Alvin Jay asked:

Small businesses are the mainstay of the global economy and their presence helps to drive the fiscal year forward. Their presence alone contributed to over 60% of the economic international pie in developed and developing countries, a number that runs into several trillions of dollars. Starting a small business gives you an added advantage over the larger corporations in a sense that you are much more mobile, you don’t have to micro manage so much, you are not bound by international laws and business processes are don’t much easier internally. While this takes care of the mechanism of your company, we now have to look at the marketing ideas that small business have to churn out to ensure the floating point of the company remains above water. A small business is limited in a sense that it has a smaller budget and a much smaller share of the market, so it needs differing strategies. A small business cannot spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on large advertising campaigns or massive scale PR events, they have to be smarter in the way they market themselves and here are some of the best 5 small business marketing ideas there are.

You are limited by costs and thus the first thing you have to do is to make use of the cheap and the free. All your marketing strategies should have the word internet, virtual and cyberspace in them because with more than 6 million people logged in at any one time, you are missing out on the largest, cheapest marketing pie in the world. Using forums, websites, affiliate marketing (online), digital fax and email marketing, these are the prime real estates online that you should twist to your own ends. As long as your marketing efforts are above board then you have the best platform that has levelled the playing field for companies who are pumping huge amounts to get to a lot of people very fast. Word of mouth is also very important – however the methods behind getting that machinery to work is varied and can be quite vague. Also, using below the line forms of marketing like flyers and brochures are also a great way to market yourself – they cost a fraction of above the line collaterals and can be just as effective, depending on where you place your distribution choke points. Get a plan up and going and make sure that its budget closely matches what your small business can afford. Using alternative forms of advertising (in Japan, advertisers even sell the back ends of tissue wrappers) and guerrilla marketing as well as viral online campaigns. Look into having small scale events to get the word out.

Having a small business means you need to be smart when thinking of the appropriate strategy to use when formulating your marketing plan. Budget, budget and then budget some more, you would be surprised how effective some of these low cost methods are in getting your product known in the market place.

Sunil Punjabi asked:

If you are considering an online business or implementing an online side to your business you will need to ensure you have a fully comprehensive online marketing campaign and that it is carried out professionally, efficiently and effectively by quality professional services.

Business Marketing online can create online traffic, customer sales, customer retention, and instil your brand identity into potential customers so you can ensure business longevity. Marketing requires commitment and focus for your business plan and the way in which your business evolves will depend on the effectiveness of your marketing campaign. Business Marketing is not only for brand recognition, it is also required to maintain customer sales, bring in new customers, introduce potential customers to your products or services and create long term customer relations through techniques such as a high quality email marketing campaign.

Business Marketing includes a large variety of techniques, email marketing, SEO content creation, back links, discount vouchers, directory submissions, adverts, banners and leaflets are all part of a comprehensive marketing campaign. Marketing needs to include diversity and long term commitment. If you stop and start your Business Marketing and are not consistent with your marketing developments you will not have an effective marketing campaign and the results will not reach their potential. Many businesses make the mistake of only advertising certain special events or promotions when their business is low, this fails to create a full business presence either offline or online and will not produce the overall business growth the company needs. It is not enough just to create a full marketing campaign, it also needs to be implemented on a regular basis and managed effectively to build online presence and customer relations.

Some key Business Marketing practices you should be using include email marketing and SEO services. Email marketing is only effective when it is a high quality marketing campaign. A poor quality email will produce a negative effect on your business as customers will take a negative view on your marketing and thus the products and services you provide. A good Business Marketing email campaign will include a high quality design, a balanced feature of imagery and textual information and will contain promotional material that relates specifically to the customer as an individual. SEO services will involve not only SEO content creation but also relevant and profitable keyword identification, article submission, a regular and consistent back linking program, website building, advertising and a regular link building strategy in general.

These are just some of the key areas your Business Marketing plan should encompass. Marketing needs to be consistent and regular so the chances are you will not be able to complete thus task on your own. Many companies have enough to deal with as it is with all their time being consumed by meetings, development projects, sales, invoicing, taxes, finances and much, much more. This is why you should consider hiring a Business Marketing professional to manage and direct your marketing plan leaving you free to concentrate on the important day-to-day activities of your job. It can be difficult finding the right professional for you whatever your marketing needs are and again it is time consuming to complete the research to find a company, obtain a quote, investigate their services and the quality of their work as well as find one that is situated in your area.

The easier way to obtain a high-level quality Business Marketing company is to utilise a Business Services finder. All you have to do is submit the project details into one form online and your project will be sent to all marketing professionals in your area. You can then choose the service you prefer and give them a call. This will ensure all your marketing needs are taken care of with none of the hassle.

Assassin Marketing asked:

Before starting up any kind of business, one must set up a plan to earn more than we spend and avoid mistakes along the way. Here are a few internet marketing mistakes that you should watch out for and avoid:

1. Making viewers wait.

Don’t regret paying more for a hostile package that could bring you to people fast. If your website is constantly down, your server is slow, your graphics take two minutes load, you can say goodbye to your potential customers.

2. Technical arrogance.

Never assume that everyone has the latest version of a program to view your site. Always have plain HTML and text versions ready for these users who do not have Macromedia’s flash installed. Also, take notes from successful sites. Outsource to a pro for SEO writing, web design, and programming to invest in a good template for your site if you’re not that confident on your technical prowess.

3. Not marketing offline.

Complement online traffic to your site by marketing offline as well, because no one is online all the time.

4. Not remaining timely.

If you want to attract customers, you need to be updated on recent and upcoming events that are relevant to your site. If you’ve got marketing materials on your site about Memorial Day special and it’s June 15th, you’re losing customers.

5. Poor linkages.

Focus on building long-term passive traffic rather than bulk traffic packages or trying traffic gimmicks. However, be very careful with whom you align yourself. Some companies operate co-registration and affiliate programs that violate the CAN-SPAM act and other rules and regulations. Check out any company that offers you anything , especially those who offer you anything that’s quick and easy.

6. Giving users the third degree.

Signing up for newsletters or making purchases should be easy for your customers. Avoid making them go through a number of links or asking too many questions before complete tasks. You loose 10-15 percent of your potential customers for each question you ask them.

7. Not using viral marketing.

Let your customers create ‘buzzwords’ for you through simple ‘forward to a friend’ links or ‘two for one offers’ or offline marketing on t-shirts and other accessories that your customers can wear. Viral marketing or ‘word of mouth’ (in offline marketing lingo) could create an exponential growth of your site’s visibility by spreading from customer to customer and then business to business.

8. Resorting to cheap gimmicks.

Some marketers resort to goofy and even phony campaigns just to gain brand exposure. These could be entertaining and even viral but sometimes those could backfire because they are irrelevant to the customers and sometimes even to your product or service. Provide something that convert to sales and not just to generate shock or surprise. Connect with your buyers in a positive way by providing products and services that are worth talking about. Associate your site with quality rather than gimmicks and you’ll have customers coming back.

9. Not collecting email addresses.

This is not the same as spamming email addresses because unlike spamming, you ask for your customer’s permission to send them your newsletters and other updates to your site. Remember that spamming could cost you because fines could be very heavy when you are found to be in violation of CAN-SPAM laws. By collection email addresses, you maintain your target audience and your potential market.

10. Mistaking Traffic for Results.

Only because a lot of people seem to be clicking on your ad doesn’t mean that they are buying. Remember that some sites actually buy traffic just to maintain top-line business. But if these people aren’t buying, how do you expect to even earn off it? Continuously paying for this traffic can be expensive. On the other hand, just because you have enough traffic, it does not also mean that your income is guaranteed for the next months to come. What you should really focus on is, how much of this traffic actually converts to sales? Everyday is a challenge to offer something that your client really needs, to persuade them that they need what you’re offering and that you are offering the best of what they need. Online customers actually know what they want, so it is up to your to tell them that what they want is what you are offering.