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Stop selling what you have and start selling what they need! Too often companies focus on trying to sell what they have instead of positioning their offering to fill prospect NEEDS. Look for people who want and need what you have to offer, position your product or service to competitively fill that void and then proactively work to make your brand VISIBLE so that it can BE FOUND by searching potential customers. Positioning ... branding ... effective marketing: It has to be all about them, not you. Really. Learn how to create a competitive consumer benefit. We'll show you how. Read on ... |
| We're Celebrating 21 Years! |
Presentation Plus is celebrating its 21st birthday this month! Our firm was founded in 1988 in Lake County, IL and then moved to McHenry County in 1990, where we stayed for 15 years. In 2005, we headed cross country to our new offices in Cave Creek, AZ, where our full service marketing and PR firm continues to work with clients across the country. It is 21 years of entrepreneurial success that we're very proud of! |
| Introducing: Fully Branded, Socially Ready Online Marketing Solutions ... |
 Now Available:
Online Marketing Solutions (OMS) from Herlife Publishing:
Affordable fully-branded, socially-ready online products that are designed especially for Entrepreneurs, Business Owners and Authors, including:
- Branded Website Solutions
- Blog Templates w/RSS
- Online Branding Tools
- Social Marketing Tools
- Branded Social Profiles
- Print Marketing Tools
Herlife OMS deliver a valuable, discernible difference: Expert Branding Strategy, built right in and offering the competitive benefit of 30 years of high-level branding insights and experience. The result? A professionally branded, social media-oriented website that outshines your competition ... at off-the-shelf pricing! Here's another great benefit: VALUE. OMS package prices range from $1,595 to $2,995, with streamlined production and scheduling. Here's a great example: Our Accelerated Visibliity Package, which includes a Home Page, Services/Product Page, Who We Are Page, Contact Us Page, PLUS a resident, on-site Blog with full WordPress editing capabilities. All for only $1,995 ... including branding elements! See other OMS Packages here.
AND: All OMS website are built in WordPress, to give YOU full editing and updating capabilities. Get the freedom you've always wanted ... plus social networking capabilities.
Contact us at ljm@herlifepublishing.com to learn more about these affordable, high impact web solutions that can position your brand for success in the coming year. |
| Taking It On The Road ... |
 Coming Up on the Calendar ...
Lori is presenting the new AZSBDC Branding Strategy at the statewide Directors meeting Oct. 15-16 ... and we'll kick off the new year with How to Achieve Visibility and Success Online for the Ahwatukee Chamber of Commerce in January ... Keep an eye on the Appearances page on our website for other upcoming events. |
| MindingHerBiz Reaches Out To National Audience with Remote Capabilities! |
 MindingHerBiz, the Phoenix-based women's mastermind group founded by Lori Martinek, now has remote conferencing, which gives us the ability to work with female entrepreneurs ANYWHERE in the country -- or the world for that matter (although we're taking it one step at a time ...).
MindingHerBiz works with female entrepreneurs to help them confront and move past the challenges of startup and growth. Experts and specialists in marketing, branding, law, accounting, human resources, retail, operations and technology brainstorm with female business owners to develop strategies that can help them move their businesses forward.
 Our Website Is Now LIVE! Visit us at www.mindingherbiz.com ... where you can meet the Core Team ... learn how the process works ... get information on how to claim one of our coveted Candidate spots ... or tell us about a smart female business owner who could benefit from our help.
It's a one-time power brainstorming session that is challenging, energizing and packed with put-it-to-work information. Best of all? It's FREE to our candidates. We're paying it forward to help other women succeed.
Meet the MindingHerBiz team members HERE and visit our LinkedIN group HERE ....
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| What We're Excited About .... |
 Lori Martinek is a Mentor in Thunderbird Global School of Management's SEEDS (Supporting Entrepreneurs and Enterprise Development) program, which has paired 20 Jordanian female entrepreneurs with successful American female business owners for an intensive three-day mentoring session in late October. The women arrive from Jordan this week for two weeks of classes. Their mentors arrive on October 28 to help them polish and present their business plan for their enterprise to the program's review board. Lori will continue to work with her mentee, Riham Najia, over the next two years, as Riham begins building her career counseling business in Jordan. Learn more about SEEDS here.
The new four-color newsletter design that we developed for the Harvard Economic Development Corporation to use in media distribution. See and read the Fall issue HERE.
Our rebranding project for the Arizona Small Business Development Center Network which continues with our development of a four-color Network Services brochure ... a Network Presentation Folder ... Electronic Newsletter Banner and Template ... and Workshop and Seminar marketing elements. Next up? We will begin production of a monthly electronic newsletter from the State Office which will increase visibility, build awareness and promote the entire AZSBDC Network to its partners in the public and private sectors. 
PRESENTATION Plus has been hired to provide ongoing branding, marketing and public relations support to the AZSBDC through 2010. We are very excited to work side by side with State Director Janice Washington and her staff ... and to provide support to the 15 AZSBDC locations across Arizona. Learn more about the AZSBDC network here |
| Be the Bulb! Buy it on Amazon.com |
Lori's first book,  Be the Bulb! is available for sale online at Amazon.com.
Interested in creating a Facebook Page for your company, your products, your book or your brand? We can help. Just give us a call to discuss your specific needs. PRESENTATION Plus offers full digital consulting and social media marketing support. We create profiles and blogs and help clients connect with their audiences. Most importantly? We develop social media strategies that are built on branding and marketing expertise and know-how ... and not just trendy media buzz. |
| Read Lori's Branding Blogs ... |
 Lori's Branded By Design blog offers insights on branding, marketing, creating greater visibility, using social media marketing effectively and more.
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| What We're Reading ... |
 Working For You Isn't Working For Me, by Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster. Actually, I haven't read this book but it has to have one of the best titles that I have ever heard. It would have been even better if this was a book about how to strike out on your own and become an entrepreneur ... instead of learning how to 'manage your boss'. Why expend all the energy on trying to change someone else when you can be your own boss and do something positive? Great title, though ... | |
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Make Your Message Compelling and Competitive
Stop selling what you have and start selling what they want ...
People buy benefits, not attributes ... always. They buy the promise of a need or a want fulfilled; the anticipation of a wish come true. Sometimes that promise represents a tangible problem solved. Other times (often), it's an intangible, but equally important desire for status, convenience, belonging or something similarly wishful.
Every branding strategy should start with a SWOT ... an assessment of your offering's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (MBA's love these, as do formally trained marketing folks). Strengths identify potential benefits. Opportunities identity potential needs. Opportunities in the marketplace that potentially match your offering's Strengths have promise as competitive consumer benefits ... but not quite yet.
Consider the Strengths that you have to work with and identify your target markets. Who are the Ideal Prospects for your offering? They should be people who have a need or a desire that is well-matched with your offering. Then think, carefully, and make sure that you can answer these questions before you proceed further:
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WHO are these prospects?
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WHAT is important to them?
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HOW do they obtain information to make buying decisions?
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WHICH types of media or other information sources do they use and, therefore,
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WHERE will you be able to find them and speak to them?
Then also ask: WHY is your offering the best one to fulfill their needs? And WHY is it more competitive that what your competitors are offering?
There are no simple answers in marketing, but there are very clear, very basic questions that you can (and should) ask yourself before beginning a customer outreach effort. You've just seen some of them. We have others that we'd be willing to share with you.
We are branding experts, strategists and visibility builders who work with our clients to identify -- and act on -- key opportunities to target, communicate and sell. We'll ask you the questions that need to be asked ... and provide you with insightful, strategic answers that will help you move your company forward. Call us today at (623) 537-0888 and let's get started.
--- Lori Martinek, Branding Expert, Author and Marketing Consultant |
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