| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Top 7 Tips for New Businesses
The marketing decisions you make for your new business are the most important part of making your business a success. Marketing is about building a strong presence, name recognition and credibility through various methods. Here are 7 things you can do to get a new business off the ground. All of the time and money you invest in getting your business off the ground is wasted if you don't make the additional efforts and expenditures to market effectively. Marketing is the process and procedures that get your name out to the public. Your advertising is only a part of marketing. You should have a plan for at least the first year of operations on a monthly basis. With a new business, your marketing is about building a presence, name recognition, status and reputation through a variety methods. 1. Have a Written Business Plan: Having your business plan in order allows you to see a very clear path to where you want your business to go. There are many resources available on the internet to guide you in this process, but basically, your business plan should include: Business Description, Key Initiatives and Objectives, Marketing Strategy and Budget, Business Overview, Location and Facilities, Description of Products and Services, Industry Overview & Outlook, Regulatory Issues Related to Your Industry, Implementation Plan and a Financial Plan. 2. Begin Your Business Branding Immediately: Have business cards, a logo, letterhead, brochure, signage and collateral materials professionally designed and printed. It will be worth the investment as your first steps towards building your business's image. Steer clear of "do it yourself" products that can be found in most office supply stores. Although it may seem cost effective for a new business, the real cost comes in the toll it will take on your company's image. For more advice on Business Branding go to: http://maremaxconsulting.com/brandingtips.html 3. Get a Business Website. In today's marketplace, a business without a website is like a house without a front door. If you don't have one, you're missing out on a very big opportunity to drive business directly to you. Have your website professionally written and designed. Make sure it is an extension of your advertising and print materials. Your branding has to extend and flourish on your home page. Prospective clients should be able to utilize your site for more information than what is already available to them through your brochure, print ads, and other collateral materials. Update your website often and give people a reason to return again and again. 4. Advertise with Consistency. One of the most powerful keys to successful advertising is frequency. A smaller ad that you run 10 times will generate much more presence that an ad 10 times the size you can only afford to run once. Start with local or regional newspapers or magazines, and set up an ongoing plan that will allow you to build your presence. Your advertising message has to speak to the consumer's needs and most importantly give them a solid reason to call you. But, more importantly, the message needs to in front of them on a regular, consistent basis. Always be sure to use your web address in all of your advertising. 5. Get Your Business Publicized: ? Send a press release to all local newspapers and magazines in your area announcing the opening of your new business, plans for Grand Opening, and services offered. Keep your press releases short, double-spaced, and error free. ? Write letters to the editor and/or send out press releases on a consistent basis that include a professional photo that is captioned (readers are much more likely to view a photo if there is a caption to read). If you, as a business owner, do something new, such as receive an award, appoint someone in your business to a new position, join a board or professional organization or offer your services to a non-profit organization, be sure to get all the mileage you can out of it by using it as a tool to communicate with the press. If you can plan your marketing budget to include a few professionally written and placed press releases, especially in the beginning, all the better. ? Also consider writing and submitting articles to editors of related business journals and local publications. They are often looking for articles from local businesses. You'll get your name print, as a credible source, which has a lot more standing than any ad you can purchase in the same publication. 6. Network - Network - Network! Face-to-face networking is one of your best sources of advertising. Be sure to take advantage of every connection opportunity you can. Getting involved will get your business name out there. Become a member of the Chamber of Commerce and be an active participant. Joining a committee, going to meetings, networking breakfasts, and special events extends the opportunities to interact with prospective clients. Volunteer to join a local arts council, charity board, or school board. You're not only servicing your community, you're putting yourself and your business out in front of the public. 7. Assess and Redirect Along the Way. Just because you have a written business plan doesn't mean you should shut your eyes to anything but what you have written. After several months of being fully operational, if you find your business is taking off in one area more then another, you may have stumbled onto a genuine need that wasn't being filled. Go with it! Assess and redirect. If you find your newspaper advertising is pulling more than your direct mail campaign it may be time to adjust the advertising budget. First, be very sure you're not being too quick to judge. Some areas of business take longer to cultivate than others. Just as some advertising will adjust according to season, campaign, and frequency. Mary Ellen Martelli is President of MareMax Consulting, a full service Advertising, Marketing & Website Consulting firm, located in Southern New Jersey. You can reach her at her website: http://maremaxconsulting.com/
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Marketing and Advertising Techniques of Super Bowl Advertisers Each year, advertisers with super sized budgets sink millions of dollars into Super Bowl advertising. While most of us do not have a large enough budget to advertise on the Super Bowl, the commercials -- both past and present -- demonstrate several marketing techniques we can apply elsewhere. How to Discover your Primary Market and Where to Find Them Whether you market online or offline, you already know the shot-gun approach to marketing brings few results. You will sell more products and services when you step back and set up a strategy to reach your targeted market. What to Look for in Display Graphics and Trade Show Graphics Display graphics are graphic images used for illustration or "display" purposes. Display Graphics are usually printed on paper, vinyl or fabric using a "large format" printing device. Time for Marketers to Clean Up Their Act! Some years ago, a prominent Australian hi-tech company launched a product called Maestro that bundles community-building features like chat rooms, file sharing and instant messaging into one application. The company envisaged smaller Internet service providers (ISP's) as their main target market for the software. How to Brief a Marketing Agency A new client recently emailed us a brief here at Mano Design. It was very brief brief indeed. Direct Mail Personalization A colleague who does work for a nonprofit organization contacted me asking if I could do research on the success rate of personalized direct mail letters (Dear Joe) versus generically addressed letters (Dear Friend). Surprisingly, I didn't find as many statistics as expected, but I found information stating that personalized letters outperform generic letters. 10 Simple Ways to Boost Your Sales IMMIDIATELY! Alright you've got yourself a nice website with a great design and a good steady traffic coming in.. Developing a Contact List- Part One One of the most essential things to successful networking is your Contact List. When you start a business, developing one is the first step in promoting and marketing your company. Trade Show Promotions That Are Memorable If you have been to expos and trade shows as an attendee like me you would be familiar with the exciting prospect of carrying home a heavy plastic bag of trade show promotions, the end result though is usually the trade show promotions end up down the back of the couch, on the floor or in the bottom dusty drawer of your desk, hopefully reading this article on tradeshow promotions, your gift to clients and prospects will not share the same fate.Your tradeshow promotions will need to be carefully chosen to both compete with your competitors and retain the attention of the reciever after the event. Misrepresentation - Through Silence! We're back to the subject of ethics, more specifically, business ethics.But unlike ethical dilemmas we've discussed in the past - when people are confronted with bizarre, freak circumstances they had never planned for, and then face agonizing choices regarding how to react - I'm now talking about cases where people willfully and proactively steer events in a certain direction. Hermey Wants To Be A Dentist December marked the 40th anniversary of the original broadcast of the classic "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer"©, network television's longest-running, highest-rated holiday special. From my earliest childhood memories, watching Rudolph has been a tradition, one that continues today with my own family. Tie-In With Others To Maximize Your Business Leverage One of the most rewarding, inexpensive, under-used, and effective methods of marketing is to tie in your marketing efforts with the efforts of others.The cost of acquiring a new client or customer is enormous. Questioning the Data of Demographic Off The Shelf Marketing Products I have been working on a direct mail campaign for our team in many areas and we are finding that the yellow page listings and business list CDROMS contain so many closed companies that we are spending too much on the mailings which are opened a little less because of the anthrax scare. Even customized lists are of little value. A Simplified Marketing Plan that Works! When I started my first business in 1981, I researched business plans and marketing plans. I looked at all of the formats and read a lot about the purpose of creating a business plan. Have You Tried Cause Marketing? To help promote your small business or professional practice, consider tearing a page out of the corporate marketing playbook. For years big companies have partnered with nonprofits to co-promote their brands. The Five Most Common Joint Venture Marketing Mistakes To Avoid Joint Venture marketing has become a highly popular way for small businesses to maximize their profits. When two or more businesses combine their resources synergistically, it creates greater marketing impact and bigger profits than either can have alone. Test Marketing--How to Increase Your Direct Mail Marketing Response by Using the Internet to Test I've discovered a really fantastic way to discover what works best in direct marketing, BEFORE doing traditional direct marketing. Use these internet tools to find what works best, then apply what you've learned to your traditional direct marketing, direct mail, etc. Marketing Effectively to More Than One Audience What's a small business owner to do if they have more than one audience to market to? Perhaps they need to attract clients but they also need to recruit business partners or vendors. Do they need two marketing plans or can they use one plan that tries to address both aspects?This is a great question that applies to many different types of businesses who find they need to market to more than one group of people. Medias Dirty Little Secret I'm constantly amazed by all of the media reps from all of the different media outlets that can help your advertising to "reach the right people."Why am I amazed?Because they all reach the same people. Direct Mail Response Rates Low? Eliminate These Mistakes Are your direct mail response rates lower than you expect? Check your sales letter or direct mail package against this checklist to uncover the reasons for your poor response.LIST You are mailing to people who are never likely to buy You are not mailing to others in the same business who influence the buying decision Your list is out of date Your names and addresses are not formatted correctly for proper delivery Your list has job titles only, not namesFORMAT You are using the wrong format for your audience (self-mailers to professionals, for example) Your letter and brochure are not complete sales pitches in themselves Your liftnote or buckslip confuses your offer or main selling promiseENVELOPE Your envelope gives too much away, so your prospects throw it away unopened Your mailing envelope looks like junk mail Your package is addressed to "Occupant" and not to a person by nameMESSAGE Your letter lacks a strong, customer-focussed headline The opening line in your letter is not compelling You spell your prospective customer's name incorrectly Your letter lacks specifics about product size, weight, color and other vital details You discuss product features but not customer benefits You talk too much about your company and not enough about your reader You do not create enough desire Your letter lacks urgency You do not offer a guaranteeOFFER You are offering the same thing that your competitors are offering Your offer is not specific Your offer is not exclusive Your offer is not relevant Your offer is not valuable Your offer is not unique Your offer is not usefulCALL TO ACTION You do not ask for the order You ask for the order, but too late in your letter You conclude by saying, "If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me" You give too many ways to respond-or not enoughREPLY DEVICE Your reply device is too cluttered You do not tell prospects what to do to buy your product or service Your reply device is not postage-paidTIMING You are mailing at the wrong time of the year Your letter is arriving on the wrong day of the week You are mailing too often, so prospects ignore you You are not mailing often enough, so prospects do not remember youAbout the author Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter who helps business owners and marketing managers generate leads, close sales and retain customers using creative direct mail.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
