Marketing to customers with a phone number that lacks vanity

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I believe it's pretty common for companies to use telephone numbers that when the numbers are converted to letters actually spell words that cleverly help customers remember that phone number when needed. These types of telephone numbers are called vanity numbers or phonewords.

This article considers the fact that you are considering the use of your telephone phone number that DOES NOT have a hidden when translated (lacks vanity), but you want to use your telephone number to market your business.

So now you ask.
Where can you find examples of a partial word, an acronym, abbreviation, or an alphanumeric combination being used to increase memorability and increase response rates to marketing?

First you should know why so much vanity.
Many companies use these phone numbers on radio, television, print, outdoor, etc. as they are proven to increase response rates by 30-60%

So you know now that I'm talking about phone numbers like 1-800-FLOWERS or 1-800-BUSINESS or 1-800-CONTACTS... Okay... I think you've got this part down.

Now let's see how you can take your marketing to the next level. Maybe your phone number doesn't have to be so inflated pride in oneself at all.

Let's think about this a minute.
Vanity numbers or Phonewords came about before the cellular phone and the Internet. And users or marketers had radio, print advertising and word-of-mouth marketing to spread the phonewords with vanity (pun intended). Anyway, the point here is the points of contact with consumers was limited.

Here comes the whammy.
We have the Internet now and Cellular phones that do most of the connecting for us. So why not use your telephone number for your website address? Look, you may have worked or are working for a company now where half of your email address is the companies name. So?

So!
If you starting a business and everyone knows your cell phone number; use your cell phone number as your website address. Only make since. If your a Real Estate Agent with the name John and your phone number is 202-701-9393 (which has no vanity or phoneword), people would visit your website at: www.2027019393.com

Things that make you say humm?
Let's take it a step further. With regard to Realtor John... your email address would be: john@2027019393

And as normal.
Your still John now... and people call you at 202 701 9393

Where you going, there's more!
When anyone gives out your phone number, they are also dishing out your website address and part basically your email address at the same time. There are still situations where we write down information... like phone numbers and website addresses. It's also normal that you will only be able to find a small piece of paper to write on. Using your phone number as a catch-all, 3 amigo, you'll not need as big a scrap to scribe.

We only use letters (domain names) for website addresses because it makes it easier for humans to remember. However if you work very closely with clients like Real Estate Realtors, Insurance Agents, Personal Trainers, etc.; you could benefit from this marketing edge.

You may be asking, how will people I don't know find me if they don't know my phone number? The answer is; you will also register a domain name with words as normal. You could even mask your phone number url so when people go to it, the domain name with the words is displayed in the browser.

Example: you website address is www.2027019393.com but when people get your your website they would see the domain name with words that you also registered, let's say it's www.jrpremierproperties.com.

This is called masking... and there are no negative aspects to harm your website or the FCC. Just make sure you or your webguy or webgirl setup your masking properly and if you are forwarding to a different domain name... make sure you domain is set as 301 permanent redirect.
You've just learned how to use your telephone number to secure 3 points of contact and they are:

1. How to use a telephone number as your Email Address
2. How to use a telephone Number as your Web Site Domain Name with or without masking
   
3. How Telephone Numbers can be your Email, Website, Phone Number that all lead back to you.

This is Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultants and these are my opinions.
Find oevae marketing consultants on the first page of Google when you search for: the best marketing consultants or the best marketing consultants in the world

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Do you need business cards or website first?

Kadek Rudi - Tour Driver" style="border: medium none ; display: block;" height="180" width="240">Image by redteam via Flickr

This is a question I hear from time-to-time from small business owners and start-ups. You can actually have your cake and eat it too.

Here's how.
This article is for those of you who have some knowledge of conducting business using business cards without a website and the opposite - conducting business with a website and no business cards. Then there are those of you who need both.

Either is fine and useful in the right marketing arena. I've used a few questions and answers to help you see if you need business cards now that you have a website or if you need a website if doing business with cards already works.

I have a website but I don't have business cards. What can I do?
You can conduct business online without giving out a business card to get people to visit your website. Before you go out an have business cards designed and printed, look for websites that allow you to build online business listings, and offer you marketing tools to increase your business connections. Go to websites like MerchantCircle.com, Kudzu.com, Google Local Business Center, Yahoo Local Listing, Yellowpages.com, etc. These are just a very few so jump on the search engines and start listing your business online now.

People browse for local business reviews on every topic you can imagine. Choose the listing that best fits your business. Now go out and have at least 100 business card printed so you have another channel to drive traffic to your website. Best of all many of these business listings are free. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true. It probably is.



I have business cards. When should I get my website?
With the saturation of text messaging and email, it's very easy to pass along the phone number of your favorite salon to your friends. It takes about 1 minute. You can even send them the salon website address and name of your hair stylist if you want. So why do a business card design and printing for nothing? The truth is there are times when you don't have your cell phone or computer under your finger tips - or should I say you should think twice. A wedding is not a great place to do business, and being on your cell phone is even worse. So if you choose the lesser of the two; go with the business card pass over texting your business info. Since you have a channel for telling people about your business with your business card, now is the time you can add a website address to your business card.

You can gain information by having a simple form on your website, update potential clients on new offers or innovations in your industry. Your website can help you tell people about the benefit of conducting business with your company. Your web site need not be more then 1 or 2 pages to add value to your brand.

It's perfectly fine to conduct business when you have business cards but no website. Keep in mind that a website will offer your company additional exposure and potential for winning new customers. So it's really up to you when and if you want to turn up the volume. Take it one day at a time and make your best educated decision after your research.

I have a website. Why do I need business cards anyway?
Business cards are a great way to advertise and market your business or push more people to your website. They can help you give people a glimpse of what your business can do. You can start building your brands mood with different colors and images that represent or backup what you have just vocalized. The business card can be passed from one recipient to a third party. Most importantly the business card allows you more opportunity to give something physical and they are a powerful way to increase referrals to your small business.

The best answer in my opinion is to go ahead and knock-out both at the same time.
Have business cards printed and your website design at the same time – if at all possible. If you receive your business cards first, don't hold back on handing out your cards if you website is not finished. You may be thinking that potential customers will go to your website and see a big-fat goose egg, zero, nothing, nada, zilch, zip. To keep this from happening, tell your web guy to add a small statement to your website about your company that tells visitors how to communicate with you while your site is being "updated." Never say "under construction." Nobody wants to hear that there dinner is almost ready and that's what "under construction" sounds like. Additionally, your visitors will be hungry for information (main purpose of the Internet anyway) and you need to at least give them a nibble. Chick-Fil A does a great job at sampling. Take note and use the same principle.

This is Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultants and these are my opinions.

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How marketing research helps consumer communications.

Image by halilgokdal via Flickr

Sometimes all you need is a little help.
There have been several opportunities aka experiences in my marketing tenure that groomed and molded me into possibly one of the best marketing consultants in the world. I believe it and Google does too. Search Google for : the best marketing consultants in the world

I'm just saying.
There have been many times that I've not been as well versed on a topic or two. Yes it is true,
I don't know everything despite the kudos above. These opportunities have opened the door for learning and adventure. Most of the time I will need extra research on a topic that concerns achieving the goal of my clients. So I'm not troubled when I sacrifice my personal time to get a better grip on a topic. I remember learning something about how the best lenses in the world are created by Essilor and another time how video would mesh with a large Nikon Pro and Nikon consumer web development projects.

With the computer keyboard in front of you and world at you finger tips, one can find just about anything someone as put there for all to see, read, and hear. I won't count the ability of touch screen as this is like petting a gorilla at the zoo behind the glass. It ain't real. I've a confidential project in development with regard to smell. I'll get back to you on that at a later date. Today you can start a business and start selling or print some business cards and dish them within a week. So we already know about the abilities of finding information there.

Go to the library and research the old frontier (books). Open a book and read more in depth about the company that trumps yours. Learn how they got there and evaluate where they are today.

Visit the book store and find a magazine from another country that talks about your industry and learn how the people in that country respond to industry changes, new products or services.

Read the annual reports of Fortune 500 companies and keep watch on new companies entering the market. Find out how they communicate with consumers and make alliances with other companies and countries.

Consult a professional in your industry or visit a trade show watch how people respond the your competitors. This means if you want to open D'oh Donut Shop, then you need to know about dough, flour, sugar, and service. You need to go around to the world looking at donut brands and how consumer like to eat them. You want to make sure you donuts are not just different but special in a substantial way that people are gonna love.

Take this information and imagine where you company would fit. If it could fit? What would make your company special? Focus for a short time on what others cannot do and why they aren't doing it. It could be that your business model is a perfect fit. You will soon be bumping into a unknown characteristics in your industry.

Again we've reached a point when some of my clients have crash landed. Recoverable, but still a crash with frustrations and anxiety about make the best choice for the big investments. An investment of time and money. Since time cannot be replaced, they come to Oevae for a little help. Because sometimes all you need is a little help. DIY marketing is not dead you know!?

That's it.
The more you know about your industry, from where it came, who is in it, who evolved from it, and who dissolved in it helps you ability to communicate with consumers.

This is Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultants and these are my opinions.

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Keywords: The best marketing consultants in the world.

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Keywords keywords.
What is all the fuss about these keywords you've heard about?
It's really easy. The same words you would use to find some information on the world wide web.

That's the simple part. Now that you and everyone building with a website knows, we have a problem Houston. If you are ABC Moving, you can bet that some other brand like ABCD Movers will have similar keywords. So you want to direct your attention to the mild differences and keywords that someone might use (type in Google, Yahoo, search engine) to find your company online over the next company offering similar products

Example: Open your browser and go to Google.com. Then type: the best marketing consultants in the world

What did you get? Well I can tell you that my company is there on the first page of Google. Oevae Marketing Consultants is my brand design and creative marketing firm. We consult small business owners to share what is possible within the world of marketing and brand development. It's nice to see how choosing the right keywords for your website can make it or break it for you. So be very critical about the keywords you opt to promote an staple your brand name.

As part of our Search Engine Optimation we also own the domain name TheBestMarketing ConsultantsInTheWorld.com And we will continue to make like Charloette's Web to maintain our brand name recognition.

Think now about your brand and how you want to be found on the Internet. What frame of mind will people looking for your product be in? Will people be in a hurry, looking for the best, trying to dyi, planning, price hunting? Keep thinking and challenging.

Your keywords are the door to your website. Make them fit your brand and build around your brand.

Here's a bone.
Search Google: Wonder Wheel
Read the details of what it is and what it can help you do for your business.

Oevae offers you a really easy to use Search Engine Visiblity Tool that takes the hard work out of finding the right keywords for your website at under $30 a year. It's pretty powerful too, but the biggest bonus is No technical skills needed! Here are a few bullet points from or other website World Wide Web Window:

• Bring more traffic to your Web site
• Increase customers
• Get your site listed on major search engine rankings
• Contact Manager (CRM) included FREE

This is Gibron T. Williams, Head Honcho at Oevae Marketing Consultants and these are my opinions.

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