see you as a reliable source of information. Be careful not to give in to the urge to include a sales pitch with your educational message. This will only erode the trust you have established and make you the same as your competitors in the eyes of your prospect.
Integrated Marketing Communications
Definition: A management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation.
Integrated marketing means not just looking at one element of your marketing plan and expecting results that are independent from your other marketing components. An integrated marketing mindset means that you are massively mindful of the marketing you are doing across the board to ensure there is cohesiveness in the flow of information, and to best leverage your message for maximum return on investment.
Here are four simple tips to building an integrated marketing plan:
1. Buy domain names (URLS) for any call to action you might want to use in any of your marketing plans. Good Domains like www.itsgoodbusiness.net, www.itsgoodbusiness.com.au or www.directorsclub.net to support any advertising you will run to generate leads.
2. Make sure every mailing you use has a specific call to action that will drive lead generation on the Web. For example, a flier that has a call to action, such as, "Market conditions and the current economy makes owning a small business a powerful tax credit. Put $1000 of dollars in your pocket before you even make your first sale. Go to www.itsgoodbusiness.net to get your custom weekly market report." This will be much more valuable than a simple "just-listed postcard" with no traffic driver.
3. Classified ads. I know-you are dying to ask, "Aren't newspapers dead?" The answer is no, especially if you use it as a specific driver in your Web strategy. Imagine having different calls to action that go to specific subdomains on your website to create interactivity and lead generation. Ask your local newspaper what they charge for a simple 2×1 classified ad. You might be pleasantly surprised how inexpensive this strategy can be. Not to forget also using online classifieds, Craigslist, etc.
4. Stealth marketing on Facebook. The ads on the right-hand side of your profile or newsfeed screen are ads you can create and run. This is where you have the opportunity to do stealth marketing and, even better, select specific target markets that reach those people using Facebook. Imagine having an ad that says, "Is your job secure in the current economy? Click here for help." This, in turn, could take them to a specific site that addresses this problem, such as www.itsgoodbusiness.net. (P.S. - This applies for Craigslist.com, Google, etc.).
Note: When driving traffic to your website from any marketing channel to a specific form, make sure these leads go into a specific e-mail follow-up autoresponder that supports the message and connects to them.
Sincerely,
%%dist_name%%,
%%dist_phone%%
Veretekk Marketing Integration
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Thank you for being a Vereconference™ subscriber.
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I have been running Veretekk and it's predecessor for over 10 years. Prior to that I built online communities. Learning and teaching have been the constant throughout this Internet experience. People need good information to make good decisions. We make decisions everyday based on the information that is presented to us.
There are a lot of buzz words these days. Internet marketing, automated marketing, social marketing, integrated marketing, etc. Did you know Veretekk has been an integrated marketing system since it started back before the year 2000. For instance, ebooks, PDF fliers and classified ad submitters. Rss feed systems and 20+ Marketing Portals that carry your campaign out to the search engines. An emailing POP and autoresponder system to build legitimate lists and allow you to mail to them without fear of being accused of Spam.
We have also incorporated a version of Social networking internally since we first started. We just didn't know what it was called. And another major feature of Veretekk since it began has been the live web based conferences for our meetings, presentations and our trainings.
Interesting how Veretekk has quietly been doing this all these years while the rest of the Internet now seems to be catching up.
Enter Educational Marketing. The newest buzzword. With the continued massive advancements and new technologies, it is enough to make your head spin. But the way I see it, there are a few fundamentals that I doubt will change much in the coming years.
The quest for knowledge. The need for a mentor. The power of good content and information. Yes it is also necessary to build videos these days, because our culture has become media orientated and their attention is short and in demand. But the bottom line is, content.
Educational Marketing is something Veretekk has been doing within its members back office with the Veretekk training for years. That is about to change. The Veretekk conferencing system is about to open it's doors to the public with multi part presentations and seminars. These presentations will be generic in what they present. Some of the presentations you will find will be "How to determine a good autoresponder, what to look for and a thorough analysis as to all the different options you have out there. What is double opt in vs. single opt in. Deliverability rates, costs and the many functions each systems offers. Another example would be a seminar on how to get top SEO results illustrating top positions and showing what they are doing to get to the top. And yet another would be how to research and determine good keywords, purchasing domain names and how subdomains and title tags also play into the campaign. I think you understand this so far, right?
Related to Educational Marketing is a Veretekk exclusive called "Veretekk Integrated Marketing". Successful distributors would hold seminars in their specific company showing their success, their properties and the system they built incorporating Veretekk into it to achieve that success.
Education Marketing is a powerful new advertising concept that converts skeptical shoppers into informed buyers, intentional, and customer service driven education of your current and prospective clients for loyalty and longevity by direct response.
Companies find that Education Marketing is more effective than traditional "image" or "price and item" advertising. They help consumers do their "homework" by providing useful information about their product and category.
Stop selling. Start helping your customers buy.
The old "hard sell" faded long ago. Consumers avoid being sold. They embrace information that helps them buy the right products.
Build a relationship with your prospects
By providing useful information, you build a relationship of familiarity and trust. You become an expert resource instead of "just another vendor."
Veretekk's Education Marketing presentations will be available from our Veretekk presenters, specializing in helping you, our subscriber, by directing your prospects to your Veretekk site so they can attend through you to get needed information to generate new business. We'll convert your prospects into your business category and convert your "traditional advertising" into effective Education Marketing. All you have to do is promote the presentations, send them to your site to easily log in and we will do the rest. We will also give you the needed advertising copy for the presentations so you won't have to worry about that part either.
The broad appeal of education is inherent in both the learning process and the improved decision-making and performance an individual or business experiences as a result of learning. Education is recognized globally as a route to security and success. Good educators, whether they are individuals or organizations, are respected and heard.
But learning does not need to be a formal education process. Conveying knowledge can take place in a lot of forums: Whose opinion do you seek? Who taught you to ride a bike? Drive a car? Hit a baseball? Remember that moment? The gratitude? The subsequent success? Those are powerful moments. Maybe learning how to select the proper motor oil for your antique car or knowing how to pick an additive that gives your new product just the right appearance isn't quite as memorable, but you probably remember the person who taught you how.
As the names implies, educational marketing is a specific type of marketing where you engage potential customers and clients through education and consultation. It is about taking a leadership but also an expert, instructional, and training role in engaging customers and clients.
Educational marketing is often used in large businesses where a high degree of technical understanding is part of the customer-buying process. The computer hardware, computer software, Internet, medical, and pharmaceutical industry are large-scale examples of businesses that engage in educational marketing efforts. Even late-night infomercials engage in educational marketing when they demonstrate how to use new, innovative products.
How you perform as individuals is a direct reflection of their business. The individual-company relationship cannot easily be separated with the business.
Fundamentally, there are four basic ways potential customers and clients learn during the educational marketing process. They can read, listen, see, or do. They can read text information such as books, brochures, newspapers, ads, and other media. They can listen to a live or recorded audio program such as a speech, training, or presentation. They can see (watch) a video (such as instructional tapes, videos, and DVDs) or a live demonstration through a class, workshop, or seminar. Or they can practice on or work with the product itself such as product and software trial periods.
I believe powerful educational marketing tools include published books, audio programs, and videos. They are powerful because they are also the same tools used in credibility marketing. In fact, successful educational marketing efforts result in a dual benefit. Good educational marketing also translates to good credibility marketing.
I am an advocate of using published products as part of any educational marketing strategy. Even if books don't get read, they command the highest respect out of all the media available including newspaper ads, brochures, radio, CDs, videos, and TV. This stems from the academic and scholarly symbolism we attach to books to this day.
An author is often bestowed by the public with expert status on the subject they have written and published on. I often hear, writing and publishing a book is like getting a GED for the college degree. Depending on the subject and quality of your book, it may be like you getting a Bachelor's, Master's or even a PhD degree. The difference is that it takes far less time, money, and effort to write a book than to earn an academic degree. Becoming an author is a worthwhile investment for any high-achieving business professional, entrepreneur, consultant, and CEO.
Publishing a book or an audio program are excellent ways to engage in educational marketing. In addition to being great business symbols and calling cards, they help teach and spread your message. They empower your potential customers and clients with your expertise, knowledge, and wisdom.
In closing, I am a huge advocate of Educational Marketing. Large or small business, you will have to educate your customers and clients about your business, product, and service before you can sell them.
There is a misconception in service businesses that your marketing's most important function is to promote what you do, or in other words, your services. But the fact is, the most important function of your marketing should be to establish that you are knowledgeable, capable and can be trusted.
Most people don't do business with people they don't trust, especially when it comes to buying services. When they buy your services they are, in fact, buying the talents, skills, and personalities of YOU or your team of professionals.
Even if you have the lowest prices, if your prospect doesn't trust you, it will be difficult to close the sale. This is the basis for Education-Based Marketing.
Education-Based Marketing is a powerful marketing strategy that establishes trust and credibility using educational messages. It is the direct opposite of traditional marketing, which uses selling-based messages.
People are tired of hearing worn-out, old sales pitches. Barriers shoot up the moment you begin delivering a sales pitch. In contrast, people sit up and listen when you share important facts and expert information that help them make a good buying decision.
Determining Your Educational Message
Imagine stepping into the mind of your prospect and listening to their mental conversation at the very moment they decide to begin shopping for your services. What questions are they asking themselves? The secret to attracting qualified prospects early in the sales cycle is to find out the answers to those questions and use them as the basis for your educational marketing message.
For instance, suppose you are a marketing consultant. Perhaps your prospects are asking themselves, "How can I market my business at the least cost?" or "Why are my marketing efforts not succeeding?"
Now that you know what your prospect's questions are, now you can craft a marketing message that answers those questions. In the process of answering those questions you'll be building a relationship of trust with your prospect.
How To Package Your Educational Marketing Message to Generate Qualified Prospects
Once you have developed your educational message you need to package it and offer it for free in exchange for your prospect's contact information. This is critical. Effective marketing is not just a matter of getting the word out but more importantly, getting a response back.
You can package your educational message in a format your prospect will respond to such as a written special report, an audiocassette, a video tape, an email course, a CD-ROM, a live seminar, or even a toll-free phone message.
How To Deliver Your Educational Marketing Message
Now that you have developed and packaged your education message, you should develop strategies and processes to give it away. To do this you must first identify all the "customer touch points" in your business and offer your educational message at each one of those touch points. Common customer touch points are your business phone, website, advertising, publicity, networking conversations, public speaking events, social networking sites Facebook, Youtube, Skype, etc.
For instance, instead of ending your business phone conversations like this, "Well John, thanks so much for calling and if you ever need my services just let me know." End your phone conversation with an offer like this, "Well John, thanks so much for calling. By the way, I've just developed a great special report that talks about the top 10 tax breaks for people that set up a small business. If you'll give me your address I'll send it to you free of charge. Would that be okay?"
You've just accomplished three very important things with this telephone strategy, (1) you've generated goodwill by offering a valuable free gift, (2) you got your prospect's contact information so that you can continue to market to him, and (3) you now have a reason for a follow up phone call after he receives and has read the special report.
Resist the Urge to Give a Sales Pitch
It's easy to set your services business apart using Education-Based Marketing because most of your competitors are using selling-based marketing. The beauty of Education-Based Marketing is that you give prospective clients what they want, information and advice -- and remove what they don't want, a sales pitch.
By offering helpful advice, you establish yourself as an authority because prospects see you as a reliable source of information. Be careful not to give in to the urge to include a sales pitch with your educational message. This will only erode the trust you have established and make you the same as your competitors in the eyes of your prospect.
Integrated Marketing Communications
Definition: A management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation.
Integrated marketing means not just looking at one element of your marketing plan and expecting results that are independent from your other marketing components. An integrated marketing mindset means that you are massively mindful of the marketing you are doing across the board to ensure there is cohesiveness in the flow of information, and to best leverage your message for maximum return on investment.
Here are four simple tips to building an integrated marketing plan:
1. Buy domain names (URLS) for any call to action you might want to use in any of your marketing plans. Good Domains like www.itsgoodbusiness.net, www.itsgoodbusiness.com.au or www.directorsclub.net to support any advertising you will run to generate leads.
2. Make sure every mailing you use has a specific call to action that will drive lead generation on the Web. For example, a flier that has a call to action, such as, "Market conditions and the current economy makes owning a small business a powerful tax credit. Put $1000 of dollars in your pocket before you even make your first sale. Go to www.itsgoodbusiness.net to get your custom weekly market report." This will be much more valuable than a simple "just-listed postcard" with no traffic driver.
3. Classified ads. I know-you are dying to ask, "Aren't newspapers dead?" The answer is no, especially if you use it as a specific driver in your Web strategy. Imagine having different calls to action that go to specific subdomains on your website to create interactivity and lead generation. Ask your local newspaper what they charge for a simple 2×1 classified ad. You might be pleasantly surprised how inexpensive this strategy can be. Not to forget also using online classifieds, Craigslist, etc.
4. Stealth marketing on Facebook. The ads on the right-hand side of your profile or newsfeed screen are ads you can create and run. This is where you have the opportunity to do stealth marketing and, even better, select specific target markets that reach those people using Facebook. Imagine having an ad that says, "Is your job secure in the current economy? Click here for help." This, in turn, could take them to a specific site that addresses this problem, such as www.itsgoodbusiness.net. (P.S. - This applies for Craigslist.com, Google, etc.).
Note: When driving traffic to your website from any marketing channel to a specific form, make sure these leads go into a specific e-mail follow-up autoresponder that supports the message and connects to them.
Sincerely,
%%dist_name%%,
%%dist_phone%%
