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Four Ways to Market Your Business in 2009

Written by: Bill Tamminga

Article Overview: Your success as a business owner or executive will be largely determined by how many high quality clients you can attract and retain. Following is a detailed discussion about how to use different sales and marketing techniques to draw attention to your business.

Four Ways to Market Your Business in 2009

Your success as a business owner or executive will be largely determined by how many high quality clients you can attract and retain. Following is a detailed discussion about how to use different sales and marketing techniques to draw attention to your business.

Seminars and Workshops

Seminars and workshops that offer quality information about your business, market, or industry, are becoming popular ways to build a client base. You can differentiate yourself by showing how clients how to use your services and how you fill a need that your competitors cannot. Do not be discouraged if your first seminars do not draw a crowd. If you find a systematic way to incorporate them into your marketing plan, people will show up over time.

Mailers

Some service business owners have done well marketing their businesses through direct mail. Others I have talked to aren't fans of it at all. If you are going to do it, make sure you take the time to do it well. Your mailer needs to be eye-catching and to-the-point. Here are some pointers on direct mail advertising.

Use a targeted list.
Set an objective. Do you want prospects to call for a free consultation? Do you want them to R.S.V.P. for your next seminar? What type of action do you want them to take?
Write a good headline. Try to strike an emotion (pain and fear are often used) from the start.
Include a specific call to action. "The first 10 callers will receive...". "Call (555) 555-5555 now for your free consultation." Those are the types of words you'll want to use.
Test your mailing before sending it out to thousands of prospects. A random sample of 500 postcards or letters should give you a good feel for how the market will respond to that particular mailing.
Several companies have samples of quality direct mail pieces on their website. Google "direct mail sample" and a list will come up.

Radio Shows and Podcasts

Several top service business owners create regular podcasts or even host their own radio show. If you want to see what one of the best in the business is doing, visit John Dvorak's site called crankygeeks.com, click on "Episodes" on the left-hand navigation bar, and download the podcasts. Podcasts can be a great alternative if you don't want to go through the process of starting your own show.

Write Articles

If starting a radio show or podcast isn't your cup of tea, maybe article writing is more for you. Local business journals or newspapers are almost always looking for expert writers on a regular basis. If those channels don't work, you can publish your articles at a number of online submission companies.

The key to all of these marketing strategies is to provide good information to a targeted group of people. You'll be wasting your time if you are marketing to people who cannot pay for your service or who will not use your service. To see how large your target market is, simply google "consumer demographics" or "direct mail target market" and you will find several companies that will provide this service for you. These companies should be able to tell you how large your target market is and other helpful information including where your prospects live by zip code, how much income they earn, and more. You can use this service as a tool to gauge how large your market is and, if you buy the list, you can use it to fill your pipeline with the right kind of leads.

Get a jump start on your marketing in 2009 by implementing at least one of these strategies into your business plan.

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Article Tags: business market, business owner, business owners, business seminars, direct mail advertising, free consultation, google, mail pieces, mailers, marketing plan, marketing techniques, pointers, prospects, quality clients, radio show, radio shows, random sample, sales and marketing, service business, systematic way



Related Forum Posts
Re: Ideas For Business - Stas and lucy, Could you guys give us a recap of your entire business idea as it stands now. Seems like it morped a bit. Let us know: 1. Start date 2. Ways you will Market 3. What you will offer 4. How much will your charge for your offer
Re: Ideas For Business - Hello Lucy, you may consider this list for Ideas for Business: (Top 23 list) Rank Company 1 Google 2 Genentech 3 Wegmans Food Markets 4 Container Store 5 Whole Foods Market 6 Network Appliance 7 S.C. Johnson & Son 8 Boston Consulting Grp. 9 Methodist Hospital Sys. 10 W.L. Gore & Associates 11 Cisco Systems 12 David Weekley Homes 13 Nugget Market 14 Qualcomm 15 American Century Invest. 16 Starbucks Coffee 17 Quicken Loans 18 Station Casinos 19 Alston & Bird 20 QuikTrip 21 Griffin Hospital 22 Valero Energy 23 Vision Service Plan
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: Moderators on vacation - I will be on vacation from Dec 23, 2008 - Jan 5, 2009 - See y'all in the New Year! Happy 2009 to All!!!
Re: How should i promote a new website? - ignore this message IF it's already been stated. I haven't had a chance to read all the replies and i have to jet from the office... I suggest marketing where ever your Target Market congregates. If it's a forum of concerned parents - go there. Strike up a deal with the forum owner (JV) and have him promote it to the list of members (Integration Marketing). If you want to go with Forums then i would partner with a parent who is a frequent poster/moderator on a particular Target Market Forum and have him/her add your link to their signature. That was just a thought but it's not as intense once you get buy in from the Forum owner or high ranked poster/moderator. Hope that sparks some new ideas.


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