Duct Tape Marketing

With the recession gathering steam, 2009 looks to be a tough year for small businesses.  Belt-tightening on marketing budgets is a natural reflex in these situations.  However, it would be a huge mistake for small businesses to shut down marketing in a recession because continued marketing is essential to surviving a downturn.  And fortunately, there are effective marketing activities that can be conducted for little or no cost to help keep your sales alive.

Managing customers, conducting marketing campaigns and achieving timely follow-up on sales leads is a vital process that can overwhelm a small business.  Keeping promises, storing correspondence, managing sales and being able to quickly determine the status of accounts is crucial to success.  Having a single, integrated solution to accomplish all this makes the lives of small business people so much easier and more productive.  Here is the perfect customer relationship management (CRM) solution for start-ups and small businesses.

In today’s online world, you have about ten seconds to capture the interest of a Website visitor.  If the benefits you offer are enticing, you may gain a customer.  If not, your Website visitors will quickly move on.  That is why you must present a compelling sales argument, or “unique selling proposition,” in the visible portion of your Home page.

Google, Yahoo and others offer online promotion programs that are especially beneficial to small business people.  Taking advantage of these "local" advertising programs -- many of them free! -- is an excellent means of inexpensively promoting products and services to your neighborhood marketplace.