Successful Home Business Advertising 101
Although every facet of your new business is important... we
find that the marketing strategy is often the Most important factor
within the
business arena. When you monitor business trends year after year, you
see businesses with a great product fail and yet other businesses with
a rather so-so product flourish. As a rule, the success or failure of a
business often hinges on it's marketing strategy. After all, you can't
even give a product away IF people don't hear about it. Likewise, a
blase' product can generate huge amounts of income... with the right
spin.
Multi
channel marketing is the key to successful advertising campaigns today.
This technique combines mixing newer concepts like search engine
marketing and social media networking with the 'tried and true'
traditional advertising to reach a wider customer base and increase
sales. We're going to review various forums of marketing, many are 100% FREE,
to help you establish a strong foundation and successful tomorrow for
your new business. Also review the 'quick launch marketing programs'
for custom designed marketing programs that will help your new business
to begin generating Real Money... Real Fast.
Effective
FREE advertising is one of the best developements of the electronic era we
live in. The ability to touch people nationwide creates a greater
audience as you generate income. To see techniques on creating a 'Hot,
in demand' niche for your business, see the article on niche
advertising.
HOT Niche = Less Competition
www.Craigslist.com
Craigslist
now has one of the largest active audiences nation wide. They offer a
selection of catagories to market your new product or service,
and a very basic 'user friendly' ad format which makes placing your ad
very quick and easy. They even allow up to 4 photos with your ad and
hyperlinking is allowed so IF you have a 'virtual online store' or
website in place, you can lure perspective clients to an area where
they can close a sale. (hyperlinking... to place a web address within
your ad.)
www.FaceBook.com www.MySpace.com
These
2 'social networks' can be a tremondous marketing tool if utilized
correctly. You can build a site quickly to create a strong web presense
within an online community of well over 4 million people combined.
Follow up your business presence with joining groups within the
community to spread the word of your new business. We recommend joining
a variety of groups to reach diverse demographic markets, and then
focus harder on the groups showing the strongest response.
www.Flicker.com www.Slide.com www.WebShots.com
Just
as 'A photo can say 1,000 words', photos can be a tool to lure an
audience to your online sites. Whether it be photos of your product, or
interesting photos that you can place business information on ... photo
media is Hot and shouldn't be overlooked.
www.UTube.com
Video
uploads are a great way to let people know about your business. Whether
it be 'how to' information or something funny that draws people to
watch.... it'a a great medium for Free online commercials.
Create a Buzzzz
Other
simple yet effective online tricks can be... information posted within
online forums, comments placed on websites and blogs and sending out
newsletters to those in your email address book. Don't be afraid to ask
others to spread the word. Word of mouth is one of the strongest
'client generators' there is.
Time for a Press Release
Let
your local newspapers, news stations and radio stations know about your
new business. They can be a wonderful tool get help spread the word
regarding your new endeavor.
Support your Cause & Grow your Business
You
can be actively involved as a volunteer with a group that supports your
'favorite cause'. You can help make the world a better place AND
get positive exposure for your home business. How's that for win - win!
Search Engine Visibility (our businesses strongest tool)
YaHoo,
Google and other search engines will be Very Important tools for your
online presence. Once you have a site in place, get it mapped and
submitted to the search engines. Although the process takes some time,
IF your site is well designed and your tags concise... it can be THE
medium that gets the strongest response in the long run. During the
time you are waiting for the FREE SEM to become active, you may want to
consider an SEO (search engine optimazation) account. IF you consider
this option, Please contact us for a FREE
discount ($25-$50 discount) for PPC page 1 advertising on
YaHoo or Google. (PPC = pay per click. You get page 1 search engine
exposure and pay a small fee every time someone clicks through to your
site.)
* SEO PPC is very useful, but is also complex. IF you are
unfamiliar with this medium, please contact us or another SEO professional
regarding your needs. SEO Advertising
Flyer Distribution
Certain
companies which offer local based services can benefit greatly by
printing flyers on the PC and distributing in a way that touches your
market demographics. For example, if your business does landscaping...
print flyers, roll into a tube, wrap with a light-weight rubber band
and wrap the rubber band over residential garage door handle or front entry door
handle.
Get Referrals
Every
time a sale is closed, ask the client for contact information of
friends or business assocates that may also benefit from your business.
IF a perspective client is looking for a discount, consider a trade of
referrals to accommodate the discount. Everybody wins.
Linking & Co Op Advertising
These
are advertising techniques that allow 2 companies that share similar
demographic markets to touch each others clients. For example, one
business sells a line of childrens clothes, the other owns a toy
shop. On the local business level, they can place a stack of coupons
for the others business next to their registers. Online, they can place
a link to the others site or vitual store on their site. In either
case, they can touch more potential clients without direct competition
with each other.
Link Power
Utilize a 'Virtual Store'
A
virtual store, whether it stands alone OR is combined with additional
information is a great way to get your product line in front of buyers.
And, equally important, most can be set up to include a 'payment
option' which automates the purchase process. There's nothing sweeter
than getting a good nights sleep and awakening to find you made 5 sales
during the night!
Virtual Stores
Business Card Brilliance
Since
business cards (like flyers) do have a teansy initial price but at
an expense of $30.00 for 1,000... it's as close as you can get to free.
Of course, we all know to share our cards with, well... every
aquaintance. We at HBR want to challenge you to step 'outside the box'.
If you stop to get gas on your way home, take 10 seconds to slip one
card into each credit card slot in each pump. The next person has to
remove your card before paying. If you own a pet shop, take one of your
puppies and a stack of cards to the busiest park for a walk. Your puppy
will do more PR in an hour than a 1/2 page newspaper ad. Focus on who
your buying market is and meet them 'where they are'. Get creative, or
contact us and we'll create your 'quick launch program' designed just
for you.
Quick Launch
Affordable Paid Advertising that Gets Results
Obviously, if you are starting your business on a
shoestring budget, FREE mediums are the way to go. But, below are
advertising mediums with minimal expense that are 'tried and true' that
you will Definately want to explore as you grow your business.
Remnant Ad Space = HUGE Savings
This little known tactic has captured HUGE savings for those businesses that utilize it. To
save big on print and radio ads, take the leftovers. This is ad
space that has not been
sold to advertisers in time for deadline in print media or air-time in
radio.
It is also referred to as remainder advertising or last-minute
advertising
space. Buying remnant space can be a huge money saver for
you. Make sure you are aware of the publication’s regular fees and
deadline; then call right
before that deadline and start your negotiations.
Paid Referral System
With a standing agreement to
pay a fee AFTER someone brings you a paying client, you have to pay the
advertising eventually... but not untill it has generated income. This
is a very effective way of controlling advertising expense.
~ Search Engine Optimization ~
In our opinion, this is THE One... the
most significant marketing product which combines maximum exposure and
effectiveness with cost effectiveness. To be on page 1 of Yahoo, Google
and other search engines is crucial exposure. You can have a
great site, but if people don't see it, it doesn't benefit your
business. Again, PPC campaigns (pay per click) are a very precise form
of marketing... make certain you have professional assistance in the
creation and launch of your campaign. Read 'Search Engine Visibility'
above and contact us for a FREE SEO Discount
(no matter who assists you!) and remember we are here to help with all
of your business needs as a full service provider who can assist in
establishing a strong business foundation.
SEO Advertising
EBay - Super Sales Opportunity
EBay
has incredible traffic flow, and is Definately a marketing technique to
consider. Because they promote their site at their own expense, the
minimal fee invested for the price of a listing is much cheaper than
most other forms of advertising. And as you interact with potential
buyers, you can let buyers know about your other inventory items also. You
can also place those you interact with on a newsletter mailing list to
continue a relationship with them tomorrow.
EBay Income
