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All posts by Andrew Mazer

How to market a product or service with video

Marketing With Video Demonstration

A productive and powerful online presence is much more than just a website and some social media posts. As I was creating some content for my wholesale website I decided this would be an ideal demonstration of incorporating several online marketing processes, all wrapped around the showcasing of a single item. This is how to leverage an “online presence” which includes my website but extends way beyond it. (See video below)

In this process I’m combining video with an entry on my wholesale website’s shopping cart, embedding the video onto the website and sharing the video across multiple channels online. All this with just a little over an hour invested. The video is shot on my iPhone which anyone can do. No special equipment is necessary. No real technical skills are required. Of course you need to know how to get into the back end of your website and learn a couple of processes and procedures which are easily learned and repeated anytime you want. The results are demonstrated.

In this video you will see how I’ve been using video for many years which to date have resulted in more than half a million video views which have been instrumental in helping me sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of products.

How to Market Your Business, Products and Services Using Video

Demonstration videos like this can be used for showcasing any kind of product or service. It doesn’t matter if you are selling cheeseburgers or computer software, water purification systems or wood refinishing services, garage doors or garbage bags.

Video has a way of being seen by a specific audience which happens to be interested in the content of the video. This makes it highly targeted to a current or future prospect for your product or services.

You can poke around and find lots of my videos online. There is no fancy editing or production quality. There doesn’t need to be. In fact, my videos have a “reality factor” which transmits sincerity and evokes trust.

 

In my book The Business Owners Guide to Marketing Online, I talk about marketing a cheeseburger. If I were selling cheeseburgers I would make a video of the entire process of making some specialty and maybe a little crazy cheeseburger. It would be a beautiful and gloriously sloppy, greasy and otherwise mouthwateringly irresistible piece of work.

Sure, someone could take notes and duplicate the process at home to make their own, but there are people who would say, “Oh, I gotta try that.” Or they would say, “Hey, I like this guy. We gotta try that place!” It wouldn’t be a commercial for cheeseburgers at my restaurant it would be a video about a wild and wacky cheeseburger. I would post it on YouTube. I would post it on my website. I would share it on as many social media platforms as I could find and I would send out an email directing people to check out this glorious cheeseburger video. I would ask those people who are already on my email list and Facebook fans and friends to share it. This, my friends is called marketing a cheese burger joint. But maybe my place isn’t a cheese burger joint. Maybe my place is a diner and I sell all kinds of food. Then I would move on to another topic like some kind of interesting omelet. I would move on to a handful of dinner entrees. Then, salads and desserts.

How do you get more money for products than your competitors? By differentiating what you sell from what they can get in any other place. Could you sell a $20 salad? Why not? Just add lobster meat or filet mignon. How do you launch a unique dish, product or service? Many of us want to but we don’t even try because we don’t know how to get the word out about this new idea. Well, you’re learning how right here.

Marketing with video and on your website and on social media and by email is a fraction of the cost of traditional print media and you can get the word out fast if you have the understanding and control of your online marketing. You can test things, try things, and have fun with it. And it works.

Is it time for you to take control of your online marketing? Is it time for you to take control of your website so you can implement ideas the moment they enter your mind?

The Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing Online Seminar & Workshop

Business owners can not manage what they don’t understand. That’s why most of them are frustrated by writing checks to marketing service providers and getting little or no return on investment.

online marketing seminar class

My methods have been working for me and my clients since year 2000. Anyone can learn this stuff. Click here to register for an upcoming event near you.

Click here to find an upcoming event near you.

3 Hour Seminar and Workshop is 100% Pure Educational Content on the Topic of Marketing Your Business Online

The material covered in this presentation is specifically for the benefit of the owners of businesses. NOT necessarily so they can become the internet marketer for their company but so they can understand it enough to set goals, plan, manage, monitor and make sure they’re making wise marketing decisions and investments.

In this 3-hour seminar and workshop you will learn: 

  • How to make every aspect of your website work harder for you. Most websites are made by “geeks.” They’re a little bit like artists. They know how to create things but they’re usually not good at business or marketing. I will show you how to improve your website so it acts like a customer-generating machine and business ambassador.
  • How Search Engine Optimization works and how to do it yourself. This is how people find you online who don’t even know you exist. Most websites are lacking in good SEO. I will show you how to fix its current deficiencies and how to add new content to your website which will match how people are searching for a business like yours online. Find an upcoming event near you. Or call 1-866-799-2825
  • How to stop wasting time and money on social media and learn how to do it right. There’s a lot of fake-phony frauds taking people’s money to post useless crap on social media to a list of fans who don’t buy anything. If you’re paying one of these people, register for my seminar.
  • How to build a valuable customer list and keep in touch with the power of automation. A list of customers is a real and powerful asset. Technology makes it easy to keep in touch and it’s really important. It’s not your customer’s job to remember you. It’s your job to remind them you exist. I’ll show you how.
  • How to multiply the effect of offline marketing and online marketing simultaneously. . Print ads, radio ads and TV ads all work better in coordination with a website. In this seminar, you’re going to learn how to 2x, 3x or even 10x the results of your offline marketing.

When you know what to do and how to do it, much of the execution can be done by a minimum wage worker. But this is important stuff and I urge business owners to take a special interest in it because when this stuff works, it becomes more enjoyable and then you can escalate your skills and activity to produce even greater results. It’s really very exciting.

Bonus (if we have attendees interested in the subject):   Find an upcoming event near you

  • Secrets Groupon Doesn’t Want You to Know. Most businesses engaging in “Deal” marketing are getting people in the door but missing out on the hidden opportunities.

100% Educational Content-100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Internet marketing workshop

If any attendee is not completely satisfied they got at least double their money’s worth in terms of the ideas and information shared in this seminar within the 90 minutes, their money will be cheerfully refunded, no questions asked.

The tuition is backed by a 100%, No-Questions Asked, Money Back Satisfaction Guarantee.

Any attendee who isn’t completely satisfied the content delivered within the first 90 minutes of the presentation is worth 2x the cost of tuition, may leave at the break and get a full refund. Who does this? Only those who KNOW their stuff works. I love business owners. Let me help you.

 

Seminar/Workshop includes breakfast, a follow-along action guide, and a 30-minute one-on-one coaching call any time within 60 days after the event.

Small class size (between 5-15 people) assures everyone’s most pressing questions get answered and all are equipped to take control of their destiny online.

If you can’t find an event in your area, let us know you’re interested by emailing: support@smallbusinessu.org. 

Why Multi-Tasking is a Lie. How to Become More Productive and Manage Time

Multitasking is a lie. It doesn’t exist. At least not in the form which we refer to it most. Yes we can walk and talk at the same time and we can chew gum and write in our notebook at the same time and we can drive our car and talk and listen to the radio but really we cannot do anything which requires attention and concentration at the same time.

time management tips

Don’t fall for the multitasking myth. It will never serve you well.

Multi-Tasking is Not Good On a Resume

Brag about being a good multi-tasker? Prove it. Studies show quality and productivity of “multi-taskers” never outperform focused attention on one task done at a time in succession.

You are really not doing more than one thing at a time. You’re actually bouncing between two or more things but you’re not doing anything at the same time. Bouncing around from one thing to the next reduces your effectiveness and your concentration and robs any chance of gaining momentum which is essential for quality work true  productivity.

Even the fastest and most powerful computers do not actually multitask. They switch.  They alternate from one function or task to another.  The faster the computer the less noticeable but it’s true.  Even the fastest computers noticeably slow down when resources are burdened with multiple tasks.

Time management and productivity are often on our priority list especially when it comes the turn of a new year. We invest in the next fancy calendar or other time management gadget with the hopes that this year we’ll figure it out and do better in this department of our business and our lives.

 The Answer to Time Management and Productivity Lies in Behavior.

Concentrated focus on the highest value task at any given time is the answer. “What should I be doing right now? What is the highest value, most important thing I can do?” Ideally, these should be planned out the night before so you will start the day ready for action.

For business owners, marketing or selling your product are generally the highest value task in your business. Of course it is not the only important task which needs to be done but it is the highest value most of the time. Tackle the highest value task then move on to the next highest value tasks.

Concentrated focus on the highest value task will put you on the fast track to being as productive as you can be. Being as productive as you can be by prioritizing and working on your highest value tasks will put you on the fast track.

Not only will this put you on the fast track to greater achievement and more success but it will also make much of the lower value tasks which you normally get into less necessary or even unnecessary. They will either become unneeded or easier for you to delegate.

Delegating is a Powerful Time Management and Productivity Tool

time management tips

More focus on the highest priorities is more effective than multi-tasking.

When delegating becomes more valuable than doing, then delegating will be on your hierarchy of priorities. Learning how to give $10 an hour work to $10 an hour people instead of doing it yourself will become almost like an income stream because you’ll be able to focus even more on highest-value stuff…which is usually more enjoyable as well.

By the way, taking rejuvenation time during your day is equally important. When you expend your highly focused energy on high value tasks, you need to replenish. You deserve a 10-30 minute wind down and a snack so you have the energy and focus for the next highest value task.

This is easy to understand but not easy to do. For most of us, it requires a change in habits which is a worthy topic for another article.

How to Prepare for Business Networking

Depending on the size of the event, most networking meetings allow each person between 10 seconds and 2 minutes for a personal commercial. There are always those people who have a commercial which is planned and well rehearsed. Those people stand out, don’t they? They exude confidence, authority and expertise. They seem as if they’re ready for business.

Preparation is the Key to Creating Opportunity at Networking Events

People who attend Small Business U events are serious about personal development and business. As a result they make great networking partners.

People who attend Small Business U events are serious about personal development and business. As a result they make great networking partners.

See details about our upcoming Networking and Seminar Events. Click here.
Confucius (and Tony Robbins) said luck is where preparation and opportunity meet. If we show up to networking meetings we are walking into an environment which presents opportunity. That’s why we attend. We are going to get out of it what we put into it. If we go in unprepared, what can we expect? We must present our business, our ideal type of client and the benefits of doing business with us clearly and concisely.

Your Networking Commercial, aka Elevator Speech

See details about our upcoming Networking and Seminar Events. Click here.
By being prepared in this manner, we’re going to make the most of each and every investment of time and money to attend networking events. When we make the investment of time to clarify the most important and compelling speech, given 10 seconds, 30, 60 and 120, we’re going to increase the chance of attracting new customers every single time we make the presentation. Stumbling, stammering and searching for the right words aren’t going to compel anyone to hire you for your services or refer you to their contacts.

Show up prepared. Dress appropriately. Make eye contact with people around the room as you speak. You’ll feel confident. You’ll look confident, positive, and successful. With every event you attend will come the increased chance of attracting new business and referrals.

Preparing a Good Elevator Speech or Personal Commercial

See details about our upcoming Networking and Seminar Events. Click here.
Here’s an exercise you can do which will help you deliver a good networking commercial. Answer these questions in a way you can deliver the answers quickly and backed with a tone of confidence and authority. Use any of them alone or string them together as a networking commercial depending on the time permitted at the event.

1. Who do you serve? Who is your ideal client? If you’re in a room with 50 people at a networking event you will usually only get 10 seconds to state your name and your business name. You can still have time to squeeze in your ideal client especially when you have already eyeballed someone in the room with whom you would like to meet or work.

2. Who is your ideal referral partner? By announcing your ideal referral partners, you’re expanding your reach because you’re potentially tapping into another business-persons cache of clients and connections. When given 30-seconds, you can logically tie in the ideal client plus the ideal referral partner.

3. What is your special talent, expertise or value proposition? This is where the rubber meets the road. Benefits rule here. Be conscious of keeping this message about the benefits your prospective clients can expect as a result of your expertise. This commercial can tie together the facts in the others and consume a minute or two.

Practice this. Regardless of the venue, format or occasion, being prepared with a brief and cogent commercial will always serve you well.

See details about our upcoming Networking and Seminar Events. Click here.

What is Offline-to-Online Marketing?

A huge mistake I see businesses make is a failure to connect their offline marketing to their online marketing. What do I mean by that?  It will be easier to explain when I give you this example of a postcard I received in the mail a couple days ago.

I received a postcard mailing from a senior care facility.  I presume it’s because I am in my early fifties and the assumption is that I have aging parents, which I do. So I am on some kind of list of prospects to eventually be shopping for a senior care facility for a parent. This makes a lot of sense. What does not make sense is that this postcard had only a phone number and the names of 2 contact people and did not have the company website on the card at all.

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What’s the trouble with this? A website is there to do the heavy lifting a small postcard cannot do. A website has unlimited space to go into unlimited detail about the place, the product, the people, the features, and the benefits.

offline to online marketing techniques

Look at the ads in most print publications. They seldom use Landing Pages and this is an epic mistake.

The biggest failure of this and the bigger lesson as it relates to offline to online marketing is that there is no attempt to capture someone’s contact information who may be interested but not ready to make a decision right now. I would venture to say that would be the majority of people receiving the postcard. The solution to this failure would have been to have the website address of the organization and a special page on the website which is specifically created to work in tandem with the postcard. It would look something like this: www.oldageplace.com/freereport. This is called a LANDING PAGE.

 

The postcard should have offered a free report or some helpful tips which could be delivered by email if the recipient would simply fill out an online form. The free report could have been any among an infinite number of topics, such as “7 things you must ask when interviewing a senior care home.” Or, “21 nutrition tips for people over the age of 70. Or, “How to senior proof your home to prevent catastrophic injuries.”

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With a couple hours or so of work, this lead generating procedure could possibly create  dozens or even hundreds of those postcards which were probably sent out to thousands of people into solid leads. Anyone choosing to download these free reports would be an obvious prospect. With this list of their names and email addresses they could be on a list to receive information and reminders indefinitely. It’s what you call a highly-targeted list. The postcard mailing is fairly-well targeted, however, it’s a one-shot deal. It’ll be in the waste basket except for the tiny percentage for which it may be exactly the right thing at the right time.

When you send an email to the people who requested a free report once a month with a single idea or tip for caring for their elders, this organization would be always in top of mind position and also be regarded highly because of their expertise and quality information. Even further the law of reciprocity could become involved considering the good value this company provided prior to ever collecting a single dollar.

I see business is all the time advertising in print an expensive magazines. In Philadelphia there is Philadelphia Magazine. In South Jersey, there is SJ magazine.  These are the magazines which I see because I live in South Jersey. I’m sure there are major magazines in most metropolitan areas. Ads in these types of magazines are expensive. Yet I see most of the ads lack in advertising a landing page. Most businesses have the presence of mind to at least put their website address in their ad but actually that’s not good enough. It a landing page is much more effective than just sending someone to your home page.

Any restaurant, law firm, dentist, spa, massage therapist, chiropractor…ANYBODY who has a website and is not leveraging the power of a landing page to capture contact information of their ideal clients is only using their website as a glorified business card. When you take your customer from print ad to website, to requesting information, you are essentially taking their hand and walking them to your cash register.

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I Have Been Validated by Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time. I see him as a combination of Regular Guy, Super Smart, Highly Opinionated, Genuinely Caring, and Highly Focused.

Small business marketing advice

Mark Cuban says one of the most important things you need to be successful in business is to know as much as you can about technology.

Modeling and studying people of great accomplishment is always a great way learn, avoid mistakes and streamline your path to success. I think most people will agree, Cuban is a good guy to follow.

Cuban has a blog called Blog Maverick. He shares a lot of good advice. In a post entitled The 6 Things You Need to Know to be Great In Business, the #3 thing Cuban includes is: Learn As Much As you Can About Technology. I definitely agree. However, what I THINK he was really suggesting is learning about what technology can do and how to use it.

Most business owners put their hands up like a shield over their face and shudder at the idea of learning about technology. We don’t need to know how electricity is generated, sent through a series of transformers, capacitors and wires. We just need to know how to flip the switch.

I started educating myself on the subject of online marketing techniques back in year 2000. It was for the purpose of marketing my wholesale business, Mazer Wholesale, Inc., and the merchandise I sell to retailers. I didn’t learn it all at once. Actually, I learned one thing which was successful for me and it took about 3 years before I learned the 2nd thing. It wasn’t until the 2nd thing started working that I really started to get interested in learning more.

In my book and seminar entitled, The Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing Online, I simplify marketing online. It’s really not that complicated and I make it easy to understand. I break it down into 7 fundamentals any business owner can understand.

Business owners need to understand technology so they can implement it and manage it. So they know what’s possible. So they can prioritize and make good choices.

It’s not necessary to become a genius, an expert or a guru about technology to become proficient at marketing online. It really comes down to learning the fundamentals. When you understand the fundamentals of marketing your business online, you will know what to do and how to do it. This doesn’t mean you have to do the work. You’ll be able to get someone else to do it for you. It could be someone you already have on staff, a freelancer, or a virtual assistant.

Learn all about the fundamentals of marketing your small business online at The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing Online seminars. The schedule of upcoming events can be found on the navigation bar at the top of this page.

The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing Online Seminar

The Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing Online

More and more business owners are ready to take control of their online marketing. They should. It’s not difficult. It’s really very simple. To see all scheduled dates for this seminar, click here.

Andrew Mazer-Small Business University

I’m Andrew Mazer and I’m passionate about helping and supporting small business owners.

Save Money, Make More Sales, Get More Customers-Learn How it Works…Online

What’s more important in your business than saving money, getting more customers and making more sales? Nothing. This is why you must invest a couple bucks and a couple hours. This stuff can change your business and your life. I know…it happened for me! And when I started sharing this information, it started happening for my friends and my clients. It’s the real deal.

I have been using the concepts I teach in this presentation for my businesses and for my clients for 15 years. Even though the internet has changed, computers and internet-connected devices have changed, websites have changed and technology has changed, the fundamentals I teach have not changed. They work and they will make sense to you…even if you’re not a computer-person.

In a 2-1/2 hour seminar, I break it down into 7 basic fundamentals.

  • They’re easy to understand.
  • There’s nothing technical about them.
  • These fundamentals form the foundation (and are really ALL that are necessary) to have a Rock-Solid Online Presence™ which will get you a steady flow of new and existing customers, clients or patients.

Some of the things I’ll be teaching are:

  • How marketing online is similar to marketing a garage sale!
  • How to make sense of Social Media
  • How Google and the other search engines decide which businesses (websites) to show in the search results
  • Lessons of a Cheeseburger
  • Misconceptions about email

How to Become Highly Productive in 4 Hours a Day

The Ultimate Time Management Solution

Replace One Bad Habit With a Good One

Becoming highly productive requires the elimination of habits which are not highly productive. The installation of good habits is required to fill the void.

Bad habits are like weeds. They grow strong and they grow fast. You barely notice them and before you know it, they’re causing trouble in your lawn or garden. They have really strong roots too. Think of a dandelion. You try to pull it out of the ground but to get the entire root out requires a lot more effort the just tugging the top.

Cultivating good habits requires intense energy. Sticking to your resolutions requires energy.

Energy? Yes. Will power is driven by energy. Willpower is necessary for focused attention and especially to create new habits. It’s a very interesting subject. The subject of books, not short articles (though I hope this article helps), and the study of it is powerfully enlightening.

Will power comes in limited supply. We only get a little bit every day. It gets used up in short bursts and after that, the vacuum left in its place is fertile ground for weeds. Touch a button and you’re checking email. Touch a button and you’re checking Facebook. Open the fridge, reach for a smoke…it’s hard to break this habit cycle!

Become Highly Productive in 4 Hours Per Day

As business owners (and this is true for high-level executives), it’s uncommon to get in more than a couple of hours of truly productive work. What is “productive work?” Productive work is the focused attention and action which produces the highest-value. What is “highest value”? Highest value is determined by the results your work will produce now and in the future. To be truly productive requires focused attention on your highest-value tasks for a concentrated period of time and then a period of recovery.

Studies have shown, most people are limited to about one hour of focused attention at a time before their ability to remain focused begins to fade. A break of about 20 minutes, including water and a healthy snack, delivers the necessary recovery for the next hour. 2 of these sessions in the morning and 2 in the afternoon will give you 4 highly productive hours in the day. Do this, and you will still have a couple of good hours to spend in “reactive mode” such as responding to emails, returning phone calls and attending to the minutia on your to-do list.

One thing can make all the difference. What is it? Here’s a list of ideas:

  • Study and work on marketing. Learning and executing marketing is how you are going to get more customers, clients or patients NOW and in the future. Becoming better at and executing marketing activities will make the biggest difference in the success of your business than almost anything else you can do.
  • Make a list of your dream clients. Make a list of 10, 50 or 100. Productive work would be to set aside 1 hour per day doing everything possible to reach those prospects with your message, request an appointment and make a presentation.
  • Develop a new skill (or improve upon one). A new skill, writing, learning a language more of your customers are speaking, desktop publishing…these are things which will have long-lasting benefits and produce profits for your business.
  • Delegate. Delegating the low-value tasks so you can focus on the highest-value tasks still takes a little time. You need to organize what needs to be delegated and you should probably set some time aside to make sure what you’re delegating is being done properly.
  • Exercise. To make your focus time more productive, you’ll need to have a healthier mind and body. Make sure you slot some time for health, meditation, and body movement.

When you invest time into your day in this manner, you’ll know you’re being productive. You’ll know the new you is more productive than 90% of other people. You’ll feel less worked, less stressed and you’ll be invested in your business or career at a much deeper level.

Tip #1: Set a timer to for your 1-hour segments. Your cell phone probably has a built-in timer. If you don’t, the hour will spill into longer periods. Even though it may feel easy for you to blow right through the first hour and keep going, it’s vital to stop and take a the renewal break. This serves more than just the renewal. It also trains your brain to execute at a higher level so your 1-hour’s worth of work gets finished faster and better.

Tip #2: Start your day early. Get the blood and body moving. Get some oxygen flowing through your lungs and brain. Drink water. If you must eat, keep it light. Get 2 sessions in before noon.

Tip #3: Keep the momentum going by having a nutritious lunch. Keep it as light as possible. You want to avoid afternoon-crash syndrome which is generally attributable to a heavy lunch. Don’t even open your email until this time of the day. Be vigilant with your time here and make sure you have your next planned hour of focused productivity scheduled for a specific time and stick with it.

Studies have shown most people accomplish less than 2 hours of productive work per 8 hour day. Imagine the difference focusing on 4 hours on highly productive work for you. Do it for yourself and then help your employees implement this strategy for themselves. Imagine the difference it could make in your business and your life.

 

When is the Best Time to Fire Someone?

Every business owner is faced with the task of hiring and firing. Letting someone go is easy under some circumstances, but it’s often a heavy burden.

The Best Time to Fire Someone is Immediately Upon the First Time You Consider It.

youre fired

Trust your instincts. Your feelings are probably right.

Letting awkward and angry feelings fester are really bad for you and your organization. They affect the whole place. Letting someone stay who just doesn’t blend with your personal style isn’t going to work for either of you. You usually know these things early on. Tolerating behavior like lateness, disrespect, sloppiness or rudeness is going to bring your reputation down. It’s easy to identify these things. Nip them in the bud.

Today, lawsuits are a concern so every employer should have an employee handbook clearly describing your policies. If you describe how employee performance is judged, lay out and follow your warning and reprimand procedures, and you document these, you’ll keep yourself out of trouble when it comes time to drop the hammer.

Never underestimate the power of intuition. If you suspect someone is stealing or is just otherwise not a good fit for your organization, you’re probably right. The pain always grows when you don’t take quick action.

Don’t feel guilty. When you let a person go, you are sending them off with a greater chance of landing in the right place. It’s a good idea to explain this to the person. You can more easily part on good terms. I’ve been fortunate over the course of 30 years in business. Many former employees have stopped by to tell me the time they spent was a good experience and thanked me for it. It’s a wonderful feeling to be a positive person in someones life, even if it came from a graceful firing.

Components of a Good Website

A good website does 3 things:

  1. It gets people who don’t already know you exist to find you and your business because it’s answering the questions they’re searching for.
  2. It makes the visitors comfortable that the website they landed on is the place where they’re going to find what they’re looking for…a place they can trust enough to do business with you.
  3. It delivers some sort of call to action so you can either generate a lead, initiate a sale, or invite a customer to walk in your place or call you.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9O77AIIiEI&w=560&h=315] Beautiful graphics, format, and layout all add to the visitor’s experience and can not be underestimated. But the big prize is getting people to find you and take action. It all starts with people finding you and that’s why your website should be full with all the possible content you can provide about the products and services you make, do or sell.