Duct Tape Marketing

We saw the movie "Expelled" last night and it was compelling!  The analogy that brings fear into my heart compared our dwindling freedom in America and the Berlin Wall.  The government, media, and the University system aren't allowing an open discussion of differing views in science, religion and politics.  Wow--this is not what our Founding Fathers hoped for! Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence. Are you taking full advantage of your American rights, while you can?

A year ago, would you have thought that 'twitter' was an effective marketing strategy?  Or that 'tweeting' in public would not earn you weird looks?  That was before Twitter, Inc. asked the world, “What are you doing?”  Twitter.com, a fusion of social networking and instant messaging, is a rapidly rising social media site that welcomes nearly 2 million visitors each month.

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.

Effective lead generation is more often than not one of the biggest challenges for a business. But the biggest problem is that up to 80% of marketing expenditures on lead generation and collateral go to waste because the sales department doesn’t know what to do with leads once they get them.
Leads are all about follow-up, follow-up, follow-up. Effective lead follow-up and nurturing processes are keys to making your investments count. You must have a nurture program in place, and make sure that all sales people know how to properly implement it. By demonstrating speedy follow-up within a set timeframe, you demonstrate that you are on top of things and that you take your business seriously.
So what do you do with those leads that might not be ready to buy right now?

Research shows that 30 - 45% of leads that were not considered viable opportunities by sales became sales-ready opportunities within 12 months.