Ten Tips to Help You Pump Up Your Marketing

1 – Narrow Your Market Focus

What venue or medium is your business aimed at? What products or services will you provide? Who are the potential clients and customers? Keep things as simple as possible; try to narrow responses to one or two main answers.

2- Focus Your Message

Why is your business different from others like it? Why is it better? Form these answers into a one sentence message or motto telling potential clients what you can do for them. Here is one template example: “You have a specific need; we can fulfill it. Call us today!” Then send this message out as advertisements.

3 – Advertise like a Small Business (Not a Big One)

Design ads to produce immediate sales, such as offering discounts, coupons, or free estimates. Send ads to individuals, and other companies that could use your services, outlining the key points of your business message or motto.

4- Make Your Ads Short and Sweet

Don’t waste money on one or two flashy ads; send your message as many times as possible in simple, easily readable formats.

5- Offer Different Options

Some customers or clients may not want to pay the asking price due to their particular needs; offer them packages that feature only the bare minimum or minus the added extras they can do without. However, other clients may be willing to pay more for more personalized or customized products/services. Be ready and willing to accommodate potential clients and turn them into repeat customers.

6- Try New and Innovative Marketing Methods

What are competitors not doing that you could? Send postcards or fliers for your grand opening or new service to random and specific addresses.

7 – Join Up Other Small Businesses

Contact a non-competitor and set up a mutual ad campaign and share the cost. This technique will save money and open up a whole new pool of potential clients.

8 – Make Use of Social Networks

Facebook and Twitter are wide reaching tools and are free to use. Make use of the marketplace features and profile options for businesses and services. Keep your page and blog updated to communicate with clients en masse.

9 – Put Your Customers to Work

Satisfied clients are your best sales representatives. To inspire people to talk about you and your business, offer incentives after a sale. Sign up clients on a mail or email service that sends out discounts and information about new products and services. Offer discounts on their next order, referral, or even raffle tickets. Send flowers and gift baskets (with business cards) to your best customers for special occasions or just because.

10 – Use Several Different Methods at Once

The most important recommendation: remember to vary your techniques; don’t rely on only one or two marketing strategies, but as many as possible. Use each one of these tips and you’ll be making multiple sales to repeat customers before you know it!

Five Marketing Tips to Make Your Product Launch a (Viral) Success

1. Perfection is a buzz-kill

Despite what your grade school teacher may have told you, perfection isn’t everything. In fact a working prototype is excuse enough to begin creating buzz for your product. All you need is an idea, a way to demonstrate it, and a good story about what problem your product solves for its customers. The minute you have these three elements, get your product online.

2. Pre-sell to jumpstart your flow

Don’t wait until you have the inventory to start taking sales. Create demand to “pull” your supply…and start your marketing and sales months before you get the inventory.

3. Grow your evangelist from the ground up

Begin to identify potential brand evangelists early on in the lifecycle of your product. Grow your beta users into power users by letting them know their opinion matters, and showing they have early impact. Seed review opportunities and survey customers to see who would be willing to be an evangelist or offer media testimonials down the road. No one tells your story better than your customers.

4. Give samples, reward early adopters

Once you are satisfied with your prototype or first version, consider that your first 100 should go to the leading bloggers and tweeters with followers in your target market. You probably won’t have your final inventory created when you do this. That is fine.

5. It takes a village; invest in your community

We’ve seen a lot of great products recently coming off Kickstarter.com. For sure, designers are using it to test market an idea to see if the idea gets traction. But, they are also building a small group of motivated and inspired people that are emotionally connected to the product. Think of it as kindling for your fire.

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