Up and Running Blog

marketing

todo_courtneyriancom

10 Effective Ways To Use 1 Piece of Content

by Cidnee Stephen on September 30, 2011

This article is meant to be a hands-on exercise. Why? Chances are you already know that you need to be submitting more content into the marketplace to grow your business, but you find this thought overwhelming. So I have a challenge for you, here today.  Take one piece of content you have already created (this can be stats in your industry, a newsletter article, blog post, case study, etc.) and ACTION each step below as you read them.

Step One – Let’s start with an easy one. Put it up on your website. Make sure you have some common search terms in there so Google can index it and increase your relevance for these terms.

Step Two – Send it out in your newsletter. Don’t have a newsletter? Set one up now. Constant Contact offers a free 30 day Trial and has templates pre-built.

Step Three – Post it on your blog.  Don’t have a blog?  Set one up now. WordPress is by far the leading blog software and will allow you to set one up for free in 5 minutes. You can also get some help and have it integrate right into your site.

Step Four – Submit it your industry or regional publications and to the media. Don’t have a list of relevant publications or media contacts? Call up your library and ask them if they carry a recent copy of the Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media or if they have a local list of such publications (if your focus is the local market). Gale Directories cover media and publication listings all over the world. See if the library can create a list otherwise make time now in your calendar to go down there and compile the list yourself.

Step Five – Submit it to online article sites like www.ezinearticles.com. It’s free to sign up and takes only minutes to submit and link the article back to your site.

Step Six – Take out 5 – 10 little one sentence snippets and create small posts. Post these snippets on Facebook and/or your Facebook Business Page, Twitter, Linked In and Google +. If you don’t have any of these of profiles, set them up.  If you want to make posting to these sites easy, set up a tool such as HootSuite (again free) to submit posts to all your social media sites in one click of a button.

Step Seven – Insert into a Word File titled “MY Book” or “MY e-Book” or “Another great free report”. Place it into the chapter where it would belong so that over time you have created a larger publication and also so you start to put themes around future content (to fill in blanks).

Step Eight – Create an online Ad – This could be on a Chamber online newsletter, Google, Linked In or Facebook.  Link back to the article on your site and have a call to action at the top and the bottom such as subscribing to your Free Tips or a Free Assessment or a trial product or service.  Set it up for one week only and put a small budget on it like $40 – $50 and then watch the traffic to your site and measure results.

Step Nine – Send it out in the mail to prospects.  Include a nice introductory letter outlining your interest in servicing business like theirs, a special offer and this very helpful article. Don’t have a mailing list? Try InfoCanada or InfoUSA and create one today. Dun and Bradstreet also has great lists.

Step Ten – Use it at your next live event (networking, tradeshow, sales presentation). Think of it as a large business card and include your contact details and a call to action on the back.

Content is valuable.  It takes you time to create and is designed to help both your present and future customers.  Make sure you take advantage of ALL the avenues available to you or you aren’t marketing as effectively as you can.

(Photo Credit: Courtney Dirks)

{ 2 comments }

keywordresearch

How to Conduct a Great Keyword Research

by Guest Author on September 23, 2011

Keyword research is probably one of the biggest areas that people struggle with first when they’re setting up their first website. They may have their niche but now it’s time to pick the keywords that they’re going to build that niche around, and this is where confusion sets in. After all, everyone you ask has a different opinion on how keyword research should be done so who’s actually right?

The reality is that nobody really has a keyword research method that is all encompassing – you’ll learn a little bit from a lot of people and most likely formulate your very own way of finding keywords. What I want to share with you here is some tips to get you started so at least you have some research momentum going on and you can learn as you go.

Search Counts

Having a reasonable search count for your keywords is very important. Why? Because if people aren’t searching for that keyword often enough per month then you simply won’t have enough visitors to convert into sales at the end of the day.

In some niches you can convert a very small number of searches into sales but generally speaking you’ll need a search volume of more than 1,000 searches per month (or 30+ searches per day) to make your online efforts worthwhile for your broad keyword terms for your site. When it comes to searches more is simply better – but you’ll need to mix in long tail keywords too.

Competition

Now you’ve found some keywords that have 1,000 searches or more per month for your niche but your next step is calculating the competition for those keywords in your niche. There are two quick methods I’d suggest here. The first is to put your potential keyword in quotes “” and search Google for it.

Now look at the number of results displayed – if it’s any more than say 100,000 then pick another keyword. Also pay attention the types of sites listed in Google for that search term – if you have large authority sites like Wikipedia or Microsoft listed then the competition may be too much for you.

Buyer Keywords

If there’s anything people get wrong most often it’s choosing keywords that aren’t buyer keywords. Buyer keywords are when your visitor has done their due diligence and are 90% of the way to their buying decision.

Let’s look at an example. If you’re interested in buying a new LCD television are you going to search for just “LCD TV”? Nope. You’re going to look for something more like “Samsung LCD TV” at first and then as you’re refining your decision even more you’ll search for “Samsung LN40D630 LCD TV” and then just as you’re about to buy you’ll probably search by using a keyword phrase like “Samsung LN40D630 LCD reviews”. The more focused your search terms are on the buyer decision the better your sales conversions will be.

Look At The Tail

Several years ago now the term long tail keywords entered the language of search engine fans all over the world. In a way long tail is very similar to finding buyer keywords but it delves a little deeper than that and long tail keywords are basically phrases that have average or below average search counts but that have very little (sometimes almost zero) competition. So if we look at acne for example. The keyword “acne treatments” might have 550,000 searches per month but you’ll also find it probably has millions of competing web pages. That’s a no go for a keyword beginner.

But then if you look at a keyword like “best acne treatment for adults” you’ll find that it has only 500 searches per month but only 1,000 competing web pages – now you have a winner.

Even if a long tail keyword like “best acne treatment for adults” had only 50 searches per month that’s fine because you can take 10 or 20 phrases with similar counts and suddenly you’re adding another 500 – 1,000 unique visitors per month to your website. It’s not unusual for long tail keywords to be the most searched for keywords on your site.

Check Your Web Stats

This is one of my personal favourite ways of finding niche keywords once I’ve set up a website. After your site is 30 – 60 days old you need to start digging into your Google Analytics, AW Stats or whatever statistics package your site or web host is using. The reason is that your site is being found for keywords you’d never have thought of and that keyword tools simply don’t generate. You can then take these keywords and create an entire new page of content around them and hey presto you’ve just added a whole new traffic stream to your site.

If you’re looking for a keyword tool to get you started that allows you to work with this article then the Free Google Keyword tool is available to anyone who has a Google Adwords account. If you don’t have an Adwords account you can sign up for one for free and start grabbing all those valuable keywords that are just waiting for you out there.

Lior Levine is a marketing consultant for various online companies including an online personal task management company and a psd to html conversion company.

{ 3 comments }

Shhhh

Don’t Say THAT! How to Improve Your Image by Keeping Your Mouth Closed!

by Carolyn Higgins on August 4, 2011

One thing I realized during my 9-5 career is that the things you don’t say can oftentimes be way more powerful than the things you do say. I remember telling my boss, the VP of Sales, a story about a how another VP of Sales in a past job took a huge account that I had landed away from me and transferred it to a senior rep because he felt I couldn’t handle it. I told this story as a weffective marketing communications small businessay to prove that I was capable of bringing in big accounts. But as I told it, I realized that what I was really doing by telling the story was instilling doubt in his mind of my abilities to effectively manage a large account. If another person in his position had made that call, then maybe there was some validity to it.

I vividly remember sitting there after having spilled the beans, immediately regretting it; realizing that although I was trying to make myself look capable it really did quite the opposite… It was a valuable lesson and I learned to be a lot more mindful about what I say – and don’t say! And that is a skill that is definitely useful in developing marketing communications….

Now cut to yesterday…. I stole a couple of lazy hours on a Saturday afternoon to watch some mindless TV. And on comes a Nutella commercial. I rarely watch commercials these days, but as a marketer when I do, I pay attention. In this particular Nutella commercialI noticed how they positioned the product as a fun, easy, and healthy choice. I didn’t quite buy the “healthy” claim so I went to my laptop to look up their ingredients. Guess what??? No so healthy…! But it got me thinking again about Marketing and Advertising and clever big corporations are with their messaging – like politicians, they are great at focusing on the good and ignoring the “bad”. So I thought I’d point out what Nutella did in their commercials to help small business owners know what to say – and NOT say!

Here are some lines from their commercial that I thought were interesting uses of marketing messaging. I also included lessons that all small businesses can learn from them.

“Serve it on whole wheat toast or even whole wheat waffles.” – I love this line. Without saying the product is healthy, it leads you to believe it’s healthy simply by associating it with something that is healthy! Using this strategy, you can slap 20 tablespoons of sugar on whole wheat bread and voila! It’s healthy! Lesson: In your business, what can you associate your product or service with to make it more appealing to consumers?

“My kismall business advertisingds love it and I feel good about serving it.” - Translation: I don’t have to force my kids to eat healthy stuff they hate- yet, it’s healthy enough that I don’t have to feel guilty about feeding them junk. Lesson: What emotional affect does your product or service have on consumers and how can you make them feel good about using it?

“Nutella is made with Simple, Quality ingredients; like hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa” –How can you go wrong with nuts and skim milk and just a ‘hint’ of cocoa??? Sounds so nutritious and wholesome and good, doesn’t it? What they don’t say is that the first ingredient is sugar and the second is palm oil (which is proven to increase bad cholesterol). Lesson: How are you showcasing your best qualities (and down-playing your not-so-great qualities)?

“No artificial colors or preservatives” – What they don’t tell you is there are artificial flavors, but because they say “no artificial colors or preservatives” you forget to ask about artificial “anything” and assume it’s “artificial”/junk free! Lesson: As small business owners we sometimes feel the need to apologize for the little things we don’t do- or the services we don’t provide… but instead of apologizing for what you don’t offer, focus on what you DO – and more often than not, people won’t even notice what you don’t do!

I’m not writing this to pick on Nutella or to tell you shouldn’t smother it all over your whole wheat toast for breakfast. I wrote it to use a real world example of how an effective marketing strategy and careful marketing messaging can transform your product or service. Happy Marketing !

(And one more thing, can you really call it a Hazelnut spread if hazelnuts are only the THIRD ingredient? Wouldn’t it be a sugar spread?” – I guess it’s all about packaging!)

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!! Leave your comments here.

Share/Bookmark

By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you. :-)

 

{ 4 comments }

flip-video-camera-illustrated

Leveraging the Power of Video

by Cidnee Stephen on July 21, 2011

Image representing YouTube as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

I remember two years ago listening to a Web expert predict that eventually websites would be all video instead of print. While it hasn’t quite reached that extreme, it’s hard to ignore the impact videos and YouTube are having as a marketing tool. As a small business owner, you may want to take a close look at this amazing tool.

Thanks to companies like Bizbox TV and Pixability, creating videos is not necessarily cost prohibitive. If you are more of a do-it-yourselfer, you can even arm yourself these days with your phone or Flip video, along with some editing software, and be on your merry way.

So how can you use video?

  1. A Two-minute commercial of what you or your company does
  2. Testimonials (much more impactful than just words)
  3. Blog posts (sometimes referred to as Vlog) can be great to mix things up, or if you don’t like to write
  4. Promotion (demo a product or your speaking style)
  5. Credibility builder (“how-to”, webinars or statistical videos)
  6. Lead generator (think “sales letter or sales presentation” but in video)
  7. Ad or info on other websites (think advertising or strategic alliances)

Where can you use the video?

The two big ones of course are on your website (or blog) and YouTube. YouTube right now is the second largest search engine after Google. What does that mean? That means millions of people are searching for specific information on YouTube. You should also know that people pay more attention to a YouTube video than they do their TV set. Finally, you should know that it can do amazing things to your Search Engine Optimization (being found on the Internet).

But definitely look for other options. Incorporate a video into presentations, as an introduction to your company at a live event or as an “ad” on your website or other websites.

A few key tips:

  1. Keep it real – the more authentic the video, the more believable.
  2. Keep it short – unless you are providing how-to info or product demonstrations, try to keep to two minutes or less.
  3. Make it entertaining – seems obvious, but boring videos will lose your audience.

While video may seem daunting, it doesn’t have to be. Look for great resources and, for a start, why don’t you try today to “point and shoot.” You never know what the result might be!

{ 3 comments }

Does Your Marketing Lack Personality?

by Cidnee Stephen on June 28, 2011

Official logo of Knorr.

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes we get so caught up in following the rules with marketing that we forget its entertainment value. However, with marketing becoming more community based than ever (thanks to the onslaught of social media channels), you ‘gotta’ inject some personality or you are going to have a much tougher time engaging your prospects.

Without some personality:

  • You won’t get their attention in the first place
  • They won’t forward it on or tell others
  • They will remain neutral about your product or service.

At a recent social media conference, I had the pleasure of hearing the story of Knorr’s recent Sidekicks campaign, created by Tribal DDB Canada. It’s such a great example of how a bit of personality can go a long way.

Knorr had just introduced their new Sidekicks with less sodium and wanted to take over the #1 spot in the marketplace. Tribal DDB introduced Salty – the lonely and dejected salt shaker. The ad and Salty were an instant hit, and they soon created a Facebook page for Salty’s Life and a Twitter feed as well. On Facebook alone Salty has 12,777 Likes (note: Knorr’s Facebook page has only 1,416).

Salty became such a hit that Knorr even created salt shakers of Salty and his buddy Pep. In less than 25 days the first shipment of 20,000 shakers sold out. In fact, people were selling them on eBay for $200 a set! People started launching YouTube videos of them and their Salty and Pep shakers. In fact, Salty is quite the hit on YouTube as well. Check this out.

Did Knorr achieve their goal to dominate their market? Yes. Did they end up creating enormous buzz for the product? Yes. Heck, they even created a new income stream (Salt & Pepper shakers). Just because of a little bit (okay a lot) of personality.

Sure, as small businesses, we might not be able to go to this extreme, but personality still plays an important point. One small company I know simply played with his Facebook ad. His first ad, presented his product in a serious tone and got a decent number of click-throughs, but when he added a fluffy kitten and some fun to his business page, his results tripled and his leads became way more engaged with his company.

Marketing should be about having some fun. Enjoy it and make it enjoyable for your prospects, too.

{ 2 comments }

Expert Failure

Do You Suffer from Expert Failure?

by Cidnee Stephen on March 21, 2011

Expert FailureI’ve had an interesting couple of weeks thanks to two very interesting events I was able to attend. Firstly I had the absolute pleasure to hear Malcolm Gladwell speak last week. He was talking about a concept he calls “Expert Failure.” He was suggesting that once you feel you have mastered your area of expertise, you stop seeing the warning signs of what might be breaking down or what might possibly go wrong.

Secondly I had the honor of being a judge for the ACE Regional Exposition. Here, I had the opportunity to hear the success stories of some of Canada’s top student entrepreneurs. One in particular caught my attention. He was a polite young Mexican who is currently studying for his Business degree. While he is completing his degree here in Canada he also owns and operates the second largest online bookstore in Mexico with annual sales exceeding $1 million dollars. As he shared his story, I was astounded how much he knew about the day to day operations of this business that runs in a completely different company, and I realized this is someone so far from expert failure that we could all learn a lesson or two from this astounding young, hardworking man and the principles of Malcolm Gladwell.

#1 – LISTEN
Gladwell shared a story about General Hooker and the Battle of Chancellorsville in the American Civil War who had his scouts trying to tell him the enemy was getting set to invade. He didn’t listen to them and as a result his army was caught by surprise and he lost of battle that he should never have lost. Our young little student learned early in his career that his customer can tell him better than anyone what information they require and what trust factors need to be in place before they will buy from him. In Mexico, adults are very uncomfortable purchasing online. It took him years to build enough trust with them, as well as to train them to place their orders online instead of over the phone. He continues to maintain this high level of customer intimacy.

Lesson Learned – When is the last time you surveyed your clients or received feedback? With the onslaught of Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, etc, it’s never been easier to have a real conversation with your target audience. Survey them, poll them, interview them – find out what you can do better and what they need from you to feel comfortable doing business with you.

#2 – REVIEW, REVISE, RE-IMPLEMENT
As this young Mexican presented his story, he more than any of his young competitors shared an incredible amount of measurable results. He learned that his first website wasn’t effective in attracting clients, so he changed it. It was better, but his analytics told him it could be better yet. So more changes. He is constantly looking at patterns, and preferences, revising his approach and quickly implementing changes. He does the same with his costs – looking at the amount he is buying from his suppliers, negotiating better rates, so that he can maintain his competitive pricing for his customers.

Lesson Learned – How often do you measure the effectiveness of your marketing? Do you look at your costs and ways to minimize these? Do you review the results, split test ads, revise your approach and quickly implement the changes? Do you look at the stats of your website every week and consider ways to add to your content, change your content to make it better?
Sometimes we get so busy that we assume that the future will only be better, and then find ourselves in yet another valley; scratching our heads, wondering how that happened AGAIN! LISTEN, LEARN, MEASURE, IMPROVE. Don’t become a victim of expert failure.

{ 0 comments }

6 Secrets to Creating an Amazing Small Business Website

by Carolyn Higgins on March 17, 2011

Finally, small business owners everywhere realize they need an online presence if they are going to compete in today’s world. Small business owners who just a year ago adamantly argued that their customers aren’t using the web are now jumping on board and admitting – yes, indeed they are.

But slapping up a website just for the sake of having a website can defeat the purpose – and can even harm your image if it isn’t done right.

If you’re thinking about creating a website – or even if you already have one – follow these 6 rules to make it the effective and powerful marketing tool it should be: 6 secrets to a great website for small businesses

  1. The website is not about you. A prospect is not looking for information about you; they are searching for a solution to their unique problem or need. THAT should be the focus of your home page. Use words and phrases they would use to describe their pain and then outline the solution you have to solve it.
  2. Have an offer. Get the most out of your website by using it as a lead generation tool. If someone spends time on your site, don’t just let them click away without engaging them further. Offer a newsletter, a free report, or even a free consultation. Do something to get them to act so you can find out who they are and market to them further.
  3. Be Unique. Beware of canned website services; you know – the ones that offer websites for CPAs or Chiropractors or Attorneys. They all the look the same, they all have the same content, and they make it really hard to differentiate you from your competition. Invest a little bit more in a site that allows you to stand apart from the crowd.
  4. Your website is your online storefront. Your website is very often going to be the first impression people get of your small business. Make it visually appealing. Make it interesting, informative and engaging. Make it different – add some fun elements, or news stories or free tips that your target market would be interested in. Make sure it’s professional- and PLEASE check your grammar and spelling!
  5. Use testimonials and case studies. Yes, your home page should be about the prospect and their problem – but once you’ve engaged them and gotten their attention, they will want proof that you can deliver as promised. Having a page of testimonials and case studies is a great way to demonstrate that you can deliver as promised.
  6. Make it easy for a prospect to contact you. Have a contact page that is easy to find, with your email address, and/or phone number. Put your phone number on the home page (some experts recommend having it on every page of your website). Finding a way to contact you should not be a game of “Where’s Elmo?” If it takes more than a second or two – you risk losing them – and they could mean a lost sale.

{ 0 comments }

john durfee

Operation Marketing Freedom

by Guest Author on February 22, 2011

Today’s guest author is John Durfee. John finds many of the principles he learned in the military are ones that he uses in the business world.

Marketing Artillery – A Soldier’s Perspective

The “freedom” aspect of Operation Iraqi Freedom officially started after theUS invasion of Iraq and we found out there weren’t any Weapons of Mass Destruction.The mission turned from a matter of finding WMDs to rebuilding a broken society andinfrastructure. We turned from a fighting force to one that suddenly had be reflective ofhow we appeared, how we acted, and to get the message across that our actions were forthe benefit of the local Iraqi people. In a way, we had to market ourselves to the Iraqisand succeed, if a goal of long term sustainable peace and development we started wouldtake root. The lessons I learned in trying to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis is directlyapplicable to the modern day marketing, where you’re winning the hearts and minds ofyour customer populous.

Gaining Their Trust

It’s hard to gain the trust of a population when you and your tanks and Humveeshave been airlifted from halfway across the world and an unseen enemy is always aroundyou. But we had to gain their trust. We started by offering small things at first, acts ofkindness or helping repair or build old wells, bridges and roads, without asking anythingin return. In very much the same way you have to entice and bring in new customers bypromoting heavily without expecting much in return. Have a sale, have freebies, givefree shipping. This is part of a campaign in a starting business where investment is heavy,but short term returns can be low. You need to think of the long term because if you’vesuccessfully implemented your plan, you’ve caught your customer’s attention, and canmove onto more meaningful interactions.

I’m Your Partner

In any interaction you show that you’re working with your customer, that youunderstand them. On duty, we didn’t start building and repairing and implementinginfrastructure based on how we thought it should be, all of our actions were localizedand based on the information gathered from tribal leaders, from the source. In that samevein, never assume what you think is best, send out a survey, get a focus group. A smallamount of real consumer data is worth more than a ton of marketing theoryOur long term interests might have been different. In Iraq it was long termnational US security, for the Iraqis it was a chance to improve their living conditions andgovernment. In a retail setting we want profits, while the customer wants a good dealand a smooth transaction. Just as long as you show you’re willing to meet their needs,you create that bridge. The way to a lasting relationship is repeating that cycle of trustbuilding and following through. As a marketer, you do this through offers, interactions,customized email notifications. You need to make them feel that you are a friend, notonly a salesman.


{ 1 comment }

sobe1

Jugular Marketing

by Cidnee Stephen on February 21, 2011

[Note: I'm happy to introduce contributor  Cidnee Stephen with her first post on Up and Running, which we assume will be the first of many. We're including her background at the bottom of the post. Tim]

When I sit down with a business owner for the first time, I will always ask them what marketing activities they have tried to-date. Whether they explain them or show me samples, they will often feel that their marketing activities haven’t worked.

“We did trade shows, but that didn’t generate us one customer.”

“We tried direct mail and that didn’t work.”

“I’m on Twitter, but that’s not getting me any business, it’s a waste of my time.”

All of the above are what I like to call Marketing Vehicles – trade shows, direct mail and Twitter, to be exact. Do these vehicles work? Of course they do. Google them and you will find success stories tied to any marketing vehicle. So how come they don’t seem to work for you? It might be because you are going for the jugular. In other words, you are trying to go directly for the sale instead of simply engaging a prospect to take the next step.

If you have a low risk, low price product or service, you will probably find some success in jugular marketing, but if you are marketing something that requires the prospect to trust you or the product you need to re-look at WHAT you are saying or doing in a marketing vehicle, instead of changing the marketing vehicle itself.
Here is an example of Jugular Marketing.

Jugular Marketing

Imagine you are single and a member of the opposite sex approaches you on a night out. The conversation goes something like this. “Hi, my name is (LOGO). Let me say that it again (because it takes up 1/3rd of the ad, so it must be important). I have a lot of amazing qualities you would love about me (they’re all listed here in bullet points). So, do you want to get married (there’s that infamous phone number at the bottom that screams, buy from us)?”

There is no reason for me to act today and quite frankly I’m not looking for many of these attributes in a gym. But what if you focused the ad more on the buyer than yourself? What if you made it easy and less risky for me to take the next step? The ad might then look more like the Golds Gym ad to the right.


If we were back in that social situation this one might equate to: “You look like you might want some company and obviously enjoy places like this (after all the headline shows you understand me and highlights a major motivator for me”. I am having a get together in another place like this (some key features and a complimentary VIP pass). It’s next Wednesday (there’s time limit on it). If you would like to come and get to know each other better, check out the details (drives them to more information and a place where they can act easily and with minimal risk).”

Which one would cause you to act more easily? The latter allows Gold’s Gym to capture more prospects. It allows them to better measure the effectiveness of the message and tool (VIP pass) they are using. But most importantly, it allows the prospect to try them out at no cost.

Next time you are looking to execute on that marketing tactic, avoid jugular marketing. Try capturing leads instead of going directly for that sale.

About Cidnee Stephen

Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations.

If you would like to build a system to reach those goals quicker, check out Cindee’s Speak for Leads & Expertise Program.

{ 2 comments }

5 Ways to Fit Marketing into Your Schedule

by Carolyn Higgins on January 17, 2011

Article by Carolyn Higgins

No Time for Marketing?

Oh – I’m guilty of it too. We get caught up in the day-to-day of our work; answering phone calls, putting out fires, payroll, inventory, life…. But the fact is, the long-term success of any business is dependent upon finding the time to invest in the future. And one of the surest ways to insure your business will be around for the long-haul and continue to grow and flourish is to implement and use a marketing plan (and a system).

Here are 5 tips to help you manage your time and fit marketing into your regular routine

  1. Tackle one thing at a time. You don’t have to accomplish everything in one day. Choose monthly themes: make June website optimization month and July list building month and focus on that one task for the entire month. This makes marketing less overwhelming and gets you started in the right direction.
  2. Set marketing appointments with yourself. I can’t stress how important this is. I do this and every successful business owner I know does this. Write it downHow to make time for marketing, put it on your calendar, block it out and don’t book anything during those times. If it’s not on your calendar, it’s too easy to forget about it and become so overbooked you never get to it. This is your time to work on your business – take it and use it.
  3. Hire someone. It doesn’t have to be a full time person and it doesn’t even have to be a marketing expert. Hire an intern or a student to make follow up calls to customers or write introductory letters to prospects or potential strategic partners. You can even hire someone on a commission basis to make outbound sales and appointment setting calls, or a writer to write your blogs. With so many un- and under- employed people out there, it’s not hard to find people who are willing to do some hourly or commission based work for you and this will free up hours of your time that you can devote to more productive endeavors.
  4. Plan your activities out for a year. Yup, a whole year. Create a marketing calendar for an entire year and plan your weekly and monthly marketing activities. For example: every Monday, blog, update Facebook; Wednesdays, call 5 customers and 10 prospects; once per month, review website, do a postcard mailing. Once you have everything laid out in front of you it makes it so much easier to manage and actually get it done. I like a printed calendar and I hang it in my office right in front of me so I can visualize it. I also set reminders in outlook as a double-reminder that my business must not be neglected!
  5. Take baby steps. This kind of goes with #1- but in addition to taking things one at a time, baby steps is about finding what it takes to get over a hurdle and take that first step. Does a task seem overwhelming and insurmountable? Then don’t think about the big ole scary task – break it into smaller parts and tackle the little parts instead. Don’t think “Oh my god, I need 20 sales this month. How am I going to do that?” Instead think, “Ok, to get 20 sales, I need to get 5 this week – or one per day. What can I do to make 1 sale today?” Isn’t one sale a whole lot easier and manageable than 20? I love to think of things in terms of baby steps. I’ve never accomplished anything in life by tackling the entire task all at once. That just leaves me overwhelmed and paralyzed in fear. Instead, I tell myself, “take baby-steps, one small step at a time…”. I know that soon I’ll be taking bigger and bigger steps and before you know it I’ll be off and running. It works every time.

Managing your time and fitting marketing into your schedule are critical to the future success and sustainability of your business. Marketing is a vital component to building a business, getting and converting leads, satisfying customers, making sales, increasing profits and achieving your goals. With the proper marketing strategy and time investment the possibilities are endless!

ducttapemarketingbadge Carolyn Higgins is the President and founder of Fortune Marketing Company. Her personal mission is to help small businesses stop wasting money on advertising and promotions that don’t deliver and help you implement an effective marketing system that will bring you more customers – consistently.
For more information about Carolyn Higgins and Fortune Marketing Company please visit http://www.FortuneMarketingCompany.com.
Email chiggins@fortunemarketingcompany.com or call us at 707.718.4489.

{ 0 comments }

Newer Posts » « Older Posts