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3 Marketing Resolutions for
Small Businesses in 2008
It’s
that time of year again, when we decide how to improve during the next
year. If you are a business
owner, who wants to increase business this year, you need
to consider these three resolutions to get your business moving in the
right direction in 2008.
RESOLUTION
#1 - Find new customers
– Lead generation, advertising, networking, and referrals are all ways
to find the new customers. Some
work better than others, but you need to at least consider all of them.
Referrals
are by far the least expensive and best way to get new customers, but
many small businesses still don’t have a referral program in place.
You don’t have to offer old customers a cruise to get them to
send you new business. Usually
just asking them at certain times and a nice thank you is enough if they
really believe in your business. Too many times small businesses just don’t ask.
Some great opportunities to ask are when they make a purchase (on
the online Thank you, the receipt, a sign up form), or after they have
finished the purchase (a note on the invoice, delivery form, a follow up
card or email).
A
simple hint: Hand your
customer two businesses cards on their next visit, ask them to give one
to a friend.
Lead
generation
since the Internet has become both easier and more complicated.
With a click of the mouse you can get lists of either your
competitors or potential clients. The
complication is knowing how to get the contact information and then how
to reach them. Spam is
illegal, unethical, and annoying and not the way small businesses should
be spending their money. Putting
together a Pull Marketing Campaign that uses both email and snail mail
combined with an offering to get leads to your site, and capture their
information is a much better method to start the sales process.
Networking
is another method of finding customers that has gotten easier through
the use of the Internet. Sites
like www.meetup.com; www.linkedin.com
(Look me up, Tanya Eldert, I would be happy to link to you) are great
ways to meet contacts both online and off. Meetup.com uses the
electronic world to set up in-person meetings and gatherings and great
integration of online and offline marketing.
A simple
hint: If you are going to
create a social network page for your business, consider Facebook over
My Space. It has a better
reputation for business professionals than My Space, unless your target
market is 13 to 25, then you should stick with My Space.
To
finish this article and see Resolutions #2 and #3, click here.
written by
Tanya Eldert, The Leads Advantage, 1/7/08 |
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Innovative Marketing
Leaders
A picture is worth a
thousand words.
These signs are a creative
way of drawing attention to your business. Think of neat ways to
promote your business this year.
96.3 Rock Radio...Free Air Guitars
KKarate Ad on the side of their building
Networking Corner
Meetup.com - Integrating On-line & Off-line
Networking
If you haven't looked around www.meetup.com
yet, now is the time. Meet up is organized both by topic of
interest and by region. It is a great integration of using the
Internet for it's information sharing capabilities, without loosing that
real life contact so important in networking. Business, marketing,
entrepreneur, real estate, work from home, and thousands of other topics
have their own group. Look them up, so you can start meeting up in
2008. |
