Direct Marketing pioneer, Bob Stone, wrote one of the most in-depth direct marketing books ever; Successful Direct Marketing Methods. This book sold more than 250,000 copies worldwide and went to eight reprints. He also built a successful Direct Marketing agency and sold it for a king's ransom. 

Over his long career, Bob Stone identified 30 Direct Marketing principles that proved true better than 90% of the time. Taken from the Direct Creative Blog, we list 20 of those principles here.

1. All customers are not created equal. Give or take a few percentage points, 80 percent of repeat business for goods and services will come from 20 percent of your customer base.

2. The most important order you ever get from a customer is the second order. Why? Because a two-time buyer is at least twice as likely to buy again as a one-time buyer.

Have you ever tried to find some information online?

Just when you thought you’d found the right website, you’ve suddenly realised it’s a waste of time because the website copy was full of meaningless rubbish.

Imagine if that website was yours. Would it grab or attract potential clients to your business? Probably not!

Your website must do more than just present information. It needs to grab your readers, hold their attention and reinforce your brand.

Creating good web copy and content is the answer. These tips will help you write attractive copy that’s easy to read and engaging.

We both know marketing needs to be straightforward, measureable and cost effective for small – medium sized businesses. During busy times (which is always!) and times when finances are stretched (which is always!) Marketing can be something that gets pushed to the side. This creates a cycle though. It’s these times that successful marketing can grow your business and customer base and create a more stable and flexible environment. The times you are most likely to ignore marketing is often the best time for it. How do you find the time for quick marketing? We’ve put together the following marketing ideas that are next to free and can be slotted into your everyday functions.

Be careful of carrying on with business as usual this year. Don’t just carry on, especially if that’s what you’ve been doing for a while now. So set aside a small portion of time and money follow these easy tips to get fresh business and to thrive rather than just carry on.

La experiencia de empezar un nuevo negocio es parecida a una primera cita. Sabes un poco de la persona que vas a conocer y tienes una expectativa de las posibles cosas en común que pueden tener. Eliges un look en el que te sientes cómodo y crees que será atractivo para la otra persona. Esperas compartir tus ideas, experiencias y pasiones con la otra persona. Pero en el fondo tienes un miedo de que todo salga mal y piensas que sería mejor cancelar y quedarte en casa tomando una taza de chocolate caliente y leyendo un buen libro.

¿Pero qué tal si hubiera una manera de asegurarse y saber que este es el comienzo de tu felicidad para siempre?

¡Buenas noticias! Hay muchas cosas que puedes hacer en la etapa de preparación de la creación de tu nueva empresa que te ayudará a que eso suceda.

“No tenemos más opción que hacer Social Media, la cuestión es cómo podemos hacerlo bien” Erik Qualman autor

 ¿Por qué deberías preocuparte por las redes sociales? Porque un enorme 78% de los consumidores dicen que las publicaciones en las redes sociales de las empresas impactan en lo que compran (fuente).

En Nueva Zelanda, 3.5 millones de personas son usuarios activos de redes sociales y dedican 1 hora y 53 minutos a estas todos los días. Las redes sociales son una parte muy grande del mundo en el que vivimos y si no estás utilizando las plataformas de manera efectiva, podrías estar perjudicando a tu negocio sin darte cuenta.