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What Are the Best Marketing Tactics for Growing Your Small Business?

What Are the Best Marketing Tactics for Growing Your Small Business?

Lately, it seems most entrepreneurs are looking for a marketing “silver bullet” that’s going to take their sales—and their business—through the roof. And plenty of folks are willing to sell you one.

Unfortunately, there’s a fatal flaw with always thinking about your marketing in terms of tactics, and trying this one or that one…

You are totally relying on luck of the draw!

It’s like stuffing quarters in a slot machine and pulling the handle over and over, hoping this time you’ll get some money out of it. Sadly, customers aren’t likely to come pouring out of the bottom of a one-shot tactic while bells ring and orange lights flash.

Besides, running a business is nothing like playing slots. And you simply can’t afford to rely on lady luck.

Instead you need a specific plan and strategies for taking your business from where it is today, to where you want it to be tomorrow. And you need to be able to track results. That way you can continue to improve on your marketing efforts down the road.

Otherwise, at best, you end up doing twice as much work for half the reward. At worst, your business limps along or grows too slowly for you to achieve your personal, financial and business goals (Remember those? You did have some when you started your business, right?).

The bottom line is…

The best marketing tactics in the world aren’t going to do diddley-squat to grow your business unless they are part of a bigger strategy.

To make an impact you need every piece of marketing you do to work together strategically to create what I call “Critical Marketing Mass”.

This is the point where your ideal customers see or hear your name and core message so often, your marketing takes on a life of its own. Soon half the people you meet have already heard of you. And those that haven’t quickly understand who you are, what you do, and why they should buy from you instead of the competition.

Sounds great, right? Then clearly you’re ready to quit pulling the handle and throwing away money on different marketing and advertising tactics, hoping something brings in customers.

That means it’s time to do a little planning.

What you really need to know before you choose any marketing tactics

In order to choose the best marketing tactics for your business, you have to carefully consider: your target market, your business and sales goals, your brand, market position and USP (that’s Unique Selling Proposition, or the reason they should buy from you instead of the other guy), your strengths & skills, and your available budget versus the potential return on investment.

This sounds like a tall order, but if you’ve already got a marketing or business plan, you should know a lot of these details. And if you don’t, there’s no time like the present to start.

Once you have the details down, it’s just a matter of doing your due diligence to make sure your marketing is going to make the right impression (reinforce your brand) on the right people (your ideal customer).

And then doing some basic calculations to make sure the tactic you choose is likely to make you more than it costs.

Of course, even the best marketing strategies and tactics won’t grow your business if they aren’t written write. So don’t make the costly mistake of thinking you can just sit down and write a money-making ad, sales letter, Website, or anything else.

You either need to learn the art copywriting yourself, or hire a proven sales copywriter to do the job for you. Only then can you feel confident that the odds of success, and sales, are in your favor.


©2002-2007 SuccessStream. All Rights Reserved.





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Dave Kurlan
Dave 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

John Alexander
John has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center.
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John Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website

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She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

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Cheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur.  Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well.  A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles.  She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide-  to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being.  Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com

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Stacy Karacostas
(Visit Stacy's Website) Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas—author of the 2-page marketing plan workbook “Putting Your Business on the Road to Success”, and “The Small Business Website Bible”—specializes in taking the stress, struggle and confusion out of growing your small business. For more down-to-earth, business-building wisdom grab a copy of her free report “The 7 Deadliest Small Business Marketing Sins…Are You Guilty?” at http://www.7deadliestsins.com.

Stacy Karacostas is a Platinum author on EvanCarmichael.com
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