Are you ready for a year of guerrilla marketing?
Podcasts
Never before has the online community had such an opportunity to reach its audience offline. On top of that, the spammers and hackers haven't yet found a way to infiltrate podcasting. (They probably will, but not like they've done with e-mail.)
Podcasts, like any information you put out, should be of interest and value to your target market. What do they need to help their businesses or their personal lives? What solutions do you have that they would like to hear more about? These are the things people find interesting in podcasts. A once-a-month delivery promoted through all your other marketing channels will give a real synergistic boost to your marketing.
Blogs
There are 100 times more blogs than there were three years ago, according Sifry's Alerts' August post on the State of the Blogosphere. At first, it was only the most tech-savvy businesses that had blogs. Now blogging is on the increase with all types of businesses because it's a cost-effective way to create marketing buzz and communities of support.
Blogging is like having a conversation with your target market. It also provides an interactive forum for your target market to talk back to you. And a blog done in conjunction with your website gives you one more way to reach your prospects.
The best part is, many blog programs allow you to set everything up yourself with little or no technical know-how. If you're not sure you'll be able to support a blog on your own, contribute to someone else's. This'll help you gain exposure and position you as an expert in your field.
Online Advertising
Ad dollars are continuing to shift to the internet and will continue to do so as new opportunities such as video open up. Online ad spending increases have been driven by the growing ability to measure campaigns effectively and a relatively high ROI. As a result, for many businesses, the question isn't whether to advertise online or even where or when, but rather how to stretch every dollar spent.
For the everyday entrepreneur and guerrilla marketer, this translates into a focused pay-per-click campaign on Yahoo! or Google AdWords. You can focus on a particular target market searching particular keywords and test your campaign instantly, all for fewer dollars than the old mass-market banner ads and certainly for a lot less than the cost of print ads.
Expanding to Global Markets
Borders are being removed in the business world because international labor rates and talent levels make location irrelevant on the Internet. No longer is going global just for large corporations; Sally’s e-commerce bead shop that's operating from a home office can now do business in as many countries as have Internet access.
For the aggressive entrepreneur, marketing globally is done mostly online. Using pay-per-click campaigns, a focused opt-in e-mail campaign or other traffic-generation techniques, a local entrepreneur can easily reach a global market.
The Internet has also greatly reduced language barriers. A lot of e-commerce is done in English, so there's not necessarily a huge need to translate. However, translated websites do open up new opportunities.
Expanding to global markets can be done with your e-commerce website or as an affiliate of the many thousands of retail portals available online, like Amazon.com and eBay.
Direct Marketing
No longer are awareness ads or even branding ads generating enough results to justify their use. Today's consumers want to know what’s in it for them. They want a deal, a discount or something special. These all have implications for increased direct marketing. In addition, with all the technology available to us for managing databases, target markets can be more tightly defined, segregated, sorted, compiled and marketed to, providing a higher return to those employing direct marketing.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Get The Word Out On Your Home Business
Saturday, March 31, 2007
T. Harv Eker and Millionaire Mind
The thing I like the most about T. Harv Eker is his perspective on abundance. The money is out there, we just have to figure out what it is we love to do and profit from that. I've always been a huge fan of personal development which makes it easy for me to promote. T. Harv Eker states that if you don't enjoy what you do then you most likely will not succeed. Choose something you love and take it to the bank!!
Who Is Stephen Pierce?
A young man hanging with the wrong crowd, Stephen Pierce wanted desperately to make his break in the world with every “next big thing” advertised in the back of magazines. After numerous failed attempts and hitting bottom after being shot and left bleeding in the street, Pierce studied and equipped himself with a new mindset for business that today has made him one of the most successful Internet marketers, marketing consultants and optimization strategists in the country. I have used many of Stephens' ideas in my home business marketing. The advantage of using his information is seeing marketing for what it really is, simple and to the point.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Liberty League International Joins With Michael Oliver
“Michael will bring clarity to the psychology behind the selling process as we the founders originally intended it” said Shane Krider one of the co-founders of Liberty League International. “We look forward to his contribution and are proud to have him as a member of our team.
Since its creation in 2001, Liberty League International has been one of the world’s fastest-growing personal development companies. They provide the tools and environment necessary for their customers to lead a more satisfying and fulfilling life through emotional and financial wealth. Their flagship product Beyond Freedom is a complete personal development system which helps individuals to change the way they approach life.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Marketing Method For Your Home-Based Business
Part of running a successful business is its growth. Home-based businesses are no exception. In fact, it can be even more important if you are just starting out or lack a potential client base. The key to growing a business is marketing.
Marketing is how you connect with individuals who may become customers or clients and includes methods such as affiliate programs, newsletters, trade shows, web sites, brochures, advertising, and more. The potential marketing methods available are almost limitless in scope and deciding on an approach may seem daunting, but a little preliminary effort can help you narrow down the field of options and help you make the best choices for your business.
–Determine Targeted Audience
–Set a Budget
–Evaluate Marketing Methods
5 Marketing Tools for Home-Based Businesses
Because a home-based business doesn’t have a storefront for passers-by to notice and no opportunity to generate walk-in business, home-based businesses need marketing other types of businesses, not less.
Not marketing your home-based business will almost certainly doom it to failure.
1. Direct mail. still a cost-effective way to advertise in many industries.
2. Voice mail. Even the outgoing message on your answering machine or voice mail system can help promote your business when utilized correctly.
3. Press releases. The only thing better than cheap publicity is free publicity, and well-timed, professional press releases can result in just that.
4. Referrals. Referrals are probably the single best way to find new customers. If you do something well, chances are people are going to talk about it.
5. Radio interviews. If you can speak knowledgeably about your product or service and tie it in well with current events, radio interviews are a great way to reach a wide audience and improve your customer base.
Direct Selling An Option for Mini-Preneurs
According to the Direct Selling Association (www.dsa.org), more than 13.6 million people participated in direct selling in 2004 with an overwhelming 73 percent of them being women. Buying and selling in the comfort of a home still seems to be the heart of the direct selling industry, with 62 percent of all direct sales being made that way in 2003. About 16 percent of total sales that year were made by phone, followed by about 10 percent via the Internet. While the Internet doesn’t allow for face-to-face selling, it does give direct sellers a worldwide customer base.
