Category Archives: Marketing

4 Reasons You Need Marketing Help

Posted on January 20, 2009 by admin

You are a small business owner with a vision and a passion. You are engaging and motivating to others and you know exactly how to use social networking sites to engage potential customers and increase the likelihood that you will make a sale. But admit it, you’re not the world’s greatest writer, and you’re not winning any awards for website design. And that’s where the trouble lies. Your website shows the world exactly what kind of professional you are. If it’s sloppy, poorly written, or disorganized, then potential customers will assume that you are sloppy and disorganized. Yes, doing your own internet marketing can feel like quite an accomplishment, but you haven’t accomplished much if visitors to your site leave as quickly as they came. Here are 4 reasons you need professional help.

Your Website. While websites are relatively easy to build, great websites are created by professional designers who have years of experience. And to build a great website you need great design, great copy, outstanding search engine optimization, and a stellar marketing professional. Once that’s in place, your website will do much of your work for you because it will… Continue reading →

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8 Keys to a Designing Great Website

Posted on January 19, 2009 by admin

If you’re a small business owner, you probably can’t imagine running your business without a website. And if you want to be a successful business owner, you need to have a really great website. This means that before you do anything else, you need to determine your target audience, the website’s purpose, your budget, your design, your navigation, and your content. Just making all of this up as you go along will result in a mediocre website that doesn’t work effectively for you. Follow these 8 keys as you create a great website that becomes the difference between success and failure for your business.

Know Your Purpose. Before you do anything else, you must determine the purpose of your website. The purpose is the basis of everything else, including content, navigation, and design. Is the purpose of your website to educate? To generate leads? To entertain? To make sales? If you neglect to define your purpose at the very beginning, then the rest… Continue reading →

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8 Strategies for Pricing Your Products

Posted on January 8, 2009 by admin

As a small business owner, you know how difficult it can be to determine appropriate prices for your goods and services. Ask too much and you’ll turn customers off to your business. Ask too little and you’ll be shortchanging yourself. The key to pricing all lies within the psychology of the consumer. Here are 8 strategies for playing into consumer psychology and coming out on top of the pricing game.

Promoting Satisfaction. If you haven’t done this yourself then you probably at least know someone who has…joining a gym that offers a one-time fee, going for the first few months, and then quitting only a few months after joining, even after paying for a full year! When consumers pay for a service regularly, say once a month, they perceive that service as having more value than a service they pay for only once. And when they perceive that it has value, they will continue to use it. Keep your… Continue reading →

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5 Free Ways to Build Your Brand

Posted on December 10, 2008 by admin

If you own a small business, you may have already given up on the notion of branding yourself. After all, that’s something that only big companies with big budgets can afford, right? Not so fast. Here are 5 ways to brand yourself for free, and maybe even make a little bit of money in the process:

1. Develop for Display. If you can create visual brand that stands out from the crowd and looks hip and edgy, you can actually get people to pay you for the privilege of displaying it. Extreme sports companies like surfing, skating, and snowboarding companies have been doing this for years. The challenge is… Continue reading →

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Top 3 Reasons to Embrace Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Posted on December 9, 2008 by admin

If you are the owner of a small business, it’s not news to you that you simply can’t put the same amount of money in your marketing budget as can large, multinational corporations. The good news is, however, that you can level the marketing playing field by embracing word-of-mouth marketing. Word-of-mouth marketing works to your advantage because nothing is more compelling to a potential customer that hearing rave reviews from a current customer. Social networking has taught us that most people make their buying decisions based on what they’ve heard from people they trust.

When you embrace a word-of-mouth strategy for marketing your product, you’re investing in… Continue reading →

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5 Ways to Make Social Media Work for Your Business

Posted on December 8, 2008 by admin

Owning your own business is difficult enough without having to worry about finding the perfect balance of marketing strategies. Stick solely to traditional marketing strategies and you’ll find yourself potentially missing an enormous demographic. Try to milk the internet for all it’s worth and you’ll find yourself completely overwhelmed by the number of tools and application available for internet marketing. But what if you used social networking sites as a happy medium between traditional and hard-core internet marketing strategies? Using this one tool could make a huge difference in your business without overwhelming you altogether. Here are 5 ways to get started using social media in your marketing strategy.

1. Create a Strategy. Your competitors have already created a strategy for using social media, so chances are you’re already behind. This means thinking intentionally about how to use social media instead of randomly opening an account here and joining a group there. Spend some time determining the kinds of sites available and evaluating what role they might have in your marketing strategy. Then make a plan to… Continue reading →

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5 Brand-Building Secrets Through Blogging

Posted on November 30, 2008 by admin

Technorati.com recently completed its 2008 State of the Blogosphere report, which contains some interesting information about the correlation between blogs and brand building. The report shows that bloggers are interested in talking about brands. So if you’re looking for ways to build your brand, make friends with some bloggers!

Blogging is, at its heart, a place for people to share information about themselves and about their lives. If people have good experiences, they blog about them. If they have bad experiences, they blog about those, too. This includes experiences with businesses both online and in real life. If bloggers encounter a …. Continue reading →

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6 Reasons to Keep Marketing, Even During A Recession

Posted on November 25, 2008 by admin

You can’t go anywhere right now without hearing about the economy. Food and gas prices are increasing, and although most of us aren’t running huge banks or trying to balance the federal budget, the stress of the current economic downturn is certainly trickling down to the point that we can feel it. But one of the last things that we want to do in the middle of a rotten economy is slam on the brakes of our own businesses, you know, just in case things get worse. Instead, one of the best things we can do, for our business, for our own sanity, and for the economy, is to step on the gas. Continue your inbound marketing efforts, publish articles that others will find relevant and helpful, and keep networking. Here are 6 reasons why you shouldn’t let the current economy keep you from focusing on your inbound marketing efforts.

1. Time Over Money. The good thing about inbound marketing is that it requires you to invest far more time than money. So take the time to… Continue reading →

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7 Top Tips for Writing Blog Articles

Posted on November 15, 2008 by admin

SEO experts know that one of the best ways to promote your business is to blog. Unfortunately, many business owners are under the impression that blogging takes a lot of time, or they have seen too many bloggers who start out with gusto only to abandon their blogs two or three months later. While both concerns are legitimate, there’s no reason to let them keep you from starting your own blog. After all, business blogging is a great way to build a following and shorten the sales process.

Rare is the sales blogger who settles in a quiet room with a pencil and a pad of paper to write down his most profound ideas. Instead, most bloggers…
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9 Ways to Keep the Cash Flowing

Posted on November 12, 2008 by admin

Times are tight in the US economy, and no one is more aware of this fact than small business owners. But don’t despair! Here are 9 expert-tested ways to keep the cash flowing even in an economic downturn.

1. Raise Prices. This is a no-brainer, right? If you need more money then just charge more for your product or service. The ideal result of an increase in prices is that nothing happens. Your customers keep purchasing what you have to offer and you don’t hear anything about it. The less ideal scenario is that some customers may go elsewhere, but don’t let that stop you. Increasing your prices by 5% or 10% provides more profit and an increase in cash flow.

2. Find Old Customers and Invite them Back. Once you’ve gotten contact information on your customers, contact them regularly. Invite them to do business with you again, and give them…
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