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How to Not Waste Money on MarketingIf you own your own business, you’re probably innundated with advertising and marketing opportunities and salespeople. You probably get asked to sponsor events and donate to organizations. Maybe you’ve even been hit up by the premium company trying to get you to buy pens with your company name on them.So how do you know what to spend your marketing dollars on, and what to pass on? How do you avoid wasting your money on marketing that isn’t going to result in more clients and more sales? How can you ensure you’ll get the “biggest bang for the buck?”The answer is to go back to your marketing plan and look at your goals and objectives. You’ll also want to look at who you identified as your ideal prospects or target clients.Then you simply evaluate these potential marketing activities based on their ability to help you achieve your objectives, and their ability to put you or your company in front of your ideal prospects.While sponsorships and donations are in part a goodwill activity and can be very worthwhile for that reason alone, if you are evaluating them from a marketing perspective (and I recommend you do, especially if you get asked to sponsor or donate frequently) you need to make sure they will give you exposure to your ideal prospects and contribute toward reaching your objectives.The value of the exposure you receive should be worth the investment you are making. Consider what it would https://michaellienert.com/ cost to reach those prospects in another manner to help determine the value of the exposure.As far as purchasing pens with your company name, the same tests apply. Ask yourself how you will use the pens. Will they provide exposure to your ideal prospects or clients?Will they reach your prospects in a manner no other marketing activity can? For example, if you are looking for repeat business from your clients, if they have a pen with your name on it that they see and use everyday perhaps they will be reminded to frequent your business.If you are planning to do a direct mail follow up to clients who haven’t done business with you in awhile, a pen might be a nice premium to include in the mailing, and it will continue to serve as a reminder long after the direct mail piece is read and thrown away.But do NOT order the pens if you don’t have a plan for using them and an objective for what you hope to achieve. Just having pens with your company name without these two items defined is definitely a waste of your money.Whenever you are questioning whether you should take advantage of a particular marketing opportunity, ask yourself these three questions:1) Will it provide exposure to my ideal prospects or target clients?2) Will it help me achieve my marketing objectives?3) Is this exposure worth the dollars I am investing?If you can answer “YES” to all three questions, and you have marketing budget available, then you’ll want to seriously consider the opportunity.If your answer is “no” to the first two questions, and the opportunity doesn’t put you in front of your ideal prospects or help reach your objectives, you’ll want to “just say NO!” to that particular marketing opportunity.If the answer is “yes” to the first two questions, but “no” to question number three and the opportunity is well-suited to your marketing plan but the value just isn’t there, you may want to go back and negotiate more exposure or a lower price.And, last but certainly not least, if you don’t have a marketing plan to help you evaluate these kinds of opportunities when they come your way, my advice is simple: You NEED to get one.If you haven’t identified who your ideal prospects are and what you want to achieve with your business you will most certainly waste valuable time and money on marketing opportunities that are not a good fit for your business. In fact you’ll be in danger of doing this everyday.If you need help creating a marketing plan, The 10stepmarketing System is a great way to do it. When you create your own marketing plan using the simple, step-by-step 10stepmarketing System you are setting your business up for success and you can be sure you are not wasting valuable dollars on marketing that won’t deliver you the results you deserve.

Why Cash Crate is The Best GPT Site in theWhy Cash Crate is The Best GPT Site in the IndustryWhen I first set out to find new ways of earning money online, Cash Crate was the first GPT (get paid to) program I came across. Assuming it was just another internet scam, I skimmed their website and moved on. But a few days later I couldn’t stop wondering about it. If their claims were true this could be a nice extra income stream for me. Not really expecting much, I went ahead and signed up. Now, several months and several hundred dollars later, I can tell you that Cash Crate is definitely NOT a scam. After having a good experience with them, I went on to sign up for several other GPT sites, many of which I have made quite a bit of money at, but Cash Crate remains my favorite for several reasons, which I will address in this review. What Is Cash Crate?Cash Crate is a Get Paid To site that allows you to earn money by taking surveys and completing trials and offers. Companies are always looking for consumers to try their products or services. GPT programs, such as Cash Crate are hired by advertising companies to provide these leads. Cash Crate gets paid by these companies; they then pass on up to 75% back to us. How Are You Paid? Cash Crate automatically sends you a check each month for the previous months earnings. All you need to do is earn a minimum of $10 to each month to qualify for payment. I can’t even begin to tell you how easy this is. I was able to do this within the first few hours of working with Cash Crate. Within a few days I was up to over $50. Do You Need https://michaellienert.com/ to Refer Anybody to Earn Money?Absolutely NOT. You can earn quite a bit of money without referring a single person. If you are like me though and enjoy recruiting new members, there is a very good income to be made this way as well. Cash Crate has one of the best referral programs available in the GPT industry. This is one of the reasons that Cash Crate remains my favorite GPT site. Cash Crate’s excellent referral program makes it not only lucrative, but also easy to refer others to. In my experience, once people understand the power behind this referral program they are very eager to join. Cash Crate pays you 20% of what your referrals earn and 10% of what their referrals earn. Plus once your referral earns enough to cashout for their first time (only $10) they also give you a $3 bonus. Once you have 50 active referrals under you they raise your referral commissions to 25%! I compared Cash Crate’s referral system to other GPT sites and this is what I found: Between the high referral rates offered by Cash Crate, their quick crediting, and consistent payment history, Cash Crate holds the most earning potential. After several months of working with close to 20 different GPT sites, I can tell you that I consistently earn far more money at Cash Crate than any other GPT site.

Burgers and Bulldozers: New Franchise RoundupWith hundreds of new franchise concepts being started every year, it is nearly impossible to keep track of the freshest ideas. Here is an update of two new franchises and how they have fared in their first several months of franchising. The Counter – No, this isnt just another fast food hamburger joint. Besides serving hamburgers, The Counter has as much in common with your local McDonalds or Wendys as the World Cup has to do with your childs weekend soccer game. First opened in Santa Monica in 2003, this trendy update to the classic burger joint serves its burgers with any combination of 10 cheeses, 26 toppings, and 17 sauces. So, go ahead and order that Danish Bleu Cheese Burger topped with dried cranberries and a ginger soy glaze you always wanted.Since 2003, The Counter has received the type of press that most companies can only dream about. After being listed as one of the top 20 burgers in the country by GQ, the holy grail of endorsers, The Oprah Winfrey Show, named it the Best Burger in the USA. (An aside on the power of the O-nod, sales jumped from $44,000/mo to $245,000/mo after the endorsement)With all of this success, The Counter did the only logical next step and began selling franchises in early 2006 with a $40,000 franchise fee and 6% royalty.So how is it going? The company has already inked agreements for 60 restaurants in California alone. Next up is expansion into Florida, New York, Arizona and Nevada followed by the rest of the country. With long range projections of only 400 to 600 units, The Counter is well on its way to franchising stardom.EQUIPRO – If Santa Monica and The Counter just seem too trendy and hip, this light equipment repair franchise from Wisconsin surely wont. EQUIPRO, a subsidiary of Wacker Corporation began providing repair service to the light construction equipment industry in 2003. https://michaellienert.com/ At the same time that the light equipment market is growing at nearly ten percent per year, many large equipment dealers have been cutting back on service support. In response to these trends, EQUIPRO began to build out its network of service centers.EQUIPRO focuses on providing service for the following manufacturers: ICS, MI-T-M, MK Diamond, Sullair, and Wacker. The franchises are also full-service dealers for Honda, Briggs & Stratton, Robin/Subaru, Wacker and Kohler engines.For each franchise, the company hires a Metro Service Specialist (MSS). The MSS is an employee of EQUIPRO, Inc. hired on behalf of the franchisee to develop service sales and act as a liaison for EQUIPROs OEM partners in the local market. The responsibilities of the MSS include effectively calling on contractor offices and jobsites, equipment and rental dealers, as well as national accounts to promote solutions for equipment repair and parts. In addition, EQUIPRO provides professional training on business operations and technical details both in the classroom and on-site.Franchising since June 2005, new franchisees can expect to invest between $145,000 and $350,000. EQUIPRO has opened 12 service centers and plans on opening 33 units by the end of 2006 and 150 in the next seven years.