Many small business owners and entrepreneurs are frustrated and bewildered by the ‘Marketing Paradox’. We all recognize the critical need to do more and better marketing of our products or services to survive and thrive. But, few of us have the knowledge and skills to do it ourselves. Yet, we hesitate to – or can’t – invest the money to have other people do it for us. The result is that we often do nothing. Bad idea.
Marketing
Content Still Rules
‘Content Rules – how to create killer blogs, podcasts, videos, ebooks, webinars and more that engage customers and ignite your business’, Ann Handley & C.C. Chapman, Gilden Media Corp, 2011. An excellent and detailed survey of content marketing concepts, strategies and tactics, read by both authors.
How Many is Too Many?
Many entrepreneurs strategically use professional, industry and business group involvement to market their services, network and communicate their brand. Such groups offer varying amounts of opportunities for learning, professional development, networking, volunteering and … even socializing.
Avoid Dumber, Slower, Expensive Marketing
‘Smarter, Faster, Cheaper – Non-Boring, Fluff-Free Strategies for Marketing and Promoting Your Business’, David Siteman Garland, Gildan Media Group, 2011. Lots of good and simple ideas for marketing and promotion that avoid being dumber, slower and expensive. A fun listen by an entrepreneur, speaker and author.
Take the Pain Out of Your Pitches
Do you ever experience pain when you pitch business? Do you ever cause some pain for your customers as a result of those pitches? If you answered yes to either question, then read these 10 Best Practices for creating ‘pain-less’ sales pitches.
Embrace Referral Power
Marketing research consistently supports the value of referrals. New prospects acquired through referrals from your happy customers generally make purchasing decisions faster, are nearly three times more likely to become your repeat customers, require less investment to make the sale and are twice as likely to make referrals on their own.
No-Budget Marketing
Identify simple strategies for marketing your business when you donʼt have the skills to do it alone or the budget to have someone else do it for you. Harness the Power of the Pen, the Platform, and the Pro Bono, along with focused networking and social media use.