By Helen Neal
Budgets are tight, but nowhere more than in a small business operation. You need to be creative in your thinking, be willing to spend some time developing a plan, and designate jobs to staff, hire a marketing specialist or do it yourself. It all depends on your time and your budget. The following are some tips to get you started.
- Write a Newsletter - You need to tell everyone why your business is better than your competition. What better way than in a newsletter. A newsletter should not just be an advertisement for your business; it needs to be about your character, policies, employees and more. Write about upcoming events, how to use your widget in different ways, or your give your staff bios. Focus an article on one employee each month. Give free tips on how to do something related to your business without selling your business. For example, if you sell shovels, there is a variety of times when they are used. In winter give tips on how you can maintain your shovels and make snow slide off quickly by spraying Pam on them before you start shoveling. Give a garden tip for using that special spade. It involves using your product, but it is a tip that gives more information.
- Create a contest on your website - Many people enjoy puzzles and contests. You could have a feature area on your site for specialized crossword puzzles, word searches, etc. There are even free tools on the Internet to help you create these using terms you select, which of course will be related to your business. Run a contest every quarter. You don't have to give away anything expensive. If you have written a number of articles for your newsletter, compile them into an e-magazine and offer a free copy to the winner.
- Join local organizations to network - Networking online is one thing, but networking in person is better. You get a chance to meet different people from different businesses. Many will complement your business. When you speak to these people be sure to listen to what they do, what their position in their company is and how they advertise. If your businesses are in a similar niche but not competitors, you might be able to exchange web links, which puts you higher in search engine page rankings. You might even combine your marketing strategies into one mailing and split the costs.
- Use Creative Advertising - Think outside of the box for advertising. Small businesses usually don't have the budget to give away a lot of quality merchandise with their name and logo on it. So you have to be more creative. Always put your logo and your website on all information leaving your office; stationery, envelopes, business cards, emails, etc. What about your vehicle? You can get a window cling for a song from a local sign dealer who also does static clings. Ask if you can put a good, quality poster in the window of a complementary business; you can offer to do the same if you have a brick and mortar store. You can create your own poster in Word and save it to a flash drive. Take it to your local print shop and ask to have it blown up to your desired size and laminated. Remember this is marketing and you have to spend a little to do this. The more you think about it, the more ideas you will come up with.
Now you have the idea. Just use your imagination to increase traffic to your store or to your web site. There are many things you can do off the Internet to get your business to the people.
Looking for a better way to get business? Tired of wasting money on local advertising, radio spots and public TV? Get moving! This is the time to start going out and meeting people - in person and online. There are ways to increase traffic to your store and to your Internet business. Helen Neal, Owner http://www.hlnwebdesigns.com
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