Category: Phil Bernstein

Interesting Way to Get Your Call Returned

There are sales gurus who tell you to have a scripted 30-second sales pitch ready to leave on a voice mail. There are consultants who recommend leaving vague and, sometimes, deceptive messages to pique a prospect’s curiosity. And there are those who say you should never leave a message.

This afternoon, someone left a phone number on my voice mail. No name or other identifying information. Just “Please call 559-297-4640.”

I didn’t recognize the voice or the phone number. There was absolutely no reason for me to call back. But I had to.

I got voice mail. “Hello. Please leave your name and number after the tone.”

So, what was it? Cold call? Long lost relative? Wrong number?

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Adjust Your Marketing to a Changing Market — A Great Example

If there’s one thing becoming increasingly clear in 2008, it’s that marketing techniques that have worked for years — and in some cases decades — may not get the job done anymore. Like it or not, the market’s different now. Nobody knows if the differences are temporary or permanent. But for the short term, at least, you may have to add some more creative steps to your dance routine.

A terrific Portland example appeared in the Oregonian over the weekend. Craig Reger, a principal broker at The Hasson Company, will be offering foreclosure bus tours beginning next month.

Reger, one of the region’s top producing brokers, normally works in the high-end market at $500,000 or higher. But the higher-end homes aren’t moving as fast as foreclosed homes.

“The market’s changed, and my business model’s changing,” Reger said.

Reger recognizes that the world is different now. He’s not sitting still, hoping it’ll change back — he’s making the necessary adjustments now.

The bus tours haven’t started yet, but it’s already gotten Reger quite a bit of attention. I called his office to see if I could help him spread the word, and his assistant told me he doesn’t need to advertise the tours right now — he’s getting all the free publicity he needs. [Craig, if you’re reading this, feel free to give me a call as soon as the media attention dies down…]

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Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of my white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call me at 503-323-6553.

For Portland/Vancouver Home Improvement Companies Only

This is a confidential message intended for Portland-area companies home remodeling or home improvement businesses. If you are not interested in talking to local homeowners in Northwest Oregon or Southwest Washington, you are forbidden to read this post. Please log off immediately.

Are they gone? Good. Now that it’s just us, I wanted to tell you about a lead-generation program that my company will be doing in September.

Can you help Portland-area homeowners save energy and reduce their impact on the environment? Then they want to talk to you. Clear Channel’s Green Home contest can put you in touch.  

Beginning in September, we’ll be promoting the Green Home Contest on all five of our radio stations and web sites. Listeners will log on and enter to win prizes that help them live greener lives. They’ll be interested in:

  • Insulation
  • Green Kitchen Materials
  • Environmentally Friendly Lighting
  • Energy-Saving Heating and Air Conditioning
  • “Green” Furniture
  • Sustainable Flooring 
  • … and much more.

Once they enter the contest, we’ll have their opt-in contact information — thousands of names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers of people who have told us they’re interested in what you’re selling. And if you’re a category-exclusive sponsor of the Green Home contest, we’ll give that information to you.

Interested in these leads? Email me here to find out more, or call me at 503-323-6553.

Even More Airline Advertising

A quick follow-up to Wednesday’s post on airline ads. What the heck, why not just paint the whole airplane?

On Ideoblog, Larry Ribstein’s posted a picture of a plane he rode, emblazoned with the Highland Park distillery logo. Apparently, if you ask they’ll give you a small bottle of whiskey.Here’s hoping the pilot wasn’t partaking…

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Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of my white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call me at 503-323-6553.

Fly the Cluttered Skies

If you’ve been thinking that there are just too many messages coming at you from every direction… and you should just jump on a plane to get away from it all… think again.

  Assuming that your airline hasn’t just laid off the flight crew, here are a few things you can expect:

  According to the Wall Street Journal, five different airlines will be selling advertising on your boarding pass, courtesy of a marketing company called Sojern, Inc. “Sojern says the online check-in process will remain essentially the same until the boarding pass appears on a computer screen. Then the traveler will be able to click on the various ads and suggestions. When travelers print their boarding passes, the ads will automatically be printed, too. Fliers can, however, click a box to prevent the ads from being printed.”

  The New York Times tells us that US Airways “offers advertisers spots on ticket jackets, cocktail napkins and even air-sickness bags, [and] has, until recently, been one of the few airlines running tray-table ads.” More airlines are considering the tray-table ad idea. Meanwhile, the Times reports, JetBlue is selling advertising on the screens of their seat-back TV’s. (Thank you to Deborah Brody for the tip).

  USA Today reports that the baggage carousels at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport will have advertising on the conveyor belts. According to the article, “the baggage carousel provides advertisers a captive audience of travelers who ‘wait 15-plus minutes for their luggage to arrive,’ says Tracy Zwahlen of DoubleTake Marketing, which is selling and producing the ads.”

 Enjoy your trip.

 

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Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of my white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call me at 503-323-6553.