10 Cheap Ways to Create a Professional Impression with Your Small Business Marketing
10 Cheap Ways to Create a Professional Impression with Your Small Business Marketing
mine who’s struggling to get his first clients. He thinks he
keeps hitting the wall of not having a portfolio of writing
samples in hand. But really, he doesn’t need a big portfolio of
client work…He just needs to get his own marketing act together.
You see, he doesn’t even have a business card, let alone a Website or other
materials. So he is putting the cart before the horse (which
never gets you very far).
----------------------------------------------------------------
Marketing is all about perceptions…
----------------------------------------------------------------
Right now, because he has no marketing materials, the
perception is that he’s just sort of getting started.
On the surface there’s nothing wrong with that. Except that if
he doesn’t look like a competent professional no one is going
to take him seriously or give him their money. And why should they? With no business card or marketing materials, he looks like a beginner or hobbyist.
He needs marketing materials that convince people to hire him.
Otherwise nobody is going to pay him to write THEIR marketing
materials. On the other hand, if his own stuff seems top notch, most folks will never
even ask to see his portfolio.
Seems painfully obvious, right?
----------------------------------------------------------------
So, what’s this got to do with you?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Whether you are launching a business, event or a new product,
you have to give the impression you know what you’re doing
from the get-go. Otherwise no one is going to spend their
hard-earned dollars with you.
It doesn’t work to just test the waters with a few
homemade-looking fliers and free Vista Print business cards
(or worse, no cards at all).
The Internet has created tons more competition in any field
than there was just 5 years ago. So you’ve got to have your
marketing ducks in a row before you try to sell a thing.
Otherwise someone out there is sure to be making a better
impression than you.
Thankfully, creating a top-notch impression with your marketing doesn’t have to
cost an arm and a leg. Just use my...
----------------------------------------------------------------
10 Cheap Ways to Create a Professional Marketing Impression
----------------------------------------------------------------
1) Having a fancy graphic logo is often overrated and
expensive. But you should have a unique look to your business
name. Try looking at other company’s logos (not your
competitors) for a font that gives the right impression. Then
search the Internet for something similar and download it to
your computer.
2) Design a nice business card and have it professionally
printed. Not sure how to design one? Look at a bunch of other
people’s cards for ideas on layout or use a Publisher template.
You can now get 500 cards digitally printed for just $29.99. If
you aren’t serious enough about your business to at least do
this, you have a long, uphill road ahead of you.
3) Buy a domain name and hosting at godaddycom for about
$50 a year. Then put up at least a single page Website with
your products or services and contact info. Unless you market
to senior citizens, this is a must.
4) Have your email connected to your domain name so it reads
you@yourdomainnamecom. This makes you look professional and
drives people to your Website.
5) Create your own letterhead with your spiffy new business
name and contact info. Then just add it to your documents
in Microsoft Word and print as needed. And don’t pay for expensive envelope printing. Grab a pack of blank return address labels and print them out at home as
needed. Most Avery label templates are already in Microsoft
Word or can be downloaded from the Web.
6) Skip the spendy brochure. One-sheets (IE fancy fliers),
articles, and tips sheets are easy to create on letterhead or
with your logo at the top, and add credibility. Then just print
them up at home. Or turn them into downloads you can offer from your Website.
7) Get yourself online. Social networks offer an easy and inexpensive way to market your business, increase credibility and drive traffic to your Website. Pick a few like LinkedIn, Biznik, or ones that cater to your target market and set up a profile. Then be sure to include a link back to your Website.
8) Make it easy for people to get in touch. Always include your
phone number, email, and Web address on all your marketing
materials—especially business cards. And use either a cell
phone or get an extra phone line at home (often no charge) so
the impression is professional when they call.
9) No graphic design ability? Find someone else who does.
elancecom can be a source of cheap labor. Or, hire a
college student. If you have no other choice, use the templates
in Publisher or Front Page.
10) This should go without saying, but always, always, always
dress the part. If you want people to pay you big bucks, you
better look like you’re already making it. Marshall’s, Ross,
and Macy’s sales are terrific places to pick up designer brands
on the cheap.
Remember, giving people the right impression from the get-go is
critical to making them feel confident in hiring—or buying from—
you. If you look like an experienced professional, you’ll be
treated like one—and that means more clients and sales for you!
10 Cheap Ways to Create a Professional Impression with Your Small Business Marketing - To learn more about this author, visit Stacy Karacostas's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
I was recently talking with an aspiring copywriter friend of
mine who’s struggling to get his first clients. He thinks he
keeps hitting the wall of not having a portfolio of writing
samples in hand. But really, he doesn’t need a big portfolio of
client work…He just needs to get his own marketing act together.
You see, he doesn’t even have a business card, let alone a Website or other
materials. So he is putting the cart before the horse (which
never gets you very far).
----------------------------------------------------------------
Marketing is all about perceptions…
----------------------------------------------------------------
Right now, because he has no marketing materials, the
perception is that he’s just sort of getting started.
On the surface there’s nothing wrong with that. Except that if
he doesn’t look like a competent professional no one is going
to take him seriously or give him their money. And why should they? With no business card or marketing materials, he looks like a beginner or hobbyist.
He needs marketing materials that convince people to hire him.
Otherwise nobody is going to pay him to write THEIR marketing
materials. On the other hand, if his own stuff seems top notch, most folks will never
even ask to see his portfolio.
Seems painfully obvious, right?
----------------------------------------------------------------
So, what’s this got to do with you?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Whether you are launching a business, event or a new product,
you have to give the impression you know what you’re doing
from the get-go. Otherwise no one is going to spend their
hard-earned dollars with you.
It doesn’t work to just test the waters with a few
homemade-looking fliers and free Vista Print business cards
(or worse, no cards at all).
The Internet has created tons more competition in any field
than there was just 5 years ago. So you’ve got to have your
marketing ducks in a row before you try to sell a thing.
Otherwise someone out there is sure to be making a better
impression than you.
Thankfully, creating a top-notch impression with your marketing doesn’t have to
cost an arm and a leg. Just use my...
----------------------------------------------------------------
10 Cheap Ways to Create a Professional Marketing Impression
----------------------------------------------------------------
1) Having a fancy graphic logo is often overrated and
expensive. But you should have a unique look to your business
name. Try looking at other company’s logos (not your
competitors) for a font that gives the right impression. Then
search the Internet for something similar and download it to
your computer.
2) Design a nice business card and have it professionally
printed. Not sure how to design one? Look at a bunch of other
people’s cards for ideas on layout or use a Publisher template.
You can now get 500 cards digitally printed for just $29.99. If
you aren’t serious enough about your business to at least do
this, you have a long, uphill road ahead of you.
3) Buy a domain name and hosting at godaddycom for about
$50 a year. Then put up at least a single page Website with
your products or services and contact info. Unless you market
to senior citizens, this is a must.
4) Have your email connected to your domain name so it reads
you@yourdomainnamecom. This makes you look professional and
drives people to your Website.
5) Create your own letterhead with your spiffy new business
name and contact info. Then just add it to your documents
in Microsoft Word and print as needed. And don’t pay for expensive envelope printing. Grab a pack of blank return address labels and print them out at home as
needed. Most Avery label templates are already in Microsoft
Word or can be downloaded from the Web.
6) Skip the spendy brochure. One-sheets (IE fancy fliers),
articles, and tips sheets are easy to create on letterhead or
with your logo at the top, and add credibility. Then just print
them up at home. Or turn them into downloads you can offer from your Website.
7) Get yourself online. Social networks offer an easy and inexpensive way to market your business, increase credibility and drive traffic to your Website. Pick a few like LinkedIn, Biznik, or ones that cater to your target market and set up a profile. Then be sure to include a link back to your Website.
8) Make it easy for people to get in touch. Always include your
phone number, email, and Web address on all your marketing
materials—especially business cards. And use either a cell
phone or get an extra phone line at home (often no charge) so
the impression is professional when they call.
9) No graphic design ability? Find someone else who does.
elancecom can be a source of cheap labor. Or, hire a
college student. If you have no other choice, use the templates
in Publisher or Front Page.
10) This should go without saying, but always, always, always
dress the part. If you want people to pay you big bucks, you
better look like you’re already making it. Marshall’s, Ross,
and Macy’s sales are terrific places to pick up designer brands
on the cheap.
Remember, giving people the right impression from the get-go is
critical to making them feel confident in hiring—or buying from—
you. If you look like an experienced professional, you’ll be
treated like one—and that means more clients and sales for you!
10 Cheap Ways to Create a Professional Impression with Your Small Business Marketing - To learn more about this author, visit Stacy Karacostas's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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