Marketing success tips for small businesses
When one of my clients complains that business is down, my first advice has been to get busy on Facebook and Twitter.
It’s not the end all answer, but it’s quick, painless, and free – a way to get your name in front of your local audience. It tends to result in posting a special offer or something that promotes the business. While there’s nothing wrong with that … other than the obvious loss of income from price discounting … we may get better results if we have a little fun with our audience.
Every so often, it’s important to take a cold, hard look at your website and your online marketing efforts. Are they taking you where you want to go? A website can make you money – as in producing leads and sales for your small business, or it can simply be a drain on your marketing budget.
Your first tip of the new year: Is your website visible to your market online? How would you know?
Have you ever pondered the life of a chipmunk? We have an active clan in our backyard and they’re fun to watch, along with the bunnies, birds and other occasional wild critters.
The chipmunk works hard and plays hard from spring through fall. It stuffs his cheeks full at one of our bird feeders, then scampers off, repeating the process again and again – filling a chamber in its underground home to feed its young ones and storing up food for the winter. Then it disappears for the winter and rests from summer’s frenetic activity.
It’s a strange balance, but balance nonetheless.
What does this have to do with small business marketing tips?
“If you truly believe that your products and services offer world-class solutions, then you are doing your customers a disservice by not making it very easy for them to introduce these benefits to their friends.” ~ John Jantsch, from The Referral Engine
I’m on my second reading of The Referral Engine by John Jantsch. Yes, it is THAT good – and I highly recommend you order your copy today.
The first reading was a bit hurried, as I had promised a review by a certain date. Now I’m taking my time and taking lots of notes. It’s not that what he’s written about is new or cutting edge, but rather that he breaks it down and makes it real. Expect plenty of head-smacking and wondering, “Why am I not doing that?”
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