Marketing Daily Tips

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Before you can market, you need to know who you are marketing to. Who is your customer? How will you market? Will you cold call, mail, set appointments or employ a walk in approach? Be careful with the walk in approach as many businesses do not permit soliciting. You might just want to drop off information and follow up with a telephone call.

In order to determine who your market is look at your business plan. How did you define your average customer? What was your estimate of total market size? What territory did you intend to service? You might want to make a table for the following: Product/Service - list your product(s) or service(s). If you offer a variety of models or types, list them separately. This will more clearly define your market. The more specific the answers to these questions, the easier it will be to determine a marketing plan. What marketing techniques did you delineate in your business plan? Are you using them, and if so, how effectively?

One of the best ways to determine what works best is to look at your competition.

What is your competition doing.? How are they marketing? What services do they offer? How do their prices compare to yours? Some of the ways to determine this information is to talk to prospects who are now using your competitors products or service. Ask them, “How can I offer and deliver the same things my competitors do - or better?” Obtain and study your competitors literature, for example, promotional materials that outline price, what services they offer, products they are selling, etc. Keep all the materials obtained on your competition and update this information on a quarterly basis. If there is a industry publication that contains information on your competition, subscribe and read it. You may be surprised to find stories that reveal important information on your competition. Attend trade shows, exhibits, and conferences for your industry. Read the local papers and papers in the area your competition is located. Ask your customers what they like and dislike about your services or products.

Copyright DeFiore Enterprises 2000

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Some of the ways in which to get your “name out there” are to call your local television and radio stations, and ascertain whether there is a medium you can get your name in. A very good source are public stations that hold auctions, at which you can donate your services. Talk shows, both radio and television. Do something to get yourself noticed and send it to them. For example, we sent a fax to the television and radio stations that for anyone who was unemployed we would do a typeset resume for only $10. Channel 13 came out and interviewed us, and we were on their 6 p.m. news program.

Send press releases to television and radio stations, in addition to newspapers. Make it short, concise, and eye catching. One tip is to put your picture on the press release. Be sure all the information you want to impart is in the first paragraph.

Contact local newspapers, they love to do articles on home-based and small businesses. We have had excellent success getting both our newsletter and directory published in small local papers. In addition, these releases have also gotten us published in New Business Opportunities, Small Business Opportunities, and Income Opportunities to mention a few. Many of the businesses that we have written press releases for also have reported very good results.

Volunteer your services to non-profit organizations. Give seminars and classes to establish yourself as an expert. In addition, if appropriate to your business, advertise on services like AOL, CompuServe, and Yahoo. We had a flood of responses for both our newsletter and consulting service, by advertising on CompuServe.

Copyright DeFiore Enterprises 2000

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The following tips have come from a wide variety of sources; some from other successful businesses we know, some from our Home-Based and Small Business Support Group meetings and some we’ve developed by trial and error.

Some of the ways to get clients are: contact previous employers; mailing lists; cold call your target market; attend group meetings and seminars for your target market (conventions for doctors, lawyers; computer seminars); attend local Chamber of Commerce meetings; join groups related to your target market; if your target market uses a specific system, for example accountants use the SafeGuard system, contact them and tell them that you are available to teach them how to use the system or you can do it for them. Knock on doors and call others in your line of business for overload work, or clients they have trouble working with. Send surveys to your clients. This will also help you to obtain testimonials. Do a general survey of your target market. This will give you better leads. For example, for my classes, I have a survey I use that contains, what type of equipment is being used, what type of programs they are using, and whether or not they do desk top publishing in-house. This survey gives me the name, address, and phone number of the person to send my class listings to, in addition, to determining whether or not they are a desk top publishing prospect.

Copyright DeFiore Enterprises 2000

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The postcard can be a very powerful marketing tool. Many of our customers and/or students use them in their business. The key is to set up the card to market effectively for you. Concentrate on a specific item or niche.

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