Marketing Tips

Don't be afraid of marketing. It is one of the keys to business success! You must put the time in if you are to be found. Without customers, you won't make it and if they don't know about you, you don't stand a very good chance of succeeding. Tackle business marketing head on!

Word of mouth is a great marketing tool as it is the least expensive. Make sure you market yourself where ever you go. Tell people about what you do, your goals, your products, anything to keep them interested and get them to tell others about you as well.

Networking is another way word-of-mouth will benefit you. As you meet new people, swap business cards (or fliers in some cases). Make sure you write on the back of the other person's business card what they do and how you met. In the future, when you call the person up, the personal touch of a memory will make them more keen on lending a hand or furthering your business.

Are you marketing a gift shop? Check out Giftys.com. You can put pictures of your products on their site and they'll pass along gift buying traffic to you for a surprising low cpc (cost per click). There are no fees or hidden charges. More information here. This is probably one of the industry's best kept secrets.

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Ever heard of the 2 minute elevator pitch? This is a short vocal summary of your business or business idea/plan. If you happen to be in front of that "right" person that could be invaluable to you (like a buyer or investor), you'd better have your pitch rehearsed and down pat. They're usually very busy and won't have a lot of time to hear you out.

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Wear your brand... and get your employees to wear the brand as well. Buy polo shirts or dress shirts for everyone to wear with your logo embroidered on them. Give them incentives for wearing them often, not just to work but out to social events, fairs, conventions and so on. This is a great marketing tool.

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For online, add as much content as you can to your website. This is a form of online marketing and it is absolutely invaluable. Search engines love text and the more text you have on your pages, the more chance the search engines have of finding you. Make sure that your repeat your main keywords often but don't overuse them or you'll get penalized.

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Be likable in all ways. This gets people talking and of course 'word of mouth' is one of the most valuable marketing tools you have available to you. Don't just have a strong product or service, make sure the customer service is up there too. Train your employees to treat your customers like Kings and Queens. This makes your company likable. They'll then be that much more likely to recommend you in the future because likability sells!

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Work out reciprocal partnerships. Example: If Joe's electrical company tells their customers about Mike's plumbing and visa versa, it benefits both parties. Arrange to carry each other's business cards and hand them out to your customers. This takes trust but it is highly effective and doesn't cost either business anything to implement.

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Retail stores and those companies that sell hard products; brand your merchandise with your logo or company information. Do you sell figurines? Buy some inexpensive labels and put them on the bottom of each figurine. Do you have walk-in customers? Make sure your bags have your logo and branding on them. This is a tried and tested marketing method that works!

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Shop BuyGifts.com for Gift Ideas!