Small Business Marketing Tactic: Connect With Your Local Newspaper!

Connecting with the editor at your local newspaper, you have an opportunity to have your voice heard by your entire community!

A few ideas:

1. Create an annual award and publcize it. Outstanding Employee, NO ACCIDENTS in 5 Years, etc

2. Write a "Letter To The Editor" of your local paper/trade periodical

3. Offer industry tips in an article to your local paper/newsletter/home owners association newsletter

Small Business Marketing Tactic: Email Marketing!

OFFER A PRIZE AS YOU COLLECT BUSINESS CARDS

Yes, it's one of the oldest forms to capture pertinent data from your customers, but it works! Remember, your prize does not need to be a huge "trip for 2" to some remote island getaway. If you own a coffee shop, simply offer to provide Coffee & Refreshments to the winner's office staff/personnel (which gets you into their door and can even expand your business even further!).

Do you cut hair? Then, offer a discount to the winning card.

The thing to remember, you already have them as a customer. Now, you can capture their email addresses and communicate them more frequently. Be sure to remember let them know that they are agreeing to receive emails from you in exchange for the FREE PRIZE drawing.

Enjoy!

Small Business Marketing Tactic: Successful PR!

Successful public relations (PR) begins with your treating the local media contacts as a target market! Just as you have worked hard to identify your customers, you need to work to target your key media.

You have information you need to communicate to them. Your job is to ask them...

- WHAT THEY WANT

- HOW THEY WANT IT

- WHEN THEY WANT IT

- HOW BEST TO SUBMIT IT TO THEM

Get to know them and get them to trust you.

Where to start?

1. Create a list of your local newspaper, radio, television that your target market reads, listens to, & watches.

2. Identify the key people in the media outlets that might care about your field of business

3. Research to determine extra ways that those key contacts are communicating to your target audience (i.e. blog, reading the many articles he/she writes to figure out how you might eventually pitch them an idea in the future, etc)

4. Forward them relevant information based on the articles they write in your field (i.e. provide them with industry statistics from reliable sources, give them inside information to the industry-related announcements that may interest your community by tying in your expertise of business, etc)

5. After several communications with your media contact when you have developed a a relationship, you can pitch a story idea to them (or share some very IMPORTANT news with them that they can use to publish in an article.)

6. After some months, treat them to lunch.

Small Business Marketing Tactic: Creating Buzz!

Creating buzz for your business means having a great product or service. Creating that great product or service is an art!

* Identify your target market

* Learn as much as you can about your audience

* Build your product or service to BENEFIT your congregation

* Regularly evaluate your business to make sure you continue to BENEFIT your customers (i.e. ASK THEM!)

Your business success depends on the BENEFITS you deliver to your consumers!

Small Business Marketing Tactic: COUPON SHEET

Partner with local market business owners to create a 1-page COUPON SHEET that YOU distribute within your local community.

- Local public/private schools (many schools allow business flyers into their teachers' mailboxes)

- Local college campus (student union, professor)

- Radio stations

- Grocery stores (many have bulletin boards, "Take One-Free" bins, etc)

- Daycares

- Churches

- Nursing/Assisted Living Homes

- etc.

As you begin to grow your distribution list for the coupon sheet, you can add a new revenue stream by charging the participating businesses a small fee to be included on the flyer.

Remember to include a coupon on the Coupon Sheet for your business as well!