How do you market mobile web to auto dealerships as a mobile marketing consultant?
Researched stats on the auto industry. Stats shows how mobile and SMS/texting form of marketing can greatly increase dealers bottom line. Package your services. Offer mobile web build, SEO, reputation management and social media to the dealer client for 6 months – 12 months contract.

How do you get in front of this industry to get clients? How do you go about getting leads?
Connect with your local Auto Dealer Association. Network with them and offer them a mobile landing page in exchange for access to their members giving members for a free online assessment of their advertising they currently using.

What forms of marketing do you use?
Phone conversations, email letters to prospects. Build relationships. Will be conducting workshops in the near future.

The one I really like the most is customized apps from retailers for different market segments. “Why should a suburban mom with two kids get the same retail app from Macy’s as a single guy who lives in a trendy, hipster neighborhood?”

Check it out:
Why mobile will not be just mobile much longer
by Li-at Karpel Gurvicz

You know how some events are good, some are great and some are just magical? Well, this one fell into the last category. Truly, it was wonderful.

While it would be impossible to write up everything from the event, I want to share just a few of the big takeaways from the Local Mobile Summit:

Narrow Your Prospect List
Charles Denney suggested that instead of trying to market to thousands of businesses at a time to make a list of 50 top prospects and work that list fully. He suggested that spending more time contacting these top 50 prospects repeatedly would bring better results than contacting more prospects just once. At my lunch table, this was one of the favorite suggestions of the first morning.

Charge More and Get Recurring Income
Brian Anderson shared some packages that mobile marketing consultants are signing and gave the prices they are charging. It was great to see some real world numbers and fascinating to see the wide range in what people charge.

Bottom line is that you may not be charging enough and no matter what get recurring income. Recurring income is your prime directive. Don’t start over every month at zero.

Choose a Vertical Market to Make it Easier to Sell
Yuval Mader from Lime Cellular suggested that choosing a vertical market makes your marketing, sales and service delivery so much easier. He illustrated his point by sharing that he gets calls all the time from consultants who are scrambling for ideas for a presentation because they are not familiar with the type of business they are about to present.

Weak Offers = Weak Conversion
Jack Mize shared so much it would be literally impossible to even sum it up. One of the many great points he made was about mobile coupons. Quite simply, the offer counts. You cannot create a coupon campaign that will get the results your clients want if they are putting out weak offers. Free is good. 10% off stinks.

Take Massive Imperfect Action
Mario Brown gave the inspirational talk of the weekend. You could have heard a pin drop as he shared his story of growing up and how he built his business from the ground up after moving to the US with only $500 to his name and not even able to speak English.

His message of taking massive imperfect action really hit the spot with all of us – speakers and attendees alike. The time to move in mobile is NOW and the only way we can do it is to take action.

I have to say that I was extremely bummed to have missed Jeanne Kolenda and Bryan Makowski share their case studies. I had to leave to catch my plane, so I missed these two. I am even more bummed now that I saw Jack Mize post this on Jeanne’s Facebook wall about her talk:

There was so much more…but honestly, I can’t write it all up. Every speaker there was amazing. Derrel Eves, Lasse Rouhianen, Syd Michael and Jeff Smith – this means you. (Hope I didn’t miss anyone.)

It was a very well organized and content-filled event. First class, all the way. Thank you so much Maria Robinson Brown for all your work in organizing it all.

The Local Mobile Summit was videotaped and attendees had the chance to order videos on the spot. I have no idea if these videos will be available to the public, but if they are, you should order them.

Were you at the Local Mobile Summit? Please share your takeaways in the comments below and say hi.

Whether you’re a corporate refuge, a recent grad, or a mom re-entering the workforce, you’ll want to avoid the pitfalls that others just starting out have experienced. You know you can be on the successful side of the statistic, and here are some mistakes you’ll want to avoid:

Mistake 1. Not Planning Enough.
You need a business plan, and although it doesn’t need to be the length of War and Peace, you do need to strategize your mission, goals and objectives, marketing plan, and financial forecasts. Going through the process forces you to look at the total picture to ensure your business idea is viable.

One of the most important parts of your business plan is your marketing plan. No matter how brilliant your product or service idea is, without an effective, comprehensive strategy to spread the word about your offerings over time, your business may languish. Exploit the many free or low cost marketing channels out there such as social media marketing, and blogs, as well as friends, colleagues, and family who will talk you up.
Even thinking about where your home office will be physically located is important to ensure that you have the privacy and quiet you need to focus, think, and work.

Mistake 2. Underestimating the Necessary Commitment.
Even though you want a small business for the freedom that it will bring, it does take attention in the beginning to get traction. Since you’ve chosen to do something that you are passionate about, that probably won’t be a problem, but you may have competing interests such as your family.

Many home-based moms, for example, work a split shift: working in the morning when the children are in school, attending to them in the afternoon and evening, and then working again in the evening after they’ve gone to bed.

Plan to spend most of your time marketing your business in the beginning, accessing every avenue available to you online and in person. Being consistent is vital: get that ezine out regularly, update your blog, Twitter and Facebook accounts, and attend that local networking group without fail.

Mistake 3. Overspending
Spend enough money to look like you’re serious, but not too much so that you break the bank before your first sale. With a home-based business, you’ll need to have a reliable computer, a professional web presence, an excellent phone setup, a printer and a fax, and you’re good to go. Instead of buying absolutely everything that you’ll need up front, consider rewarding yourself with acquisitions as the sales come in (e.g., “My launch was a success, so it’s time to get that new smart phone.”)

Mistake 4. Underpricing.
In the beginning, determining what to charge may confound you. As you can guess, you want to charge enough to be taken seriously, and not too much to price people out of the market.

Staring a business may well bring up personal issues that you weren’t even aware of, and putting a value on what your time is worth may go to the heart of that. Remember that it is less about you and more about: a) what the marketplace is charging; b) what alternatives people have; c) convenience; d) how much risk people feel; e) how much benefit people perceive. See how it’s more about them?

Do your homework like any customer would and compare what’s available. Ask colleagues what they might spend for what you are offering. Pick a number that you can confidently promote, yet not feel like you are underselling yourself. Pricing has little to do with costs except that you have to cover them and have something left over for a profit. Assign value to what you’re offering, and don’t sell yourself short.

Mistake 5. Dismissing Legal Considerations.
There’s no shortage of government websites that are eager to help you get started on the right foot. The easiest way is to key “starting a business [Your State Here]” into your favorite search engine. Additionally, there’s helpful information at the IRS website, Small Business Administration, and Business.Gov site.

To keep your records clean from the beginning, keep your personal and business funds separate. Even though it is tempting to start out as a sole proprietor, you’ll save time and hassle later by starting out with a legal structure that protects your assets from the start, such as an LLC. Consult your CPA for the best choice for you.

Throughout this process of starting your business, you’ll need to balance between “preparing” and “dawdling” — get your ducks in a row, but don’t procrastinate to the point that you never take action. Do your homework so that you have a plan, and you’re well informed about the sphere you’re entering. Price yourself intelligently, and spend wisely in the beginning with just the “must haves” and reward yourself with the “want to haves” later. Be aware of the few legal considerations and make thoughtful choices from the onset. Bring passion to your business and a willingness to devote the necessary time in the beginning to make an impression in the marketplace.

© 2010 Ali International, LLC

Self-made entrepreneur and Inc. 500-ranked CEO Ali Brown teaches women around the world how to start and grow profitable businesses that make a positive impact. Get her FREE weekly articles and advice at www.AliBrown.com

It is going to be an awesome event. I know for sure that at least one IMMBN member will be there, let me know if you will be. We can have an IMMBN get together on site.

Get more details here:

http://immbn.com/localmobilesummit

See you in Florida!

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The No. 1 best practice (and law) of text messaging is to get permission. Never send a text message that has not been explicitly requested. You will harm your business immeasurably if you do. Think permission, permission, permission.

Have a crystal-clear opt-in process and always follow it. Your opt-in process includes the initial information offering the text messages. This will be your marketing for the campaign. Your customers will then sign up to receive your text messages. They will do this by texting your keyword to your short code or by using an internet-based sign up form, called a widget.

In order to build your list of text message recipients, you must actually launch a campaign. You cannot gather names and cell phone numbers and expect to import them into a program. Most text message companies will not let you import cell phone numbers into their database unless they come from another verifiable opt-in source. For example, if you have a collection of customers’ cell phone numbers in your customer contact database, you cannot simply begin to text message them. They must initiate the interaction via their cells or on the web to unequivocally request text messages from your company.

The second best practice of text messaging is honesty. Always tell your customers up front if they are going to be getting a subscription (more than one message). If you plan to send them more than the initial text message requested, then you are starting a subscription (even if you’re sending free messages). Be clear how frequently you will be contacting them. Typically this is stated in the number of messages sent per month. If you are charging them for this service, tell them what the price and billing terms are. Don’t imply that a service or subscription is free if it isn’t. For example, don’t say that they get free ringtones if they actually have to buy 10 at full price first.

The third best practice of text messaging is to provide people an easy way to opt out. Share this information in every message you send and in your HELP message. The most commonly used approach is to tell your customers to send the words STOP to your short code. If you are using a shared short code, the opt-out text will be automatically inserted into each outgoing message for you. It will reduce the number of characters you can use for marketing to fewer than your full 160 characters, but you don’t have to remember to include the opt-out.

Keep in mind that violating any of these rules can cause your campaign to be turned off without notice by the cell phone carriers. This is one of the most important reasons not to use SMTP for a messaging campaign: You cannot receive messages back in reply. Your only option for having an opt-out process involves using a website link or doing it manually by incoming email, which is not in compliance with best practices.

As we investigate the options available in text messaging, it may be tempting to create a complex, multifaceted campaign. But the fourth best practice is to keep it simple. Ask for one call-to-action for one specific purpose. Keep the actions that your customers need to do to the bare minimum. You want to keep it simple and straightforward so it is easy for your customer to participate. After all, the beauty of text messaging is ease of use and simplicity. Don’t make your campaign too complicated; you could lose your audience.

NOTE:
This article is an excerpt from The Mobile Marketing Handbook, Second Edition.

The site you are on has recently been completely overhauled. It has taken months (way too long) to get it done and it is not perfect. Gasp! In all honesty my inner perfectionist is freaking out because I wanted to make this site perfect before I published it.

However, that is simply not possible. No website is ever perfect especially one like this that is a merging of two sites (immbn.com and immbnmembers.com) and one that has all new technology powering the member content and tons of new features and member benefits.

Anyway, I am rambling. Here’s the deal. You will find issues with this site over the next few weeks. I am sorry for that AND I also know that the only way for me to figure out what these issues are is to open it up and have people make their way around the site.

So, please feel free to email me service@immbn.com with any thing you find that bugs you. The more detail you can share the better. Please know that nothing will be fixed immediately – it is the week of Christmas and New Year’s after all – but we’ll be on it as quickly as possible.

Thank you!

Kim Dushinski
December 21, 2012

Email, Social, and Mobile Are Marketers’ 2013 Budget Priorities – December 13, 2012

In their informative post they give a List of Venture Capital Companies that funded Mobile Companies in 2012. There are 220 companies listed, many with contact information.

Read the full article here.