CreativeXchange Marketing Blog

Today, I received a call from a local 720-708-6457 phone number. The caller ID said TCE Marketing. It was a voice recorded telemarketing sales call for a carpet cleaner. However the name of the carpet cleaning company was never revealed. My home phone number is on the federal and state do-not-call lists...

Read more about Beware of telemarketing laws and scams

So, here I go again…I am on another rant about so-called "experts". I cannot believe how many people are out there claiming to be an SEO “expert”. Out of curiosity I looked up the synonyms for the word “expert”. Expert synonyms: master, virtuoso, authority, proficient...

Read more about So-called experts make me want to puke – wasting small business’s money!

Last evening a colleague of mine was at a Denver networking event. She is an excellent web and graphic designer. She has great integrity, top-notch professionalism and customer service, and her business is growing because of it. At this event there were other competitors of hers there. But, those of...

Read more about What not to do to build business referral relationships

I was having a great conversation with one of my friendly competitors today about follow up. A simple, basic skill everyone in sales must have to be successful. We came to the consensus that people who complain about business being down are the same people who fail to follow up. I am amazed at what people...

Read more about Forget marketing - just do some follow up!

Most people we get as inquiries need the whole branding and marketing package, but sometimes they tell us they have someone who has been doing their website, and another someone who has been doing their graphic design and “branding”. When I look at their website and branding it is often broken...

Read more about Why do business owners consciously choose low quality providers – denying the truth?

Recently, I have ran into a plethora of “marketing experts” selling novel bells & whistles, fancy gadgets, and cleverly named products and services. It is the bright shiny penny in the room that everyone thinks they must have and it will be the easy way to get new customers. Before you...

Read more about Beware of bells & whistles, fancy gadgets, and cleverly named products and services!

Text messaging is taking the marketing world by storm. It’s quick, it’s easy and it comes directly to your smartphone. Today, in the U.S. there are 310 million people. 280 million (90%) have cell phones. These cell phones contain the most valuable 4 inches of real estate around. Most people...

Read more about Text messaging is efficient and effective

A new restaurant in Litleton has opened somewhere off of Bowles between Kipling and Wadsworth. They are open, but we cannot find them. You see, they have all these signs up saying they are now open, but the signs are sitting in the middle of the parkway on Bowles. There are no arrows, so we have no clue...

Read more about They're open, but can't be found

Agreeing to receive email marketing should never be required as eligibility to enter a contest. Amazingly in the past week, various companies tried doing this to me when I was at a business tradeshow. As a way of collecting information on everyone who visited their booth, most of the exhibitors had a...

Read more about A big email marketing no-no!

Customer appreciation should happen year round, but a perfect time to appreciate our customers and clients is Thanksgiving. Many people do holiday gifts closer to the Christmas holiday, so an idea to set yourself apart is to send a thank you gift at Thanksgiving. When sending gifts, be thoughtful. If...

Read more about Customer Appreciation

Recently, I started receiving email newsletters via Constant Contact from a company who I know, have had a one-on-one meeting with and have even thought about referring business to. I still got a little irritated when they put me on their email marketing list - irritated enough by this and others who...

Read more about What is permission based email?

Often, we get calls from prospects who are inquiring about how to grow their business. They are at a pain point, but just cannot seem to commit to doing what it takes to make their business grow. Some people may say that means that I am not a good closer. But, I would argue to the contrary. I would say...

Read more about Does it hurt bad enough?

I am sure we all have, from time to time, misplaced a slip of paper that we had written down a message from a referral partner. If you are in a leads group, maybe the lead slip fell out of your folder. But, what if you received leads from a regular referral source? Would you forget to call that person...

Read more about Can anyone afford to blow off a referral?

Marketing business to business (B2B) requires good networking and belonging to a quality B2B leads group. Unfortunately, not many quality B2B groups exist in Denver. I know, because I have checked many of them out. What makes a strong B2B leads group? 1. 15+ quality B2B non-competing companies. 2. Has...

Read more about Effective marketing tip for Business to Business companies

I attended a small tradeshow this morning for the senior services industry. Some of the businesses had very professional tradeshow booths that were well-branded and others had obnoxious “salesy” signs and unprofessional propaganda all over their tables. It was quite the spectrum of bad to...

Read more about Propaganda Polluted Tradeshow Tables & Tradeshow Tips

Yes - believe it or not, some people answer their business line with "Hello" and that is it! Marketing yourself or marketing your business is about creating good first impressions. I recently called a business and was met with this short greeting. This has happened to me with a few different...

Read more about Hello...Is that how you answer your phone?

It floors me when I am networking and the person I am talking with never asks a single question about my business. Worse yet is when you are doing a one-on-one networking meeting with a potential referral partner and they never ask about your business. The entire conversation is about them. Recently...

Read more about Networking – It is all about me – or is it?

Over the past five years of running my business, I have learned so much on this subject. From time to time, we have chosen service providers that were not good. From time to time our clients have chosen service providers who were not good, and then come to us. And, from time to time, we have chosen clients...

Read more about Vetting/qualifying service providers and clients

Never, sometimes, when you want to? Here is my take on discounting your services. In retail, discounting and sales are expected. But when a business to business transaction is being made, should discounts be provided when the prospective client asks for them? If you are fairly priced for the marketplace...

Read more about When is discounting your B2B services OK?

In marketing, part of a business’s marketing plan is determining their pricing strategy . Various factors need to be taken into consideration. 1. Clearly identifying your target market. If you are choosing to target medium to large companies, versus micro to small businesses, your rates may be...

Read more about B2B Pricing Strategy - How to set your pricing/rates