Eight Easy Ways to Market Your Business
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/article/articles/675/1/Eight-Easy-Ways-to-Market-Your-Business/Page1.html
Jodi Kaplan
Jodi Kaplan fixes "broken" marketing. What's "broken" marketing? If your direct mail campaigns cost more money than they earn and people leave your Web site without buying, your marketing is broken. KaplanCopy can help you fix it — and transform your marketing frustrations into success. For more free articles, resources, and information on marketing services, visit http://www.kaplancopy.com. Claim your free 25-page Small Business Marketing Guide at http://www.kaplancopy.com/free_guide.html.
By Jodi Kaplan
Published on 05/13/2008
The key to any successful business is successful marketing. Here are eight ways you can successfully promote your business, gain more visibility, and increase your Web site traffic - without spending a lot of money.
Eight Easy Ways to Market Your Business
The key to any successful business is successful marketing. Here are nine ways you can successfully promote your business, gain more visibility, and increase your Web site traffic - without spending a lot of money.
1) Newsletters. These are a great way to promote your business, especially for business consultants. You can keep in touch with your customers, give them useful information, and demonstrate your expertise, in a low-key way.
2) Samples. Demonstrating your product or service attracts new prospects and allows them to see how well it works. If you're a software developer, offer a 30-day trial of your product so prospects can test it and use it for making a commitment to buy. Or, create a video showing someone using your product. One famous example, "will it blend"? shows a blender pulverizing seemingly impossible things (an iphone?!). A graphic designer can show before and after images on his or her Web site.
3) Give a seminar. Hold an informational event (not a sales pitch) for people with an interest in the kinds of products or services you offer. For instance, if you sell real estate, offer a seminar with tips on how to get a mortgage in a tight credit market. A financial planner could hold a meeting on retirement planning and different kinds of investments.
4) Offer a bonus. Give your customers something extra. If you've promised 10 marketing tips, give them 11 or 12.
5) Make a speech. Talk to trade associations, Chambers of Commerce, and business networking groups that cater to your target market.
6) Write articles. You can post on online article directories, online publications (ezines) or write articles for other companies' newsletters. You can then reproduce them and send them to your prospects as part of your marketing kit.
7) Think small. If your services are expensive, offer something that's more easily accessible, such as a $20 e-book, instead of a $5,000 training course.
8). Think big. Create a super, specialized, hands-on deluxe package for clients who want extra attention and service.
BONUS
Say thank you. It's a great way to let your clients know you value their business. It's also easy to do. Add a thank you to your invoices, emails acknowledging an order, and newsletter sign-ups. And, make sure you thank referral sources, and people who offer you compliments (or even criticism).
1) Newsletters. These are a great way to promote your business, especially for business consultants. You can keep in touch with your customers, give them useful information, and demonstrate your expertise, in a low-key way.
2) Samples. Demonstrating your product or service attracts new prospects and allows them to see how well it works. If you're a software developer, offer a 30-day trial of your product so prospects can test it and use it for making a commitment to buy. Or, create a video showing someone using your product. One famous example, "will it blend"? shows a blender pulverizing seemingly impossible things (an iphone?!). A graphic designer can show before and after images on his or her Web site.
3) Give a seminar. Hold an informational event (not a sales pitch) for people with an interest in the kinds of products or services you offer. For instance, if you sell real estate, offer a seminar with tips on how to get a mortgage in a tight credit market. A financial planner could hold a meeting on retirement planning and different kinds of investments.
4) Offer a bonus. Give your customers something extra. If you've promised 10 marketing tips, give them 11 or 12.
5) Make a speech. Talk to trade associations, Chambers of Commerce, and business networking groups that cater to your target market.
6) Write articles. You can post on online article directories, online publications (ezines) or write articles for other companies' newsletters. You can then reproduce them and send them to your prospects as part of your marketing kit.
7) Think small. If your services are expensive, offer something that's more easily accessible, such as a $20 e-book, instead of a $5,000 training course.
8). Think big. Create a super, specialized, hands-on deluxe package for clients who want extra attention and service.
BONUS
Say thank you. It's a great way to let your clients know you value their business. It's also easy to do. Add a thank you to your invoices, emails acknowledging an order, and newsletter sign-ups. And, make sure you thank referral sources, and people who offer you compliments (or even criticism).