Merge

The current state of the economy has forced all of us to think of new and better ways to provide value to our customers. Here are 6 ways that Merge adds value to our clients, prospects, and strangers – for minimal cost or free!

Blog

Blog. Blog. And blog some more. On average, Merge blogs approximately 1-3 times a week. Enough to keep people interested but not too much to water down or subtract from the valuable content. There are several free blog sites available including WordPress (www.wordpress.org) and Blogger (www.blogger.com) by Google. WordPress is Merge’s blog software of choice for its ease of use and its ability to integrate quickly with our website and brand.

Newsletter

Send out a monthly or quarterly newsletter–or as frequently as your customer/prospect base wants it. Keep it short and to the point, but most importantly, consistently send it out. Primarily use it to share your expertise. Secondarily use it to announce press releases and announcements such as new clients, new employees or new services/products. Merge’s suggestion for sending newsletters: Icontact (www.icontact.com) for larger and frequent campaigns, and Campaign Monitor (www.campaignmonitor.com) for smaller and less frequent campaigns.

Webinar

New prospects, existing clients, and people we’ve never met all sign up for our webinars. Merge hosts 4-6 webinars a year— at least one per quarter. Each Webinar lasts about 30 minutes and has a question/answer period afterwards. Dim Dim (www.dimdim.com) is free for up to 20 users. Once you build your following, you can move up to a paid version that will allow you to have more attendees.

GoToMeeting (www.gotomeeting.com), a heartier business application, is $50/month for up to 10 users.

White Paper Download

Show your expertise by giving it away. Write a "white paper" (a more in-depth technical document than say, web copy) to allow your web users to download and read off-screen. Be a little more savvy by requiring an email address so you can later follow-up with the user. A white paper also provides better shelf-life, as users may print the white paper, read it and then file it or pass it around the office.

Twitter

Twitter (www.twitter.com) isn’t just a social networking tool. It’s a vast pool of knowledge when used correctly. Use twitter to connect with clients and business members of your community in an informal environment. To provide the most value to your followers, share your expertise by “tweeting” tidbits related to your industry. Don’t just broadcast information about your products or services—interact with your followers and build relationships.

Online Survey

Go ahead, create a customer satisfaction survey and send it to your clients. Be sure to ask open-ended questions to give your clients an opportunity to expand on their answers. Also utilize online surveys for feedback after webinars. Send a survey to all attendees and be sure to ask for suggestions on future webinar topics. Sign up for a free Google Apps (www.google.com/a/) account and you can start getting feedback as early as today.

Bottom Line: You don’t have to break the bank to provide value to your clients and prospects. Incorporate these 6 activities into your "value" marketing plan and stick to it!