Drumroll please (lol) ….

ABSOLUTELY NO MARKETING?!

I am seeing businesses fail, left and right these days.
None of us are immune.
As a matter of fact, my colleague Karen Swim and I were just talking about this, as we’ve noticed more and more business owners discussing NOT HAVING any business.

Nevertheless, we did research and noticed that even in this fickle economy where everyone is pinching pennies, there are some business owners who are MORE THAN surviving.

They are providing a well needed solution and the phone keeps ringing and the doors keep swinging open.

This one thing has never changed; if folks don’t know about you or your fabulous product, your business will be short-lived. That’s one reason why Karen and I hold each other accountable regarding “weekly marketing goals”

Neither of us have a huge budget for marketing, that’s why we have to be creative and consistent.
But you know what?

There are some simple and fairly inexpensive ways you can “ramp” up your marketing, even with the smallest budgets.

1. Plan at least (1) day a week to spend at least 75% of your time doing some sort of marketing or networking! I do this every Monday! I tell myself it’s a “Marketing Monday” and then I make sure I do follow-up emails to past clients, research rates for marketing, introduce myself to folks who I believe may KNOW others who might need my services and lastly, that’s when I also try to get my ezine’s together.
2. Pool Your Marketing Funds with a colleague who has a different yet similar and complimentary business. This helps double your marketing budget and you can agree to a specific plan that works for both or agree to share in the expenses for a particular ad or account.
3. Develop a Tips sheet that you can send out to the local media that may garner interest in your business. For instance, if you a CPA and you have some great ideas that may help other small business owners save money, type those tips up and send them out to local news organizations, business associates etc …You never know when that reporter may ask if they can interview you as the local expert OR when that association president may invite you to SPEAK at there association meeting.
4. Send a REAL message or email to some strategic people you have met via social media. What does this mean? This means review your FB, Link’d N and twitter contacts and really take the time to get to know some of your “friends” you really don’t know that well. Remember, social media is about nurturing relationships, much more than it is about providing “updates on your life”
5. Ask for referrals! One of the most fatal mistakes I see small business owners make is NOT asking for referrals from satisfied clients. When was the last time you presented a client with a customer survey that ALSO asked for a few concrete referrals with names, phone numbers and email addresses that you can follow-up with.

I hope these tips help you and remember you can always RENT-MY-BRAIN (for real!) if you need help with the marketing of a specific idea or product. You can check out  Tell Your Story Like A Pro to find out more or give me a call directly at 877.595.9117 ext 3

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