Michele DeKinder-Smith asked:


 

What would you say if I told you there were an online tool that could provide detailed information about the size of your market including trends in your industry and other important information concerning the economy as a whole?

 

What if I told you that this tool could help take the hit-and-miss out of small business marketing?

 

And what if I told you it was free? 

 

The US Census site—www.census.gov—is all that and more. That’s why it’s such an essential data destination for market researchers, entrepreneurs, government agencies and anyone who needs accurate information about social and economic trends in the US.  The economic portion of the site offers a wide variety of reports—usually in the form of a downloadable .pdf document—covering topics ranging from basic economic indicators to employment statistics and more.

 

There is, of course, one major drawback to US census data, and that’s how often it’s collected. There are areas of the website’s economic data still based on the 2002 Economic Census, and even the economic indicators updated on a monthly basis do so based on information obtained two months previous.

 

Even so, there are numerous ways that US Census economic data can be essential to making informed small business marketing decisions, and having a sense of the scope of resources available will get you started in putting that data to work for you.

 

Does the number of households with children in your county, region or state make a difference in terms of the size of your potential market? How about the number of retirees, or individuals representing a certain minority group? If so, you’ll want to check out the People & Households section of the website which also contains important information concerning household incomes. 

 

These numbers could help to influence how much of your marketing budget you dedicate to reaching certain sectors of your target demographic, and where, geographically, you choose to concentrate your advertising dollars. It may also help you determine baselines for products and pricing.

 

If your target market is tied to a certain business or industry—the housing market, for example, or the entertainment industry—you’ll want to explore the Business & Industry section of the US Census website. This is where you’ll find general economic indicators for major areas of the economy, as well as more specific information through the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS.) This type of industry-specific info is also good for surveying exactly how your own business is doing relative to your industry as whole.

 

There are a number of different ways to use the information available through the Business & Industry section.  If you’re wondering, for example, what types of online businesses and e-commerce websites are making the most money—and what areas of online sales appear to be growing the quickest—you might go to the E-Stats section.  If your market includes small business owners, you might gain some useful information from the Survey of Business Owners. And, if the local economy is important to the growth and development of your business, the section marked County Business Patterns, under the heading of Economic Indicators, is a great place to start.

 

By taking US Census information into account, you’ll be able to “look before you leap” when it comes to major business decisions, and develop key strategies to keep pace in a changing world. 

 

For more information about how to put US Census data to work for your business, visit http://profitzing.com/small-business-marketing-assessment-is-your-marketing-time-sacred/

Kendall Summerhawk asked:


You’ve heard it before, right?

How you’re supposed to work on your business instead of in your business? Sounds good, but how on earth do you make that happen when you’re already stretched thin trying to get everything done in your day?

Carving out time to consistently work on your woman-owned business is actually quite simple if, instead of trying to “fit it all in”, you shift your outlook about this important time.

Trying to “fit it all in” is a left-brained, logical way of looking at your time. It’s a distinctly masculine viewpoint of time, which works great when you need to powerhouse your way through a project. But, it does not work as well when you find yourself butting up against the competing needs of clients, family, exercise, down time and other priorities.

Here are four tips for turning your marketing strategy time into sacred time so you can accomplish what matters most, even on your busiest days:

Small Business Marketing Tip #1: Create a ritual of beginning and completing your marketing tasks.

Days that seem to run together are missing the important ritual of beginning and completing, a ritual that actually helps you feel like time is slowing down. So instead of letting your marketing tasks bleed through to everything else, create your own personal ritual that signals the start of your marketing for the day. One of my favorite rituals is to close out my email program, unplug the telephone and pull out my marketing to-do list. When finished, I just reverse my steps for a satisfying feeling of completion.

Small Business Marketing Tip #2: Clear space on your desk, even if just for ten minutes.

If your desk is normally piled with papers and sticky notes, try moving everything off to one side so you have a nice, clean welcoming work space. You’ll be surprised at how much more creative you are with your marketing plans when you (literally!) make space for them!

Small Business Marketing Tip #3: Keep it pretty.

Who says marketing has to be unattractive?! I use pretty marking pens, colorful folders, pretty paper clips and sticky notes with inspiring messages printed on them to keep my marketing ideas and projects organized and fun. Making what we do a visual treat is an important part of creating a feeling of the sacred.

Small Business Marketing Tip #4: Don’t let the needs of others trample your sacred time.

Sacred time inspires feelings of abundance, importance and quiet. Think of it this way: you wouldn’t play loud rock music in the middle of a sanctuary, would you? Of course not. So it makes sense that you wouldn’t let other people interrupt your sacred marketing strategy time either.

By thinking of your marketing strategy time as sacred time you’ll find it simple and easy to honor working on your business, so that your woman-owned business grows and thrives into the true expression of your Soul’s Divine Mission™ that it’s meant to be!

Jagraj Singh Gill asked:


Copyright © Jagraj Gill

http://www.payitforward4profits.com/jaggiegill

Business to business marketing – internet style – is not a new concept. As a matter of fact, the idea of having two or more businesses help to promote one another is a tried and true idea that has resulted in numerous profits for those involved. Savvy business owners and operators understand the inherent value brought to their establishment by business to business marketing; internet sites offer another dimension that will permit these business owners to continue their networking efforts in the virtual world that the ‘Net provides.

For example, a brick and mortar company – such as a dog grooming business – will be able to benefit from displaying advertisements at the local veterinarian offices. Dog owners are most likely to consider taking their animals for a professional grooming to such an establishment, especially if it comes recommended by their local vet. Conversely, the clients of the dog grooming business will be most likely those who need a veterinarian for their pets, and they may trust the vet recommended by the dog groomer who already has an established relationship with them. The same concept applies to business to business marketing; internet simply adds a new dimension to

the transaction.

For example, the local dog groomer as well as the veterinarian may both have websites. This will permit for further business to business marketing, internet style. Since the services provided by the dog groomer and veterinarian only tangentially overlap, they are not in competition with one another, but instead will be able to market business to business in the truest sense of the term. Yet if the dog groomer wants to take the business further on the ‘Net, the business to business marketing internet connection will need to be made with other entities such as dog fancy magazines, animal shelters, and other groups that are not in competition with one another.

About the Author:

—————————————————————–

To find the best home based business ideas and

opportunities so you can work at home visit:

http://profitzing.com/running-your-home-based-business-%e2%80%93-marketing-your-business/

John Coates asked:


Marketing is critical to the success of any business, whether it is a one-person operation, a medium sized company or a multinational corporation. When running your home based business, it is even more important that marketing your business is done right, as you cannot afford to get it wrong. Remember that everything you do, and the way that you do it, is all marketing. Doing something well is usually as easy as doing it badly, but wins you a good reputation.

 

The UK’s Chartered Institute of Marketing definition of marketing is, “The management process that identifies, anticipates and supplies customer requirements efficiently and profitably.” So we can see that marketing is not just about advertising and selling products or services. It is about: finding out what potential customers want; creating the products and services that satisfy those needs; selling those products and services at the right price; making those products and services available in the right place.

 

To check if you are doing all of these we can look at the four elements of marketing that are known as the four Ps – Product, Price, Promotion and Place. Let us look closer at the first, your product.

 

Does your product meet the needs of your customers? If it is not perfectly suited to customers then you may want to make some changes. Ideally, your response to this question should be that no changes are required. How do your products compare with your competitors? If they are better or compare reasonably well, then you pass this criteria. But if they do not compare very well or you do not know, you need to urgently review this particular aspect.

 

Every product or service can be said to have a four-stage life cycle. Birth is when a new product is launched and introduced to prospective customers. Growth occurs when the product becomes popular and starts to sell well. Maturity is when the product is selling so well that you are unable to keep up with demand. The final stage is decline, when demand and sales fall. Customers have turned their attention elsewhere. Take a good look at your product or service and decide which of these stages are applicable.

 

The second element of the four Ps is price. The price should be thought to be fair by the customer. It does not necessarily have to be the cheapest, but value for money. It should be competitive so that when your customers compare your prices to those of your competitors, they think yours are within the price range they would expect to pay. The price you set for your product or service must be profitable. If you are not trading at a profit you will not be running your home based business for very long. Remember that the price you set has to cover the cost of your overheads: light, heating, telephone, advertising, etc, and still provide a profit. When costing you product, you should also include your time.

 

The third element of marketing is that of promotion. Promotion is how a product or service is brought to the attention of your potential customers. This can be done in a number of ways and can be paid promotion or free. The former includes advertising in newspapers, magazines, radio or television. Depending on your budget you may want to consider what could be classed as “free” promotion. This could include competitions, e.g. create a winning slogan and win a holiday for two. (Remember that competitions do not have to cost you anything if you consider joint ventures!). You may want to make special offers such as: buy one get one free; buy now and pay next year; 0% interest, etc.

 

The final element to marketing your business is place. This covers where the goods or services are offered for sale and then the way these goods or services are distributed and delivered to the customer. In running your business from home, you need to look at how you distribute and deliver to your customer. Running your home based business does not mean you can forget this element of marketing your business.

 

Marketing your business well, you must get the four Ps right; product, price, promotion and place. Analyze these areas, monitor your results and be prepared to change your marketing strategy. Be willing to ask your customers or clients what they think, and be prepared to act on the results.

Kendall Summerhawk asked:


Do you know what most women entrepreneurs bring with them when they start their own business?

The notion that being busy means being productive.

Nothing could be farther from the truth!

As I warn my business coaching clients, this faulty (and even dangerous) notion is a hold-over from the days of working at a j-o-b.

You see, at a job, you’re paid to show up and stay busy. What people do at their jobs is rarely connected with actually bringing in new clients or making money.

But when you work for yourself, EVERYTHING you do MUST be tightly connected to getting and keeping new clients. Period.

Which means handling things like most emails, filing, problem solving (unless it’s solving your clients’ problems), administrative trivia, surfing the ‘net, sorting your Outlook files, paying bills, fiddling with your website, creating brochures… are a waste of time. These tasks don’t put women entrepreneurs closest to the money; they pull them away from it!

Here are my top favorite tasks that I do nearly every day to put me closest to the money:

Small Business Marketing Strategy #1: Write an article.

Not crazy about writing or not sure what to write about? One of the tips I shared in a recent Success Circle Marketing Makeover call is to write like you are having a conversation. Pretend you are chatting with a good friend about a very specific topic.

Small Business Marketing Strategy #2: Send a “thinking about you” card…or two!

Why not surprise a client, referral source, another woman entrepreneur or prospective client with a friendly “keep in touch” card? They will feel special…and think you are too!

Small Business Marketing Strategy #3: Send a press release written as a mini-article.

Think a press release is only to announce an important event? Nope! Take one of your articles, trim it down to 250 words and add your author’s bio. You can use this strategy to send one a week.

Small Business Marketing Strategy #4: Record a free audio tip for your website.

Even better, transcribe it and post it on your website as a viewable option. Google will love your site for adding fresh content.

Small Business Marketing Strategy #5: Make your first (or next) information product.

Keep it simple and get your information product done now! The credibility and leverage you gain will tremendously boost your business. Example: one of my Platinum Inner Circle clients created a $9.95 eBook on a popular topic. The result? This woman entrepreneur received dozens of sales and several new clients worth many thousands of dollars. Nice!

Small Business Marketing Strategy #6: Ask to be interviewed or to interview an expert.

Interviews are easy to set up. They increase your credibility, widen your exposure and raise your expert status, whether you’re the expert giving the interview or conducting the interview. Choose someone you respect. Call to ask for the interview (you’ll be surprised how often you’ll hear “yes”.) Then record the interview and offer it as a mp3 file on your website.

My business coaching challenge: make a stand for doing ONE small business marketing strategy each day, and then integrate your action into your daily routine.

This is how you’ll go from being busy to becoming successful… with a lot more time to enjoy!

Nate Stockard asked:


Small business marketing is small, as noted by the name, but too many times business owners think that small business marketing is too small for planning, budgets, or strategies. Since small businesses usually have little or no marketing budget and are concentrating on just keeping the doors open, owners, more times than not, neglect their marketing planning. No business should exist without marketing planning and strategies!

Actually, small business marketing requires planning and strategy more than major companies.

When the marketing manager of a large corporation has a $20 million marketing budget just for print ads, they have room to make mistakes, produce the wrong ads, and even scrap the marketing plan half-way through completion. Small businesses don’t have such freedom and liberty. Small business marketing should contain a plan before anything else happens in the company in the area of sales and marketing. There should be budgets and strategies created as early as possible and reviewed as often as possible.

Create a marketing plan as soon as you decide to start a business.

My company specializes in helping small businesses with marketing and design, and we encounter many of the same problems, and they all stem from lack of early planning. Once you decide to start a business, start creating a marketing plan.



Who are your customers?

What are their needs and wants?

How will you acquire new customers?

What kind of customer relationship management systems will you use?

What do your customers expect from you?

What are your products’ benefits?

What are your strengths?

What are your weaknesses?

How will you advertise?

How much will you budget for marketing?



This list is actually very small when it comes to creating a marketing plan, but you must answer all of these questions and more. Small business marketing must be precise, have a defined strategy, and contain at least a rough budget. Figure out who your customer is, how you will reach them, and why they will buy from you. Starting with these three areas will give you a plethora of other questions to answer in figuring out the maze of small business marketing.

 

 

Tammi Metzler asked:


If you haven’t been hiding under a rock for the last few years, you’ve probably heard people talking about blogging for both business and pleasure. But you may have no idea what blogging is or how to get started. Well, I’m here to tell you.

Keeping a business marketing blog can do wonders for your business, both by driving traffic to your web site and by establishing you as an expert in your field.

I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s start at the beginning. What is a blog, you ask? According to Wikipedia.com:

A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

What does this mean for you, the small business owner?  Blogging isn’t typically a method to get clients now; it’s more of a branding practice to get your name out there. Search engines love blogs because of the fresh content. With that being the case, a blog can bring new visitors to your site, and your regularly updated blog content can keep interested visitors coming back to your site to check out what’s new. Eventually, those interested prospects will start to see you as an expert, and the next time they need what you’re selling, they’ll remember you. 

The hardest part is coming up with fresh content for your blog. You can’t write a blog post once every two months and expect to have any favorable results. There’s nothing worse than a silent blog, so if you think you lack the time to maintain one, you’re better off exploring other options, whether that be looking into other internet marketing methods or hiring a copywriter to take care of the dirty work of actual getting your thoughts down into writing (yes, we do exist, and we can transform your knowledge and experience into interesting content that will attract the attention of your potential customers). If you can commit just a few hours a week to posting at least two blogs (or if you’re ready to hire a copywriter to take on this task for you), read on for more information about this increasingly popular marketing method.

Quite frankly, a small time commitment each week leads to the possibility of greater exposure for your business. Which means more interested customers are stumbling onto your web site, which means a higher chance of sales. It’s really very simple!

But maybe you’re not a writer, so it’s not that simple after all. If you find yourself staring at a blank page when it’s time to write your posts, take a moment to think about the questions your customers regularly ask you. For instance, let’s say you’re a financial consultant and people constantly ask you the easiest way to create a budget so they can pay their bills and still have fun money left over. Jot down the top ten tips that you would give your customers and describe each one in detail in its own blog posts. Just like that, you’ve got your first ten blog posts. If you post twice per week, you’re covered for five weeks!

Don’t let that stop your creative wheels from turning, though, because those five weeks will be gone before you know it. Keep looking for new ideas, and be sure to write them down as they come to you. You don’t want to be stuck scrambling for new material on a moment’s notice – you can bet your creative muse will be on vacation just when you need it the most!

I know what you’re thinking…”Sounds interesting, but how much is this gonna cost me?” Nothing more than your time, my friend. You can set up a new blog in mere moments with no out-of-pocket expense. Check out www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com for a few free blog options. Yep, that’s right – FREE. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Or maybe you’re concerned about the technological aspect. Have no fear; you don’t have to know HTML code (or even know what that is) to create your own blog. The programs mentioned above do all the behind-the-scenes work for you, so all you have to do is start typing. What are you waiting for?

The next time you find yourself with the desire (or the need) to grow your business, consider the increasingly popular world of blogging to get your name in front of potential clients.

Happy blogging!

Aaron Goldberg asked:


When it comes to small business marketing there are several things that must be kept in mind. For example, small businesses rarely have big budgets for advertising. As a result, they need to find methods to advertise their product or service without spending a lot of money. The following small business marketing tips will help your business grow and make more money.

Multiple Marketing Tactics

The first thing you will want to do is come up with several marketing ideas that will help your business. Then, figure out a plan to rotate these tactics so that you get the most bang for your buck. One marketing effort may work great the first time and not the second time or else it works only occasionally. Because of this it is important for small businesses to have a marketing plan and alternate various types of marketing tactics for the best results.

Buddy Marketing

Another option is to use buddy marketing. This is a great way to reach new customers without much cost. The way buddy marketing works is that when you send out a brochure of your company you include a business card or small leaflet for another business to advertise for them based on an agreement that they will do the same for you. The business should be complementary to yours, but not in competition.

Second Offers

As soon as a customer makes a purchase send them a letter thanking them for their purchase and that because of this purchase they may be able to buy return and buy an additional item for a discount of 20% or something of that nature. Make sure you include an expiration date, too, so there is a sense of urgency.

Market to Past Customers

Remember that marketing to your past customers is better than marketing to new ones. That is not to say that you don’t want to try and get new customers just that old customers are easier to sell to. As a result, concentrate and marketing to your past customers whether this be through email marketing, newsletters, or coupons in the mail. Regardless of the way you market to past customers you will benefit by making more sales.

These are just a few tips to help small businesses market their services and business. It is really important to keep in mind there are unlimited ways to market your business without spending a lot of money or even time. It’s just important to be aware of what the options are and how to make them work for you.

George Dodge asked:


Let me ask you a question. The answer is to the question is critical to your business success.

Do you fully understand the real nature of the business you are in?

Your instant response is of course, I’m in the [put your industry name here] business. For example, you probably said, of course, I’m in the real estate business, or the plumbing business, or the printing business, etc.

But that is only partly correct if you are the owner of the business. As the business owner, the real nature of your business is marketing the business you are in.

You may have the greatest service or the best product in the world, but if no one knows about it, you will soon be out of business.

One method of increasing the exposure of your business to your potential customers, is to conduct a marketing crusade.

You can compare this marketing approach to a missionary’s work or the launching of a crusade because only the fervor and the determination of a missionary or crusader will assure your marketing success.

Missionaries are driven by more than just their desire to sell someone on buying their product or service. Rather, a missionary’s goal is to convert the world to their way of thinking, their mission and their crusade. Only through such a conversion process can you expect to receive not just a customer, but customers for life.

When your business launches a marketing mission, it takes a different approach than traditional marketing.

Traditional approaches are taken and set aside in favor of our missionary or crusader’s goal. In a traditional marketing effort, the real motivation for most marketing activity is just to make money. That’s nice to do, but that’s not all we need.

Every marketing effort, at this point, is tied directly back to its contribution to money coming in.

Now, as a missionary, your business goal becomes an effort to win your customer’s lifetime business and loyalty. If your business’ marketing activity is successful in changing the way your customers think about your business or products or services in such a way that the customer sees you as a vehicle to accomplish their goal and growth, then your goals and your growth will be a natural result.

As your business manages its sales growth properly, increased profit is going to follow. Immediate profits are nowhere near as important as long-term profits. To insure that you’re going to continue to profit for the long-term, your real objective is to convert your prospect into a customer who shares your vision of what you’re trying to accomplish and is a true believer.

Vision is a problem with the normal sales approach. There is no vision other than the short-term, which is to make the immediate sale. There is little or no real focus on back-end selling and the life time value of a customer, which we’ll talk more about later on.

What is your vision?

Is your business focused on an area of interest to your customers, prospects or clients?

Are you driven fervently by the need to help them or yourself?

Why should others patronize your business rather than any other business? Or not do anything at all?

What can you do that will not only cause your customers to return again and again, but cause them to tell others to buy your products and services as well?

Can you take that vision and incorporate it with a main sales and marketing thrust, advantage or Unique Selling Proposition and use that for an advantage over your competitors?

A good marketing crusade will integrate all this together and soon have customers coming to you as a result of what Dan Kennedy calls a Magnetic Marketing System. If you were Jiffy Lube, you might call it a well oiled marketing machine.

Robert L Moment asked:


Everybody makes mistakes and entrepreneurs are no exception. But for an entrepreneur with a limited budget, committing mistakes too often can be very costly. It is an open secret in the business world that most of the mistakes that can be committed in business have been committed; so why not just learn from them, saving you the agony of committing them yourself.

With that said, here are 7 costly small business marketing mistakes every entrepreneur must avoid:

1. An Incongruent Marketing Message

To effectively sell your product or service, your customer has to “get” the marketing message. A customer-centric marketing message educates your prospects and persuades them to become customers. Too many small businesses make the mistake of focusing their message on the product or company, instead of how the prospect would benefit by purchasing their product. Prepare the right marketing message with some of these in mind:

• Identify the prospect’s problem.

• Explain to the prospect why the problem should be solved immediately and explain why your product or service is the right solution to their problems.

• List the benefits your prospects would enjoy upon purchasing your product and provide an unconditional guarantee to allay any fears they may have.

2. “Spray-and-Pray” Marketing Instead Of Precision Marketing

The days of marketing as a zero-sum game are over. You must demand accountability from your marketing efforts, expecting tangible results in the form of a healthy ROI (return on investment). Differentiate your marketing messages and target them to meet the specific needs and wants of your prospects and customers.

Many small businesses are guilty of the dreaded “spray-and-pray” marketing ideology, which inevitably drains their resources to the point where it very often leads to their demise.

Do not commit this same mistake, but instead practice precision marketing, where every aspect of your marketing and advertising efforts are measured and tracked for maximum returns.

3. Failing To Realize Marketing Is About Value Creation

To create a sustainable small business, you have to market something of value to the prospect and customer. Marketing is your business and creating value for your customers should permeate through all your marketing efforts. Strive to always over-deliver because customers love to receive more than they expect and the easiest way to do so is to develop a thorough understanding of their wants and desires.

4. Selling Instead Of Educating

You must have heard about the age-old principle that “people love to buy but **** being sold to.” It is a principle that will continue to hold true for ages to come, but unfortunately, many small businesses still fail to adhere to it. The fastest way to get rid of a prospect is to try forcing a sale out of him or her.

Education-based marketing, however, is a powerful marketing strategy to overcome this problem of being sold to. This strategy makes use of giving away valuable information, educating your prospect about the benefits of owning your product or using your service, offered to them as free reports, video cassettes, CDs, or DVDs in exchange for their contact information.

It is a strategy that builds trust with the prospects resulting in a much higher closing ratio. So, forget about throwing a sales pitch and try educating your prospects instead for a higher conversion rate.

5. Failing To Test

The biggest mistake any entrepreneur can make with their business is the failure to test every possible variable most important to their customers. This applies to both online and offline marketing efforts.

I can understand if small businesses faced more difficulty with market testing because of limited budgets years ago, but the Internet has done away with this excuse. It has become so cheap to conduct price tests and sales copy tests and identify what campaigns, keywords, and metrics give you the best ROI online that not testing any of these has become a cardinal sin.

6. Not Following Up With Prospects Or Customers

Small businesses spend a great sum of money acquiring customers, which makes it all the more difficult to understand why many of them don’t follow up with their customers, or even their prospects after the “front end” sale.

It has been well documented that true riches are to be found in the backend sales and the reason for this is simple. If a customer or prospect raises his or her hand to do business with you, it means an element of trust has been established and a business relationship is ready to be formed. They are more then likely to buy from you repeatedly if you make it a point to capture their contact information and develop a follow-up system for communicating with them frequently.

7. Selling To The Wrong Target Market

Never assume that your product or service will appeal to a general audience because this assumption has profoundly resulted in many small businesses shutting up shop. Large businesses are guilty of this too, but you can save yourself from committing such a rash mistake by asking yourself these two questions:

• Who are your customers, or who is your target market?

• Who will use your service, or who will buy your product?

Answer these questions with absolutely clarity and segment these markets by demographics and psychographics to zero in on your ideal customer. The time spent doing this correctly will add nicely to your bottom line.

Just remember that to succeed, you must be prepared to fail, so don’t fear the eventual mistake but learn from it.