Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc." Home Improvements Plus "

Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. will provide top-quality interior and exterior residential and commercial painting services. The principal officers of Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. believe that most companies in this industry suffer two major problems. These are poor scheduling of job projects and poor retention of quality employees. Both lead to lower customer satisfaction, lack of repeat business and a low word-of-mouth referral rate. Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. believes that it can improve upon and exploit these weaknesses to gain local market share.

The objectives for Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. over the next three years are:

• To achieve sales revenues of approximately $500,000 by year three.
• To achieve a customer mix of 30% commercial/60% residential building contracts per year.
• To expand operations to include all the Broward County area including Palm Beach,and Dade Counties,and the Martin County.
  

The company will seek to provide its painting services in the most timely manner and with an ongoing comprehensive quality-control program to provide 100% customer satisfaction. The company's principal officers see each contract as an agreement not between a business and its customers, but between partners that wish to create a close and mutually-beneficial long-term relationship. This will help to provide greater long-term profits through referrals and repeat business.

Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. will institute the following key procedures to reach its goals:

• Create a position of inventory coordinator, and have at least one expediter assigned to each project.
• Have a dedicated project manager for each project who can handle quality-control issues.
• Institute a program of profit sharing among all employees.

Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. is a (S) Corporation, consisting of three principal officers with   industry experience of 30 years.

Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc.offers a wide variety of services primarily focused on interior and exterior residential and commercial painting. The firm also provides such services as drywall, plastering,  pressure washing, and others. The idea is to provide clients with a broad range of related services that will minimize their need to employ a variety of contractors.  Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc.will engage in a low-cost leadership strategy while maintaining a suitable level of quality.

Initially the company will focus on residential and commercial customers in the Broward Counnty area. However, by the end of the three-year projections, the company expects to be serving the entire Palm Beach,Dade, and Martin Counties.The company has rigorously examined its financial projections and concluded that they are both conservative in profits and generous in expenditures. This was done deliberately to provide for unforeseeable events. The company's principals believe that cash flow projections are realistic.

The objectives for Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. over the next three years is to:

• Achieve sales revenues of approximately $500,000 by year three.
• Achieve a customer mix of 30% commercial/60% residential building contracts per year.
• Expand operations to include all the Broward County area includingPalm Beach,Dade Counties and the Martin County.
  

The mission of Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. is to provide top-quality interior and exterior residential and commercial painting services. The company will seek to provide these services in the most timely manner and with an ongoing comprehensive quality control program to provide 100% customer satisfaction. The company's principal officers see each contract as an agreement not between a business and its customers, but between partners that wish to create a close and mutually beneficial long-term relationship. This will help to provide greater long-term profits through referrals and repeat business.

The principal officers of Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc.  have had many years of experience in the contracting business. They believe that most companies in this industry, which includes painting contractors, suffer from two major problems that Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc.  can improve upon and exploit.

The first problem comes from scheduling of jobs. Many painting contractors find it difficult to maintain established schedules with their customers that lead to a decrease in customer satisfaction and retention. This is caused by poor management, less than reliable employees, and delays in inventory procurement and distribution. The second problem is in retaining reliable and motivated personnel. Many painting companies rely on temporary or transient employees that lead to high turnover rates and decreased service quality.

Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. will institute the following key procedures:

• Creation of a position of inventory coordinator and have at least one expediter assigned to each project.
• Have a dedicated project manager for each project who can handle quality control issues.
• Institute a program of profit sharing among all employees.

Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. offers comprehensive interior and exterior painting services for both the residential and commercial markets.

Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. services include, but are not limited to only:

• Full prep work.
• Dry wall contouring.
• Fine detailing.
• Small carpentry work.
• Specialty wall coatings.
• Refinishing.
• Acoustical ceilings.
• Pressure washing/roof cleaning.

Each project is customized to the wants and needs of the client. Prices are determined by the scope of the project, materials needed, wear and tear on equipment and required profit margin.

The contracting and painting market is very competitive. The barriers to entry and exit in this market are very low making this an industry with a large number of rival firms with high turnover rates. Buyers have a significant amount of power since they have a large number of companies to choose from. Moreover, services are undifferentiated, which means that customer loyalty is usually low. Painting companies must compete on quality and timeliness of service, customer relations, and price.

Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc.  believes that it can improve on the quality and timeliness of services in this industry by instituting procedures that will avoid many of the mistakes that other firms make. This includes delayed schedules and high employee turnover which leads to lower service quality. The company will be equally competitive in price and will maintain close ties with its clients throughout the entire project since each project is a customized job. Through these steps, Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. will be able to build up a reputation of better quality service at competitive prices than its competitors.

Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. will focus on two markets within the industry, the residential segment (including apartment buildings) and the commercial segment (including buildings used for professional purposes).

The commercial market requires the shortest amount of time to completion of projects and usually the least amount of customization. Since our projects impinge upon a business' profitability, it is absolutely crucial for our project foremen to maintain schedule and keep the stakeholders apprised of the project's progress.

Although the above is also true for the residential owner, time is not as critical, quality and meeting the needs/wants of the client come first in the residential segment. The client is often willing to wait a little longer to have the project done to his/her specifications. The project foremen must be willing to be more flexible and willing to listen to the client.

Over the past decade a number of new trends have been observed in this industry. This includes the tremendous growth of the economy, the high technology boom, and the growth of substitute services such as Home Depot.

Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. will focus on two markets within the industry, the residential segment (including apartment buildings) and the commercial segment which includes buildings used for professional purposes. The company can handle any size building that needs its services. It is the goal of the company to eventually have approximately one-third of all business coming from the commercial segment, since this generates the greatest cash flow. Furthermore, this segment has the lowest percentage of variable costs. The residential segment is considered to be the company's cash flow. Even during the slow winter months, the company can expect to have a small number of residential contracts.

Each of the two market segments has differing needs and trends. The following sections go into detail about how the company will fact them.

Over the past decade a number of new trends have been observed in this industry. The tremendous growth of the economy has fueled the painting contractors industry as well, as people have progressively spent more and saved less. The high technology boom has created great opportunities in the  Southeast which the industry has also benefited from. However,  the growth of firms such as Home Depot, which encourages do-it-yourself painting and construction, has lead to a serious decline in sales for the residential segment. The growth of this trend poses a significant threat to the industry. Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. plans to increasingly focus on the commercial segment as the company grows in order to promote greater revenue and income.

Most of the industry analysis is contained in the Competitive Comparison section to give the reader the idea of the competitive nature of the industry, its opportunities and threats, and the company's flexibility in pricing. Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. exists in a purely competitive market that faces virtually unlimited competition and high demand. The ability of the company to differentiate its services or enter into a niche market is limited. The company will engage in a low-cost leadership strategy while maintaining a suitable level of quality.

In the painting contracting industry, there are a limited number of large firms that compete for the largest projects, and a vast number of smaller companies that fight for all the rest. Within the largest company section, market consolidation is always a threat.

This industry is highly seasonal. The busiest times are during the summer months where it is easy for a company to become so engaged that it must turn down contracts. During the winter months businesses must focus on marketing to get any contracts at all.

The main competitors for Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. Painters that are illegal painters, painters that don't  pay taxes on the money they earn. The painters that don't have a legal painting business.

Each of these competitors is able to achieve a high degree of profitability through marketing, volume or high-end contracts. They pose a significant threat to Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. because of their deep pockets and their desire to acquire other painting competitors. Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. will compete with these rivals through the use of greater marketing and better service.

As stated before, the company will focus on greater service through better scheduling, project management, and greater alignment of personnel by providing profit sharing. The company is seeking to use the most up-to-date communications and scheduling technology between the project manager, foreman, suppliers, and operations personnel to insure that deadlines are met. Furthermore, the company will seek to create a reliable pool of individual painters to draw upon and eventually hire all the painters full time with salary and other compensation.

The company also plans to carry out an aggressive marketing plan starting in year three. This includes literature, TV, radio, billboards and strategic alliances with other large contractors that do not have their own painting services. 

The following sections detail the marketing strategy for Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc.

The company will price each project based on time, material, and a flat 5-10% profit margin, depending on the segment. In the first year or two, depending on sales, the company will focus more on getting the contracts than on maintaining its pricing structure. Therefore, profit margin may be a little low for the first year or two.

The company will be engaging in an aggressive marketing program that will include mailers, phone solicitation, TV, radio, billboards and other platforms to generate service awareness, and value proposition. However, as stated elsewhere, the company's immediate goal will be to generate enough profit to pay for such expenses. The marketing plan will go into effect starting in year three. Prior to this the company will use more modest marketing tools such as mailer, promotion of word-of-mouth marketing, and ads such as in the Yellow Pages.

1.) Never let a day pass without engaging in at least One Marketing Activity.
2.) Determine a Percentage gross income to spend annually on Marketing.
3.) Set Specific goals every year; Review & adjust quarterly.
4.) Maintain a tickler file for later use.
5.) Carry business cards with you every day, ALL day. (They do not do any good in the box!)
6.) Create a personal name tag or pin w/your company logo, wear it at high visibility meetings.
7.) Stay alert to trends that might impact your target market, product or promotion strategy.
8.) Read market research studies about your profession, industry, target market groups, etc.....
9.) Collect competitors ads & literature; study them for information about strategy, product features & benefits, etc...
10.) Ask clients why they hired you & solicit suggestions for improvement.
11.) Ask former clients why they left.
12.) Identify a new market.
13.) Join a list-serve (e-mail list) related to your profession.
14.) Subscribe to an Internet Usenet newsgroups or list-serve that serves your target market.
15.) Create a new service, technique or product.
16.) Offer a simpler, cheaper, smaller version of your (or another existing) product or service.
17.) Update your service.


18.) Establish a marketing & public relations advisory & referral team composed of your colleagues & or neighboring business owners to share ideas, referrals, & to discuss community issues. Meet quarterly for breakfast
19.) Offer a fancier, more expensive, faster, bigger version of your (or another existing) product or service.
20.) Create a suggestion box for employees.
21.) Create a suggestion box for customers.
22.) Attend a marketing seminar.
23.) Read a Marketing Book.
24.) Subscribe to a marketing newsletter or publication.
25.) Subscribe to a marketing list-serve on the Internet.
26.) Subscribe to a marketing Usenet newsgroups on the Internet.
27.) Train your staff, clients, & colleagues to promote referrals.
28.) Hold a monthly marketing meeting with employees or associates to discuss strategy, status & to solicit marketing ideas.
29.) Join an association or organization related to your profession.
30.) Get a marketing intern to take you on as a client; it will give the intern experience & you some free marketing help.
31.) Maintain a consultant card file for finding designers, writers & other marketing professionals.
32.) Hire a marketing consultant to brainstorm with.
33.) Take a creative journey to another progressive city or country to observe & learn from marketing techniques used there.
34.) Analyze your fee structure; look for areas requiring modifications or adjustments.
35.) Establish a credit card payment option for clients.
36.) Give quick pay or cash discounts.
37.) Learn to barter; offer discounts to members of certain clubs, professional groups, & organizations in exchange for promotions in their publications.
38.) Give regular clients discounts.
39.) Offer financing or installment plans.
40.) Publish a newsletter for customers & prospects. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive.
41.) Develop a brochure of services.
42.) Include a postage-paid survey card with your brochures & other company literature. Include check-off boxes or other items that will involve the reader & provide valuable feedback to you.
43.) Remember, business cards are not working for you if they are in the box. Pass them out! Give prospects two business cards & brochures. One to keep & one to pass along .
44.) Produce separate business cards & sales literature for each of your target market segments. Gov., Commerce, Business, & Consumer
45.) Create a poster or calendar to give away to customers & prospects.
46.) Print a slogan & or one sentence description of your business on a letterhead, fax cover & invoices.
47.) Develop a site on the World wide web. www
48.) Create a signature file to be used for all your e-mail messages. It should contain contact details including your web site address & key information about your company that will make the reader want to contact you.
49.) Include testimonials from customers in your literature.
50.) Test a new mailing list. If it produces results, add it to your current direct mail list or consider replacing a list that's not performing up to expectations.
51.) Use colored or over sized envelopes to pique recipients curiosity. Also try using the Mail Bumps Technique. Simply place a small object in the letter that creates a bump, retroactively creating curiosity to open it rather than throwing it in the trash.
52.) Announce free or special offers in your direct response pieces. Include the offer in the beginning of the message & also on the outside of the envelope for direct mail.
53.) Update your media lists often so that press releases are sent to the right media outlet & person.
54.) Write a column for the local newspaper, local business journal, or trade publication.
55.) Publish an article & circulate reprints.
56.) Send timely & newsworthy press releases as often as needed.
57.) Publicize your 500th client of the year or other notable milestones.
58.) Create an annual award & publicize it as an outstanding employee of the year.
59.) Get public relations & media training or read up on it.
60.) Create your own TV program on your industry or specialty. Market the show to your local cable station or public broadcasting station as a regular program. Or, see if you can air your show on an open access cable channel.
61.) Write to the editor of your local newspaper or trade magazine editor.
62.) Get publicity photo taken & enclose with press release.
63.) Consistently review newspapers & magazines for ideas.

64.) Take an editor to Lunch.
65.) Appear on a radio or TV Talk show.
66.) Submit "Top" articles to newsletters & Newspapers.
67.) Conduct Industry research & Develop a press release or article to announce an important discovery in your field.
68.) Create a press kit & keep its contents current.
69.) Ask your clients to come back again.
70.) Return phone calls promptly.
71.) Use answering machine or voice mail system for after-hours phone calls. Include basic information in your outgoing message such as business hours, location, etc...
72.) Record a memo or "tip of the day" on your outgoing answering machine or voice message.
73.) Set up fax or e-mail system to respond to customers.
74.)Ask clients what you can do to help.
75.) Take clients to a ball game, a show, or another special event - just send them two tickets with a note.
76.) Send hand written thank you notes.
77.) Hold a seminar at your office for clients & Prospects.
78.) Send Birthday cards & appropriate seasons greetings.
79.) Photo copy interesting articles & send them to clients & prospects with a hand written "FYI" note & your business card.
80.) Send a book of interest or other appropriate business gift to a client with a hand written note.
81.) Create an area on your website specifically for your customers. (Community, Services, Forum, Link Exchange, Classifieds, etc.)
82.) Join a Chamber of Commerce or other organization.
83.) Redecorate your office or location where you meet with your clients.
84.) Join or organize a breakfast club with other professionals (Not in your field) to discuss business & network referrals.
85.) Mail a brochure to members of organizations to which you belong.
86.) Serve on a city board or commission.
87.) Host a holiday party.
88.) Hold an open house.
89.) Send letters to attendees after you attend a conference.
90.) Join a community list-serve (E-mail list) on the internet.
91.) Advertise during Peak seasons for your business.
92.) Get a memorable phone number.
93.) Obtain a memorable URL & E-mail address & include them on all marketing materials.
94.) Provide Rolodex cards or phone stickers pre-printed with your business contact information.
95.) Promote your business jointly with other professionals Via Cooperative direct Mail & or e-mail.
96.) Advertise in a specialty directory or in the yellow pages.
97.) Write an ad in another language to reach a non-English speaking market. Place the ad in a publication that market reads, such as a hispanic newspaper.
98.) Distribute advertising specialty products such as pens, mouse pads, mugs, etc...
99.) Mail "Bumps", Photo, samples, or other innovative items that create a small bulge in the letter to create curiosity.
100.) Create a direct mail list of Hot prospects.
101.) Consider non-traditional tactics of advertising such as bus benches, bus backs, billboards & popular web sites.
102.) Project a message on the sidewalk in front of your place of business using a light directed through words in a glass window.
103.) Consider placing ads in your local newspaper classifieds section.
104.) Consider a vanity automobile tag with your company name.
105.) Create a friendly bumper sticker for your car.
106.) Code your ads & keep track of the results.
107.) Improve your building signage & directional signs inside & Out.
108.) Invest in a neon sign to make your office window visible at night.
109.) Create a new or improved company logo or slogan.
110.) Get a booth at a fair or trade show attended by your target market.
111.) Sponsor or promote a contest or sweepstakes.
112.) Sponsor or Host a special event or open house at your business in cooperation with a local non-profit Organization.
113.) Give a speech or volunteer for a career day at a high school.
114.) Teach a class or seminar at a local collage or adult education center.
115.) Volunteer your time to a charity or non-profit Organization.
116.) Sponsor an "Adopt-a-Road" area in your community to keep roads litter-free. People that pass by the area will see your name on the sign announcing your sponsorship.
117.) Donate your product or service to a charity auction.
118.) Appear on a panel at a professional seminar.
119.) Produce & Distribute an educational cd-rom, audio, video tape, Multi Media presentation (Virtual).
120.) Write a "How to" pamphlet or article for publishing.

 121.) Publish a Book.
122.) Start every day with 2 cold calls.
123.) Give your sales literature to your lawyer, accountant, printer, banker, temp-agency, office supply store, etc... (For free advertising)
124.) Put your fax number on order forms for easy submission.
125.) Create Special promotions on a daily, weekly, monthly, & yearly basis.

126.) Put fliers & or posters in laundromats, Company Break rooms, Bulletin Boards, College Campuses, Pool Halls, Dance Clubs, Restaurants, Etc..
127.) Put web address & short promo on local internet chat lines (live) in intervals of once every 5-10 minutes for 1-3 hours advertising your company website.
128.) E-mail special business packages to small / mid-sized companies across the market zones advertising company products, services, promotions & programs. Include a free coffee mug, coaster, shirt, etc. with your company name & logo for free PR / advertising efforts.
129.) Plant internal advertisers (Bird Dogs) in large corporations. Have the employee (Bird Dog) advertise your products / services throughout the corporation & offer him/her a commission on all sales made Via his efforts. Make sure to have him/her where your company name/logo (Supply him/her with free marketing material).
130.) Design a shopping bag with your company logo on it so that every customer continues advertising for you wherever they carry the bag.
131.) Track all your sales on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis. Keep track of your closing percentages at all times.
132.) Have a mobile unit in the field equipped with a cell phone, laptop, marketing materials, etc.. for field sales & transactions.
133.) Set-up a booth in a mall, store, flea market, or well populated area for 1-7 days aiding in your PR.
134.) Have a Large vehicle covered with your company name, logo, contact info, etc. for mobile use & parking in populated area parking lots.
135.) (Canvassing) Have some of the local teenagers hand out & post fliers for your company to aid in your promotions. Door hangers are great for canvassing.
136.) Open a foreign language department in your company to target another ethnic group.
137.) Have a flag pole with your country's flag on top & your specially designed Company Flag under it waving in the wind at high visibility.
138.) Never get emotionally involved in your work. Business is Business & pleasure is pleasure.
139.) 3D's::: Dedication, Determination, Discipline.
140.) 5P's::: Proper, Preparation, Prevents, Poor, Performance.
141.) Open stock for your company at your earliest convenience. Sell the shares for extra financial aid & to further advertise for your company & expand possibilities.
142.) Use Flashing lights on your storefront (Like in Las Vegas) to attract attention.
143.) (Air-Banner) Have a Plane with a Large air-banner fly overhead near a Largely populated area or special event.
144.) Advertise at your local church functions.
145.) Target apartment's when canvassing as well.
146.) Use a Semi trailer covered with your company marketing message & park it in a well populated area.
147.) Get your company logo on a milk carton, cereal box, soup can, etc... products that are already in the open market nationally.
148.) Sponsor a food drive or homeless shelter.
149.) Put tabs on all your fliers so that consumers can simply pull the tab with your contact info & leave the flier for others to see. (Note: pull a few tabs yourself to give it the look of popularity).
150.) when sponsoring, put your banner or sign in a highly visible place so that people will know you sponsored the event.
151.) Initiate a referral program so that your current clients / members / customers can receive discounts, bonuses, & rewards.
152.) Price match your competitors at all times.
153.) Match your competitors advertising & add something different & unique to peek / sway more interest.
154.) Brainstorm ideas with friends, family, employees, etc..
155.) Utilize all the free internet advertising space (Free classifieds, Free directories, Free communities, Free link exchanges, Free Traffic exchanges, etc.).
156.) Work out a joint advertising / Marketing agreement with your current clients.
157.) Put together a pamphlet off all the companies you cross market / advertise with to aid in PR boosting.
158.) Hold a Free training Class.
159.) Have students advertise in there school for you.
160.) Advertise at your Local Airport
161.) The first impression to a potential client / customer / member counts, it will make or break your sale.
162.) Typically you have 6 seconds to make your initial first impression.
163.) Typically it takes the average consumer 10 times of seeing an ad before they look more into it.
164.) Open off-shores accounts to generate the opportunities of expansion & to aid in reaching another ethnic market.
165.) E-mail proposals from the chamber of commerce's contact lists.
166.) Classifieds & Directories are Great lead sources when you own one. create one to start building a list.
167.) Hire an attorney to handle your political & legal issues.
168.) Have a costume designed to be worn at your store front to attract consumers to stop & visit.
169.) Put together a Promo folder & place tabs on each category for easy referencing.
170.) Make sure your website has the ability to accept several forms of payment. (Not everyone likes to use the same one)
171.) Open a commercial office (If you do not have one yet)
172.) Open a second business in another market.
173.) Establish an employee exchange program with another country allowing you to expand your advertising reach & ideas.
174.) Get a medical, dental, vision, 401k, etc. to aid in PR / Moral along with long term employment.
175.) Greet everyone you meet & or pass with a smile.
176.) Start your own internet radio station. It could be related to the theme of your web site and you could advertise your products over the station.
177.) Turn your banner ad into a trivia question. Post the question on the banner and tell readers they can win a prize if they answer the question at your site
178.) Clone your advertisements all over the internet by allowing your visitors to give your online freebies away. Just include your ad somewhere inside it.
179.) Make your products sell quickly by adding a ton of bonuses. You could get the free bonuses for little or no cost buy joint venturing with other businesses.

180.) Tell your visitors to bookmark your website & provide a simple button/link they can click to do it.
181.) Tell your visitors to subscribe to your e-zine / newsletter & provide a subscribe page.
182.) Ask your visitors to participate on your online discussion board. (Having a forum is one thing, Now tell your visitors to go there)
183.) Ask your visitors to sign your guest book. (Having a Guest book is Great, Now tell you visitors to sign it)
184.) Allow your visitors to use your articles on their own web site, Newsletter, or e-zine as long as they provide an Author Link back to you.
185.) Ask your visitors to refer your web site to a friend(s).
186.) Ask visitors to fill out your online survey or questionnaire to help in a market analysis project.
187.) Ask your visitors to enter your online contest or sweepstakes.
188.) Allow your visitors to give away your online freebies to people that visit your web site as long as there is a Link back to your site.
189.) Analyze your Ad Copy, decrease or increase the length of your ad copy as needed.
190.) Sub headlines act just like headlines; they grab the readers attention. (Add some)
191.) By asking questions throughout your website, The visitor will answer the questions in their own head as they read your website & make the experience more interactive.
192.) Highlight/Bold Key Words, the keywords should be attractive to your target audience.
193.) Most people won't read a whole website, so make your product's benefits standout and you won't lose the sales from all the skimmers. Use Bullets / Bold to separate your sections & make the Visitors choice(s) easily Navigated.
194.) Remember, psychologically a higher price increases a product/service Value, while a lower price decreases the Value. Cheaper is Not always better, it simply reflects the Value of the product/service in question.
195.) You should include testimonials, endorsements, and factual statistics to prove your product/service claims. (Added Viability)
196.) Remember, unless your product calls for technical words, you want your ad to be read without people pulling out a dictionary.
197.) Offer to sell advertising space inside electronic products like e books, software, subscription sites, Newsletters, etc.
198.) Don't forget to list your Features along with the benefits of each product/service.
199.) Give your visitors a good impression when they first visit your web site. Don't make the first thing they see at the top of your home page a banner ad.
200.) Make sure to place a Partners page & an Organizations page on your site. The Organizations you participate in along with who your partners are shows Credibility.
201.) Bonus coupons & gift certificates are a Great way to promote your Product/Service. (Have some designed with tracking #'s & send them out to your List(s) of choice for a boost in sales potential).
202.) Team-up with your weaker competitors to beat your stronger competitors. You can create a joint venture and cross promotion deals that will pass-up the stronger competition.
203.) Offer your customers back-end products. If you do not have any back-end products, Join an affiliate or PPC program for additional revenues. Selling to current clients/members/customers is considered a captive audience & produces higher conversion rates.
204.) You can include pictures, hand written signatures and contact information with each testimonial to make it a bigger impact on the target consumer / audience.
205.) Don't forget to Up-sell your clients/members/customers. Offer Upgrades, add-ons, revised, etc...
206.) Talk to a Cab driver & establish a local / joint advertising campaign with incentives. A cab driver can prove to be a Great asset handing out your business card to EVERY customer that rides in his/her cab. (Note: there are independent owner operator drivers as well, you may be able to make a larger scaled advertising deal with one).
207.) Place a picture of yourself on your website & or Marketing message. This shows the viewer you are not hiding behind the site & or Message.
208.) If you have had any famous customers (Nationally know / broadcast ed) mention them as a client/customer/member to boost your ratings.
209.) List any positive reviews, articles, etc. another company wrote about you.
210.) If you have Published any books, articles, e-zines, newsletter, etc.. mention them in your ad copy.
211.) Consider adding a Money Back Guarantee to remove some psychological risk factors from potential Clients / Customers / Members.
212.) Make a complete list of your product/service benefits and features. Start your ad copy with the most important benefit either in your headline or first sentence.
213.) Make sure your ad copies benefits are as specific as possible. Include exact numbers, percentages, times, colors, smells, sounds, descriptive adjectives, etc.
214.) Having a Unique product/service is important - List all the ways your product/service is different from your competition's. Include all the differences in your ad copy that are better than their product.
215.) Do Not rule out Visual aid - Use graphics, pictures and drawings of people actually using your product/service to solve their problem. Include a picture that also shows the results.
216.) Customer service is a Must have - Tell your audience what kind of support they'll get after they buy. It could be free consulting, tech support, free servicing, etc.
217.) Let the consumer tell you how to sell them - in your surveys, make sure to direct the questions around your consumer Vs. your Product/Service. The answers they give will help you understand what they want & why. Use their wants & needs to update your ad copy & provide them with it.
218.) Install a Live chat room on your website & hold a free training session.
219.) Create a long-term follow-up system that provides lots of value to your prospects and start building relationships for the long haul.
210.) Offer a free training course on your website to aid in repeat(s). You can add a new course once per week or Month.
211.) AVOID using scrolling Marquees & or banners that are very flashy, they make it hard for the visitor to concentrate on the actual content. (Very distracting)
212.) Divide your product / Service price over a period of time. (give it the psychological feel of affordability)
213.) Add How To articles to your site: providing step by step instructions to your visitors on how to use a product or service.
214.) Provide News Related Articles: giving the visitor information about updates, market trends, stock, business flux, press releases, employee of the month, etc...
215.) Include Interview articles: they can be of employees, clients, members, political parties, competition, etc..
216.) Visual Content Helpers: charts, graphs, etc...
217.) Entertaining content: tests, quiz's, puzzles, surveys, polls, etc..
218.) Technology content: Streaming video, Mp3, Audio clips, etc..
219.) Remember the basic top 10: Put your best foot forward, Make eye contact, Are you a reflection of your Company, Keep an open mind, Become Necessary, Like the people that like you (even if they annoy you), watch your mouth, mind your manors, don't be fake, & Stay Hip with the times.

220.) P.S. Tends to be used in letter writing, why not add it to your ad copy. (Make it good, people tend to read a P.S.)
221.) Lets not forget about your problems, while Visitors do like to hear about how you can help them, the like to know others have problems to. A trust building tactic showing that your not perfect either.
222.) Tell the potential something they already know. Helps build trust in your other Content.
223.) If you haven't Organized your site into categories, now is the time to do it, Visitors like Organization.
224.) Use the Site Sale technique, simply advertise your business is for sale, set the price 3 or 4 times higher than its actual worth. You might actually decide to sell it if someone matches your offer. At worst, you will make people curious and boost traffic.
225.) Auction off a few of your products/services just to get your name out there.
226.) Let your visitors know you donate a % of profits to a local/national charity.
227.) Surprises can come in handy, have a contest with a surprise gift (do not disclose what the gift is).
228.) Keep your headlines relevant, there's nothing worse than a headline that is not relevant to the content it supports.
229.) Repetition tends to insure the human brain soaks in more of the key content you want your viewers to remember. Repeat it a few time in creative ways.
230.) Lets refrain from talking about ourselves too much. That's what the about us page is for. Talking too much about you could back fire.
231.) Refrain from using pop-ups, while they do tend to work, they also upset the majority of visitors & cause them never to return. You need to focus on retention / conversion / referral, not just conversion. the quick sale is great, however all the potentials lost for the long run game will surely hinder your rate of success.
232.) Keep the site simple, when a visitor gets to your site & is hit with "download this in order to view" it tends to detour them.
233.) Dead links kill. if you have ever been on a site & saw a link that fit your needs perfectly, got you excited, & then when you clicked it it went to a 404 error page or site not found browser error, 9 times out of 10 it ruin your impression of the main site & you didn't go back. Your visitors do that to, fix any dead links.
234.) Stay away from the registration in order to view tactic, try offering some free content so they can at least take a test drive first. Not many people will get married without at least going on one date first.
235.) Check your load time, the slower the load time the more visitors you lose. Java, Flash, Large files, Over abundance of images, errors, etc. can cause a page to load slow. Remember that the majority of the world is still on dial-up and/or have slower processors.
236.) Add a news type section that only tells the visitor whats been updated, added, and the date of the adjustment. People like to see recent activity.
237.) For large sites, a site search option is a must, look into it.
238.) Keep visitors on your site longer by holding a Mystery Prize hunt contest.
239.) Reduce the amount of outbound links And increase the amount of inbound links to your site. No sense in having more ways to leave than enter a store is there?
240.) if your product/service loses its drive/demand in a targeted market then its time to redesign/re-target for a new market. Do not make the mistake of failing to adapt to change in the industry and going stagnant.

Sales forecast is based on the existing client base of the three principal officers of the company and their ability to generate new sales based on their contacts. The company will be able to generate sales in both areas. Furthermore, the company's growing marketing program will generate the growth the company needs to survive.

The company is currently in negotiations to form a strategic alliance with an undisclosed large contractor company. The agreement will be that Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. will provide all the painting needs that the contractor's clients require and vice versa. The company will seek further alliances as situations develop. The company will seek only those contractors that have high standards of customer service and retention.

Management consists of three individuals who have extensive experience in the painting contractors industry. These are Lori M. Lewis, Jeffry K. Lewis, and Jeffry K. Lewis Jr.. Each individual brings a unique outlook and skill set that will help drive sales and profits.

The president and head of operations of Lewis & Lewis Painting Inc. is Lori M. Lewis, president/ceo/cfo. Jeffry K. Lewis is sr. vp in charge of production. Jeffry K. Lewis Jr. is vp in charge of production of bump outs and quality control.

The company will follow a hierarchical structure with Lori M. Lewis at the top as president and Jeffry K. Lewis and Jeffry K. Lewis Jr. as department heads. The sales and contracting department along with inventory, expediters, and Q&A will consist of only those individuals until such time as growth of the company will require more people. This is anticipated to occur in year one to three.