If you own your own independent business, there are two organizations that hopefully your are already aware of. They are doing great work promoting small, locally owned independents by promoting community and government involvement. It takes all of us, working together, to improve our communities and the local business environment.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses helps individual business owners with planning, taxes, and legislative matters. They have representatives in all 50 states and in D.C. I visit their site often for advice and articles. I guarantee that you will find several useful items of information within their site.
The American Independent Business Alliance, based in Bozeman, MT, promotes independents buy helping business owners form IBAs, or Independent Business Alliances. These alliances in turn promote community involvement, the best example being the annual America Unchained Day, which takes place every November, the Saturday before Thanksgiving. They show their communites the power of "putting your money where your house is".
I urge all independent business owners to join NFIB and look into starting an IBA. I am in the process of doing both. We need to team up for our communities and independent business owners.
Make a difference as a consumer as well. You do have choices. A good place to start is by watching Independent America, a documentary about a married couple searching for Independent America and filming the results. It's a real eye-opener.
Promoting Independent Businesses
Promoting Your Business On A Shoestring Budget
Have you ever wondered how you can create a business with a great client base, without spending thousands of dollars on ads? The truth is that advertising is not cheap and public relations can be costly as well. But a savvy business owner can often get the company’s name out to the public for very little money. Notice, there is no mention of getting everything for free, but there are ways to participate in advertising for considerably less money than you would expect. In fact, if you get creative you may find better ways to advertise than you’d ever imagined.
If you own a restaurant, or have one in the community that does a great business, consider going in with other businesses to create placemats the restaurant can use, and offer them for free. Anywhere from 12 to 20 businesses can place their ad on a placemat and the restaurant uses them on their tables. The price for each participating business will only be 1/20th of the cost to produce and the ads are going to be in front of a captive audience.
This can be a one-time deal or a lasting business partnership between the advertisers and the restaurant. If there are more than one location of the same restaurant, getting the placemats in all restaurant can create consistency in your advertising efforts.
There are also opportunities to team with professional services by sponsoring informational pamphlets to place in professional offices. For example, if you offer child care services, buying pamphlets from companies that offer informational items on childhood diseases, with your name on them, can be placed in doctors offices as well as in pharmacies. Many of these are available and can be an inexpensive alternative to direct advertising.
Get involved in community affairs and if the budget permits, sponsor a local sports team. The expense of uniforms with your business name on the back or front is a good method of getting your name out into the public. Awareness for your business as well as becoming known as one that supports the community can often provide better public relations than many other paid means.
Press releases are often thought of as free advertising and most newspaper editors can see through a press release and the intentions in which they are sent. A good press release, and one that has a chance of being printed, will offer information useful to the public instead of just a blatant attempt at self-promotion. If you have information about a new product important to the paper’s readers, then there is a realistic chance of it getting printed.
An article about a promotion of a local resident or a new product that save money will be more welcome and having it appear in as editorial content in the paper gives it more credibility than when it appears as a paid advertisement. Think before you write because once editors get used to seeing your pitches as looking for a free ad, they probably won’t read any of the ones you send in.
Effectively Promoting Your Business through Craigslist
Craigslist can prove to be an excellent avenue for business promotion. Whether an individual has a small business which they operate on a part time basis or a thriving business which has become a time consuming endeavor, Craigslist can help the business to increase in profits and popularity. The two main components to successfully promoting a business on Craigslist include reaching the target audience and running a marketing campaign which will appeal to this target audience. This article will discuss these two components in greater detail to help the reader realize how Craigslist can be used to grow a business.
Reaching Your Target Audience on Craigslist
Promoting a business on Craigslist doesn’t have to be a difficult process. However, it is not necessarily automatically easier than promoting offline either. Promoting your business through Craigslist does have some similarities to the process of promoting your business offline. The main similarity is that the business promoter musts do their research to find out who is included in their target audience.
Even the most well thought out and innovative marketing campaign will falter if it is not reaching the intended audience. This is why it is so important for those who are trying to promote their business on Craigslist to be sure they categorize their advertisement correctly to ensure their intended audience will receive the intended message. The majority of posts on Craigslist are available free of charge with the exception of job listings in New York City, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area as well as brokered housing listings in New York City. Therefore small business owners can take advantage of the free posting on Craigslist to reach their target audience in a number of different locations.
Consider an example of a company offering moving services in Portland, Oregon. A small moving company that is relatively new might want to take advantage of the free advertising available on Craigslist. To have the best opportunity to reach the target audience the company should place a services offered posting under the labor and moving category for the counties in which the services are offered. Placing the post this way makes it far more likely to reach an audience of those who are planning a move in the desired county than it would if the same exact advertisement was placed as a job advertisement under the category of government jobs in a county in New Hampshire.
Besides being free for most postings, Craigslist offers additional benefits. The most significant benefit is a large audience. Craigslist receives over 4 billion page views per month. With such a large audience it makes it possible for those who post on Craigslist to reach a large audience. However, as previously mentioned, care should be taken when placing the post to categorize the advertisement correctly to ensure the advertisement is reaching the target audience.
Effectively Marketing on Craigslist
Marketing effectively on Craigslist is not very different from marketing effectively in other forms of print media. One of the most important elements of an effective marketing campaign on Craigslist is professionally written copy that appeals directly to the target audience. Hiring a freelance writer skilled in writing sales copy is an excellent idea in this situation. The business owner might be quite knowledgeable about their business but they do not likely have the skills necessary to convey the purpose of the business while also effectively convincing those who read the posting to perform a specific action. The specific action may include visiting a website and making a purchase, requesting additional information about the products or services or performing some other desired action such as visiting a traditional store or place of business.
The other component to marketing effectively, as previously mentioned, is placing the advertisement in the correct section of Craigslist. Categorizing the advertisement correctly is important but it is also important to place the advertisement in the right physical location. Products and services which are only offered in a limited area such as a particular city or county should be advertised in these exact locations. However, those who offer products via a website might consider placing their advertisement in all of the location to which they are willing to ship their products.
7 marketing mistakes to avoid when promoting your business
Many people rush into business thinking it will be easy to run, but very soon they realize that it is not as easy as it looks. A successful business is a finely tuned machine. In order to keep your business running smoothly it is important to avoid making mistakes.
Here are the 7 most common mistakes to avoid:
1. Not having clear objectives: Many business people start a business without clear objectives. They fail to set realistic goals for their marketing and consequently set themselves up for failure. It is important to make a list of goals and objectives based on a quarterly time line. If you do not have company goals and objectives you are like a car driving without a road map. Make sure all employees are briefed on company objectives. When your employees are not properly prepared you will not be able to achieve company objectives.
2. Neglecting to analyse your potential customers is a dangerous mistake. It can lead to many problems. When you do not analyse your customers wants and needs you do not know what products and services to develop for them. This will lead to targeting the wrong market and neglecting to understand your own niche market. It is important for any business to do their marketing analysis so that you can target your market and maximise your sales.
3. Not testing: By not testing your sales copy and places you advertise with split testing your advertising, you will be losing sales. Split testing is simple to do but many businesses fail to do this. This results in a lot of wasted time and effort. If you do not test your ad copy and marketing promotions you will not have a proper idea of the ads and promotions that are pulling and what is not working. It is simple to do by placing 2 ads for the same product in a publication or website etc. You can then see which one is performing the best.
4. Not budgeting: Budgeting is extremely important in business. Your business should never run out of money. This is especially true with your marketing and advertising ventures. It is important to have a monthly or quarterly budget for your marketing. Within that budget put aside money for each promotion you will be doing. Start small, test and then build on successes. This will allow you to always stay solvent and have enough for promotions.
5. Giving up too soon: Companies go out of business at an alarming rate these days. One of the reasons is that the owners give up too soon. Just when success might be just around the corner they give up and decide to close the business down. In exactly the same fashion marketing promotions can fail. You need to give your promotions at least 3 months before you decide to scrap them. Some promotions will take longer than others to bring results. As always, test all marketing tactics before you launch a larger promotion. Patience is one of the hallmarks of business and you need to implement it.
6. Poor sales copy: How often have you wanted a product but when you read the sales page you had serious doubts? Poor unprofessional ad copy will cost you sales. In fact without good sales copy you will not be able to sell effectively at all. It is critical to your business to get this right. If necessary get an experienced copywriter to do this. It is worth the investment, as you will see returns when you make sales.
7. Not screening your employees carefully: To handle the extra load for the Christmas season you will need to hire new employees. It is very important not to rush into this. There is no dearth of people needing employment but you need to screen them carefully before hiring. One rude customer service agent can cost you customers. Do not take this type of risk. You want to preserve the integrity of your company at all times and screening employees is the way to achieve this. You will then be able to build a core of loyal professional employees that will be an asset to the company.
The golden rule is to diversify. You should always use multiple forms of marketing promotions in your business. Do not just do one or two promotions and then wait for results. This will slow company growth and your business will stagnate. The last thing you need is to slow your marketing in the Christmas season. So remember to diversify and enjoy the increase in sales.
By avoiding these mistakes you will take your company to the success you deserve. You will be able to have year round success for your business and really be able to cash in on the Christmas season. So plan ahead and be careful not to make these common mistakes.
Build A Home Business Through Promoting And Selling Digital Products
Building a home business empire through promoting and selling digital products is more than possible. Just ask one of the thousands of people who are making it big by doing this. Sure, you are going to have to work hard just like any other home business, but the good thing is that there is plenty of potential for success. Before you can start to build this type of home business you must first consider the steps that you need to take.
The first step in building a home business based around digital products is to decide what you are going to sell. You have two options. You can either create your own digital products so that you collect 100 percent of every sale, or you can become an affiliate to other products. This gives you the ability to skip the creation phase, but at the same time, affiliates only get paid a certain amount of the sale price.
Now that you know what digital products you want to sell, the next thing to consider is how you are going to promote them. For most home businesses in this industry, promotion is done best through a killer website. This may not be something that you can put together on your own, so you should definitely look into getting help. Remember, your website is where people will find what you are offering for sale. If it does not do a good job of converting visitors to buyers you are not going to make a lot of money. For this reason, it is very important that you take the design of your website seriously. Remember, the money that you put out up front will pay off in the long run.
When trying to build your home business you will find that a lot of success has to do with the amount of traffic that your site receives. Generally speaking, the more traffic you get the more sales you are going to make. When you think about it, selling digital products is nothing more than a numbers game. As long as you get enough people visiting your site you should be able to make steady sales. Of course, you will have to tweak your process along the way, but that is to be expected.
One of the keys to home business success with digital products is tracking your results. What products are most visitors buying? Which ones are they staying away from? Are there any changes you can make to increase your sale ratio? When you know what is working and what is not, you can then make the changes that are best for you.
If you want to build a home business empire, consider doing so through the promotion and sale of digital products.
Copyright Paul Majestyck
Benefits of promoting your business with promotional magnets
Advertising is a tool that really works! If you wish to promote your brand then the most excellent way to do this is working with some of the advertising tools. Promotional products are a tremendous way that can serve this advertising purpose. Promotional products are generally given as a gift item so that when ever people see or use them they are reminded of your company. When looking for exclusive and stimulating way to encourage your business, the promotional magnets can offer you the best solution. Especially it works amazingly as a marketing tool for small businesses and firm of any kind. You may come across several promotional products in the market, but promotional magnets are ideal, as these magnets are less probably to get misplaced. While your business cards may get misplaced, magnets are more apt to find a lasting place in your customer's kitchen or your client's dinner room. Promotional magnets are said to be a solution that is sensible, reasonably priced and distinctive.
Promotional magnets can be used to impress both customer and clients; the best feature of magnets is that they are very adaptable. Most of the business use promotional magnets to improve potential sales of their products. Magnets are less thrown away and encourage business power at reasonable price. Magnets can be customized with your company logo and name to remain in customers mind. Most of promotional magnets are lucrative and comes with top quality. They are used on nearly all metal surfaces and they go everywhere, comprising some surfaces on cars. For any business that deals with children, promotional fridge magnet is a effective promotional tool. As magnets are usually digital printed, designs and patterns such as cars, bicycles or games would help to draw the attention of children.
Benefits of Promotional Magnet to business:
Following are handful benefits of promotional magnets to your business:
• Promotional magnets can be distributed in way of business cards as well to offer your company details such as address and phone number.
• Your message is posted at customers most usage place such as fridge and cars.
• Visibility is huge by customer towards promotional magnets due to constant exposure.
• Magnetic are generally durable, the keep shape and design and last for years together.
• Promotional magnets can be used as decorative items also.
• It is a cost effective way than any other promotional products to promote your brand.
If you are looking for some unique, attractive and fashionable promotional magnets then your must look through internet. You can get some latest designs and style of magnets that are as well of excellent quality. You can even get some low cost products with superb class online. When you want to impress your client, you can give gift them promotional magnet on an occasional basis. This is the proven method of informing customer and clients about your services and branded products.
Advantages of Promoting your business with Coffee Mugs
Efficiency and practical fiduciary managements are two important factors for successfully operating a business. For a valuable marketing method, promotion is a must. You can promote your products in enormous way; one of the best ways is to give away promotional coffee mugs. Coffee mugs are identified as a great promotional item for businesses. These items are simply superb for your. With your company logo imprinted in the front of the coffee mugs, your promotion would continue as and when the mug is used. Promotional coffee mugs are best especially because coffee is the world most consumed beverage and most approached drink. Further coffee mugs also remain to be durable promotion as people are less probably to throw away when compared to other promotional products. Using promotional coffee mugs as your advertising material means advertisement of your company is done on an everyday basis.
When it comes to helping business by way of promotional products, coffee mugs are appeal to everyone. These will help you to target the difficult segment of market as well. Embossing your company name and logo is a certain way to enhance visibility and in turn appreciated by most of the people. Besides from the appeal, they are also most common items on the office desk, hence it works best when given to clients as well. Integrating your logo on embossed promotional mugs, should be part of a budding company marketing strategy. If you are hunting for a way to get your logo seen and your business in the community eye then consider investing in promotional coffee mugs.
Benefits of Promotional Coffee Mugs to businesses.
Following are handful benefits of promotional coffee mugs to your business:
1- It captures interest and embraces it for months together, as it is a useful item. It is a way of constant awareness and advertisement.
2- Promotional coffee mugs in turn increase your sales when promotion is done with effective tips.
3- It generates direct response for your company when compared to other promotional products such as mailing and letters.
4- They work amazing with trade shows and build stores; you can find lot of your prospect buyer here.
5- It makes positive attitude towards your company and recognition by your clients.
6- Promotional activities with motivational program improve brand loyalty and generate positive result from employees as well.
Promotional coffee mugs could be made up of different materials, common once are stainless steel, ceramic, glass, and plastic. One as well needs to make precise caution towards shape and size. Additional shape variables form an apparently endless array of possibilities for coffee drinkers to choose from. Internet is the best place to look for high quality with low cost promotional coffee mugs. If you desire getting the most media hype for least amount of bucks, promotional coffee mugs are the choice for you.
Are Home Businesses Promoting Social Isolation?
Sociologists have studied what has been termed “cocooning” very carefully since the explosion of the world wide web. Cocooning is the process of social isolation where a society withdraws from physical interaction with each other. This “hermit-like” behavior can lead to the decline of many cultural and social traditions. Cocooning also affects the way we interact with other when do finally leave the house and meet face to face.
The availability and popularity of the internet has changed the way that humans communicate and interact. We can spend hours in chat rooms pretending to be beautiful, successful and brilliant when in fact we are average looking, overweight and unemployed. The person at the other end of the keyboard has no way of verifying our claims or disproving them.
Discussion over the internet removes an essential aspect of communication: body language. Such things as posturing, fidgeting and eye contact all are unconscious transmitters of our true intentions. We learn as small children not to make eye contact when telling a lie and to cross our arms to distance ourselves from unpleasant people or situations. As of today, the computer screen has no way of converting these communication skills into data that can be observed as overtones in the written text of a conversation.
This cocooning may affect the communication skills of future generations. While excelling at expressing themselves through the written word, our children may lack the skills to give a convincing speech in public of carry on a comfortable conversation while waiting in line at the grocery store. Some youth even use text messaging to communicate when they are in the same room.
The prevalence of home based businesses may be in part due to this preference for cocooning and nonverbal communication. It is perfectly acceptable to home school your children, run a business from your home, email your mother and fax your clients. You can even order a pizza, shop for a birthday gift and have your groceries delivered: all without any verbal communication.
As in everything in life, a balance is needed. If you email your mother today, call her tomorrow and visit her on the weekend. If you work from home, make time to visit the park. Join social groups rather that internet message forums. Limit the amount of time that your children use the internet and cell phone for text messaging. Encourage teens to take a speech or debate class along with that computer programming class when signing up for college courses.
Many great social traditions like wedding rituals and back yard barbeques may someday soon be in danger of extinction. We all must do our part to keep the spark of social interraction alive for future generations.