Scrappy Marketing Solutions Blog

How to Write Posts That Set StumbleUpon on Fire

Not much set-up needed here - Skellie has compiled a super how-to over at ProBlogger: How to Write Posts That Set StumbleUpon on Fire.

If you are using (or interested in using) StumbleUpon.com to increase/drive traffic to your blog, you definitely need to check out Skellie's article.

If you have never heard of StumbleUpon, or hadn't thought of using it in your own marketing efforts, check out StubmleUpon, then go read the article.

Do you Stumble?  Have you been Stumble'd?   Do you Stumble friends' or colleagues' posts?  Do they return the favor?  What results have you seen?  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

30-Minute Marketing

by Sara Pedersen

Marketing your small business takes tons of time, years of experience, and lots of money, right? Wrong! Anyone can learn effective marketing techniques that are simple, inexpensive, and best of all, quick! Get in the habit of REGULARLY marketing your biz! The following are some marketing techniques that you can accomplish in 30 minutes or less. Pick a few that appeal to your style. Then, write down each one on your calendar on a specific day you so you WILL accomplish this task.

BE AN EXPERT

Type up a list of your top five favorite seasonal TIPS related to your business and send it to your local paper. Invite the news editor to run the tips along with your contact information in an upcoming issue.

GET IN TOUCH

The next week, follow up that letter with a phone CALL to that editor. Make it short, sweet, and to-the-point. Tell her what you do for a living and what you can contribute to the paper. Offer to be a resource in the future.

BECOME A JOINER

Spend 30 minutes online researching local NETWORKING groups. Make a list of those that interest you. Next week, spend 30 more minutes contacting those you might consider joining.

MAKE CONNECTIONS

Scan your Yellow Pages for companies that might be sources of REFERRALS. Make a list. Another day, spend 30 minutes contacting some of these professionals via phone or e-mail to see if informal, mutually beneficial partnerships or cross-referral programs could be formed.

YOUR ELEVATOR SPEECH

Write your 60-second commercial so, when introduced to people, you can easily and articulately EXPLAIN what you do for a living.

A QUICKIE NEWSLETTER

Send your top five favorite tips (make them season specific) via e-mail to your DATABASE. Don't forget to include your contact info and a "call to action." Try, "Call me today to schedule a hands-on consultation," or "Call today to take advantage of my summer special."

ASK FOR REFERRALS

Develop a simple INCENTIVE program for current clients, encouraging them to refer their family and friends to you. Draft a note and send via e-mail or create a postcard to send via postal mail.

COLLABORATE

Contact another small business owner in the SAME line of work in your area that offers a service that you don't. Agree to send business to each other whenever possible.

THANK YOUR BEST CUSTOMERS

Send a thank-you card to past clients. Include a COUPON for 10% off or a free gift with their next purchase.

Sara Pedersen is a professional organizer who enjoys helping clients organize, simplify, and create time to do the things they love. You may visit her website at www.time2organize.net.

Content provided by OnlineOrganizing.com -- offering "a world of organizing solutions!" Visit www.onlineorganizing.com for organizing products, free tips, a speakers bureau, get a referral for a Professional Organizer near you, or get some help starting and running your own organizing business.

Changes for Scrappy Marketing Solutions

FYI - I have decided to take a step back from consulting projects for the time being, to concentrate on writing for magazines and blogging projects.  What I'm really looking to do is increase my involvement in contributing to a magazine, working more on the editorial side.  I'm also looking to create a comprehensive corporate blog marketing campaign, perhaps guiding a team of bloggers to share company insights and branding efforts. I have some ideas that I'm eager to share with direct sales companies, particularly.

I am sorry for the inconvenience this may cause scrapbooking business owners - I know how limited the pool is for scrapbooking-savvy marketing professionals.  In fact, if anyone knows of anyone else who offers scrapbook marketing services, especially press release writing and editing, I'd love to hear about them, because I'll need to offer referrals.  Feel free to leave a comment below, or email me privately.

Marketing Idea: Create a Tradition or Ritual

Via Meg Cox's Traditions newsletter, a link to TrashTheDress.com, a rather scandalous yet innovative concept - celebrate your recent marriage by trashing your wedding dress.

Why? … Why not? You’ve made a commitment to your husband. He’s your one and only true love, right? Then you’ll never need the dress again. And no, your daughter won’t wear it in 20-30 years. So you have two choices:

1. Suffocate it in plastic and throw it in a closet
2. Show your husband how committed you are by trashing the dress, and get some great fun pictures while you do it!

Trash the Dress photo sessions have been featured on Good Morning America and in the New York Times.  So this is quite a bit more than just a meme hidden in the underbelly of the Internet.  According to the NYT, "Christa DiPaulo Becker, 31, said that sitting in 2005 for her post-wedding Trash the Dress shoot with John Michael Cooper, the Las Vegas wedding photographer [is] credited with starting the trend..."  Cooper's concept spread to other wedding photographers, and (also according to NYT), "interest in these photos has even led to the creation of a Web site, trashthedress.com, which Mark Eric, a 35-year-old photographer from Alexandria, La., said he started to display his own Trash the Dress images."

A comment in Meg Cox's newsletter got me thinking about the marketing angles of a concept like this:

It appears to have been the brainchild of a photography studio looking for new income streams, and the idea caught fire with some brides.

"...the brainchild of a photography studio looking for new income streams"...  So.  What tantalizing ritual could you help document in your scrapbooking business?  First, take the easy route and check with local photographers, and see if any of them offer Trash the Dress photo sessions.  If so, try pairing up with them to offer Trash the Dress scrapbooking sessions using their photos.

From there, brainstorm other rituals or traditions you could help customers document...

• a Break-up Book of all the losers they dated, or as a post-divorce therapy tool - consider partnering with a local divorce therapist for referrals
• a Letting Go or "Say Good-bye to..." workshop - what dreams or expectations don't "fit" anymore? (also good for purging clutter or extra scrapbooking supplies!)
• Put a positive spin on bittersweet times - kids starting kindergarten or leaving for college?  Offer a class layout project on "Before I Had to vs Now I Get to" (also good for post-divorce)

Scrapbooking is about documenting the events in one's life.  How can you help your customers tell the stories of non-traditional milestones?  Or put a different spin on the traditional ones?  I'd love to hear your ideas - please leave a comment below!