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4 More Low-Cost Marketing Tactics To Maximize Small Business Sales!

Author: Charlie Cook   |   December 3rd, 2008

Just one month left and we’re in the midst of the holiday shopping season. Are you on track to make your revenue goals? Should you just sit back and wait for 2009 so you can get a fresh start?

Regardless of how you did the rest of the year, whether you’re on track to make 2008 your best year ever or you’re sales stagnated, don’t quit yet. December can still be your best month.

The days are counting down, with less than 30 left in the year. NOW is the perfect time to apply these last-minute holiday marketing strategies to end the year on a high note.

Time is running out… don’t procrastinate, take action today!

You’ve got just a few weeks left to achieve your small business marketing goals for this year, don’t let them slide by and wish later you’d done something to maximize your profits.

Apply these 4 low-cost and no-cost small business marketing strategies TODAY!

Strategy #1: “Target Your Sales Copy to What’s On People’s Minds”

Most people are thinking about giving and wondering two things:

* What would make a great gift for my son or daughter,
* What would make a great gift for my spouse,
* What would make a great gift for my father or mother in-law.

… and they’re wondering

* What should I put on my own holiday list,
* What gift should I give myself this year, Yes, a lot of people, while out buying gifts for others, buy gifts for themselves too!

You get the idea. Don’t assume people know what they want to buy. I’m often at a total loss myself as to what to buy for my 22 year-old son. So whether you sell to businesses or direct to consumers, help them out with your sales copy by targeting the questions that are on your customers’ minds at this time of year.

Strategy #2: “Use the End of The Year To Up-Sell & Cross-Sell Clients”

December 31st marks the end of 2008 and while it’s just a day on the calendar, it has a strong emotional effect on your prospect’s and clients. People see it as a clear ending and Jan 1st as a new beginning.

At the end of December people tend to reflect a little bit on their past performance and on their aspirations for the coming year. This is the perfect time to tap into their psyche and get clients to review their needs, what worked and didn’t work, and what they’d like to do better next year.

Whether you sell consulting services, or flat screen TVS, the end of the year is an ideal time to cross-sell and up-sell your products and services.

Strategy #3: “Strengthen Your Relationships with Prospects and Clients”

Your primary small business competitive advantage is the number and strength of your relationships with prospects and clients. Use this time to show your appreciation to them. How?

* Tell them. Thank them for their business and loyalty. Gifts are nice but ultimately it’s the thought that counts. Make sure to let them know you value their business and enjoy working with them.

Unless you’re the only source for a product or service clients can always find someone else to buy from. The best way to prevent this is to maintain a strong relationship and this starts with saying thank you.

* Send your most valued clients a gift, but not just any gift. For years I had an investment advisor who each Christmas sent me something from Tiffany’s that cost hundreds of dollars.  As you may know by now, I’m not a Tiffany’s kind of guy and ended up returning almost every one of these to the store.

The key is to give something that your client would appreciate. It’s hard to lose with food. In my case I would have been much more impressed if my investment advisor had sent me something that was 25% as less expensive like a lift ticket or ski lesson at my favorite ski resort.

Strategy #4: “Offer Special Deals For A Limited Time Only”

The end of the year is fast approaching and everyone likes a deal. The problem is we all tend to procrastinate. What’s the solution?

You have the products and services prospects want. Now all you need to do is motivate them to buy.

Combine special offers with limited time availability. If you have a website you can put a countdown timer on your offer sales page to increase the sense of urgency.

Just use the links below to find code you can easily add to your web pages and include your countdown clock. There are tons out there. Here are three.

http://www.christmasbuzz.com/countdown/
(the site I grabbed my Santa countdown from)

http://www.countdownclockcodes.com/christmas-countdown-clocks/

http://www.7is7.com/otto/countdclock.html

That’s it!

Four easy, no-cost ways to increase your end-of-the-year sales and beat, or at least get closer, to your goals for the year.

And don’t forget the countdown clock is ticking for YOU too. If you’re at all interested in getting into the Monthly Marketing Mentoring Program for 20% off the first month, you can… if you take action today!

Go ahead and “play Santa” and buy yourself access to this wealth-building program, but act fast if you want in. There are were only 15 holiday specials left last time I looked. And whether these sell out or not, this offer ends on December 20th.

Grab it before it’s gone >>

-Charlie Cook

Small Business Marketing That Gets Results

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