Feb 3 2011

Social Customer Relationship Management with Rapportive

Do you use Google Gmail and are you looking for an easy way to keep on top of your business contacts? Consider Rapportive.

Most CRM platforms demand that you be in their dashboard or application to see details about a customer.  That means one more app to keep open on your desktop.  Rapportive aims to do away with that, at least for Gmail users, by providing you with social data in the right-hand column of your                                                                        inbox.

You can see profile information, or links to contact information, immediately. You can see the contact’s LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Tungle and Flickr profiles and a bunch of others. You can see status updates, too. Rapportive does all this by recognizing the e-mail address of the person who sent you a message. If someone sends you a message from a different e-mail than they normally use in their social networks, their information won’t appear.  It has to be the same e-mail that contact uses in his or her social sphere.

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Feb 2 2011

The Easiest Way to Get Rich

Judging by their behavior, most people have an obsession with wealth. Politicians promise to create it, most popular magazines are filled with gossip about those who have it, and the average person spends much of their adult life trying to obtain it. We are creatures obsessed with money, partly for what it can buy, but also as a thing of value in itself.

But most people misunderstand money. They don’t really know how to obtain it, or how to hold onto it once they have it.

If you’re interested in getting rich, I’m going to give you the simplest formula for doing so. In fact, if you follow it you’re virtually guaranteed to build enough wealth to get you into the top 5% of society. As the shampoo advertisement says: “It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen”.

The hardest way to get rich
Before I go into my formula, let me tell you about hard ways to get rich.

One of the hardest is to be born into it. Of course, if you happen to enter this world as a Hilton, a Gates or a Windsor, then life is sweet. But since 99.9999% of the population aren’t that lucky, I’m assuming you didn’t win that particular lottery.

And speaking of lotteries, gambling is another very difficult way to get rich. Sure, some people buy a lottery ticket and win big, but most don’t. You can gamble your entire life and you’ll most likely end up broke rather than wealthy.

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Feb 2 2011

10 Ways to Become a Wealthy Thinker

A lot of people are poor thinkers, which will limit them when it comes to bringing money into their lives. By a ‘poor thinker’ I mean someone who thinks they are relatively poor and will never be anything more. Most people won’t even realise it.

Ask yourself, right now, how much you think you are worth in terms of your employment. I can almost guarantee you the figure you came to was based on your current salary. Now add a ‘0’ onto the end of the figure you came to; how does that make you feel? If you thought ‘there is no way I am worth that’, then you are a poor thinker.

This article will show you 10 ways to get out of the ‘poor thinker’ mode and open up a wealthy mindset.

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Feb 2 2011

5 Roads to Financial Success

The Five Roads to Financial Success in America and How to Choose Your Own

There are basically five ways that you can become wealthy starting with nothing in America based on over 25 years of research into American millionaires. Number one, you can inherit it. Less than 10 percent of wealthy Americans inherited any of their money, and it’s less and less every single year.

The Second Way
The second way that you can become wealthy is you can achieve it professionally. You can become a doctor or a lawyer or an architect or an accountant. You can become extremely good at what you do, be paid very well, and hold on to the money.

The Third Way
The third way you can achieve it is you can become a senior executive of a large corporation. You can be highly paid; you can have stock options and bonuses. And if you stay with the company long enough, for enough years, you can be paid enough to become wealthy.

The Fourth Way
You can win it. But only a tiny fraction of one percent of wealthy Americans got that way by winning their money some way or another. As a matter of fact, the odds against you winning the lottery are the equivalent of lightning striking twice in the same place. They’re millions and millions to one.

Learn the Way To Wealth System

The Best Way
The fifth way that you can become wealthy is you can start your own business and earn it all by yourself. Starting your own business has been and will always be the high road to becoming wealthy for most self-made millionaires. Entrepreneurship in America offers more opportunities and opens more doors than all other possibilities put together. This is why it has been said that if you have the ability to start your own business and you don’t do it, you are a fool. I’ll repeat that. If you have the ability to start your own business and you don’t do it, you’re a fool.

Where do you start?
You start by getting your finances under control. The very first thing you do is you make a decision to get your finances under control. Some years ago, a man named George Classon wrote a book called The Richest Man In Babylon. It’s a classic on financial success and what Classon said in that book was that the key to becoming wealthy is to pay yourself first. Take ten percent off your earnings, off your gross income every month and put it aside. Learn to live on ninety percent or less of your gross income. So the very first thing that you do is you begin to save your money.

Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can do immediately to put yourself onto the high road to personal wealth:

First, resolve today to begin saving your money a little bit at a time. Set a goal to save 10% of your earnings, to put it away and to never touch it. This will change your life.

Second, immediately register your own business or sole proprietorship. Open a bank account, get business cards and letterhead and create the corporate entity under which you can do business. Your business opportunities will appear far sooner than you think. If you build it, they will come.

http://www.briantracy.com/blog/business-success/five-ways-to-become-wealthy/

Feb 2 2011

Real Ways to Become a Millionaire

There are many ways to become a millionaire, including robbing a bank, winning the lottery and  inheriting Aunt Zelda’s fortune.

Regardless of your chances, becoming a millionaire like this will not guarantee that you become a leader.

On the other hand, many who decide to become leaders regardless of their endeavor become millionaires.

No wonder we are often told that to be a successful mlm residual income business owner, we must become leaders.

What does it mean to be a leader?

For me it means the willingness to stand up and stand out to achieve a goal while empowering others to achieve theirs.

How do you become a leader?

By claiming your leadership. You do this by deciding to become a leader and then expecting leadership of yourself each and every day.

What exactly should you be expecting of yourself?

Here  are some of what I believe are the more important expectations a leader in any mlm residual income business will need to satisfy.

Will you –

  • go where nobody else has gone before?
  • turn left when everybody else is going right?
  • take consistent action knowing full well you could fail?
  • help others to achieve their goals?
  • recognize your own value, continually extend it and share it unconditionally?
  • do whatever it takes to manage your emotions?
  • acknowledge, appreciate and be thankful to others
  • never give up?
  • take full responsibility for everything that happens in your business?
  • work harder and longer than anybody else?

You would be right in thinking that expectations like these provide an ongoing challenge. This is exactly why your motivation for success will need to extend far beyond becoming a millionaire. This will really just be the cherry on the top.

There are many ways to become a millionaire, including robbing a bank, winning the lottery and inheriting Aunty Zelda’s fortunes. Regardless of your chances, becoming a millionaire like this will not guarantee that you become a leader.

On the other hand, many who decide to become leaders regardless of their endeavor become millionaires.

It’s no wonder then that we are often told that to have a successful mlm residual income business we must become leaders.

How do you become a leader?

By claiming your leadership. You do this by deciding to become a leader and then expecting leadership of yourself each and every day.

So what exactly should you be expecting of yourself?

In my opinion hereare some of the more important expectations a leader in any mlm residual income business will need to satisfy.

Will you –

– go where nobody else has been before?

– turn left when everybody else is going right?

– take consistent action knowing there is a chance you will fail

– recognize your own value, continually extend it and share it unconditionally?

– never let any obstacle beat you

– take full responsibility for everything that happens in your business?

– make decisions

– work harder and longer than anybody else?

http://www.marcus-baker.com/mlm-online-marketing/ways-to-become-a-millionaire-do-you-expect-leadership-of-yourself/

 

 


 

Feb 2 2011

41 Ways to Become a Millionaire

There are many ways to become a millionaire. The majority of average people that become rich do it through real estate, their own small business, the stock market, or are super salespeople. They are average in the way that they aren’t any smarter than the average person or have any special talent or skill. What those ordinary people have that makes them millionaires and similar men on the street bums is they possess a different mindset, attitude, knowledge, persistence, and take consistent action. Yes, it’s that simple. Some people that are reading this may have special talents and skills or are wondering what routes they can take to become a millionaire the following is a short list of 41 ways to become a millionaire. There are countless ways, if you want to become a millionaire; first you need to set your mind to it. Commit to it and ask yourself what price are you willing to pay or sacrifices you’ll make to get there. Theres no free lunch or ride!

There is no such thing as get rich quick or get rich overnight. Those are scams; dont believe anyone that tells you that you can become a millionaire without knowledge and some work. To make it easier to get to where you want to go, find work that is fun and enjoyable. Do something that you love to do, so that it isnt work but play and fun. And never give up!

41 Ways to Become a Millionaire:

  • Real Estate (Mobile Homes, SFH, Commercial, Apartments, Duplexes)
  • Stock Market Investor
  • Own an Internet Business
  • Network Marketing (often referred to as MLM or multi-level marketing)
  • Write a New York Times Bestseller (can be fiction or non-fiction)
  • Become a celebrity (ex: movie star or comedian, top athlete, corrupt politician)
  • Sought after Surgeon (ex: heart, brain, etc.)
  • An extremely good lawyer (theres a bunch of starving lawyers out there)
  • Venture Capitalist
  • Mortgage/Note Investor (referred to as investing in Paper)
  • Small Business Owner
  • Franchise Owner
  • Marrying a millionaire
  • Movie Producer/director
  • Executive positions such as CEO, Treasurer, COO, CFO, etc. in large corporations
  • Collector of valuable antiques or paintings
  • Musician/rock star
  • Inheritance (very easy way, pick your parents carefully)
  • Start a Technology company to fill a demand/solve a problem etc.
  • Be a seminar/motivational speaker or guru
  • Sell Infomercial products
  • Forex or Currency trader
  • Commodities Trader
  • Option or stock day trader
  • Scientist (head scientist, not the assistant)
  • Own a Winning Sports Team
  • 5% of millionaires are super salespeople
  • Financial Advisors with wealthy clients
  • Coaches of Sports Teams
  • Gambling/Lottery or World Series of Poker Tournament
  • Inventor
  • Annuities Sales
  • Top TV Anchor or News reporter
  • Super Model
  • Fashion Designer
  • Famous song writer
  • Famous screenwriter
  • Consultant (any type of consultant, as long as youre in demand and clients are willing to pay big bucks for it)
  • Celebrity Trainer
  • Nascar racecar driver (wouldnt hurt to win it)
  • Betting on horse races (you might want to win the bet on that one too)

All of the above routes are just vehicles to use to become a millionaire. There are countless ways to become a millionaire. You can become a millionaire in almost anything, the key is leverage, work smart and come up with a solid business plan. Then work your plan dilligently and stay on course. Obviously you can’t become a millionaire working for others; it’s very rare, unless you’re a top executive.

But don’t worry, if you’re working for someone right now you can still become rich. Are you young and in your twenties? You can invest a portion of your money every year (at least $2,000) into a secure investment that pays 10-12% a year and do it consistently for at least 25-30 years and you’ll automatically become a millionaire by the time you retire. Anyone can save that little bit of money if you really have the will. Cut out magazine subscriptions, newspaper (read it online), eat out less often, rent movies instead going to see it, stop smoking, don’t buy candy, etc.

You’re probably thinking, “How am I going to find a safe investment that pays 10-12% interest a year?” Good question, because there’s many investments out there that pay that kind of interest.

It’s not buying stocks blindly and throwing your money in mutual funds or the stock market without any clue of what you’re getting into. Most people lose money when they invest in stocks because they don’t know anything about the market and just buy the stocks their broker recommends.

Examples of investments that pay 10-12% a year and are relatively safe are tax liens, mortgage notes, private loans to real estate investors backed by real estate, etc. And there are many more ways out there to find good investments. The key is to know where to look and what to look for.

Also, you need to educate yourself, by that I don’t mean getting any more degrees. I mean an education in finance by reading more and learning from successful people by finding out what they do and where they invest. Go to seminars and workshops. Learn about trusts, estates, asset protection, life insurance, wealth strategies. It’s well worth it if you can retire early with lots of money.

http://www.millionaire-opportunities.com/ways-to-become-a-millionaire.html

 

Feb 2 2011

115 Marketing Strategies For Small Business

The most common question entrepreneurs ask me, is “how can I improve my marketing with no or little money?”  With this in mind, I asked for help from the TPE community and here is what I got… 115 ideas.  Skim them or read them in detail, but whatever you do make sure you go through the list.  Just one of these ideas may trigger a marketing opportunity that you never considered before.  Just one of these ideas may take your business to a whole new level!

1. Focus On One Contact

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Target one decision maker you’d like to meet and invite him to share his expertise. Ask for a (very) short article for your newsletter or a quick phone interview for your podcast. Follow up by sending, or better yet dropping by with a copy of your finished production with a thank-you and of course, more information about your product & services. Thanks To: Jim Bouchard of America’s Black Belt Powervator

2. Create Relevant Content

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Promote your business online via creating content areas on your website that would attract users and position your business and brand as a source of valuable knowledge. Creating these content pages does not require any additional budget, but they do require time and creativity. For example, a children clothes store can dedicate a page to ‘Tips on keeping your child busy on school vacation’ and through that page, attract parents to the site. Thanks To:Sharona Meushar of http://www.sharona.co.il

3. Write For Trade Magazines

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: If you want people to call you, there is nothing like writing an article for a trade magazine (for B2B) or local magazine (for B2C) to gain credibility and exposure. You can demonstrate your expertise and position yourself as the go-to person for your product or service. This strategy generates responses from people who are the ready-to-buy stage. Thanks To: Laura Posey of Dancing Elephants

4. Google AdWords On The Cheap

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Run market research on the cheap by using Google Adwords to target an audience, with the landing page being a question survey. A snappy question to attract people, along with Google’s Geo-targeting can provide great results, for next to nothing. Thanks To: Paul Anthony of WebDistortion

5. Sponsor Your Local Sport Teams

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Sponsor a local sports team. For less than the cost of a 1/4 page ad in a local paper, you can buy team uniforms for a local soccer, basket ball, baseball or other sports teams. This a sure fire way to get the team, and their friends, family and fans that your business is a genuine part of the local community. It’s a great PR technique too, as your local press will be very interested that you’re taking this action and will probably send a photographer round to photograph you with the team and their new strips! Thanks To: Tamsin Fox-Davies of Enthuse Marketing

6. Its All Keywords

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Statistically, 3 out of 4 internet users live in North America, making exposure on the web critical. Having a website that is keyword optimized for what your small business does and where you are located works as an online brochure as well as a “24 hours a day” sales person for your services and products. Thanks To: Lori Quaranta of Consetta Web Solutions LLC

7. Get Out Of The Dark Ages

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Business owners should look beyond the brick and mortar and reach out to a bigger audience with the web. Establishing a presence online is key, whether it’s by creating an interactive, regularly updated site or blog, or by building informative yet informal profiles on social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. Opening communication channels online will not only increase brand awareness, it’ll also boost your company’s rank on search engines, and prove that you’re a business that “gets it” and doesn’t live in the dark ages. Thanks To:Termeh Mazhari of AMP3 Public Relations

8. Go To The Chamber

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Make yourself the expert in your field. Volunteer to teach seminars through your local Chamber of Commerce about your area of expertise. Your business will receive promotion through the event itself, as well as through all marketing for the event. Your association with the Chamber will boost your credibility, as well. Thanks To: Clay Howard of The Nussbaum Center For Entrepreneurship

9. Create An E-News For Your Biz

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: As a relatively new start up, it may sound “old fashioned” in today’s Twitter world, but having a great e-news with valuable content is key for our business. E-News is more than a sales pitch, rather, the opportunity to position your business as an expert, provide relevant information, and to add another layer in relationship building. Building a strong database with a focus on media/bloggers, giving your clients the opportunity to subscribe, and publishing frequently (but not obtrusively) is still one of the best, and least expensive, marketing tools in our arsenal.  You would be surprised how often your content is tweeted on twitter, covered by bloggers, or open the door to a more extensive PR pitch.  Thanks To: H. Victoria Myers of ShopGadgetGirl.com

10. The “Wow” Factor

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Marketing gurus often refer to it as “differentiation.”  Academics who fancy themselves as marketers – they’re the ones who write marketing text books – prefer to call it a USP, your Unique Selling Proposition.  What they’re both taking about is more correctly described as “Wow!”  Whatever it is that separates your Stuff – your products or services – from the similar Stuff your competition is selling, that’s your Wow!, what makes your Stuff better.Thanks To: Phil Grisolia of PhilGrisolia.com

11. Leverage Online Forums

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Many communities now have online forums/bulletin boards that offer varying levels of paid memberships.  Purchase a membership that allows you to advertise your business and USE IT.  Page with highest traffic in this specific area … http://www.Paulding.com … business advertising membership $150/year.  Every time you post with your business ID, your business name (and web page link) is put in front of potential customers.  Post about your specials, sales, what have you.  (Be VERY careful to remember that every post is representative of your business.) Thanks To: C.L. Michael of West Georgia Crafts

12. Charity Donations

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: My #1 PR tip for small businesses:  FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS.  Pick one or two charity organizations or causes and donate only to them for the year.  Create a letter that says why you chose the organization(s) so when you get inundated with requests for large donations, you can politely and formally say NO and still send a respectful message that you are committed to the community.  You’ll save a ton of money on $50 year book ads and donations to the latest event that is NOT your target market. Thanks To: Cheryl Hardy of Hardy Communications

13. Hand Written Follow Up Cards

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Believe it or not, I have found a lot of success with the good old fashioned hand-written follow up card.  Whether it’s to say thank you, that it was a pleasure meeting, or that I’m simply looking forward to a future business relationship, I am much more likely to hear back from that lead than someone who I simply met and didn’t write to follow up with.  How many hand written cards do you get in the business world these days?  Almost none…it’s an extremely personal effort that helps you stick out and remain memorable in your clients’ mind.  It seems simply and old-fashioned but it works.Thanks To: Tasha Moody of Simply Staged

14. Buzz Marketing At Trade Shows

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Best tip, resist the urge to look/sound like your bigger competitors. To create buzz at a trade show for a client and demonstrate how other competitors waste customers’ time, we strapped a big clock to a gurney and walked it around the show floor with two EMT types. T-shirts with the URL and booth number were the only “branding.” Buzz = conversation, conversation = participation.Thanks To: Daniel Davie of Elevation Brand, Inc.

15. Personalized Gifts

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Identify a unique, personalized gift to give your target customer’s customer on the target customer’s behalf.  Example:  A small, boutique hotel recommends a restaurant.  The restaurant gives the diner a free dessert, compliments of the hotel!  Everyone wins. Thanks To: Chip Bell of Chip Bell Group

16. Guest Blogging

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Visit blogs that attract your ideal customers and offer to write a guest post in exchange for a link and a byline. Thanks To: Meryl K Evans of Meryl.net

17. Tell Memorable Stories

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: A convincing (and free) marketing strategy you can use to ‘tangibilize’ your service is by telling stories—give specific and practical examples of what you have accomplished for clients. Use real-life examples of projects you completed, specific problems you solved or successes you achieved. If you’re a new entrepreneur, create a realistic scenario about how you would help your ideal client overcome a typical challenge. Relate your story through articles, blog posts, public speaking or by publishing a special report. Thanks To: Christina Favreau of The Brainstormist

18. Participate in Trade Associations

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Business-to-business professional service organizations get the most bang for their buck when they impress prospective referrers with their capabilities. One of the best ways to do this is through active involvement at trade associations where prospective referrers’ congregate.  This participation enables them to a) increase their visibility and b) gain the opportunity for the consistent and frequent interactions it takes to build lasting relationships.” Thanks To: Barbara Bix ofBB Marketing Plus

19. Inspire Customers To Call You

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Send a postcard mailing monthly instead of a hard copy newsletter. Cost self printed is $0.46 ea. including the stamp. Title – 100 reasons to call us – list 8, the 9th – call to meet for coffee, –  10th is ..”more to come”. List your skills, talents, tasks and ask questions – we’ve used it for a fun contest and sent a $10. gift for all correct answers and a $ 2.00 gift for participating. They read the card! Thanks To: Linda Reed Friedman of Advanta Training LLC

20. Enter A Business Award Competition

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: There is nothing like entering a business award competition to strengthen the reputation of your small business. Winning an award can catapult your reputation within your industry and with the sales audience you aim to attract. Many competitions cost nothing to enter – except for the time it takes to prepare your entry. Who awards business prizes? Professional and trade organizations, chambers of commerce, Better Business Bureaus, universities – even churches. Keep your eyes open for opportunities. They are all around. And remember, there is a secret all award winners share: They have taken the time to prepare well-written entries. Can’t write well? Then pay someone who can to prepare your entry – or barter services if you’re trying to save money. The rewards for winning a business award can last seemingly forever. Brag about winning on your website; send a letter to clients; post the award in your office or store so whoever comes in will see it. And of course, send out a press release and get your picture in the paper!  Thanks To:Sharon Dotson of Bayou City Public Relationsions, LLC

21. Network Your Networks

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Networking with friends who then network with their friends.  When trying to spread the word about my company, I have e-mailed everyone I know and told them to e-mail everyone they know…and so on.  I’ve expressed that I am a one woman business and desperately need the support of my friends.  I do believe that woman share an unspoken sisterhood and are more likely to help eachother out…even without really knowing the other person.  I have received unbelievable support, tips, and advice from people to date that I have never met face to face.  The power is in numbers…6 degrees of separation.  Someone ultimately knows someone that can help you out…and believe it or not…will want to.  Thanks To: Tina Hill of Kidzsack

22. Share Your Expertise Freely

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Let the public know what you’re an expert at and use that to boost your credibility and value. Publish tips, share your expertise through public speaking, even try pitching the media… make it super easy for people to associate you and your business with excellence and expertise in your field. Thanks To: Nancy Marmolejo of Viva Visibility

23. Never Stop Growing Your Network

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Expand your network of contacts and potential clients.   Ask your best, most powerful, most influential friends or business associates to introduce you to the five people they think you should meet to expand your business.  Take each of the contacts out for coffee and get to know them.  Discuss your plans and future goals, tell them about why your business is special and ask for their advice.   You will be amazed at how these new contacts will pay off ten-fold with recommendations to you for new business and innovative ideas you hadn’t thought of. Thanks To: Kate Richardson of Richlyn Marketing

24. HARO Gift Bags

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Each Friday in the second edition of HAROthere are Gift Bag Requests. You can find decision makers with events that have a match for your product or service. Once both parties agree that there is a fit it can lead to quality networking and future business opportunities. Thanks To: Derrick Hayes ofWOE Enterprises

25. Free Soap

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: give away soap products on Twitter.  First I ask a question about a product on my web site or Blog.  The first person to answer wins soap.  The I write Be Sweet, please retweet upon receipt on the envelope so they will go on Twitter and say thanks.  Pretty simple but a good way to get people to your site, blog and give a shout out for your products.Thanks To: Ellen Cagnassola of SweetSoaps.com

26. Network With The Media In Your Niche

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Maintain relationships with media contacts that cover your industry, even when you don’t have news for them. Check in with them every month or so and ask how you can help them as an expert in your field. When you do have news, it’s that much easier to get them to print it! Thanks To: Susan Payton of Egg Marketing & Public Relations

27. Work For Free

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: I volunteer for the local public broadcasting station as on-air talent and to answer phones. If you are part of a group, you can answer phones during one of their pledge periods during one of their more popular shows they will mention your groups’ name. When I am on the air, my name and/or org. get announced as part of the introduction or if you are creative you can weave in what you do with what you are saying about the program if there is a sensible link.Thanks To: Anita Ford Saunders of Anita Ford Saunders Communication

28. Be Transparent, Tell Your Story

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: The best way to get noticed in today’s market is to tell a personal story. The media is dying for news as they lay off thousands at newspapers across the country. Have ready-to-run articles prepared to send off at a minutes notice will create a great relationship with papers. They’ll consider you a source of valuable information! Thanks To: Andrea Walker of Walker Writing & PR

29. Build That List

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Use opt in email marketing to talk to your best customers – the ones that want to hear from you and have signed up to receive your marketing messages and offers. Be sure to deliver relevant, unique and valuable messages to their inbox. This can build loyalty, drive sales and cut other costs. Thanks To:Simms Jenkins of BrightWave Marketing

30. The Low Hanging Fruit

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: When I opened my law firm I treated older, more experienced attorneys to lunch and asked that they consider referring me smaller cases they didn’t have time to handle.  With every successful referral I sent a thank you card enclosing a Starbucks (or their favorite restaurant) gift card thanking them for their support.  This helped me start my practice and build a client base without having to spend a lot on advertising. Thanks To: Shane Fischer, P.A

31. Use Short Compelling Videos

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Create a short but compelling video that succinctly explains your product or service.  Short is under 3 Minutes MAX.  Compelling is that not only informs, but entertains and/or personalizes you and your company.  This can be done quickly and easily using a camera like a flip video.  Then post the video to your site and as many video sharing sites as possible. Thanks To: Ken Price of ShopWatchBuy.com

32. Be A Thought Leader

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Being quoted in the media… being seen as a thought leader… is both effective marketing in itself and useful as the root of broader marketing efforts.  And one of the least expensive ways to get quoted is to participate in the HARO list. Thanks To: Dan Greenberg of Impossible Software, GmbH

33. Apply The Triple Play

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Need to build your mailing list? Apply the triple play. Combine a charity drive with a bonus for customers when they provide their mailing info.  Example: Soldiers in the desert often go days without the luxury of a shower.  Have customers bring a package of wet wipes in to get entered in a drawing (be generous) – gift certificate, Amex cash card, IPOD – whatever appeals best to your crowd . BAM! Triple play – soldiers benefit, customers benefit, your list grows. Don’t forget to alert the press in advance and again when you announce the winner. Thanks To: Lisa Almeida of Planit Production

34. Join Forces With Other Businesses

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Get more mileage out of promotions and advertising efforts by joining forces and finances with other business owners aiming for the same target market. Three or more complimentary businesses putting together a wedding promotion, for example, can afford better prizing, bigger ad space, better in-store graphics through a joint effort. All you need is a plan and a bit of creativity to get major traction from co-promotion. Thanks To: Patrysha Korchinski of PK Marketing Solutions

35. Survey Your Customers…Then Leverage It

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Reporters love numbers! It validates their story pitch to editors. So, conduct a survey with your customers and prospective customers. Compile the results, put them into a press release, and pitch to editors at your target publications. Write an article about it and post it as a downloadable PDF on your website. And, blog about it. Thanks To: Julia Tanen of Tanen PR

36. Define Your Target

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Do your research: For an SMB with limited time and resources, research should be the foundation for any successful marketing or PR campaign. Know your audience and understand how the services that your business offers will help these customers. By targeting the right audiences with a message that they can resonate with, a marketing or PR campaign will definitely help an SMB achieve its strategic goals. Thanks To: Nisha Chhabra of Merritt Group

37. Integrate Your Brand Into Social Media

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Develop your personal brand and integrate it into your marketing and social media. Bob Jones is the Technology Tutor, Sue Evans is the Financial Wizard. Create a brand and persona that match your personality, industry and the value you bring, to help people connect with you, ask questions, and better understand your role and value. Thanks To: Anahid Lisa Derbabian ofIntegrity Communications

38. Maintain Relationships With Clients

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: The difference between a successful company and a mediocre one often boils down to an owner’s commitment to building (and sustaining) relationships with clients and prospects.  While it’s important to keep up traditional communication and PR, business owners should also be extending their relationships through online forums – website, blogs, and social networks.  Conversations are happening all around you – are you listening, are you participating, are you a thought leader?  Be visible! Thanks To: Kathy Moore of Moore Public Relations

39. Donate Your Products To Non-Profits

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: I donated several of my products to a non-profit organization who is sponsoring a live auction and the proceeds will be donated to the charity.  My store name will be displayed on the products for the three day event and the donation is tax deductible and helping others! Thanks To: Karl ofHudsonGoods.com

40. Follow All Leads

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Fear not a) the phone, internet, email, or b)people. Get out and let everyone know you exist, neighbors, nearby businesses, media with press releases, announcements, specials, etc. You’ll see people will want to know about and help you in all kinds of ways. Printers will want to give you special rates (since you’ll keep coming as a startup) designers will want to design or makeover your website, and neighbors may connect you to potential clients. This is not the time to not be a people person. FOLLOW ALL LEADS, EVEN IF IT MEANS YOU DON’T SLEEP. Thanks To: Fresia Rodriguez of Kingley&Posh

41. Follow Newspapers and Magazines

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Read articles in newspapers and magazines and take the time to email the reporter or author of that article how much you enjoyed the piece.  Don’t pitch your business in your email. Just explain how much you enjoyed it and what you liked about it. When you do this you will go a long way towards building a relationship with this reporter and it may even spark a dialogue about your business for a future story about you and your company. Thanks To: John Sternal of UnderstandingMarketing.com

42. Host Educational Events

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Partner with companies which target the same audience as your firm to host “educational” events.  A small accounting firm can partner with a small law firm and a marketing firm to hold a seminar on “strategies for surviving the recession,” and invite small businesses to attend.  The costs can be split, as can all the work that goes into holding an event, including inviting prospects and clients.  It’s a cost-effective way to market to the other firms’ clients, to prospects, and to build a relationship with these other partners in order to gain future referrals.Thanks To: Bob Zeitlinger of B To Z Communications

43. Rank High

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: How can your business gain exposure and increase revenue if you can’t be found online? Have your company budget for Search Engine Optimization or (SEO), which is a growing online marketing strategy (relatively inexpensive) that uses highly specific and relevant keywords to reach your target audience and convert online traffic into revenue. SEO helps businesses rise above their competitors and build their brand reputation both online and offline. Thanks To:Carolyn March of 10Best Solutions

44. Go Viral

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Use social mediums (the way there were intended) to virally spread your marketing message. Twitter short messages, driving traffic to specific pages of your website; Send a Network Update via LinkedIn conveying what you’re working on that will pique the interest of those needing similar services; Use Facebook to give your small business a “personality” so that people feel comfortable doing business with you — ask your customers to become Fans. Thanks To: Kelley Briggs of Hudson Fusion LLC

45. Go For The Gold

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: ENTER BUSINESS AWARDS: More than ever, business professionals are looking for new ways to promote their business and their employees during tough economic times.  Although organizations have countless channels to promote their business – they all cost money.  One cost-effective way for business professionals to increase awareness is through business awards, which can laud your organization as a whole, executives, internal teams or your website/marketing materials.  By winning awards, you gain third party credibility from an independent organization and also draw more attention to your business through the resulting publicity.  Thanks To: Michael Gallagher of The American Business Awards

46. Leverage Linked-In

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Join as many Linked-In groups as you can that are related to what you sell and post a question or tip on a regular basis. If you have a blog or e-newsletter, post an announcement to your Linked-In groups with a link whenever you release a new issue or blog posting. It’s free, you’ll be recognized as a leader, and you’ll reach thousands of business people interested in your field.Thanks To: Paul Lloyd of Zuk-Loyd Associates, Inc.

47. Facebook It!

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Your Facebook friends can be your greatest free marketing tools so enlist their help! In Facebook, use the NOTES application to create a special, limited-time “friends and family” promotion (ie: enter “facebook09” at checkout to receive 10% off), tag all your friends and ask them to pass along your exclusive deal to their own friends. A great offer goes a long way quickly…especially through our favorite social networking sites! Thanks To: Anila Nitekman ofTiny Bites

48. Share A % Of Sales

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Make it part of your mission statement to contribute a certain percentage of sales or profits to a favorite cause, especially one related to your business. A recycled paper company might donate to land conservation and tree planting, a caterer to a food pantry, a pet supply store to the animal shelter, etc. Thanks To: Sheryl Woodhouse-Keese of Twisted Limb Paperworks

49. Coupon It!

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: The best thing about small businesses is their flexibility and ability to be creative, think outside of the box.  Develop a great sales promotion, couponing, giveaway, etc and be aggressive in getting the word out about it.  PR is the most affordable tool for small businesses with virtually no cost, yet you can generate new interest and build credibility with existing and potential customers.  Show customers that you understand what it is they need in times like this.  When times are better they will remember your loyalty and remain loyal to you. Thanks To: Jennifer Fortney ofCascade Communications

50. Contest It Up

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Hold a contest, tournament or event. Done right, you can get lots of publicity and good will, and some sales. Example: If you have a dress store, hold a fashion show. To top it off, you ask for a non-perishable food item to get in for the food shelf. Thanks To: John Schulte of National Mail Order Association

51. Build Champions

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Build champions. Champions are people who know exactly what you do, why it matters to the market and who specifically cares to buy your product or service.  Champions believe whole heartedly in you and your business.  They send referrals and are credibly marketing your business for you everywhere you go.  Nurture these relationships, build your champion list to 50 and watch your business explode. Thanks To: Heather White of Ghost Adviser

52. Cell-It-Up

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Marketing tip/strategy: Mobile marketing connects businesses and each of their customers—through their mobile devices—at the right time and at the right place with the right message and requires the customer’s explicit permission and/or active interaction.  Kim Dushinski’s “5 Steps to Creating a Dynamic Mobile Marketing Campaign” are 1) figure out what your target market wants and offer it, 2) align what your target market wants with your desired outcome, 3) choose the right mobile marketing tool for this campaign, 4) launch your mobile marketing campaign and market it, and 5) track what is working and make any necessary adjustments. Thanks To: Corinne Liccketto Publicist for Kim Dushinski ofMobile Marketing Profits

53. Be A Pilot

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: The least expensive and most effective PR move is to provide product free to “pilot” project at any company and ask only in return a statement of their reaction to the use of the product.  Hardly ever turned down, and gets you endorsements and orders for many more from that company.Thanks To: Alan Shafer of Smartfish Technologies

54. Leverage Existing Customers

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Most companies do a poor job of leveraging existing customers to create new ones.  If your company does events, give people a discount or free gift to bring (or just invite) a friend.  If someone buys your product online, send them a coupon for the same item suggesting that they pass it on to someone they think will use it. Thanks To: Mark Shead

55. Get Endorsements

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: If you are introducing a revolutionary new product, an endorsement from a top expert makes all the difference.  Read your trade magazines and write the expert.  You will be surprised at how generous some of them are. Thanks To: Eugenia Francis of TeaCHildMath.com

56. Outsource

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Outsource what isn’t your core business.  Your main focus needs to be one 1) your current customers; 2) attracting new customers; and 3) your current employees, to ensure they’re aligned around #1 and #2. Thanks To: Laura Grimmer CEO Articulate Communications

57. The “FOJ” Sticker

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: I spent $150 to make up two huge rolls of round, neon-green stickers with FOJ printed on them in big, black letters. I stick them on all my friends at big events and conferences I attend. Everyone asks what FOJ stands for, and my friend tells them Friend of Jeanne. Next they ask: Jeanne who? Jeanne Perdue– you should meet her! This gets you lots of word-of-mouth advertising from your buddies. You can put any three or four letters, e.g., BPF = Buy Pizza from Fred, which will lead to the inevitable question: Fred who? Fred Smith, who owns the Domino’s Pizza at Main and Elm.  Thanks To: Jeanne Perdue

58. YouTube Dramedy Series

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: YouTube Dramedy Series.  Take your product or service and dramatize it through a simple, home-made YouTube movie.  Go a step further and script out a four-part series that you can post on your website.  Heck, run a loop in your business.  Say you own a dry cleaner business and you feature the chance meeting … a customer falls in love at first sight with another customer. The series shows the courting at the dry cleaner.  Before you know it, your dry cleaning business is a chick magnet spot.  Dry Cleaning Harmony … Our Customers Love Coming In. Thanks To: Dean Trevelino of Trevelino/Keller

59. Leverage Local

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: My number one tip for small and medium size businesses is to get online locally. There are hundreds of websites that people use to search out local business, lime CitySquares, Yelp, etc. They are free to use and easy to find. Make sure your business is listed. Go the extra mile and upload pictures, menus, or something relevant for your service or product. Thanks To: Michael Durwin

60. Help “Other Employees”

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Offer employee incentives to various big businesses.  For example, offer Southwest Airline employees 20% off their bill.  Call their HQs and ask how you can offer discounts to their employees..it’s usually called ‘Employee Perks Program’ or something similar to that..and all you need to do is tell them what the discount is and they will post it on their website or post it in some other capacity. Thanks To: Stacey Dolezal Susini of Zontis Public Relations

61. Online Reviews

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Let your fans review your business. Online reviews are a critical component of your business’ reputation and can do wonders for converting new customers. Services like RateItAll.com/Promote allow you to submit anything for review – whether it’s a local business, a blog, a website, a product, or a brand.  Other popular review sites include Yelp (local businesses), TripAdvisor (travel related items), and Viewpoints (products). Thanks To: Lynda Radosevich of Say Strategic Communications

62. It’s OK to Insult Some People

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: The harshest rule in marketing: “If you have insulted anyone, you haven’t said anything.” Kind of harsh, but the point is that you need to dare to be out of the ordinary. It needs to be worth for your customers to mention to their friends, to laugh about, to be shocked about. Thanks To: Thomas DeGeest of Wafel & Dinges

63. Volunteer

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Get involved in the community.  Attend chamber luncheons, join committees and/or volunteer for non-profit organizations.  Then, not only will you be doing good, but you will establish relationships with many people who you can contact without “cold calling” and when they need your services or products, you and your company will be top of mind. Thanks To: Barry Chiorello of Second Story Productions LLC

64. You’re Not That Great

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: If you “pitch” local media about your company, don’t tell them how great you are. Instead, talk about how your company’s expertise in certain issues can benefit their readers. Serve as a resource for your local media, rather than a company shill. And they’ll cover you. Thanks To: Steve Winston of Winston Communications

65. Attend Annual Conferences

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Join the Industry Association relevant to your product or service where your customers participate in events and share knowledge.  Definitely participate in any online discussions or groups at the association providing free expertise and sponsor webinars/activites to get your brand out there.  If budget allows, try to attend the annual “conference”; you’ll make a lot of connections quickly and can get fast brand recognition. Thanks To: Kirk Johnson of Lenati

66. Free Events

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: One of the best ways to score free publicity is to create a free event at your place of business (or elsewhere if your business location does not work).  Ideally, the event should tie-in with the theme of your business, but it’s not necessary.  The event can be holiday-themed or simply fun and silly!  The press is ALWAYS looking for newsworthy events that will be of interest to the public, and you are sure to get coverage.  Be sure to also send out press releases after the event too, reporting on how much fun people had. Thanks To: Dan Page

67. Your New Best Friend: Fed-Ex Drivers

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Reach hundreds of potential customers daily by getting your fliers, business cards, catalogs, etc. delivered by FedEX, UPS, or any delivery service. They already reach your perfect buyer whether it’s residential or business and you can ride along for free and pay them a commission. Thanks To: Robert Smith of Champion Media

68. Logo It Up

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Use Your Logo- Now that you have a logo it is time to use it everywhere both online and in print.  Put it on all of your marketing materials including business cards, letterhead and even envelopes. Include it in your email signature, on your Web site and use it in all correspondence to reinforce your company and encourage repeat customers and referrals.  Once you have a solid logo that makes an impact, it should be synonymous with your company name. Thanks To:Melissa Crowe of VistaPrint

69. Write A Book

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Write a 150-175 pg. business book and self publish it with on-demand printing. The status of being a published author provides you with unprecedented access to media, speaking gigs, and other opportunities like nothing else can. (cost = $0 other than some time) Thanks To: Vicki Flaugher ofSmartWoman

70. Neighborhood Food

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Anything involving food gets attention. Partner up with local neighborhood businesses and a restaurant (or other service providers in a complimentary but non competing industry if that’s your gig) to throw a special event, complete with noshing. Combining your database with other businesses will expose you to an entirely different segment of people for a shoestring of the price.Thanks To: Deanna Jue

71. FOOD!

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Using food is a great way to generate some PR for your product, service or event. For example, we sent s’more kits to local TV newsrooms to help promote a camper & RV show and had great results (got coverage from almost every local TV station). The media love you for thinking of them, and in return, will help you get exposure!Thanks To: Rachael Biermann of All Seasons Communications

72. W H I T E Paper

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Once you generate some news in the media, either by issuing a press release, writing a bylined article, creating a white paper, or participating in a PR interview for an article, you need to “work” your news. Create a “friends” list of prospects, customers, analysts, investors, prospective employees, etc. and send them the news with a little blurb like, “We’re making news! See us in The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur story about marketing strategies for small businesses. Make sure that you make consistent news so that you will regularly appear in the media and also keep your company in front of your “friends.”  Thanks To: Becky Boyd of Media First PR – Atlanta

73. Don’t Over-Use News Releases

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Don’t overuse news releases. While they can sometimes be effective, they are often over-relied upon and can end up in the “circular file.” Identifying target media, establishing good relationships with them and “pitching” them specific ideas designed to meet their (and their audiences’ needs/interests) can often be effectively done through a quick – even informal – email or a phone call. The first step is building the relationship and that is most effectively done by demonstrating that you have their needs/interests in mind and are not single-mindedly focused on pursuing your own. Thanks To: Linda Pophal ofStratCommunications.com

74. Article Marketing

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Article marketing is a subtle way companies can gain exposure for their business by writing articles that provide information about news and trends occurring within their respective industries. Companies that incorporate article marketing into their marketing campaign demonstrate their expertise in their respective industry while simultaneously attracting new customers. Thanks To:LaTosha Johnson of TargetStars, Inc.

75. LOL!

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Evoke an emotion.  Your audience will listen and remember your message if their emotions are at play.  Make them laugh, tug at their heart strings, shock them. Thanks To: Clarice Veloso of Marketing and Communications Consultant

76. Survey Customers

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Take advantage of the tools on the internet for gathering customer feedback. They know what they want better than you do. Find out how to build a simple online survey and change your survey questions once a month. Thanks To: Heather Clark of Chicago Sailing

77. Become a Resource

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Small business owners can over time break down the wall between them and their local press outlets. For instance, restaurant owners should drop off lunch at their local radio station once a month like clockwork. Find out the editors name for the assignment desk at your local newspaper and send them information about your upcoming events or news that has local relevance. Become a “news resource” for your local press. It’s a numbers game—the kid who shows up for every game eventually gets his turn up at bat. Thanks To: John Rarrick of BullsEye PR, New York, NY

78. Do You E-Mail?

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Don’t forget to make full use of your e-mail signature for marketing. If you have a sale, new product, open house or other event, put it in the signature so it goes to everyone you correspond with via e-mail. Ex: “Final winter mark-downs! Get 70% off of all winter items now through April 15th.” Thanks To: Laura Monagle of Staples Marketing

79. Sell Marketing Materials

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: If you have a buzz-worthy business name, you can get free exposure by monetizing your name through merchandise sales and having people pay you to advertise your brand. Spoon Me frozen yogurt sells everything from bumperstickers to booty shorts and Stuff a Sock In It sells laundry bags and t-shirts with their name on it. Thanks To:Alexandra Watkins of Eat My Words

80. Forum Chatter

Marketing Strategy For Small Business:I have decided my niche market are small businesses (1 or 2 people) who require start-up support. Determining a niche market is firstly an important tip as it narrows the search and makes marketing less overwhelming. Once I knew who my target market was, I joined forums relating to the topic. At first I just listened to what people were looking for to help me determine where the main needs lie, but now I involve myself and offer up advice. This in turn has paved a path for me as a professional in my industry and a client here and there! Word of mouth is the best marketing method there is and anyway to gain word of mouth is fantastic. Thanks To: Caroline Pigott of Assistant Solutions

81. Free Content!

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Offer your customers, potential customers, and visitors to your website a free resource, such as a guide or report that is packed full of solid information related to your product or services in exchange for their name and email address.  The guide is delivered electronically to their mailbox so there’s little cost involved.  Every two weeks, or so, follow up with more useful content, not a sales pitch, but do include your company’s info at the end.  You’ll be building credibility, establishing trust, and reminding those potential customers of your product or services.  When they’re ready to buy you will be the first company they contact.Thanks To: Dee Power of Power of Publicity

82. Online-Map Listings

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Online map listings are essential for businesses with brick-and-mortar locations. They are the first thing people see on search engines and they offer a concise snapshot of business info so customers can easily contact you or visit your store.  And best of all, they don’t cost any money!”Thanks To: Erik Whaley of Local Search Traffic

83. Stay Silent

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: I have found great success with donating my services to swanky silent auctions.  Most of these events benefit non-profits so the donation is tax-deductible, and the exposure to the often well-to-do attendees is amazing.  Best of all, I almost always sell additional services to the winner once they’ve completed the package that they bid on in the auction. Thanks To: Amber O’Neal of Cafe Physique

84. Fund Raisers Rock!

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Schools are always looking for fund-raising opportunities. Offer your product as part of a fund-raiser — you raise money for both the school & your company. Keep it as turn-key as possible, and then ask to be referred to other schools afterwards. Thanks To: Sheri Allain of Mini Me’s Books

85. Return The Favor

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: ALWAYS ask someone that has done something nice for you, what you can do for them. No one does it.  You will startle them. They will remember you….kindly. Let them know the offer stands and rethank them for their efforts on your behalf. Thanks To: Marylea Balsley of Future Force

86. Name my Name

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Invite consumers to help name your next product! A food company could ask consumers submit names online for their new potato salad, chocolate truffle or ice cream.  This quick and cost-effective strategy lets you connect with consumers, build buzz, and snag high profile media coverage on the web, in print and on TV. Thanks To: Sunshine Morrison of Radiance Communications

87. Small Groups Rock

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Start an informal group providing something of value to the market in which you specialize.  For example, a monthly breakfast discussion on current news and events in the pest control industry.  Leaders in this industry will come together in this informal, low-pressure situation, because keeping an eye on the state of the industry is their job.  Since you’re the one providing the benefit of this group, they will already be predisposed to a positive relationship with you, and it’s a short leap to noting your business savvy in their field. Thanks To: Mona Zemsky of M.Source

88. Online/Offline Engagement With Web

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Get involved with your online community and get the community involved in your business. Hold a competition related to your business, announce the competition locally, and get good press coverage for the winner. We started a community book project where the first chapter was written and authors got their chapters voted into the book thereafter. We got sponsorship for the book, a product to market the business with profits going to charity, as well as good media coverage at little to no cost. Thanks To: Emma Ward of Bookhitch.com

89. Fundraiser Partnering

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: One of the techniques we’ve been using lately is to partner with an organization in a fundraising effort. For example, we make art kits for kids. We’ve been partnering with local schools to sell our kits through a fundraiser for the school, and the school keeps a percentage of the sales. Thanks To:Shannon Ninburg of Eye Can Art

90. Top Of Mind Awareness

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: You must invest time and effort if you want to generate a genuine conversation and relationship with your customers.  We call it top of mind awareness.  The goal is regular communication about who you are and what you’re doing so that you stay at the top of customers’ minds. Thanks To: Chris Hurn of Mercantile Commercial Capital

91. Twitter Scavenger Hunt

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: We’re going to send out Tweets and an email newsletter announcement about a scavenger hunt/contest on Twitter to advertise our website which helps people find things they really need. Thanks To: Camille Landau of ReferQuest.com

92. News Hooker

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Have a compelling news-hook.  Does your company have an innovative approach to help businesses increase efficiencies during this tough economic climate?  Are you donating resources to help others who are struggling during the recession?  The media is looking for solutions, innovations and other “good news” angles during a very pessimistic news cycle. Thanks To: Stefanie Guzikowski of E & G Public Relations, LLC

93. Just Wrap It

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Wrap your vehicle. If done right (clever creative), this relatively small investment can generate a ton of exposure. Word of caution: you’ll need to keep the road rage to a minimum. Thanks To: Dana Severson of Idea Heroes

94. Tweet Tweet Tweet

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Get a TWITTER account in your business name. Post links to your articles educating people in your niche market. At the bottom of the article have links to your products & services. Also offer discount coupon codes to twitter members. This has worked very well for me. Thanks To: Kay Green of My Precious Kid

95. Treat The Local Police

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: For Companies or Individuals with products. Call your local mayor’s office, Police Department, and Fire Department. Find out when their Annual parties and fundraising events are, and tell them you have a nice item to put in their gift bag. This item could even be a glossy card with a service for free (Doctors and others could provide a service not a product). Now you have a great credit (we were in the Police Department’s Annual Christmas Dinner gift bag, and that itself is a great press release to send to people, and lends your product or service instant legitimacy and specialness. Thanks To: Tom Brennan of Tom Brennan Media

96. Teleseminar Gold

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Host a 1 hour teleseminar with time for content, a specific offer and questions from people on the call. People are hungry for information and like to learn. Create a web page with a sign up form and use email and social media to announce the call. Thanks To: Rick Cooper of The Attraction Marketing Expert

97. Use Twitter Search

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Every few days, search twitter and join the conversations. If people tweet about your business, comment. If people tweet about a need you can fill, tweet them! Its free, public and it is appreciated! Thanks To: Tricia Mumby of Mabel’s Labels Inc.

98. Love Your Customers…Really

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Love your customers – they are your greatest asset. Giving prospects examples of how you have helped others do what they would like to do is the quickest way of establishing your credibility, and giving concrete evidence of your value proposition. Let your customers do your marketing for you by having them sing your praises. One word from a happy customer is worth more than a library of purple prose from a vendor. Thanks To: Brian Staff of WordisWorth

99. Bookmarks Woo!

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Reach out to your target market by providing free stuff.  Bookmarks (what we do), notecards, playing cards – inexpensive items that provide tidbits of advice or information tied into your company mission along with your website address.  Your company will gain a reputation as a good corporate citizen and consumers will find you on the web. Thanks To: Kathy Pickus of Dot Girl First Period Products

100. Differentiate Dramatically

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: The single best way for your small business to get exposure is to discover—and showcase—your unique focus. This differentiation—provided it’s meaningful and relevant to your target audience—will prevent your business from becoming a “me too” proposition and create a preference for your offerings. You should be able to quickly and confidently complete this simple sentence:  “Our business is the only ________that _________.” The first blank is the category your business is in. The second blank should be filled in with your differentiating factor, the one thing that makes you compellingly different. Thanks To: Michael DiFrisco ofThe Affordable Branding Guy

101. Be Outrageous

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Be outrageous. Reporters want to cover the unusual/wacky/even controversial. One article about your business can be worth thousands of dollars. Give them what they want. Thanks To: Kate Lister of Undress For Success

102. Find An Intern

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: If you don’t have a clue where to start with your marketing and are low on funds, find an intern.  If you have a nearby college, contact their business division and ask about their internship program.  The student will get class credit and you will receive some of the latest marketing techniques and an itern that is excited about marketing. Thanks To: Carla Kroger of Daily Administration

103. Help First

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: When networking, do NOT focus on getting a referral or lead.  Instead, focus on helping others.  If you help them first (by adding value to their life/biz), they’ll help you later. Thanks To: Weston Lyon of Weston Lyon’s Secret Society

104. Blog Tour

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: We found a great way to expose our t-shirts.  We simply contact “mom” blogs (which is our target), but you can target any specific blogs that fit your product.  We contact the owner and ask them if they could review our product.  We ship out one shirt (very little cost) and then also ask them to do a contest with their viewers.  The owner of the blog then writes up the review about our shirt and also offers the readers a free t-shirt if they enter.  The entry requires them to go on our site – answer a question – in our case – which “mom” illustration do they most relate to?  This requires them to go to our site and look around and get introduced to our products. Thanks To: Nina Frye of LTDchix, LLC

105. Review Exchange

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: One of our clever marketing ideas that we use are review exchanges – we review your product and put it on our blog, and you review our product and put it on your blog.  It’s similar to an article exchange or a link exchange, but with a lot more meat behind it, and links point into the depths of your site, so looks more natural from a search engines perspective. Thanks To: Jennifer Kettlewell of Kettlewell Enterprises, Inc.

106. Pay Per Click

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: The fastest way, bar none, to create a strong Internet presence and get in front of potential customers when they are in active “search and buy mode” is pay-per-click search engine advertising. Start with Google – set a budget and bid, select your keywords and write a quick ad. Now you’ll be there when some “Googles it!” Thanks To: Jeff Werner of WebVisible, Inc.

107. LISTEN!

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Identify your ideal clients and find them on Twitter. Then start following them! Spend weeks listening to them; you’ll be amazed what they will tell you about their concerns, their ideal products, their current frustrations with their vendors. It’s a great way to get open honest market research. Thanks To: Bill Balderaz of Webbed Marketing

108. SURPRISE!

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: To keep customer loyal to you, instead of a frequent buyer program, send your customers “surprise” gifts. Customers come to expect rewards when they are members of a program.  Surprises always work to instill loyalty and retention. Thanks To: Allan J. Katz of Loyalty Marketing Institute, LLC

109. Teabag It Up

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Businesses make the mistake of thinking that promotional items are only for conferences and tradeshows. When given out with (or in place of) a business card at a lunch, a meeting or in passing, they become a gift. People expect free stuff at conferences, they don’t expect gifts. Keep a small, branded (and useful) item with you. You can be sure they’ll remember you. (Example: I give out a tea bag with our logo on the package. I have a colleague who gives a pocket floss card with her logo on it to everyone she meets along with her business card.) Thanks To: Cole Imperi of Doth Brands

110. Blog Blog Blog To Get Media

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: If you want to get on TV, first reach out to reputable bloggers.  Interns at TV shows are usually the people [scrolling] through the blogs to find the great ideas, then they pass what they find to the producers. Thanks To: Stacie Urbach of Smart Heel

111. Long Shelf Life

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Leverage your exposure by putting yourself into situations where your marketing efforts have a LONG shelf life.  Start by researching the various Web Radio show.  Email those who have your ideal clients with a list of topics you can speak about.  AND make sure you write that “if your line-up is already scheduled, I’d make a great filler-inner when someone has to cancel”.  Those words alone will get you remembers.Thanks To: Maria Marsala of The Resource Queen

112. Frequent Buyer Program

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Send your best customers an email with a discount on the product or service they’ve purchased in the past or a complementary product or service and call it your “frequent buyer program”. Give them a special deal for being a long time customer to make them feel special AND to get your name in front of them again. Continue to treat them special and they’ll continue to come back for more. Thanks To: Janine Popick of VerticalResponse

113. CEO Space

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Nothing is a better for your business than CEOspace.   The people who attend are there to conspire with you reather than compete against you.  It’s done well for my business! Thanks To: Dave Phillipson ofSafeGuard Investments

114. Pay For Placement

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Many publications are balking at paying freelancers right now. But since my clients want exposure and the newspaper only offers so much exposure, I pitch articles about my clients’ specialties and offer it at no pay. They are welcome to that idea! I then write a very objective piece mixing clients with other sources and then billing the client for the exposure. The exposure in an objective article also gives much more credibility to a buisness than an ad or advertorial, and much less expensive. Thanks To: Kevin Fritz of Fritz Communications

115. Make Their Job Easier

Marketing Strategy For Small Business: Schedule a coffee or lunch meeting with the local (relevant) beat reporters in your market.  Instead of pitching them your business, start the conversation by asking, “How might I be able to make your job easier.”  If you can make their lives easier and they know you aren’t going to try and sell them your story, you will likely be a valuable and ongoing resource to them in the near and distant future. Thanks To: Matt Batt ofPipeline Media Relations
Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

 
Feb 2 2011

The 5 Rules Of Successful Entrepreneurs

No matter what the Gurus” say, entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Being an entrepreneur is not “so easy anyone can do it” nor is it a ticket to “get rich quick in your spare time.” If you want to become an entrepreneur for the money or because it seems easier than getting (or staying in) a job, skip it.

Successful entrepreneurs do it because they HAVE to, and because it’s really, really fun. To become an entrepreneur you have to have passion, you have to want to serve others, and you have to be willing to never, ever, ever stop, even if you never make a penny.

A while back I posted 163 tips for folks who want to become an entrepreneur. Read the list for inspiration, and if you really want to take the leap and kick your dream into high gear, here are the best tips of the bunch:

1.    Use A Three-Sheet Strategy – Don’t waste time on a traditional business plan with a zillion pages. Instead, use one sheet to declare your big, long-term vision, one sheet to plan and project your next 90 days, and one sheet to track the critical numbers (cash in the bank, number of prospects, etc.) on a daily basis.

2.    Adjust Your Lifestyle –  Odds are your business will not bring in money right away, and when the money does start to roll in, it may be awhile before you earn enough for that flat screen you’ve had your eye on. You need money to support your bare minimum, so you have to know how low you would go ahead of time.

3.    Believe in You — If your peeps think you’re nuts, it’s actually a good sign because it means you’re an innovator. Your brilliant idea is probably brand new to the market, so people just don’t have anything to compare it to. All that matters is that YOU believe, and that you are relentless in your efforts to turn your vision into reality.

4.    Self Promote — Get on your soapbox and preach! You’ve got to spread the good word about your product and service because if you don’t, how can you expect anyone else to do it?

5.    Just Do It — When all is said and done, thinkers get nothing and the doers get it all. You need to take all you’ve learned, planned, and brainstormed and put into action. In fact, STOP READING this blog right now and just do it!

Entrepreneurship is either IN YOU, or NOT. It’s all about what nature gave you—if you have the passion, the drive, and the stamina you could become an entrepreneur. And if you follow these tips, you might actually make it.

http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/the-rules-of-successful-entrepreneurs

Feb 2 2011

Effective Daily Marketing Strategies for Your Small Business

Often, I’ve heard it said, “I just don’t have time to market my business.” In fact, the truth is that, for a number of us, it isn’t until we hit a dry spell that we realize the importance of consistent marketing. It is then, when we’re in the midst of a slump, that we look in the rearview mirror and wonder, “What could I have done differently?”

The answer: market. Despite the pain it may bring, marketing is a necessity for business growth. As a plus, however, it is often easier than many of us think and can even be an enjoyable experience. Following are a few quick ideas that may take the pain out of marketing your business.

1. Take advantage of your daily contacts. When you go to the
supermarket, take a flyer or business card with you and post it on the bulletin board. Place your business card, with a nice tip, in the hands your waiter or waitress at restaurants where you dine. There’s the cleaners, the barber or salon, and other places that you visit frequently. Leaving your business cards and flyers at places you visit often is a great way to market.

2. Give a thrill with your next bill. With every bill you pay, insert a business card. Once, I sent out an electric bill and placed my card in with a note on the back that said, “Have a great day!” As a result, I received a call from a lady at the electric company to prepare her resume. Even though she wasn’t the person who directly received my payment, the card was passed on to her and she became a client!

3. Send fun notes. My personal preference is the postcard. I send postcards to prospects on a weekly basis, a few at a time. Postcard messages should be focused and targeted but also attention grabbing. The best thing about postcards is that they require no opening and many eyes see them before they get to the recipient.

4. Promote when you invoice. Many invoices have a place for you to add a couple of lines of text at the bottom. You can use this area to announce a new service or product, or, briefly tell your clients about discounts and specials. Another great way to promote your business is to place a quarter page flyer with a promotional offer into letters, invoices, and outgoing parcels. It’s quick and easy.

5. Make your voice mail work for you. A voice mail or answering machine is a great marketing tool. Using key words such as, “Guaranteed,” “Expert,” “All-in-one, “Immediate,” and “Reliable” are great attention grabbers. An example of a key phrase would be, “You’re guaranteed to benefit from…” These attention grabbing statements sell your confidence and your service. You’re also leading your prospect in through the “WIFM” (What’s In It For Me) approach. I have seen this method work great, even with people who misdial numbers.

6. Create a referral incentive. Offer a special incentive for current clients or customers who bring you referrals. It could be a free gift, a gift certificate (for your product or service, of course), or something else that will serve as an incentive. Send out a short letter to your clients or customers asking for their help giving and mentioning your referral incentive (also a WIFM approach). Many times, your good clients or customers will have no problem referring you, if they haven’t already. However, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

There are many easy and innovative ways to take the pain out of marketing your business. Although it’s a great idea to take at least an hour a day to devote to marketing efforts, using these simple tasks are almost effortless and, dare I say, painless ways to market consistently.

http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/mkteveryday.htm

Feb 1 2011

Build a Cost-Effective Marketing Budget for Your Small Business

Too many small business owners look at their marketing budgets as just conglomerations of expenses. Marketing isn’t an expense for a small business. Not really. It’s an investment because your small business will fail unless you get the word out to your customers. However, you want to do that in the most cost-effective way as possible.

You don’t want to use a shotgun approach and hope something hits the target. Small businesses often do this and spend a lot of money on marketing with very little return. Instead, you want to target your marketing, utilize smart marketing campaigns and strategies that are low or no cost, stretch every marketing dollar as far as possible.

Use Free Publicity

Publicity costs nothing and it builds awareness of your business. If you use publicity correctly, it can also build points for you within your community. Sponsor a community activity that is somehow tied in with your business.

When something new crops up within your business such as the release of a new product or service or a different use for an existing one, issue a press release. Your local newspaper will likely be glad to run it. Include it on your website. Sponsor a customer appreciation day. Do a customer survey. Newspapers love surveys and will likely publish your results.

Create Partnerships With Other Organizations

Small businesses with low or non-existent marketing budgets can organize a partnership and pool their marketing budgets to make good things happen. Perhaps a small business would like to hold a conference to increase the visibility of their firm and draw advertisers. But, one small business would probably not have the marketing budget necessary to finance such a conference. If several complementary small businesses got together, then they might be able to manage the costs of the conference and draw advertisers to the conference. It would be a win-win situation for everyone.

Outsource it When you Can’t do it Yourself

If you have a small staff and you’re only experienced at certain things, then outsource those things with which you need help. Aren’t good with numbers? Hire an accountant. Can’t set up a computer network? Hire a computer expert? Can’t write? Hire a writer to write your press pieces and do your blogging. This may sound expensive on the face of it but think of the alternative. If you staff up to employ people with these skills, not only will you be paying professional full-time salaries, you’ll be paying benefits. It’s much cheaper to outsource and pay on a freelance basis.

Join Local Clubs and Organizations

As a business person in a community, it is important to be visible, particularly if your business has a storefront in the community and is not entirely online. Join the local Kiwanis Club and the local Rotary Club and any other service clubs that exist in your community. A must-join is the local Chamber of Commerce. Such service clubs are always looking for speakers for their meetings and you are going to be an expert in whatever product or service you sell. Not only will this be a great networking opportunity, but you may be called on to speak which will really increase the visibility of your business.

 

Build a Website for Your Business

Every business must have a website. A website domain can be bought for cheap and, if you can’t build it and maintain it yourself, outsource it. A presence on the web is a very cost-effective way of letting people know about your business even if your business is mostly a storefront operation. You can publish a newsletter about your business on the web virtually for free and create articles about your business to publish there.

Engage in Frequent Communication With Your Customers

The importance of communication with your customers is at an all-time high. Your customers are in a belt-tightening mind-set. Items that were once considered necessities may now be considered luxuries. You cannot effectively market your product or service unless you know how your customers think about what you have to offer.

For example, what about the business of a small spa that offers whirlpool baths and massages? Usually, such services are looking on as luxuries and, on the face of it, one would think that would certainly be true if customers are cutting back on their spending. But, think about it again. Maybe customers need those services more than ever for stress relief. Doctors even prescribe such services for stress management. You need to do a survey to find out what your customers think so you can plan for the future financially. Perhaps writing a letter to each customer asking what they need would be a good strategy.

Network and Network Some More


The fact of the matter is that people like to do business with people they know. That’s even true in the online world where everyone uses Facebook and Twitter. Use your organizational contacts and partnerships to network. However, there is one thing about networking. It takes time. It takes considerable time. But, it’s worth it. Figure out where to spend your time networking. Don’t network where it isn’t paying off.

Follow some of these tips and you will build a cost-effective marketing budget in no time.

http://bizfinance.about.com/od/marketing/a/market_bud.htm