Spend Your Marketing Dollars the Smart Way

These are really effective marketing tips from Prof. Saxton.

When I speak before business audience, I always tell them "Know your business, know your customer". Many business people really don't project the scope of their business and thus don't consider the target audience when they launch their product or campaign for services. If they accurately scope their target, they can rightly hit the market with effectively spending the money.

Another effective marketing is the "Words of mouth". Use your family, friends , business, community and professional network as much as possible. That is very important. Try to find out how other people describe you and your products. The most authentic marketing is the "Words of mouth" marketing. It also helps you create your brand. And you spend almost nothing for this kind of marketing.

If you can leverage the benefit of Internet, blogging is another very effective way of marketing your service and products to larger community at very minimal cost. You have full control over the content of the blog and its very interactive. You get quick feedback on your products and services, so that you can improve at next launch. I have seen many large companies are marketing their products running vertical blogs for each of their products.

Thank you Prof. Michael for putting forward the ideas of marketing the smart way.

Rajesh Shakya
http://www.rajeshshakya.com
Helping Technopreneurs to excel and lead their life!

If you start your business from the ground with people right now on the ground you can rich the biggest army of your clients for your future, your money wellbeing, no one come back to ground level for searches opportunities, it is to hard to smell it.

An idea that's not mentioned is "who you know" It's important that you build relationship within you local area that can do things to help promote your business. For example: There's always been the knowledge that each business owner needs a "core group" of Professionals. ie the CPA & Lawyer. I think there is a huge gap missing in the "core group." Because the marketing field is so broad; radio, tv, paper, etc. As a small business owner there is no one company to go to our search for that "silver bullet" that will help us push our business forward. In a lot of cases, any advertising done, we design. The local companies have the "sales team" but they don't know design or how the potential add can be affective. (thus usually we throw good money at an ineffective project) If anyone has a sollution for this or feels the same way I do, give me a "hell yeah." If Trump wants someone to head up a unique opportunity missing in the market place? Let me know. I see it.

Member1505482
Sharp! I have already contained my P. C. there is paper, ink, books, printer, scanner, fax, and more. I am already prepared to type some one's notes, letters, yes, and more again for no more than minimum wage. Hope I will be able to work and study my way up!

Recently I wrote a brief article on this very subject. I was responding to a person who was suggesting a high cost kick-off campaign was the only way to go for a new business venture. For most small business start-ups this drains immediately any form of marketing budget.

It's important to remember, when you plan your marketing budget and create your marketing campaign to do so in such a way that lets you create a business presence over the long haul.

In a recent survey, it was disclosed that 84% of corporate purchasers, just before it came time to writing the deal, went out and found the company they were going to do business with. Many of us think, we have to go to our prospective customers first. Truthfully, we do have to go to our customers, but we must also create a marketing presence that allows new customers the opportunity to find us easily. Never forget the benefits of positional marketing. Never forget, the time line needed to get there. Most important create a marketing plan and budget that will get you there. If you forget to plan, then you're flying blind!

James C. Tanner
www.silent-wonder.com
www.whats-he-like.com

James C. Tanner is a retired entrepreneur, a former Special Investigator, and a published writer.

Your points are well taken. Well placed and thought out marketing targeting the audience you want to reach sure beats spending money on time blindly sending out information. I sell promotional products and try to get my clients to think outside the box and use their limited resources to the maximum effectiveness. Just today I am encouraging people to market with power partners rather than send their information out by themselves. Use that network, build one if you don't have one. The power is in the process.
Colorado business owner www.thankem.com

All excellent ideas. Also, depending on your industry, there are companies on the internet who will deliver interested customers to you for a fee. Although they're not cheap, these customers have already expressed an interest in your product or service. You are not fishing or cold calling when you contact them.

These are some good tips, yes, but don't really address those of us running a virtual business. While some of my business can be gained through the traditional, local methods of networking and doing a few things about town, driving traffic to a website and doing Internet marketing is very tough.

One thing I'd like to suggest is building an email list. This is something that can be done by placing an Opt-in area on your website, so that people can sign up to receive specials or discounts. Once you have a mailing list, and keep building it, it's important to keep in contact with folks to let them know about deals, new products, or whatever info you'd like to pass on to them, to keep your company fresh in their mind and help promote your latest and greatest. This can be done very affordably via Vertical Response or Constant Contact, or any other newsletter/email campaign software.

I personally find the marketing aspect of the business to be the toughest without a huge budget. I have great ideas, but without a revenue stream yet, is tough to implement them.

For my business, which is an online classifieds website, traffic is the key to then being able to generate revenue stream from a Business Directory area. This has been a tough nut to crack without going broke. I've gone the gamut from flyers and Chamber of Commerce expos and t-shirt giveaways, to offering free listings and now have become the first classifieds site to pay users for listing with us. The Pay Per Listing program emerged because I found that the ROI was very small from my big cost marketing efforts, and I would rather spend my advertising dollars actually getting a listing.

Word of mouth is nice, but it doesn't always work,even from friends and family. Reward incentives don't even always work. I am getting ready to try a YouTube video, some contest ideas, and other guerilla marketing tactics that won't cost too much. Oh, and don't forget to get your Press Releases out there (I used clickpress.com and prweb.com), that's a great way to promote your business. Lastly, don't forget about using Forums and blogs...there are several blog sites that you can sponsor posts for. Check out www.payperpost.com for one.

Hope this helps someone else out there who's trying to make it on a small budget!

Best,

Melanie
www.listasaurus.com

Professor Sexton:
I agree there a vast amount of ways to improve your marketing strata. However, I have learned knowledge of marketing is not the only instrument an organizer may need to improve his production in sales and to improve his or her community where the organization is located.

Customer service, the ability to deliver your product with courtesy, information which demonstrates the goodness of the investment. I find a number of managers do not or can not communicate effectively with his or her clients.
Mr. Trump has started to sell rib eye steaks, however just because the Donald sells steaks its not enough for the public to consume his steaks; but the idea that he is a business mongul and has set his echlon in business with dinners included, this is what promotes Don's steaks.

The idea, of Donald Trump and his family sitting at the table with Micheal Sexton on t.v. discussing the nature of improving a town with the population of 12 citizens. This is what makes selling a talent. The entire package.

Do you recall back in the day a marketing mix and branding of Crazy Eddie his prices where so low he was going insane! consumers took this either way, which is probably why he has left the competition, but he was a little to over the top for some consumers.

The best low cost marketing tool to use is snowballing. Snowballing is the best because there is always the chance of a gossiper in the crowd, whom has to tell everything he or she has heard. The grapevine artist, the roseanna sammer dammer. These are the people you want to market your product.

I know the skepticism about he or she perceiving the product incorrectly, but consumers are smart he or she knows what to look for and for some reason consumers want to see an abnormality if this is how a loquacious person explains the product, the advertising or the branding.

I hope snowballing, grapeviner, and the roseananscamma dammer can increase sales and improve the neighborhood. Because that is the downside to the behavior it lowers the value of a community, but again all marketing stratas lower the value in some way it's a dichotomy of the informed snowballer and the non informed snowballer.

I hope this comment can be of some assistance to managment in orgs.

Ciao Bella
Barb
we are regular folks!
Bguster@aol.com

You're still look'n handsome as ever. That's the only reason I come to this site you know to look at all you smart, good looking men and beautiful women.

Don't worry, be happy when the price is right I'll let you put my ideas and opinions up there. The picture will cost you just a little bit extra though.

Yes, purchase your own supplies, own your own equipment, treat yourself once and a time. I really like the way Mr. Trump points his figure and say's Your Hired. Keep on Blogging
member 1505482

100 Marketing Weapons

These guerrilla marketing weapons should all be considered for promoting your product, service or website offline. Notice how more than half of them are free.
1. Marketing plan
2. Marketing calendar
3. Niche/positioning
4. Name of company
5. Identity
6. Logo
7. Theme
8. Stationery
9. Business card
10. Signs inside
11. Signs outside
12. Hours of operation
13. Days of operation
14. Window display
15. Flexibility
16. Word-of-mouth
17. Community involvement
18. Barter
19. Club/Association memberships
20. Partial payment plans
21. Cause-related marketing
22. Telephone demeanor
23. Toll free phone number
24. Free consultations
25. Free seminars and clinics
26. Free demonstrations
27. Free samples
28. Giver vs. taker stance
29. Fusion marketing
30. Marketing on telephone hold
31. Success stories
32. Employee attire
33. Service
34. Follow-up
35. Yourself and your employees
36. Gifts and ad specialties
37. Catalog
38. Yellow Pages ads
39. Column in a publication
40. Article in a publication
41. Speaker at any club
42. Newsletter
43. All your audiences
44. Benefits list
45. Computer
46. Selection
47. Contact time with customer
48. How you say hello/goodbye
49. Public relations
50. Media contacts
51. Neatness
52. Referral program
53. Sharing with peers
54. Guarantee
55. Telemarketing
56. Gift certificates
57. Brochures
58. Electronic brochures
59. Location
60. Advertising
61. Sales training
62. Networking
63. Quality
64. Reprints and blow-ups
65. Flipcharts
66. Opportunities to upgrade
67. Contests/sweepstakes
68. Online marketing
69. Classified advertising
70. Newspaper ads
71. Magazine ads
72. Radio spots
73. TV spots
74. Infomercials
75. Movie ads
76. Direct mail letters
77. Direct mail postcards
78. Postcard decks
79. Posters
80. Fax-on-demand
81. Special events
82.Show display
83. Audio-visual aids
84. Spare time
85. Prospect mailing lists
86. Research studies
87. Competitive advantages
88. Marketing insight
89. Speed
90. Testimonials
91. Reputation
92. Enthusiasm & passion
93. Credibility
94. Spying on yourself and others
95. Being easy to do business with
96. Brand name awareness
97. Designated guerrilla
98. Customer mailing list
99. Competitiveness
100. Satisfied customers
101. Cash

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