Northern California Association of Entrepreneurs
Founded by Joel D Canfield, Sue L Canfield, and Yolanda Richardson, the NCAE is a support community, promoting self-education and cross-pollenation of ideas for entrepreneurs and those who have the entrepreneurial spirit.
We meet monthly to discuss business challenges and it's a great place to do your business social networking with other small business owners in the Roseville, Sacramento, Placer County area.
Join the NCAE Group at LinkedIn.
Join the NCAE Group at our social networking site where you can post topics and questions.
Sign up for our monthly newsletter filled with information about our meetings and resources for small business owners.
New Venue
Please note that we are now meeting at a new location.
We will be meeting at:
Corrina's Dessert & Coffee
9205 Sierra College Blvd
Ste 100
Roseville, CA 95661
We'll post the winners in October. Thank you Susan Wheeler for sharing this information.
Touch is Not Enough
When you work by referral, the heart beat of your marketing strategy is your touch system. The phrase, Touch System, invokes visions of the friendly handshake, pat on the back or shared joke that you may have had with your client or prospect, in person or virtually. So your follow on–touches–whether by phone, mail or Email are meant to remind your connection of that pleasant experience.
The Masters of the Referral Game have all kinds of advice on how many times you should be in touch–once a month, a week, somewhere in between. How you should be in touch–Email, phone, direct mail, face to face at an event or a one to one meeting. What they often don’t stress is the importance of how you look when you get there.
I’ll lay it on the line–the visual image you present in your–touch–is as important, if not more important, than the touch itself. It is not enough just to get it out there, get it done or simply–show up–when you are depending on referrals to grow your business.
The first rule of referral marketing is make it easy for your clients to remember you. Your unique visual impression does that better and faster than any other approach. Which envelope do you open first–the plain white one or the bright purple one? Which Website do you visit longer–the one with the striking photos and the videos or the one with columns and columns of text?
What about YOUR Email, print and Website? Does it define you, not just in words, but in striking, original visual content–visual art? Can you honestly say that all your business communications have a visual art and flair that highlights your unique gifts and service offerings or is your value hiding in a plain white wrapper? Or worse, does it confuse the people who want to know you best because the visual elements are disconnected and discordant?
A striking visual image created by carefully chosen and well combined colors, typestyles, banners, borders, and a unique symbol or logo creates a deeper memory than a generic one. Consistency of that image scores higher on memory tests than an inconsistent one.
At my company, BrandVantage, we operate under the principle that if you want to go for the Referral Gold, you need to do it the IMT WAY and that stands for IMAGE, MESSAGE, TOUCH. The first step is image, the secret to both a first and a lasting impression.
Clare Price is the president of BrandVantage, Inc., where we help our clients go for Referral Gold, the IMT WAY. For more information about programs and services for referral–based businesses, please visit us on the Web at YourBrandVantage.com.
Contributed by:
Clare Price
BrandVantage, Inc.
Book Release: 49 Commonsense Business Observations
Too many service related businesses have gotten so wrapped up in process, cost–cutting, and gimmicky advertising that they've forgotten that without customers, there is no business. Even those who remember the customer don't always know what customers want and how to provide it. 49 Commonsense Business Observations can help. All the details are on the book release page.