I stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Times Square this past week because the Entrepreneurs’ Organization was having their annual EO Nerve Conference.  EO Nerve is a regional event that is held every year. Two years ago, I attended one in Atlantic City. Last year, it was in Washington, DC. I like to go every year because it’s a full day of learning about best business practices and sales techniques.

This year the conference was held at the Intercontinental Hotel in NYC.  I decided to stay overnight.

The hotel has a slick look.  It’s located in the heart of Times Square and within minutes you can be at any theatre on Broadway.  The lobby is nicely decorated too.   The rooms are spacious. The staff are very nice.

However, what I didn’t like was how they pinched every penny possible. For instance, when I checked in, they told me that I had to pay for Internet, that the wifi was not included in the room. The room was only $299 a night.

Also, I had a valet park my car. When I went inside to register, I was told that parking was $55 for 24 hours.  I could have requested to get my car back but since I already gave it to them, I left it there.

That evening, Lori Alexy, VP met me in the city and we took a mutual friend and client out to dinner.  After that, we walked over to the Ava Lounge to meet up the EO gang but when we got there the room was totally packed so we decided to go back to the hotel and have a drink. When the bill came I was flabergasted.  It was nearly $50 for two drinks!

The next day, during the conference, I asked the waiter for a bottle of water.  I noticed that all the speakers and Nerve staff had water. I wasn’t feeling good.  I was very dehydrated.  The waiter told me he had to ask his boss.  When the boss came by, she told me to go upstairs and buy a water bottle or use the glasses on the table. (Since I am measuring my water intake, I wanted to get a bottle.)

When I went upstairs and into their deli, I asked how much for a water.  ”That’s 4.00 for each bottle,” the man behind the counter said.

“WHAT?”

I ran outside and down the block and found a hot dog stand where they were selling water bottles for $2. I bought two for the price of one.  (Anywhere else in the city, water bottles are $1!)

“Are you getting more money for the water bottles because we’re in a tourist destination?” I asked.

The man at the stand just smiled.

I felt that every where I turned the hotel was just racking up the charges. And everyone had a straight face when they told me the prices. At one point I asked one of the staff if there was a charge to use the bathroom since there seemed to be a charge for everything else.  The staff member laughed.

What struck me most was that people from all over the world come to New York City and many stay at the Intercontinental because of it’s location.  However, what they don’t realize is, there are a lot of nicer hotels throughout the city and if you decide to stay at the Intercontinental, be prepared to pay!  My bill was more than $400 for one night!

When I was writing How to Give Your Business an Extreme Marketing Makeover, my focus was exclusively on exactly what the title implies: helping established businesses replace worn-out, ineffective marketing with marketing that would and could accomplish more in less time.

Throughout the months that followed publication I started to question: Why does a business have to wait until it makes mistakes before employing the principles of the extreme marketing makeover? Why can’t a startup business or a new business apply my simple but effective process for building a better marketing process?

After all, if a business plans and implements marketing properly from day one, knows where it’s likely to break down and what to do when it does, they could avoid the need for a major marketing makeover later on.

So where’s the problem. As I see it, owners of startups and new businesses have a couple of misconceptions about marketing that stands in the way of early overall success.

First, they seem to think about marketing primarily as it relates to the client attraction process. They’re concerned about how to get people in the door, to call, or go online, but that’s it. But marketing can and should do a whole lot more than just bring people in. It should speed and shorten the sales process and assure that each new client becomes a client for life.

Second, owners of startups and new businesses tend to see marketing as a separate standalone activity from everything else –– especially (and unfortunately) the sales process. But for best results, marketing and sales must march hand in hand, not be in competition with one another.

Third, they see each marketing element as separate and apart from the other marketing elements. For example, they see client attraction as a standalone marketing activity and follow-up after the sale as another individual marketing activity. But marketing is a process. It may begin with client attraction, but it should be working continually throughout your relationship with a client.

Now, in working with startups, I begin by having them focus on the sales process –– to create what I call “the ideal sales process.” I use a logical, orderly, analytical approach to create a structure that moves a prospect to become a client and ultimately a loyal client for life.

Owners of startups have two things in common. They’re short on time… and they’re short on money.

I solved both issues by creating a Marketing Master Class for Startups and New Businesses. In five weeks, we analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

I work with them to design an ideal sales process that takes into account their primary points of constraint –– that is, those places in the sales process that seem to bog down the process, sidetrack it, or kill it altogether.

After that’s completed, we create a marketing strategy that directly supports the sales process. The goal is shortening the sales process and fewer moving parts. The final step in the Marketing Master Class is to create the implementation plan.

Will they get it totally perfect the first time? Probably not. But they will be a whole lot closer than if they had taken a more conventional “let’s try this or that” approach. For sure, they’d make fewer mistakes.

# # #

Gil Effron has a Marketing Master Class for Startups and New Businesses starting in June. For additional information, go to http://www.10dayMarketingMakeover.com/startups. Or contact Gil at 347-920-3272.

Last year, I went to see the Big Apple Circus’ Dance On! at Lincoln Center.  It was a blast! I took my husband and my son and the three of us had an amazing time.  The show was funny and also kept us on the edge of our seats.

Now the Big Apple Circus is in Queens with the same show, Dance On!

If you share this blog post with your community and tag me today, you will have a chance at winning four tickets for your family to see Dance On! this Sunday at the 4:30 pm show at Cunningham Park in Queens.

Best part about the show is that Grandma is back in it and will keep you laughing every time she comes on!

If you don’t win, I have discount codes for you that takes $15 off each ticket to Dance On!

To purchase your discounted tickets to the Big Apple Circus*:
·         Online: http://bigapplecircus.org/pop11QNS.aspx and submit the code POP11 in the Promotional Codes box in the lower left of the page.
·         By Phone: CALL 888-541-3750 and mention code POP11
·         In Person:  Big Top Box Office opens on Friday, May 20th. Hours of Operation: 3/19 – 4/1: 10am-6pm daily. 4/2 – 5/15: Tues-Fri 10am-8pm; Sat-Mon 10am-6pm.

The Big Apple Circus is a not-for-profit performing arts and outreach institution committed to invigorating the communities we serve with the joy and wonder of classical circus. For the latest updates, you can Facebook “Like” them a http://facebook.com/bigapplecircus and/or follow them on Twitter (http://twitter.com/bigapple_circus)!

Good luck and enjoy the show!

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like without Facebook or Twitter?  It’s not that long ago that these two social networking sites weren’t even on an advertiser’s radar but today, they are more prevalent than ever. More and more corporations and agencies are focusing their ad campaigns on sending consumers to be a “like” on their Facebook page or to be a “follower” on their Twitter site.

Why? Billions of people worldwide have social networking pages. With the prevalence of social media, it only makes sense for advertisers to take advantage of this popularity and use it to their benefit. Companies are finding that by directing their target audiences to their social networking sites, it allows them the chance to better promote their goods and services more effectively, efficiently and most important, personally. Today it’s all about transparency.  People want to know the person behind the service or the product. People want to feel a connection. Without it, there is something missing.

Take a look at the Honda campaign, “Everyone knows someone who loves a Honda.”  For starters, everyone knows someone that they love. Honda takes it one more step by saying everyone knows someone who loves a Honda. The television commercial shows how Honda spreads the love from one person to the next and then ends with their Facebook page URL.  Years ago, you would have seen their web site URL, which would have led you to a static page with no brand interaction.  Today, ads are directing consumers to the conversation on their social networking pages.

My husband just bought a Perry Ellis shirt.  He took the tag off and put it on the bed next to where I was sitting.  On the tag, the brand name appeared along with “find us on Facebook,” and “Follow us on Twitter.”  Almost 40,000 people “like” the Perry Ellis Facebook page.  There is so much interaction among the consumers stating that they love the products.  However, Perry Ellis has very little to do with the site.  The company sells their products all the time (not the most effective use of social media) instead of engaging, listening and interacting with them.

Social media is about connecting and getting to know your consumers. I tell my clients to follow my one in five rule.  One time you promote yourself and the four other times you try to engage your audience. You see, it’s about getting that engagement going, talking with them about day to day things and nurturing that personal connection that makes the sell. Although Perry Ellis is on the social media bandwagon and directing their customers to their social networking pages, they are missing the point and not using this medium as effectively as they could be.

Men on the Move, a storage and moving company on Long Island, held a series of commercials on the radio.  Their push was to get more fans to “like” their Facebook page. For every new fan that joined, they gave $10 to a non-profit organization that helped children with autism.  They showed their potential clients good community spirit and also promoted themselves on Facebook at the same time. As a result of this, the Men on the Move Facebook page had an increase of “likes” and was able to donate to a worthy cause. And now, they have turned many of their new online community members into customers. Again, it just goes to show that these days, you must have a connection with your audience, otherwise you will lose market share. Consumers today are savvier than ever before.  They don’t want a hard sell. They want to find products or services that they can believe in and that they have a connection with.

So, would I suggest that companies advertise to direct their audiences to their social networking sites?  Absolutely, because once you have them on your social networking sites, you will be able to get to know who your customers are better than ever before and connect with them on a personal level, which in turn, will lead to a lifetime consumer.

Related articles

• Do You Know the Difference Between New and Old Media? (hilarytopper.com)