Even among the high gas prices and failed mortgages of the economy, it is still a viable time to start a small business. One of the first tasks to take care of when starting a small business is to create a marketing plan. Here are the basics needed in a marketing plan for new entrepreneurs: A core message A great logo and brand A Web site Business cards Exposure First, you need to decide what your core message will be. If you don't focus your message about your product, service or business, your customers will most likely be confused by your marketing materials. There's no way you can get a clear message across if you don't even know what that message is. Part of knowing your core message is knowing your audience. Who are they? Where do they live? How much money do they make? And most importantly, what do they want? Why do they need your product? Your message needs to serve your customers' needs, not yours. Your business' survival depends on your customers' opinions and knowledge of your business, not yours. You also need to create a great, memorable logo and brand next. Your logo should show your business' personality. When people take one glance at your logo, they should know what you are about and remember you. Your logo is part of your brand. A brand is not only your logo and it's not only your advertising. It's the combination of all your marketing materials, including these two elements, that creates a relationship with your customers. To be successful today, you need to create a Web site. You need to plan for at least a basic Web site that shows a few of your products, and the benefits of your products. You should explain who you (as a business) are, what your business does and how your business can help your customers. You can add more functionality to your Web site as your business grows - like answering questions and ordering online. Print some business cards. Be sure to leave room in your budget for business card printing. Even though a lot of marketing and advertising is done online, if you don't have a business card, you'll look unprofessional. You should print at least 500 at first and give them out to everyone you know. Give out a few to friends and family, and really anyone you think might pass them along to other potential customers. Finally, you need some exposure. Contact your local media - many newspapers and local magazines like to profile new businesses and it's a great way to get free advertising. You should also advertise in local media and hang up flyers and posters around your community. This can be done relatively cheaply - many places like libraries and grocery stores have bulletin boards on which you can hang advertising materials. These are great for the beginning entrepreneur who might not have a huge marketing budget. Also, word-of-mouth marketing works wonders for a new business - ask for referrals and ask your current customers to tout your benefits to others. Many times word of mouth works better than most of your other marketing techniques! |
Social Networks For Business: Join or Build?
Setting of a mild firestorm, Forrester Research analyst Jeremiah Owyang posed an important question on his blog recently: Should brands Join or Build their own Social Networks?
It's an odd concept for a brand to *join* a social network, and several observers took Owyang to task for it, including popular blogger Doc Searls:
the notion of “brands” either “building” or “joining” social networks strikes me as inherently promotional in either case, and therefore compromised as a “social” effort. Speaking personally, I wouldn’t join a social network any brand built, and I wouldn’t want any brand trying to join one I built. But that’s just me. Your socializing may vary.At the same time, social networks like Facebook have built entire programs around the idea of "brands" building their own Facebook pages in order to participate in the social network process.
And beyond that, a slew of vendors, including Ning, Flux, Me.com, Crowdvine, People Aggregator and others provide tools for companies to very easily build their own social networks (much like companies have built their own online forums or blogs today).
Exactly how businesses -- including your small business -- fit into the social network universe will be an important trend to watch in 2008.
Here are nine tips that will help your network attract visitors—and keep them coming back:
1. Become more respected in your field every week. Appear in blogs and forums specific to your industry every week. Revisit your comments to see if anyone has replied to you, seeking clarification.
2. Submit one article a week for publication elsewhere. Strive to develop one-on-one relationships with other publishers. Ensure that you are renowned for writing quality oriented, informed articles, and that you're available for further comment and interaction.
3. Add a minimum of two new articles to your website every week. Don't just stick up your new site and then say, "Well, I'm glad that's done. All I have to do is promote it now." Search engines love a flow of continually new, relevant and informed content.
4. Keep your visitors. After you've worked hard at attracting visitors to your site, you need to ensure that you keep them. Use RSS, email newsletters, podcasts and other forms of visitor retention. Just because somebody isn't a customer now doesn't mean that they won't be in the future.
5. Write press releases. Once a month you should be writing an article that is so good or stocking a new product that is so impressive you have to tell the world about it. This will keep you at the forefront of your industry.
1. Become more respected in your field every week. Appear in blogs and forums specific to your industry every week. Revisit your comments to see if anyone has replied to you, seeking clarification.
2. Submit one article a week for publication elsewhere. Strive to develop one-on-one relationships with other publishers. Ensure that you are renowned for writing quality oriented, informed articles, and that you're available for further comment and interaction.
3. Add a minimum of two new articles to your website every week. Don't just stick up your new site and then say, "Well, I'm glad that's done. All I have to do is promote it now." Search engines love a flow of continually new, relevant and informed content.
4. Keep your visitors. After you've worked hard at attracting visitors to your site, you need to ensure that you keep them. Use RSS, email newsletters, podcasts and other forms of visitor retention. Just because somebody isn't a customer now doesn't mean that they won't be in the future.
5. Write press releases. Once a month you should be writing an article that is so good or stocking a new product that is so impressive you have to tell the world about it. This will keep you at the forefront of your industry.
Are Blogs A Meaningful Tool For Startups and Small Businesses?
Blogs are a remarkably cost-efficient way to get high search engine rankings-in other words, to get found. Every blog post has its own URL, making it in effect its own unique Web page. Add several new entries to your blog a week and you are creating the fresh content that search engines love. Keep blogging, say interesting, relevant stuff and you'll get found.
Secondly, as a small business owner or entrepreneur you'll probably be writing the blog yourself. Use this as a chance to make yourself stand out. Your blog reveals how you think, what you're an expert in, what kind of person you are. People buy from people. And often from people they like.
Here's a great example: JD Iles is the proprietor of a small sign shop in Lincoln, New Hampshire. He blogs almost every day at Signs Never Sleep. He includes marvelous photos of the signs he makes, along with informal patter about what's going on his shop or the weather or camping trips with his young family. His customers love it. And prospective buyers can easily search through his online archive of signs on the blog.
Oh, one more thing. Yes, there's some work involved. It takes time to write an entertaining or thoughtful blog post. But it may be time well spent if your advertising and marketing budget is small or nonexistent."
--Debbie Weil , The Corporate Blogging Book
OK…You’re reading this on a blog – so you already know what they are and how cool they are to tap into for great content. But what can they do for your business… in other words, must poor overwhelmed you really take on ANOTHER commitment every week?
Yep! If you want to attract media, increase sales and build steam. Here’s why:
1. Blogs are a key media attraction tool. A recent study reported that 73% of major media players now use blogs in their work. Specifically, reporters from big publications like Wired and The Wall Street Journal spend several hours every day reading blogs to find experts, track trends, and get ideas for stories.
2.You can build great customer relationship with blogs. My regular website’s conversion rate hovers around 2-3%. But my blog’s conversion rate shoots up between 5% and 10%. Why? Because I’m talking to these folks all the time – I’ve enrolled consulting clients, and sold very expensive products off of my blog with little or no advertising present. Simply because I’m there, I’m talking, and they’re listening.
3. Blogs give you a chance to stay current with your updates. Keeping people in the loop with frequent posts about your business, what you’re thinking, and where you’re heading creates buzz. It’s that simple.
4. Your readers can answer back … and ask. Here’s a great forum for finding out what they’re thinking – and modify what you’re doing in response. This really is a whole new marketing model that’s forming as we speak … but it works.
5. Google, Yahoo and all those other robots and spiders can find you. Indexing a blog is easier than a flat site. So your chance of getting a boost in your Search Engine rank is very high. It took me one year to get a respectable Google Page Rank (from the Google Toolbar) of 4 on one of my sites; the blog took less than three months to get a 4. That’s powerful!
--Suzanne Falter-Barns , Get Known Now ; BLOG: Painless Self Promotion
Where once companies controlled most marketing messages through mass media channels, consumers are now developing their own consumer-generated media online.
A majority of buyers, consumers or B2B buyers, use search engines as a starting point for their purchasing search process. And in the majority of cases, customers will click on the organic section of a search engine like Google to find a product. The best way to get a high ranking in search engines is to develop a lot of relevant content, have other sites with related content link to your site, and make sure your site is accessible for indexing by search engines.
Blogs help companies achieve all three factors to gain high rankings on search engines. Those rankings translate into leads and sales.
Any start-up or small business can easily establish themselves on the web with a blog, by generating a lot of content, and also getting links to their site without having to beg from a Webmaster. Blogs therefore perform a dual purpose; they give any company, especially start-ups and small businesses, the opportunity to establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry, that position translates into more links and higher rankings.
--John Cass , Backbone Media
How emphatically can I say YES!? We are only beginning to harness the powerful marketing capacity of blogs for growing businesses. If you are an independent professional, a solo-preneur, or small business owner, you are now able to play in a larger arena on the World Wide Web.
Blogs are truly leveling the playing field for all businesses, no matter the size. You can now have a loud voice on the Web, not one based on capital or numbers, but one based on quality of content, targeted communities, and valuable resources and services.
A blog is a valuable way to communicate with potential clients and to create credibility, trust and relationships with readers who are interested in your services or products. No matter what business you are in, letting people know about your expertise, what you can do for them, and who you are is essential for attracting new clients. There is no better medium for doing this than a blog.
Blogs are ideal communication vehicles for creating good customer relationships. Your readers will feel they know you, long before they pick up the phone to call you for services. And, your sales lead time can be considerably shorter. After all, they are writing to you, or calling you, not the other way around. But in order for this to happen, your blog must look professional and reflect your business, your knowledge and your personality.
It boils down to this: if you are in the business of helping people or organizations through the services or products you provide, you need to communicate who you are and what you can do for your potential clients (your readers). You've got to find a way to let people know you. Demonstrating your expertise through a blog and addressing the needs and concerns of your prospects will attract them to become your clients. I guarantee it.
--Denise Wakeman , Build a Better Blog
Blogs are a meaningful tool for small businesses and will grow in their importance in the next few years. They work as an effective mechanism to inform and create relationships with online readers. They also are a way for business owners to easily create online content and make a website more search-engine friendly.
To be effective, a blog has to be updated on an ongoing basis. Most people don't visit blogs that aren't regularly featuring new content. Therefore, if a small business owner (or one of their staff) wants a blog to be an effective part of their marketing efforts, they must make a commitment to update it on a regular basis. As with any component of a business marketing strategy, the blog must also have information that appeals to a specific target audience.
Blogs can be used for product updates, company news, and any other type of information companies want to get in front of their audience. The blog content can be used to drive people to specific offers. It can also be a great tool to get feedback from customers in the "Comments" section. However, a blog must contain helpful information and tips - not just sales promotions; otherwise people are much less likely to return repeatedly. Blogs are a relatively new phenomena and we are all still experimenting with their parameters.
My vote for small business owners: if you like to write and you are willing to make the time...then add a blog to your marketing bag of tricks.
--Wendy Maynard Kinetic Ideas
A majority of buyers, consumers or B2B buyers, use search engines as a starting point for their purchasing search process. And in the majority of cases, customers will click on the organic section of a search engine like Google to find a product. The best way to get a high ranking in search engines is to develop a lot of relevant content, have other sites with related content link to your site, and make sure your site is accessible for indexing by search engines.
Blogs help companies achieve all three factors to gain high rankings on search engines. Those rankings translate into leads and sales.
Any start-up or small business can easily establish themselves on the web with a blog, by generating a lot of content, and also getting links to their site without having to beg from a Webmaster. Blogs therefore perform a dual purpose; they give any company, especially start-ups and small businesses, the opportunity to establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry, that position translates into more links and higher rankings.
--John Cass , Backbone Media
How emphatically can I say YES!? We are only beginning to harness the powerful marketing capacity of blogs for growing businesses. If you are an independent professional, a solo-preneur, or small business owner, you are now able to play in a larger arena on the World Wide Web.
Blogs are truly leveling the playing field for all businesses, no matter the size. You can now have a loud voice on the Web, not one based on capital or numbers, but one based on quality of content, targeted communities, and valuable resources and services.
A blog is a valuable way to communicate with potential clients and to create credibility, trust and relationships with readers who are interested in your services or products. No matter what business you are in, letting people know about your expertise, what you can do for them, and who you are is essential for attracting new clients. There is no better medium for doing this than a blog.
Blogs are ideal communication vehicles for creating good customer relationships. Your readers will feel they know you, long before they pick up the phone to call you for services. And, your sales lead time can be considerably shorter. After all, they are writing to you, or calling you, not the other way around. But in order for this to happen, your blog must look professional and reflect your business, your knowledge and your personality.
It boils down to this: if you are in the business of helping people or organizations through the services or products you provide, you need to communicate who you are and what you can do for your potential clients (your readers). You've got to find a way to let people know you. Demonstrating your expertise through a blog and addressing the needs and concerns of your prospects will attract them to become your clients. I guarantee it.
--Denise Wakeman , Build a Better Blog
Blogs are a meaningful tool for small businesses and will grow in their importance in the next few years. They work as an effective mechanism to inform and create relationships with online readers. They also are a way for business owners to easily create online content and make a website more search-engine friendly.
To be effective, a blog has to be updated on an ongoing basis. Most people don't visit blogs that aren't regularly featuring new content. Therefore, if a small business owner (or one of their staff) wants a blog to be an effective part of their marketing efforts, they must make a commitment to update it on a regular basis. As with any component of a business marketing strategy, the blog must also have information that appeals to a specific target audience.
Blogs can be used for product updates, company news, and any other type of information companies want to get in front of their audience. The blog content can be used to drive people to specific offers. It can also be a great tool to get feedback from customers in the "Comments" section. However, a blog must contain helpful information and tips - not just sales promotions; otherwise people are much less likely to return repeatedly. Blogs are a relatively new phenomena and we are all still experimenting with their parameters.
My vote for small business owners: if you like to write and you are willing to make the time...then add a blog to your marketing bag of tricks.
--Wendy Maynard Kinetic Ideas
The Key to affiliate marketing success: Recurring Revenue Services
Why Affiliate Marketing is Important
Affiliate marketing started in 1998. The premise was very simple: there are e-commerce Websites that need visitors through various channels. Other Websites are a possible channel for making sales but you are only going to put a link on your Website if you earn a commission.
If you have affiliate links on your Website and a prospective buyer clicks one and buys, then you get a commission. The e-commerce site links the sale to the link on your Website through a unique offer code that is embedded in your link.
There are basically two kinds of products and services out there: those that customers have to re-purchase (e.g., books) and those that provide recurring revenue. A couple of examples of recurring revenue services are Web hosting and email marketing services. The thing that recurring revenue services have in common is that the customer does not, barring a problem with the service, make the buying decision over-and-over again each time they need the service. If they are happy with the service, they keep paying for it every single month.
Why is Recurring Revenue Better for Affiliate Marketers?
With a monthly recurring revenue service, you sell a customer the service once and they pay every month until they cancel the service. If you are part of good affiliate programs with companies that sell high-quality recurring revenue services, you can earn commission from that customer's buying decision for months or even years after the initial sale. As you bring in more business through your affiliate link, your monthly commissions grow. Over time the recurring commission can add up to a significant income stream.
If you are an affiliate for a Web site that sells a product like books, you get a commission every time someone clicks on your Website and buys a book from the company for which you are an affiliate. The problem is that you have to rely on people coming every month to buy books through your link and you have little opportunity to earn monthly, recurring revenue from the same customers. You have to rely on making a lot of sales through your affiliate link every month to keep the income flowing.
Affiliate marketing started in 1998. The premise was very simple: there are e-commerce Websites that need visitors through various channels. Other Websites are a possible channel for making sales but you are only going to put a link on your Website if you earn a commission.
If you have affiliate links on your Website and a prospective buyer clicks one and buys, then you get a commission. The e-commerce site links the sale to the link on your Website through a unique offer code that is embedded in your link.
There are basically two kinds of products and services out there: those that customers have to re-purchase (e.g., books) and those that provide recurring revenue. A couple of examples of recurring revenue services are Web hosting and email marketing services. The thing that recurring revenue services have in common is that the customer does not, barring a problem with the service, make the buying decision over-and-over again each time they need the service. If they are happy with the service, they keep paying for it every single month.
Why is Recurring Revenue Better for Affiliate Marketers?
With a monthly recurring revenue service, you sell a customer the service once and they pay every month until they cancel the service. If you are part of good affiliate programs with companies that sell high-quality recurring revenue services, you can earn commission from that customer's buying decision for months or even years after the initial sale. As you bring in more business through your affiliate link, your monthly commissions grow. Over time the recurring commission can add up to a significant income stream.
If you are an affiliate for a Web site that sells a product like books, you get a commission every time someone clicks on your Website and buys a book from the company for which you are an affiliate. The problem is that you have to rely on people coming every month to buy books through your link and you have little opportunity to earn monthly, recurring revenue from the same customers. You have to rely on making a lot of sales through your affiliate link every month to keep the income flowing.
Use and Promote the Services
There is a saying in business that you should always use your own product or service. Someone who works at Ford probably does not drive into the parking lot at work in a Toyota and vice-a-versa. Using your own product or service is a vote of confidence. The same logic applies to those services for which you are an affiliate. Using the services you promote through your affiliate links is both a vote of confidence in the services and can provide powerful outlets to promote the product. This is especially true if the service you are promoting is a marketing service.
For example, if you are an affiliate of an Email Service Provider (ESP) you could actively use the service for your own email marketing needs, and include a link at the bottom of every email you send out promoting the service through your affiliate link. If one of your subscribers gets an attractive email newsletter or promotion they may be compelled to click on the affiliate link and sign up for the service. Those purchases can add greatly to your recurring revenue stream.
There is a saying in business that you should always use your own product or service. Someone who works at Ford probably does not drive into the parking lot at work in a Toyota and vice-a-versa. Using your own product or service is a vote of confidence. The same logic applies to those services for which you are an affiliate. Using the services you promote through your affiliate links is both a vote of confidence in the services and can provide powerful outlets to promote the product. This is especially true if the service you are promoting is a marketing service.
For example, if you are an affiliate of an Email Service Provider (ESP) you could actively use the service for your own email marketing needs, and include a link at the bottom of every email you send out promoting the service through your affiliate link. If one of your subscribers gets an attractive email newsletter or promotion they may be compelled to click on the affiliate link and sign up for the service. Those purchases can add greatly to your recurring revenue stream.
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