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August 26, 2010

Marketing on a Budget

Filed under: Business — Tags: , — djstoreroom @ 8:57 am

A successful marketing plan doesn’t have to include an athletic superstar, prime-time placement, state-of-the-art computer graphics or a massive budget. Being resourceful and smart can be just as effective.

Business promotion doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Often, it’s the personal touch that seals the deal. Here are ideas gathered from marketing experts to help you make the most of a slim marketing budget:


Use Press Release Power
You might not realize it, but reporters sometimes need you as much as you need them. The key to getting their attention is coming up with a newsworthy item that is concisely written.
* Peg your release to real events, such as fundraising drives or a new service your business offers. Don’t be witty to amuse yourself the idea must have a concrete purpose.
* If you can’t figure out why your company might be newsworthy, ask your friends what they find interesting about your company.
* You can also utilize your built-in research tool your customers. If you have an offbeat idea, bounce it off them or have them fill out a short questionnaire. Ask them why they use your business.


Think Differently
Concoct an event to draw media coverage. For instance, a Japanese restaurant could create the world’s largest sushi roll and advertise its record-breaking “sushi queue.”


Put A Face On It
Placing your photograph on your business card creates a personal relationship, even if they don’t know you. Not only will people remember your name, they’ll remember your face.


Print The Praise
If someone says, “You do a great job,” say, “Thanks, very much, that means an awful lot to me. I would appreciate it if you would write a testimonial letter.” Then make the testimonial part of your promotional package.


Borrow A Message
When you see an article on a subject that might interest your clients, send them a photocopy with a note that says, “I thought you might be interested in this.” You’re making a personal connection with a client and associating yourself with the authority quoted in the article in the process.


Think Outside The Box
You don’t have to outspend your competition, you just have to outthink them. Some examples: Buy a billboard ad every other month for a year. Chances are, the billboard won’t be replaced on the off months, so you’ll get more exposure at no extra cost.
This concept also relates to how you run your business: Always try to figure out how to give your customers something they can’t find elsewhere, such as a children’s play area at a restaurant.


Try The Old Faithfuls
Don’t dismiss time-honored solutions that increase your company’s community profile, such as sponsoring a charity event or outfitting a local little league team. You’ll get your name out there, and that’s what counts.

Copyright 2003 Ann Marie Rubertone

Ann Marie Rubertone is a marketing consultant & freelance writer. Her two newest booklets, "The One Page Marketing Plan" and “13 Household Items You Can Use To Market Your Business” tips for marketing on a shoestring budget that can make the difference between success and failure. Check It Out is a customer-driven marketing firm providing design, writing, editing, desktop publishing services, and hands-on marketing workshops for independent professionals and small businesses. For more information, contact Ann Marie Rubertone, Check It Out (772) 335-0073, Port St. Lucie, FL www.checkitoutinc.com cio@adelphia.net

Small Business Marketing Tip – Focus on a Niche or Target Market

Filed under: Business — Tags: , — hirazi @ 8:57 am

I think selling and marketing today often feels a bit like talking to a brick wall and that in interesting metaphor to help grasp the importance of niche marketing especially when it comes to small business marketing. Imagine for a moment that you are attacking that brick wall with a hammer, randomly hitting it everywhere. What would be the effect? Practically no effect at all. You might knock off a few chips but come back a day or so later, there will be no evidence you were even there.

And that’s the effect of any broad marketing and advertising campaign. You may make the odd sale, but overall nothing will happen and a day or so later people will not even remember your name. But back to that wall again, imagine you took a different strategy. Instead of hitting all over the wall, you concentrated on just one brick, or you searched the wall to find a brick that was already weak. Now you are going to have a much better result.

And that’s really the secret to small business marketing. Without the resources to reach millions of people, you have to concentrate your efforts on a small tightly defined market or research the market carefully and identify a small group with a similar urgent problem you can solve. Lets face it few small businesses are going to become global household names and even if they did, most simply don’t have the capacity or the desire to support a huge market. Amazon.com may have been built in a garage but it was backed by a $300,000 investment and plans to build an international distribution business.

I have friends in the speaking business who deal only with dentists, yet their business turns over millions of dollars a year. In their market they have a huge presence and high reputation. They know everyone and everyone knows them.

The strategy is simple – Define a clear niche for yourself and set out to OWN it.

  • A niche you have a passion for, that you love being part of
  • A market of people you want to do business with
  • Only do business with people you like
  • Find businesses or people who have common problem’s you can solve
  • Look for people who are likely to know each other
  • Seek networks of people who regularly meet each other

    • A niche doesn’t have to be local to you. It can be global as long as it meets most of the criteria above. Once you have selected your niche its much easier to identity the magazines people read, the trade shows they visit, the conferences and networking meetings they attend, the places they meet, directories they are listed in, the online forums they are members of etc., and become a part of that community yourself.

    By working in a niche market you will quickly become an expert in solving their unique problems. You will understand their jargon. You will be talked about and recommended by people when they get together. You can establish relationships with editors and webmasters in the market and built a guru status.

    More importantly you will be much more able to customise your products and services to the specific needs of your niche market and demonstrate not only that you understand them, but that you care. All business marketing is ultimately about relationship building but that is so much easier for a niched small business because you can be much closer to the issues and you are able to adapt to changes more easily.

    About the Author:

    Founder and First President of the Professional Speakers Association (PSA), Rikki Arundel is a truly unique International Keynote Speaker, Trainer and Writer. She is openly and proudly transgender and an expert in sales and marketing communications with an impressive track record, and being transgender has provided her with a unique understanding of the differences in the way men and women communicate in business. http://www.RikkiArundel.com

    Get your free copy of How to Get Customers Queuing up to Buy at http://www.SpeakingandMarketingTips.com

    August 25, 2010

    Identify The Ideal Target Audience With These 5 Tips

    Filed under: Business — Tags: , — Bworms1980 @ 5:58 pm

    Narrowing your focus to one primary group of people is often difficult for small business owners. They want to help everyone – and very often their product or service CAN help a variety of people.

    It also goes against human nature to narrow your focus in order to grow a business. Common sense seems to tell us if we want to grow our business big, we need to appeal to more people.

    In reality the opposite is true. When we narrow our focus to a particular group of people we become an expert in solving their particular problems. We get to know them very well and we can develop additional products and services to fill their needs.

    So how do you decide who to market to?

    Following are 5 tips:

    1) Think about the type of people who can MOST benefit from what you have to offer.

    2) Think about who you would most enjoy helping, or working with.

    3. Think about the type of people who will be easiest to reach, AND who will be most receptive to what you are selling. These will be people who KNOW they have THE problem you can solve and are LOOKING for a solution.

    4) Know that just because you select a particular group of people to focus your marketing on, does NOT mean you can’t help others who may come to you. It only means you’re going to focus your proactive marketing efforts on the target group you select.

    5) Lastly, don’t over-think it. Listen to your gut, pick a group you feel you can really help and proceed with the development of your marketing plan. Marketing is a fluid process. The important thing is to start. You can always refine your audience and your plan later as you learn more.

    (C) 2005 Debbie LaChusa

    20-year marketing veteran Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to help small business owners successfully market their business, themselves, without spending a fortune on marketing. To learn more about this simple, step-by-step program and to sign up for her FREE audio class and FREE weekly ezine featuring how-to articles, tips and advice, visit http://www.10stepmarketing.com

    August 20, 2010

    Networking the Media

    Filed under: Business — Tags: , — pbirmingham @ 11:57 pm

    The media is a business’s absolute best friend. It is THE source of information distribution to the masses. Even “bad” press has been known to stimulate business.

    The media is a “business” just like any other business. It has a “product” (air space, print space or television space) and therefore must sell this product. And it is a “perishable” product. Most people don’t think of the media as a “perishable” product but it is. Radio stations and television stations sell “time”. Once that time has passed, you can’t get it back. Newspapers and magazines sell “space”. They have deadlines to meet to fill that space so that makes the space a perishable commodity.

    This means that the media is ALWAYS looking for news to take up the time and space that they have. They are also, of course, looking for advertisers. For this article, lets look at helping them fill their time and space, and getting plugs for your business that are either free or very, very low cost.

    1. The Press Release. This is THE most common type of free placement with the media. But many business professionals mistaken a press release for an ad. You get press releases for free – you pay for ads. Press releases need to be about information that is of interest to the public that frequents that media. It needs to announce something versus sell something. It needs to be written in a certain style with a certain focus. For more information about the proper way to structure a press release, see http://www.profnet.org/press.html.

    2. Articles that you write. The media is always looking for new information to pass on to it’s clients. You can help them by writing for them. Contact the business editor at the media of your choice and see what you know about that they might need an expert in. This is another FREE source of exposure for your firm. And you help the editor out as well.

    3. Articles ABOUT you. This is what EVERYBODY wants from the media without thinking about “what’s in it for them” from the media’s side. There is no editor anywhere that can run as many articles about specific businesses as there are businesses wishing to have an article done for them. Articles are often bartered for something the media needs. They are also done when something really unique happens with a firm. Be the first in your area to offer a certain product or service, do something of an important nature politically, or socially, or have something unique that will appeal to the media’s client base and you have a greater chance of getting a story done.

    4. Joint Promos with the media. Contact the media in your area and offer to sponsor a joint promotion with them. Have a contest and give away tickets to major sporting or entertainment events (like concerts) in conjunction with your favorite radio station, newspaper, magazine or television station. If they have a “mobile unit” ask them to broadcast live from your site.

    5. Buy space in odd places or at less desirable times. Everybody wants the “drive time” for radio (when people are driving to and from work). Everybody wants to advertise in “prime time” on television. And everybody wants to be on the front or back page in print media. I have seen radio stations GIVE time slots away that are at 3 o’clock in the morning just to fill the space. Form good relationships with your media contacts and these ads will not only help you but them as well. I personally have bought television time for as little as $4.00 for a 30 second spot. Amazing. Better than that though- EFFECTIVE.

    Nancy Roebke, is the Executive Director of Profnet Inc, a professional business leads generation corporation. We bring business professionals together in a non-competitive environment to help each other make more money.

    mailto:execdirector@profnet.org http://www.profnet.org

    Copyright c Nancy Roebke

    August 18, 2010

    Build Relationships

    Filed under: Business — Tags: , — murderousintention @ 11:55 pm

    Personal marketing makes it easier to sell, by building relationships nurtured on awareness, value and trust. Make your relationships more fruitful by making them personal. Use these powerful yet simple tips from the book, Secrets of Power Marketing; Canada’s first guide to personal marketing for non-marketers.

    Say thank you

    Everyone wants to hear ‘thank you’. The easiest way to say thank you is verbally – but the most powerful and memorable is with a hand written note. We receive so few hand written notes that we read them first and value them because we know you took the time to write it personally. Say thank you to your clients for the opportunity to work with them. Say thank you for considering you – even if they did not hire you. There are so many opportunities to say thank you; thanks for the lead, information, invitation, advice, idea, introduction, publishing your article,?

    Say Congratulations

    The cousin to ‘thank you’ is ‘congratulations’. Congrats on becoming president of the association, getting the new job, appearing in the paper, completing a successful project, volunteering for a charity, winning the award, being nominated, expanding the business, opening a new office,.. This is a great way to make first contact with a prospect or key influencer.

    Send postcards

    Open your mail. What do you find? – bills, junk, flyers, post card. What do you read first? I read the post card to see whom it is from? When you travel, (on business or vacation), send post cards to your important clients and prospects. Keep your message simple and sign your full name clearly. Even when you don’t travel use post cards to stay in touch, say thank you or congratulations. You could use postcards of a local attraction or print your own customized cards. I keep a supply of Canadian flag post cards handy.

    Send books

    Most receive and throw away a lot of business cards. But when we receive a book we keep it and put in on a shelf. We might even read it or at least glance at it. If you wrote a book give it away – it is your best brochure. If you have not yet written a book you can still give books as a gift. Give a book that supports your message or one that you know your prospect will love. Check with the authors – they might give you a deal if you buy a bunch.

    Build relationships with your clients and prospects.

    About The Author

    © George Torok is coauthor of the national bestseller, Secrets of Power Marketing – Canada’s first guide to personal marketing for non-marketers. To arrange for George Torok to work with your organizations visit www.Torok.com or call 800-304-1861

    info@torok.com

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