Dealer Tip: 10 Ways Print Marketing Can Work For You

Whether your website is beautiful and robust or simple and to the point, your site can’t do it all. Remember newspaper ads, magazine ads, direct mail pieces and flyers? The value of print marketing is not to be forgotten.  These days, a printed marketing piece is perceived as a gift by those who prefer to actually hold something in their hands. Here are 10 tips for creating and distributing marketing information:

1. Don't just focus on advertising your products.  Provide information that will inform them on a relevant or timely topic.   Offer a printed "Hidden Camera Buying Guide" similar to this one from Ebay. Be sure to create your own.
2.  To save money, only place ads in publications that target a very specific audience or community and partner with another business related to your industry.  For example, split an ad with a self-defense instructor. 
3. If you write a blog, carry that information over to a printed piece and hand it out at your store or print and mail it to a prospect list. 
4. Don't forget to promote your site on your printed materials.  Print and web are a beautiful partnership. 
5. Establish credibility. If you have something to "say", putting it in a professional printed pieces gives the perception that you are a credible professional. 
6. Be frugal when printing by using any of the hundreds of online printing companies like Vistaprint or Mimeo. 
7. Write handwritten notes. Yes! Studies show that a personalized note can increase response to a marketing campaign by 30-50%.
8. Avoid getting overwhelmed by choices and goals.  Create a small print marketing plan for 90 days at a time. 
9. Stuck with what to say or how to say it? Research your competition to see what they are saying and read industry blogs. 
10. Don't copy content from other sources.  Create your own by thinking like a customer - what do they need to know?

Whether in person, via email or in an ad, telling people to visit your website is not enough.  Save them time and frustration by telling them exactly what part of your site to visit.  Better yet, dedicate one page or section of your site just to relevant statistics or FYI's and drive readers to that page first.  You will appear to be a knowledgeable resource rather than just another dealer:

Resources:

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Hidden-Camera-Buying-Guide-/10000000177628710/g.html
www.forbes.com/sites/thesba/2012/06/28/print-is-dead-not-so-fast/

http://www.mimeo.com/

http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/default.aspx?couponAutoload=1&GP=7%2f8%2f2014+12%3a29%3a59+PM&GPS=3228237509&GNF=0

http://info.tmrdirect.com/the-power-of-the-handwritten-notes-in-marketing

Dealer Tip: Do A Little Corporate Soul Searching To Reach More Customers

Are you having trouble selling to your customers? Often times the issue lies not within what you have to offer, but that your customer is uninformed as to why they need your product over someone else’s.

According to Laura Lake’s Top 5 Reasons Customers Don’t Buy From You, there are distinct areas of product marketing that could be the cause of your sales slump. We think Lake gives some useful reasons and we've adapted them for you – our dealers.

1. Customers are not aware of what you’re offering to them. 
Be it a product or a service, consumers cannot consume what they don’t know about. If what you’re doing isn’t working, it may be time to reevaluate your marketing tactics. Are you targeting your audience effectively? Is your message making it out to those who may be interested in what you offer? Lake suggests that the method for dealing with this issue may not be more marketing – rather look at your marketing methods and messaging instead.


2. The product doesn’t seem beneficial to the customer. 
Although customers factor in price to what they purchase, they mainly consider how the product will benefit them. Why your product? What can you offer that someone else cannot? If customers cannot specifically discuss the benefits of your product, you aren’t conveying the message in a strong enough manner. Outline what you want the consumer to take as a benefit of the product, and use the top three points in your marketing strategy.


3. Your product isn’t perceived as having value. 
If your customer doesn’t think your product has value, they will have no interest in purchasing. As opposed to a sales pitch, inform your target audience of that value. Ask the right questions – why would a consumer perceive a hidden camera or surveillance device as valuable? Use the answer to tailor your message. Create this value by showing your motivations are in the consumer’s best interest. Creating the “perceived value” in your marketing message will allow consumers to think twice before passing up your product online for another that does a better job selling its value.


4. Your product doesn’t meet their needs.
Does your product satisfy a specific need in your customer’s life? Does it simplify their day-to-day, save them money, save them time or make their life easier? Give your customer a clear reason why your product is a necessity in their life. Don’t make them come up with their own answers – educate your consumer.

5. Your product isn’t available to them or can't easily be found online.
This is a big one – and not as easily solved as the others. If a customer has difficulty obtaining your product or even finding it online, you'll be out the sale. Make it easy for them. Maybe you need to consider how your product is being sold online as well as your distribution and shipping tactics. Accessibility is key – people won’t buy what they can’t find.

Whether you’re struggling to keep customers in the loop with your product’s benefits or failing to make your service accessible to your target audience, these five areas will allow you to enhance customer engagement and build interest in your products – resulting in sales.

Source: http://marketing.about.com/od/marketingmethods/a/5reasonsnotbuy.htm

Spying on Seniors: How Granny Cams allow relatives to see the bigger picture

In 2012, Doris Racher noticed that items had begun disappearing from the room of her 96-year old mother, Eryetha Mayberry, a dementia patient in Oklahoma City. After deciding to put a video surveillance camera resembling an alarm clock in her mother’s room, Racher was horrified to find much more than petty theft occurring – the staff members were emotionally and physically abusive.

A more recent incident occurred in Andover, Kansas when Donna Colcher, a stroke victim and dementia patient at a local nursing home was mistreated by an RN and two nurses aides. Her husband installed a hidden camera to confirm his suspicions and within 12 hours the video revealed horrific treatment.

Unfortunately, these instances of elder abuse are becoming increasingly common. Shocking stories of stroke patients being taunted and left without food, Alzheimer’s patients being physically abused, and myriad cases of verbal abuse are being exposed due to relatives turning towards the one technology that shows them what’s really happening behind the scenes – surveillance cameras.

One in 20 are mistreatedAccording to an AlertBulletin published by CNA Financial, one in 20 elderly residents of nursing homes are mistreated, and for each documented case of abuse or neglect, at least five go unreported. Cleverly called “granny cams,” these surveillance devices are designed to protect residents who may not be able to speak up on instances of abuse by employees, or even resident-on-resident violence.

Georgia Anetzberger is the president of the Washington-based National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, and she expects an increased number of states to accept surveillance camera usage, as the technology is not so taboo as in past years. “There’s a comfort level with cameras that can catch actions that are disturbing and unlawful,” Anetzberger said. “Without these cameras, it probably wouldn’t be possible to get these kinds of outcomes.”

States are taking actionCurrently, there are no states that expressly prohibit granny cams.

• In South Carolina, current legislation allows for video footage to be used in both civil and criminal courts. 
• Oklahoma has a law explicitly permitting the use of cameras in long-term care facilities. This law, as well as in South Carolina, Texas, Maryland and New Mexico, penalizes anyone who tampers with the video surveillance technology. 
• In both New York and Ohio, state attorney generals have used camera footage in lawsuits against nursing homes. 
• Maryland and New Mexico have both adopted laws expressly for video surveillance in regard to nursing homes and long-term care facilities. In New Mexico, residents must be informed of their right to video surveillance when entering a long-term care facility. 
• Following Donna Colcher's abuse at a federally rated 5-star nursing home in Kansas, state representatives have begun drafting legislation. 
• Minnesota passed legislation in 2009 giving adult foster-care facilities the right to video surveillance in order to cut down on staff costs; however, this legislation does not specifically address other care facilities. 
• Tennessee is currently ranked 38th in the country for nursing home care, with responses in a national nursing home study showing poor staffing, a lack of professional care, over medication of residents, and less than three hours per day of direct resident care. 
• The Florida Senate Judiciary Committee recently approved legislation that will make it more difficult for plaintiffs to seek punitive damages in court against care facilities. 

Texas leads the nation in resident-initiated monitoringMore than 12 years ago, Texas was the first state to enact legislation on resident-initiated monitoring, and is still the current comparison for other states drafting their own laws. Texas law provides five conditions for resident-initiated monitoring:

• Permission must be obtained from the roommates of the resident, and these roommates may include conditions to the agreement (such as the camera never being pointed directly towards them). 
• Notices must be posted throughout the nursing home or care facility to notify residents, visitors and staff of the cameras. 
• The resident themselves must provide consent for monitoring unless deemed incapable, in which case a family member or relative may make the decision on the resident’s behalf. 
• Only unedited, un-enhanced recordings or videotapes may be used as evidence in court, and must be time and date-stamped. 
• If covert monitoring is discovered, it cannot be considered grounds for discharge but must be brought to video surveillance standards. 

As more and more families are turning towards cameras as a way to protect their loved ones, small businesses must be aware of the legislation in their state. Those in favor of video surveillance monitoring believe the cameras would improve the resident’s overall quality of life and their safety, while also lowering theft rates and increasing employee productivity. Those opposing granny cams are afraid the technology will eventually replace human contact, reduce staff interaction with residents, or even be used to bully residents.

Is the technology of the granny cam an invasion of privacy, or a helpful tool in protecting loved ones unable to protect themselves? What would you do if you suspected a loved one was being mistreated in a nursing home? We encourage you to educate your customers on the available options for protecting what matters.

Resources:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/18/watchful-eye-in-nursing-homes/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/granny_cam_law_aimed_at_curbing_nursing-home_abuse_takes_effect_in_oklahoma

http://www.marylandnursinghomelawyerblog.com/nursing_home_legislation/

http://texastitle19.com/2011/03/09/texas-nursing-home-cam/

http://www.startribune.com/local/130091608.html

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20130505/PC16/130509618

http://www.tennesseelawblog.com/nursing_home_neglect/

http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/I-Team-Investigation-Nursing-Home-Nightmare-Part-2-260052631.html?ref=631

Losing Net Neutrality: Paying To Play for Internet Traffic

In early May, the Federal Communications Commission approved a proposal against net neutrality. For the past four months, this piece of legislation has had its rules and regulations shaped by the voices of large communications corporations – such as Comcast and Time Warner.

The proposal, a revision of an earlier proposition that was created by a communication corporation and rejected by U.S. regulators, may disband the neutrality of the web and allow for Internet service providers to charge companies for faster information delivery towards their respective websites. The proposal would also ban service providers from slowing down or blocking information lanes to websites who choose not to pay extra.

Have we lost you yet? The subject isn't the most attention grabbing and hasn't received much media coverage. So, in what has become a weekly tradition, John Oliver on HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, tackled the topic in a lengthy – but oh, so worth watching every single second – segment that will have you rolling in laughter, while learning everything you need to know on the subject.

Check it out:
 


And while we can't say it as well – and humorously – as John Oliver, here's a bit more detail.


Small businesses suffer
The controversial debate against net neutrality – a free and open Internet vs. an Internet moderated by service-provider gatekeepers – focuses specifically on creating faster lanes for companies who “pay to play.” Consumer advocate groups and corporations such as Apple and Google have significantly protested this legislation in recent months after the FCC began serious considerations. Under the new proposal, a small business that may not be able to afford fast-lane Internet service will suffer, as traffic will be driven towards larger sites that load quickly and the slower lanes will be allowed to go under.

Freedom of speech issue
One of the biggest complaints from consumer advocates towards the proposal of disbanding net neutrality has been the issue of freedom of speech. In the past, the Internet has been a world marketplace for small businesses, start-ups, blossoming musicians and blog posts. Currently, this blog travels just as quickly as The New York Times. Could the loss of net neutrality dampen the innovation and creativity of Internet content – not to mention the prosperity of small businesses online?

According to the March 27, 2014 testimony by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler before a Senate Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing and as cited in a Reuters article, Internet freedom is a top priority as this proposal progresses. Wheeler notably stated that he “will not allow the national asset of an open Internet to be compromised. The prospect of a gatekeeper choosing winners and losers on the Internet is unacceptable."

Contact your legislators
Dealers, we encourage you to pay careful attention to this proposal and how – if enacted – it will affect your ability to conduct business and contact your legislators to tell them what you think.

Want to follow John Oliver's recommendation and give the FCC a piece of your mind? First read this handy how-to guide. Then go here for the FCC's public comment forum.

Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/15/us-usa-internet-neutrality-idUSBREA4C0SF20140515

Enjoy Our First Quarter Round Up

 A busy and exciting 1st quarter 2014 is behind us. We anticipate a productive 2nd quarter as we continue to introduce new products, roll out new marketing programs and dealer resources, update products, and implement social media campaigns. As always, we plan to keep our eyes and ears open to the demands of the market. 

As you review the products from 1st quarter, keep in mind that the variety and quality and is only beneficial if dealers are putting them on their websites. You and your customers will miss out if the latest surveillance devices aren't available on your site.

Recluse QUAD LCD

New first quarter from the Recluse family

• Recluse DVR HD

• Recluse QUAD

• Recluse QUAD LCD

Xtreme Life Night Vision Tissue Box QUAD LCD

New first quarter from the Xtreme Life™ family

• Night Vision Tissue Box QUAD

• Night Vision Tissue Box QUAD LCD

• Plant Camera QUAD

• Plant Camera QUAD LCD

Drive Proof Car Camera Max Storage

New first quarter Car Cameras

• Drive Proof Black Box Car Camera

• Drive Proof Car Camera Touch Screen

New first quarter Real Time GPS Trackers

• SilverCloud® Tag

• SilverCloud® Overdrive


New first quarter from Audio Security

• Forus Voice Recorder

We Recap The Spring Trade Shows: ISC West and Expo Seguridad

Gaining new clients is essential to the growth of any business. But listening to existing customers is beyond valuable and can serve as a barometer for success both today and tomorrow. We were reminded of this at 2014 ISC West. Our customers repeatedly told us that they are dropping vendors because of poor product quality or poor customer service or both. Both small and large customers let us know that superior quality is the reason that they use KJB Security Products. Good to know!

The most popular product categories were Hidden Cameras, Real-Time GPS, and Counter Surveillance. In-between product demos and industry chat, attendees at our booth enjoyed our "SleuthGear Surveillance Shot Showdown," and giveaways.



________________________________________________________________________

Although there were no "SleuthGear Shot Showdowns" at Expo Seguridad, the show was a success and it opened the doors for what we anticipate to be an exciting new market in the near future.

Chad displays the new GPS803 Overdrive

GPS tracking was a popular product category among the attendees in Mexico. We brought a select group of products to the show, including the LandAirSea line, new detection devices and covert video products. Our cameras received high praise and generated much interest.

Items receiving special attention were noise generators, Silver Cloud GPS tracking devices, counter surveillance products, the Power Case DVR and the Recluse XT. The majority of traffic in our booth was from security consultants and integrators looking for our type of products. Buyers on both a large and small scale said that the demand for our products is high and knowing where to get them locally would be valuable. Our takeaway from the show was that with the proper distribution channels in Mexico, there will be no small shortage of customers.

Make the Most of Your Trade Show Visit

In the US, there are close to 12, 000 trade shows a year.  That’s a lot of networking, buying, learning, and let’s face it….partying. ISC West is less than 2 weeks away. It is the largest physical security show in North America featuring over 1,000 exhibitors in one place in just 3 days. 

We have been busy planning for months.  As an attendee, you certainly don’t need months of planning, but a little strategy can’t hurt.  Here are some tips for making the most of your visit:

•  Before the show, establish an initial contact with the key people you want to see.  Call or email to set up a formal introduction or a casual meet and greet in the booth.
• Have a few questions and comments planned out in advance and prioritize them just in case you get cut off or miss the opportunity to ask your second question.
• Don’t forget your business cards (a no-brainer, but it happens!) when meeting fellow attendees and exhibitors.
• If you miss a product demonstration or a speech, ask the presenter if they plan to put the information on their websites or YouTube?  Not only will you get to see what you missed, but it is a perfect reason to establish a contact.
• Introduce yourself, shake hands, and make eye contact.  You’ll be more likely to get invited to receptions or hospitality suites if you are memorable and positive.
• Don’t indulge in that happy hour so much that you miss the next morning’s demonstrations! Hangovers are never fun and even less fun when you miss out on important, relevant information.  
• Keep your customer in mind.  Think about what sort of questions they will have and the  products that meet their needs (not just the cool gadgets we all love to see and use)
• View the “My Show Planner” section of the ISC West website.   A MUST. 

                           

 When you make the most of your trade show experience you will  walk away with product knowledge, connections, and confirmation that you belong to the rewarding industry of keeping people safe.  As with all trade shows, you might leave wishing you had met that one exhibitor or kept the business card of that guy (what’s his name).    We too will have our own list of lessons learned, what to do better next time and what worked well this time.   See you next year!