Employees:

Are you proud of your employees or do you feel the need to watch them, even installing video or other surveillance?

Do your employees have a vested interest in doing a good job. This doesn’t have to meen monetary incentive, but perhaps some other recognition.

Physical surroundings

Location. Logistically, your business should be easy to get to. Once a customer arrives and parks, they expect easy access to the ?

Aesthetics

Your business plan spells out your goals and how you plan to attain them. This should be a clear and concise, written document with measurable goals and realistic steps to attaining them. and this is part of your big picture, but

Small business owners often jump into business without a plan. I know I did. Why do I need a plan when I am just providing computer consulting and marketing services to small business owners? The truth is that a plan sets the tone for how you present yourself and in turn, how you are treated as a business owner. Step up an put it in writing.

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Kim Lugar knows how to take advantage of both print and web services. Her new website is great by itself, but coupled with consistently branded print materials, they pack quite a punch. Having a postcard or brochure to hand her customers, directing them to the website, is critical. At Kim’s latest trade show, she handed out a new postcard and people started visiting right away - during the show! Business increased instantly.

Marketing is the conversation you continually have with your customers. Let us help you create print and web materials that speak their language, designed to keep them interested and impressed. The last thing you want to do is talk down to them or send them conflicting messages. And you certainly don’t want to send them to a website that will have them wondering if you take your business seriously.

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Some of the services we can provide to budget strained agencies:

Updating tired websites (Scappoose Police Department Website)

Freshening up recruiting materials

Forms - single and multiple

Community brochures, flyers, and other handouts.

A magnet handed out to local businesses at a SPD Business Watch meeting.

I have noticed since I started using WordPress, I pop out of bed even easier because I can’t wait to discover something new that will benefit my clients. WordPress has revolutionized web design, and there’s no going back. Why would we want to? Even my non-technical clients can update content, blog if they like, post documents and photos, and add links.

Here is a great example of the power of WordPress. A prospective client called me after seeing my website. He had been thinking of posting information about a historical Oregon artist and has an extensive collection of her paintings, plus other materials and a great deal of biographical information. To pay a web designer to post all of this information, photos, and other materials would be cost-prohibitive, particularly when this site is just about sharing information, not commercial activity.

Using WordPress, the budget went towards creating an asthetically pleasing, easily navigated, simple site that can be expanded to hold virtually all the information about this artist. As a designer, I selected a WordPress theme (which is not an easy task as there are literally thousands to choose from) and changed the banner, layout, color scheme, and other more technical aspects so that the site is unique and fits within the scope and style of the site. I have done very little of the posting, but I offer guidance and technical support as needed. This partnership allows me to work on multiple projects at a time, it allows the client to share his knowledge with the world, all within a reasonable budget and at his comfort level. The site is now live - take a look.

To me, this is what the internet is about these days. Everyone can participate, everyone has something to share, and anyone can do it.

Anyway, if you saw the old title and clicked on the link hoping for a top-ten list of the worst offenders, sorry to disappoint you. They are too numerous to mention, plus I generally like to be respectful to my potential clients. The purpose of this article is not to embarrass unsuspecting business owners anyway, it is just to remind them that an outdated or underwhelming site may be hurting business more than they realize.

If you find yourself apologizing for your website, don’t you owe it to yourself to find out what it would take to spruce things up? You may never know how much business you lose having a pathetic website, just know that you do. People generally don’t call and say “I was going to patronize your business, but I saw your website and went elsewhere.” Fortunately, you’ll hear otherwise when you have a sparkly new site to bring people in. The good news is, having a new site doesn’t have to shake things up too much.

Web design has come such a long way in the last few years, there is really no excuse for posting a dull website and not updating it for three years. You can’t blame the customer if you aren’t willing to give them something more than a WordArt logo and a list of services. With a new site allowing easily updated content, you can show them you care and consider their business important.
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Once you update to a new site, you’ll find it can breathe life into your business. It gives you something to talk about with your customers, and it gives them an easy way to refer others. Having your URL tossed around among customers is as good as it gets. Call today and let’s give them something worthwhile to toss.

Maybe it’s a lack of time (or computer savvy) holding you back from the kind of marketing you know you should be putting out there? 

Sometimes the trick is knowing when not to DIY.  From organizational projects, such as database creation and maintenance, to full-scale marketing campaigns, we can take care of it all and make you look good. No detail is too small when you consider the impact it has on your business image.

A label is a label is a label…or is it?   Which would you rather send to your clients?

You may have never thought of your mailing labels as marketing, but as they say– it’s all in the details.

 It’s OK to need help. Call today for a free consultation.  In an hour, we can figure out where your marketing efforts may be falling short, and create a plan for improving your three most-used documents.

Ask about November Focus specials when you call!
For new marketing ideas, information and specials, call Sue Leipzig @ 503-543-5201

Things have changed. I now encourage and even insist my clients be able to do basic updates and submit content on their own. Naturally I train them how to do this, but what once required a one year certificate from the community college now takes an hour. How can the average business owner update their own website without going certifiably insane? In a word, or I guess an acronym: CMS (Content Management System).

This site is an example of a CMS. On a given day, from any computer with internet access, I can type my latest ideas and communicate with my clients. Content includes pages, such as the static, traditional web pages we’re used to such as “Home”, “About” etc. Then there are the posts. Ah, the changing content that keeps the clients coming to see what’s up. Easily changed and categorized, this is where those websites that have been unchanged since 2001 get left in the dust.

CMS is the perfect marriage between basic information that clients can rely on and find whenever they need it, and the ever-changing news that piques the interest of current and potential clients.

Try a Google seach for CMS and you will see just how popular this type of website is. Oryan Consulting specializes in customizing CMS Sites and training business owners and employees to use them. Call today to find out how a custom CMS can take your business to the next level. 503-543-5201

I don’t see how anyone who claims to be a real estate marketing professional can try to put the kibosh on postcards. True; one-size-fits-all postcards are passe, but targeted postcards that speak directly to some of your clients are quite effective. That is the tricky part - not all of your clients are in the same cycle of house hunting, so how can you send them all the same postcard? You can’t — well, technically you can, but you shouldn’t. The clients that have been on your list for 7 or more years need a very specific postcard asking them if their current house suits them - perhaps they need more room, perhaps less - your job is to find out exactly what question to ask. There should also be a group getting a “first anniversary in the new house” postcard - you’ll need a supply of these. Oh, and there’s the “I appreciate referrals” postcard, which can go to all clients, but not all at the same time. This all sounds very expensive and complicated, but there is a method to the madness.

As mentioned in the Customer Database article, your database should make it easy for you to break down your list and determine who should get what. Once you get in the habit of keeping this information up-to-date, its a breeze. Databases can keep track of virtually unlimited information and it can be sorted to the finest detail.

We all know that ordering 500 postcards is cheaper than ordering 25 postcards (yes, believe it or not, you can order as few as 25 professionally printed postcards. I get all kinds of giddy at the thought.) However, sending 20 sets of targeted postcards is the better bargain when you consider the ROI (return on investment).

So while I think the author of the real estate marketing book probably had a good reason for squashing the postcard idea (I wouldn’t know, I couldn’t get past this chapter), I still believe that postcards are an important part (and just one part) of your marketing efforts. As long as you target your audience for this easily read, inobtrusive, and inexpensive marketing tool, you can’t go wrong.

Oryan consulting can handle the entire postcard marketing campaign for you - from data collection, database creation, postcard design, printing and mailing. Call today to find out more. 503-543-5201

(These photos are not meant to embarrass anyone, they are just photos found in searching the RMLS and are only meant to remind my real estate broker clients that photos aren’t just about selling the house, they also reflect on you professionally)

Real estate brokers are always marketing. You can’t even meet someone new without considering them a prospective home buyer or seller. You already know that every business card handed out, every sign posted at a listing, every postcard mailed out - it’s all marketing and it should all sparkle. But what about the latent marketing you do - like the photos and descriptions you list on the internet under “view my listings”.

Always turn the TV off and Focus, Focus, Focus.

Are you posting blurry photos with tubes of toothpaste left out on the bathroom counter, or dark pictures that leave the impression of a dank basement in the mind of the viewer? What about those stretched out photos that make your listing look like a fun house? Is the family pet’s posterior in your shot?

SSSSTTRREEEETTTCHHHEDDD out photos don’t help you sell houses.

Less than professional photos diminish your listing as well as your credibility. Bad descriptions do the same. Spelling and grammar make a difference and it is worth spending a few minutes to read through what you have written and look up words if you question their spelling. Abbreviations in MLS listings were once acceptable, but your clients are all viewing the MLS online these days. Does it really take that much more effort to spell out the word large, rather than type lg? Make it readable, inviting and polished.

Does this kitchen have any counter space?

Every, and I mean every, item associated with your name should absolutely shine. If you are in need of some assistance in this area (and based on my research of the local real estate agent websites in the Scappoose area, many of you do) please call today for a free consultation.

Let me help you polish your prose and your photos and make the most of your marketing efforts.