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Octane Results: Sales

How to take advantage of a recession to build your brand

17 June, 2022

Contributed to EO by Vladimir Gendelman, an EO Detroit member and founder and CEO of Company Folders, Inc., an award-winning online printing company that has helped over 5,000 businesses print more than 20 million presentation folders. The company made the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America for three consecutive years. Vladimir has shared his expertise to help entrepreneurs get the most for your printing budget and save big on custom-printed materials. Here he shares his experience on how to continue building your brand during a recession:

When sales are high, we focus resources on taking and filling orders. There’s always a list of important improvements that slides down the priority list in favor of the urgent day-to-day tasks that keep a company running. As painful as it is when sales dip, the silver lining is suddenly having a chance to do all the stuff there’s never time to do.

The key to making the most of this opportunity is to focus on improvements that enhance how we deliver on brand promise.

Categories: Best Practices BUSINESS GROWTH LEADERSHIP Lessons Learned PR/MARKETING Sales STRATEGY

Tags: brand building company folders entrepreneurs' organization eo detroit lessons learned recession vladimir gendelman

5 reasons your online product needs a UPC barcode to succeed

18 May, 2022

Entrepreneurs are increasingly launching new products via their own websites and well-known online marketplaces. While it can be challenging to navigate the nuances of selling online, sellers must learn the requirements of e-commerce platforms before listing their products. One critical step is uniquely identifying items in the global marketplace—which can be done by acquiring authentic UPC barcodes for each of your products.

Entrepreneurs should consider the following five reasons why a unique barcode for each product listing opens doors to greater success.

1. GTINs uniquely identify products online

Retailers and marketplaces recognize that the product identification numbers encoded into UPC barcodes, called Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs), are essential for listings to uniquely identify products and help keep track of inventory. And not just any GTIN (or barcode) will do —it must properly and uniquely identify the items you are selling and connect you as the brand owner to the product.

Categories: Best Practices OPERATIONS Sales

Tags: ecommerceChris entrepreneurs' organization entrepreneurs' organisation GS1 GS1 US GTIN Leah McHugh Mederer Michelle Covey Rob Silver Rowyn Golde ShannonKveton Team Manticore

5 key elements of effective whiteboard videos

8 April, 2022

Whiteboard animation offers a compelling medium to promote and position yourself in the market. Few video marketing styles do a better job of helping your brand or message to resonate with an audience.

However, ask any experienced video company, and they’ll all agree that you need to nail some key fundamentals from the get-go, or your whiteboard video won’t work.

Let’s examine these fundamental elements as we share insider tips on using the style to make your brand and message shine.

1. Put the basics in place

Before jumping in, it’s essential to understand the basic elements of a whiteboard video and why the style can be so effective in a promotional and communication context.

Do you remember your primary school teacher writing and drawing on a whiteboard while explaining new things? Whiteboard videos follow the same basic premise.

The style’s hallmark is an actively drawing hand illustrating key story elements on a white background. At the same time, a narrator voices what’s going on using storytelling to convey your message (more on this in a bit!).

Categories: PR/MARKETING Sales

Tags: engaging whiteboard videos entrepreneurs' organization marketing Victor Blasco Yum Yum Videos

If you can’t answer these 3 questions, you’re not ready to sell your business

2 February, 2022

The process of selling a business is complex and multifaceted: It involves working with multiple stakeholders who sometimes have conflicting priorities. While only you can decide when to sell your business, you also must rely on these other stakeholders in order to have a successful sale. It’s your job to make sure their decisions align with your own goals.

Why sell your business?

Every business owner will have to consider a transition at some point in their career, whether that’s upon entering retirement, starting a new business, or even reentering the workforce as an employee. Even if your gut feeling is telling you not to sell your business yet, you might find yourself in circumstances that leave you with few better options. On the other hand, you might be looking for the chance to sell and suddenly sense the timing is right. Regardless, you have to consider a number of factors other than your intuition. You can’t go with your gut unless you’ve also prepared well for a business sale.

Categories: FINANCES OPERATIONS Sales

Tags: best practices Four Pillars Investors Nick McLean

A 30-year Sales Superstar Shares Two Tricks to Succeeding

13 July, 2020

Kalika Yap, an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member in Los Angeles, is founder and CEO of both Orange & Bergamot, a creative agency for female founders, and Citrus Studios, a branding and design agency. She’s also an author and the host of EO Wonder podcast.

Jacky Daly spoke in a recent EO Together live-stream, and Kalika shares highlights.

Jack Daly has been selling all his life. At 12, he picked up a paper route in Philadelphia that had 32 customers. A year later, it had 275.

But that meant trudging around in the Pennsylvania snow before dawn, delivering papers. You had to be 12 to have a paper route, so Daly hired a bunch of eager 11-year-olds who wanted a job but couldn’t get one for another year.

“I said, `Here, you guys go and deliver the papers. I’ll split the money 50/50 with you,’” Daly recalls. “’A year from now, I’ll write you a letter of recommendation, you’ll get your own route. And by the way, I’m going to do the collecting.’”

That last part was key because people tipped him when he collected, and he kept those to himself. “So they did 100 percent of the work and I kept 70 percent of the money,” Daly says.

Categories: BUSINESS GROWTH LEADERSHIP Sales

Tags: eo los angeles EO Wonder jack daly Kalika Yap

7 Questions to Ask When Your Sales Are Falling Short of Goal

4 February, 2019

Written by Mark Moses, founding partner of CEO Coaching International and the author of Make Big Happen. A version of this article originally appeared on Mark’s blog.

Your numbers never lie. If your sales are falling short of the targets you’ve set, it’s going to be right there in black and white—and maybe even some red.

Categories: Sales

Tags: ceo coaching international goals mark moses sales

What Are Brand Ambassadors and How Can You Use Them?

5 November, 2018

Written for EO by Jessica Thiefels, social media coach and organic marketing consultant.

Consumers are tired of being marketed to, especially on social media. In fact, 74 percent of millennials and generation Z consumers don’t want to be targeted by ads in their newsfeed, according to Lithium. What’s more, 56 percent of these consumers are cutting back on social media as a result of advertising.

The answer? Brand ambassadors. Brand ambassadors are consumers who love your product or service, and share their love with your potential customers. They typically share their appreciation on social media or their blog, but brand ambassadors also work in-person giving out samples or speaking about products at events.

Categories: Best Practices general PR/MARKETING Sales

Tags: brand ambassadors marketing product launch social media

Not Yet Up on Influencer Marketing? Start Here

5 October, 2018

Written for EO by James Scott, a marketer and co-founder of Essay Supply.

Today, influencer marketing is one of the most effective tools for building brand loyalty and boosting sales in a short time period. If you have never worked with social media celebrities before, now’s the time to learn how to make influencer marketing work for you.

1. Make posts look like honest reviews

“If you want your marketing campaign to bring positive results, posts should read 100% naturally,” states Amanda Sparks, a chief marketer at ResumesCentre. Social media users follow the influencers’ profiles to find interesting content, not for intrusive ads. Avoid direct promotion and create posts that look like truthful reviews written by the digital celebrities.

Categories: general Media PR/MARKETING Public Relations Sales

Tags: amanda sparks Christopher K. Mercer Dennis Prescott Influencer marketing James Scott Malu Trevejo Natalie Andersen

How to Use Email Newsletters to Support Your Sales

5 September, 2018

Written for EO by Christina Sanders

Business owners and entrepreneurs who don’t consider email marketing a viable sales tool may simply be overlooking the power of relevant content. With effective targeting efforts and the right content, your customer emails will not only be read, but also help you grow client loyalty and sales!

Why you should be sending email newsletters

First, customers who have made a purchase before and are then sent regular content including emails, are likely to buy again. They’ve already had a good experience with your company. You have gained their trust and they will remember your brand. Stay on their radar by providing similar products or content and you’ll increase brand recognition, loyalty and potential sales.

Categories: Best Practices FINANCES PR/MARKETING Sales

Tags: Christina Sanders email marketing email newsletter Lucidpress marketing sales

Study Up on Your Sales and Marketing Tactics with 9 Must-Listen Podcast Episodes

29 August, 2018

Written for EO by Michael Neidert.

Never underestimate the value of understanding sales and marketing best practices—even if you don’t consider yourself a “sales person.” Plus, today’s tech landscape makes digital marketing basics required learning.

Sales and marketing can take years to learn and perfect. No problem. Below are nine podcasts that will kickstart your knowledge to help you close more deals and work flawlessly with creative and sales teams.

Categories: Best Practices PR/MARKETING Sales Technology

Tags: branding Copyblogger FM Design Matters with Debbie Millman EO 360 EO Wonder marketing Marketing Over Coffee podcast sales The Advanced Selling Podcast The Science of Social Media The Ultimate Sales Hustle Podcast