|
|
| Marketing Information |
|
This Information Brought to you by TopWebProducts, knowledge is power. |
|
|
Stretching The String: Five Tips To Maximize Your Marketing When You Are On A Shoe String Budget
"I know I need to market my business in order to grow my business, but right now I can't afford it." I have heard this statement numerous times from business owners that are struggling to stay in business. They are hanging on by a frayed string that will break at any moment, resulting in any chances at a successful business to come crashing down. But it doesn't have to happen that way. Instead of focusing on what they don't have and not doing anything to market their business, struggling business owners should focus on making the most of what they do have. If you are on a shoestring budget, it IS possible to stretch the string and generate revenue for your business. Here are Five Tips to Stretch the String: 1. NETWORKING: The key to maximizing opportunities with Networking is to do it effectively and consistently. Don't attend events with the intention of trying to sell your services to everyone you meet. Go with the intention of getting to know more about other business owners and their services. Set a goal to make a connection with at least three business owners and immediately follow up with them after the event. When you take their business card, ask them if you can have another one to pass on to someone who may need their services in the future. 2. ARTICLES: This is one of the most effective ways to market your business when you have more time than money. Write about what you know and use your knowledge to help your target market. If you get overwhelmed by the thought of writing to a large audience, focus on writing to one person...your ideal client. 3. NEWSLETTER: You have a lot of affordable options in this area. You can create an electronic newsletter (ezine) at no cost or very low cost. You can create a one page print newsletter and mail it to your target market or use as a handout. If you don't have the budget to pay for postage, you can also convert your one page newsletter to a .pdf document and email it (with permission) to your target market. While there is no limit to the amount of pages you can put in your newsletter, keep in mind that the string will snap as the number of pages increases due to rising publishing costs. 4. SPEAKING: Seek out speaking engagements to market your business. As the guest speaker, you will be the center of attention and will have a great opportunity to maximize your marketing efforts. Be sure to ask the audience to fill out a feedback form that asks for their contact information. You can offer an incentive to encourage more responses. If you distribute handouts, include your contact information along with a special offer just for attendees in the handouts. 5. BUSINESS CARD: Increase the effectiveness of this little marketing dynamo by utilizing the back of the business card. Think about your most wanted response and then capitalize on all of that real estate space to get it. Think beyond putting a yearly calendar on the back. How about a special offer for your target market? Valuable tips that solve the problems of your target market? Give the recipients of your business card a reason to hold onto your card or to contact you immediately. Use these five tips to generate more ideas and revenue for your business. When it comes to stretching the string, you are only limited by your imagination and attitude. If you invest your time wisely while on a shoestring budget, your return on investment will eventually yield enough revenue to give you an actual marketing budget that will allow you to take your business to new heights. Copyright 2005 Black Unicorn Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved Tresaca Hamilton is the CEO of Black Unicorn Communications. Black Unicorn Communications helps Service Businesses attract more clients in less time. Visit http://www.blackunicorninc.com to receive our free Business Success Toolkit including the free course: 7 Steps To More Clients.
Check out the many ways to use this and learn about all the
aspects of each form of this that is available. Explore and learn
from all that is given here. There are many uses for this
in all of it's forms. For your use from TopWebProducts. |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Your Marketing Message Your message is first among your weapons in the battle of perceptions. Five Cheap Tricks for Promoting Your Business If you're like me, you're always looking for ways to promote your business - without spending a ton of money. Well, you're in luck. This article lists five of my top 10 favorite ideas for promoting your business or organization for next to nothing (and in some cases, completely fr*e). While these ideas are a start, there are plenty of other ways to get the word out about your product or service and build relationships with potential clients. Use this list as a jumping off point to brainstorm more cheap ideas that may work wonders for your business. And stay tuned for the other five tricks, which will appear in my Nov. 2004 newsletter, "Marketing Tips from The WriteShop." Ready, Fire, Aim! You probably read my headline and thought, wait a minute, isn't that backwards? Isn't it supposed to be "Ready, Aim, Fire?" Motivate Your Market Force Intro Wise Man Marketing It's a sunny morning and you're sitting in your office. With a cup of hot coffee by your side and memories of your last holiday still fresh in your mind, even if you say so yourself, today at least, life is sweet. Multicultural Marketing ? Taking Care of Business At Hand Multicultural marketing mirrors the changed face of America and is getting the attention of small-business and other organizations looking for an edge in diverse ethnic markets. "Gone are the days when businesses succeed with a 'one size fits all' approach to marketing. It's a 'mass market' no longer," insists Rhonda Albey, a diversity consultant with Allen Associates in Los Angeles, "The multicultural markets are where the opportunities are, and successful entrepreneurs are quickly learning how to get there." So What Do You Do? Once you have the attention of a business prospect, at some point in the conversation, the prospect will ask you, "So what do you do?". In most cases, you will only have 60 seconds, to catch the interest of the prospect. Therefore, your response to this questions needs to be specific enough to tell what you do, but interesting enough for the prospect to ask for more information. Sowing and Growing Your Network The N-word! We all know the value of networking and we feel we should be doing more of it. Unfortunately, for too many of us the very thought of attending an event where we have to mix and mingle with total strangers is enough to drive us into hiding until it's all over! What a pity we often force ourselves to go to a potentially great conference, but we're so busy worrying about the networking part that we forget to enjoy the event! The Most Powerful Marketing Strategy Available To Small Businesses Most small business owners want to generate huge profits, with little effort and in the least amount of time. If you fall into this category then joint venture marketing is the fastest, easiest and most profitable way to do that. Create A Business Card That Sells and is Effective Why does your business need a business card? Marketing The Real You I often wonder how the practice began of pretending to be someone else in order to market your business. You know what I'm talking about -- it's the marketing face, the selling voice, that you often put on in order to attend a networking event or make a sales call. Who taught you to do that? Sales and Marketing: Can One Exist Without the Other? Simply put the marketing people and the sales people depend on each other 100%. One cannot say that a marketing department is any more or less important then the guys who are closing the deals in the sales department. Indeed, one would not survive a day without the other which is why in many smaller companies the account manager are responsible for both functions. Your Marketing Message - Could You Wring More CASH Out Of It With This Ancient Japanese Discipline? When it comes to your marketing message, the little things count. Trouble is, you'll never come to respect how much, until you make a commitment to science. The Words That Sell What You Say, Who You Say It To, How you Say It: If you have or can get a list of people who are already interested or genuinely likely to be interested in your product or service then you are well on your way to being successful with your postcard marketing. Before that, you have to answer the key question, "Who should I send my postcard offers to?" If My Work is Good Enough "If My Work is Good Enough, I Shouldn't Have to Market, Right?" How Do You Get Past The Gatekeeper? The best joint ventures are with people in your own network ? those that already know, like and trust you. However, there's nothing to stop you from partnering with "cold" contacts ? those you've never associated with before, and you would therefore need to build a relationship with. This simply means it will take a bit more time to execute the joint venture because any "cold" contact would need time to evaluate your character and your business before committing to a partnership with you. Whats Your Selling Sentence? What's your Selling Sentence? If you have a business, you need a selling sentence. Chill Out With A Summer Time Marketing Plan Is your business experiencing a summer time slump? Traditionally only industries related to travel enjoy a boost in business during the warmer months. The rest of us tend to take vacations, clean up our desk and while away the time playing computer games while we wait for business to pick up. Down To The Wire When you want to win and woo new clients with national publicity -- and don't have an enormous budget to distribute your message -- turn to the news wires. But first, be sure you're telling a story that's worth printing. Make More Sells With Colors How Colors Effect Our Emotions?
|
| home | main | site map |
| TopWebProducts © 2006 |