Small Business Marketing

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Small Business Marketing

Do you enjoy marketing your business?

By Charlie Cook | March 8, 2005

When you wake up in the morning do you look forward to going to work, marketing your products and services and delivering them? Or do you dread going to work?

Yesterday I got a call from someone looking for help marketing her business who said she hated her work. It’s tough to promote something, even if its a valuable service if you hate doing it. My advice was to either find a way to really get excited about parts of the job or find a new one. Life is too short to spend it doing something you don’t enjoy when there are thousands of ways to make a living. Use your passion to help you find a way to love what you do.

Fortunately most of the people who call me for marketing assistance love what they do, it’s just marketing they don’t enjoy. The problem there is much easier to solve. Its easy to love marketing your business when you know how. The trick is to use your passion to drive your marketing plan and your marketing strategy. Learn how to talk about what you do so you attract more clients and build your business network. Learn how to use the internet to generate leads. – Charlie Cook

How Can I Get More Customers and Team Members?

By Charlie Cook | February 23, 2005

“I’ve signed up at www.a——–.com to sell P—T— products (name withheld at company’s request), how can I get more customers and team members?” – Nadine

I get a lot of requests for help from others like you who have signed up for a “home business opportunity” only to find it wasn’t making them money. The post below is about the same topic.

I’d love to help you succeed but the harsh reality is that online businesses such as the one you’ve joined rarely provide anyone but the initial owners with a profit and are essentially scams to get you to sign up. My advice is to move one and focus on building a business from something you love and know about.

Recently I received a similar request from someone struggling with their online business. John had three different web sites up for four years and only made one sale. I asked him what he really enjoyed doing and he said he loved repairing and debugging computers. I suggested he pursue this as his primary business. There’s a demand and he is already an
expert.

Why not do the same? Pick something you already know about, have an aptitude for and use your passion to become successful. The 5 Principles of Highly Effective Marketing manual shows you how to identify and market your small business. – Charlie Cook

How Do I Evaluate An Internet Business Opportunity?

By Charlie Cook | February 22, 2005

“What are some of the questions that someone should use to evaluate an online business opportunity? Or should one start with the idea of marketing one’s own expertise, and develop additional services based on what people who want and need one’s expertise, also want and need in addtion?” – Chuck Hartman, Iowa

If you are looking for a way to make money online, and who isn’t, the best place to start is with what you know. Yes, there are too many online businesses that you can sign up for that will are billed as instant profit centers. These run the gamut from selling vitamins, to gifts, to selling phone services. Can you make money by tagging along with someone elses online business?

I’ve been marketing online and helping small business owners with their online marketing strategy for almost a decade and I have yet to hear of a single person who has actually made a profit by signing up for one of these online businesses. Questions to ask in evaluating an online business might include:

– How will I market the business?
– How wil l differentiate my online business from all the other people doing the same thing?
– Do I know enough about marketing this business to make my e-store more frequently visited than all the others combined?
– Given my responses to these questions, what is the true profit or loss potential associated with this business venture?

As a rule, I suggest most people who are looking for an online business idea avoid joining the typical dubious business ventures commonly marketed online. Instead, learn how to market your knowledge or passion and turn it into a profitable small business. I show you how to do this in The 5 Principles of Highly Effective Marketing manual. Order your copy to get your small business marketing plan in gear. – Charlie Cook

Should I Get Your Networking Guide?

By Charlie Cook | January 19, 2005

“Charlie, I already purchased 15 second message and 5 principles and am very satisfied with both. I was looking at the Next Step Networking ebook and noticed that the 15 second book was included. Is there sufficient additional content to make it worth the full cost to me? Thanks for really useful products.” – Bill Benitez

You’re right Creating Opportunity with Next Step Networking includes some of the same content that’s in 15 Second Marketing in addition to the next generation nextworking strategy. If you already purchased “15 Second Marketing” you can send me your order number and I’ll send you a link to upgrade it to the “Creating Opportunity with Next Step Networking” manual for the difference, or just $20. – Charlie Cook

How Much to Spend On Marketing?

By Charlie Cook | January 3, 2005

“What percent of my budget should I spend in advertising and marketing my business?”
John
CallFinalPick

The percent of your budget you spend on marketing will vary depend on a number of variables. If you’ve just started your business, plan on spending 20-30% of your net revenues on marketing. Some new firms spend even more, 50-70% in an effort to build up their customer base. If your revenue target for your first or second year in business is $200,000 you should plan on spending between $40,000 to $60,000 on marketing.

If you’ve been in business for a number of years and already have an existing client base and want to keep growing you’ll need to spend 1-15% of your net revenues on marketing. Let’s say you’ve been in business for ten years and want to earn $300,000 in 2005, depending on your business you should plan on spending from $3,000 to $45,000 dollars on marketing. – Charlie Cook

Any New Fresh Marketing Ideas for My Golf Range?

By Charlie Cook | December 17, 2004

“I have recently bought a golf driving range wich was in a poor state. In six months i have gained many new members and feel that we are going in the right direction by offering special offers at different times of the day or week, but locally there are newer driving ranges in operation. What i am looking for is a new angle on marketing, a fresh idea?” – live Staddon

Offers can be a great way to get first time prospects in the door but you need a long-term strategy for building client loyalty. Think about why people like golf driving ranges, what they are looking for and find a way to give it to them. The age of your facilty isn’t necessariy a negative. Focus instead on creating a unique ambiance, one that will keep golfers coming back. And look for ways for first timers to connect with other people who use your facility to create a strong social bond.

Relationships rule in keeping people coming back and then you can leverage those relationships to get existing customers to bring in new customers. – Charlie Cook

Marketing Strategies Work for Real Estate?

By Charlie Cook | December 11, 2004

“My husband and I have a commercial real estate appraisal business here in California. We had a great year last year and want to double our revenue in 2005. How can you help us given that you’re not familiar with the appraisal industry?” – A.M. Fischman

A- Imagine you were planning a trip up the coast to Oregon but your car needed a tune up. Would the mechanic need to know your route before he could fix your car?

Of course not. His or her job is to make sure your vehicle gets you where you want to go. The same is true for your marketing plan and marketing strategy. My role as a marketing coach is to help small business owners like you take your businesses where you want to go whether its in the appraisal, web design, accounting or investment management industry. – Charlie Cook

Is It Important To Have Your Bio In Your Marketing Materials?

By Charlie Cook | December 6, 2004

“I’m starting a new business and would like your opinion.” – Lori Emberland

A – Including a bio in your marketing materials can be helpful or not depending on how it’s written. Most people make the mistake of making their bio about me, me, me. The key is to write your bio in terms of the the problems you’ve solved and the clients you’ve helped. This makes it not only more interesting so prospects read it but helps postion you as someone who can help solve problems. You can learn more about how to assemble and write your marketing materials with The 5 Principles of Highly Effective Marketing. – Charlie Cook

eBusiness Marketing Programs?

By Charlie Cook | December 5, 2004

“I am enrolled in the University of Phoenix, pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, with a focus on e-Business. I know of two large marketing associations, the American Marketing Association and the eMarketing Association. Are you a member of either of these? Would you recommend membership in either of these associations? And, do you know of any scholarship programs for marketing, emarketing, or e-Business students?” – Amanda Larson

A – In the small business arena I only know of a small handful of people who understand how to use the internet to attract clients and generate sales successfully. If I was fresh out of college and wanted to learn corporate eBusiness my plan would be to find a way to get hired by Amazon or EBay or even L.L. Bean. Amazon of course has been the trail blazer and much can be learned just by studying their web site.

Joining eMarketing Association and AMA are both good ideas, ways to find out what people are talking about and more importantly to build your network.- Charlie Cook

How Do I Develop Marketing Survey Questions?

By Charlie Cook | December 4, 2004

“Hello Charlie, your articles are excellent. I am in the process of building my market survey questions. I have to see what my defined market thinks of my concept prior to my marketing strategy. Do you have materials on developing market survey questions? I would like to know if I am on the right track and like to double/triple check my work.” – Nicole Bourquin

A – The key marketing questions to ask prospects and clients (relevant to your products and services) are:

– What do you need?

– What do you want?

– What are your biggest concerns?

The objective is get the conversation rolling so you can get them talking and ask follow up questions to learn the specifics. – Charlie Cook

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