Impact Marketing Newsletter May 2007

Welcome to the premier issue of Be Heard! the newsletter for high-tech marketers and entrepreneurs.

I have a very pragmatic approach to marketing. The way I see it, you can have a great strategy, a message that customers care about, fantastic creative ideas and a website that brings tears to your eyes…but if no one hears you then none of it matters. This is especially true for emerging businesses. You know the kind, start-ups that are ready to take off, small businesses on the verge of making it big or divisions of large companies with a point to prove.

Be Heard! is the newsletter for marketers in emerging businesses. Each month will feature a different topic based on the questions I get from you. I’ll share my insights into things like launching your business, creating messages customers actually care about, developing your brand, blogging, PR, direct marketing. We’ll share success stories, how-to guides and interviews with successful entrepreneurs.

If you have topics you’d like to see covered in future issues, just drop me a note at laura@impact-mg.com. And please feel free to pass this along to friends and colleagues who need to Be Heard!

How To Be Heard!

What’s the point of having a catchy slogan if it doesn’t work for you? Messages are the ideas that get people’s attention and convince them to buy your product or service. Messages make us stand out. The challenge for us is the sheer volume of messages that people are exposed to every day. Over the past 20 years, the quantity of messages the average adult is exposed to daily has increased 100-fold according to some experts. The result is that most Americans are numb to this stuff.

So, how do you break through? By knowing your customers and telling them something that matters to them in a way they can hear it. Sounds simple, right? Well, often the simplest things are the hardest to do.
Read More…

New Products & Services

To help start-ups and emerging companies get going this spring, we are offering two new services. Designed to get companies headed in the right direction quickly, these services offer fast and effective ways to Be Heard!

Strategic Marketing Workbook
For business owners and senior managers looking to guide their teams, or individuals who want to be more impactful, the Strategic Marketing Workbook provides useful details without overwhelming you with things you don’t need and won’t use. These tools have been tried and tested and they work!

The Big Launch Workbook
For product managers, marcom managers, PR managers or entrepreneurs looking to launch a company or product, the Big Launch Workbook has everything you need to be heard! The kit includes all the material in the Strategic Marketing Workbook plus everything you need to plan, manage and execute a successful launch.

My Marketing Plan: 3 Month Exclusive Marketing Coaching Program
This unique program is designed to help you create an impact marketing plan for your company or product. These 30 minute bi-weekly phone sessions help you determine your target audience, developed messages that they care about and identify the right mix of marketing activities. We will focus on connecting practical strategies and actionable tactics. These are hands-on working sessions for people who are serious about being heard!

Quick Start for Start-Ups
Our Quick Start condenses what can be a long and frustrating process into 3 high-impact weeks. We start with a group marketing workshop which gives you a powerful company positioning statement, your key customer messages and a 3-month marketing plan. Then you get a choice of either:

One-stop website
Your website can make or break your business. Get a custom designed website – no cheesy templates here – that does exactly what you need it to do. We design it, we write it, we host it, we manage it. What else could you want?

Thanks for your continued support. I’m looking forward to your comments and ideas for future issues of Be Heard!

Laura