Twelve Tips for Writing Better Marketing Brochures
Every year, thousands of online businesses fail. No business owner plans to fail, but they fail all the same. One of the main reasons for the high failure rate is an overreliance on one marketing channel: the Internet. Read More »
8 Collateral Marketing Items Every Small Business Needs
Over time, you’ll want to provide information about your company to lots of a variety of different people: employees, investors, existing and potential clients, and the media. Your company’s success depends in part upon how well you communicate that information. This, in turn, may depend upon how well you prepare collateral items, ranging from company and product fact sheets to biographies of key employees. Read More »
Secrets of Successful Market-Research Studies
Whether your goal is to expand into new markets, introduce a new product or service, or gauge customer reactions, even the smallest businesses can benefit from a simple but well-planned market-research study. Read More »
Special Events for Small Businesses
The goal of a promotion is to get your business noticed. Special events — including open houses, educational seminars, and sporting events — are effective ways to positively differentiate your business from the competition. Read More »
How to Use Podcasting
Although podcasting is new, it is well on its way to becoming a mainstream medium of communication. Podcasting, simply put, are audio files that are delivered via RSS. Many people believe that podcasting is used solely for the distribution of music files, but nothing could be further from the truth. Read More »
The Difference Between Mail and Direct Mail
The purchase of an outside list of names and addresses distinguishes bona-fide direct mail campaigns from ordinary mailings. Mailing regularly to your existing database of customers and prospects is a good way to reactivate accounts, uncover new leads, and generate new business from customers. All you need for an in-house mail campaign is a customer or prospect database, postage, and enough motivation to get the mail out the door. You may also have to enter the business cards in your Rolodex into a database or spreadsheet program. Read More »
Fulfillment Firm Fundamentals
In direct-selling lingo, fulfillment covers everything from taking the order to packing, shipping, and processing the purchase for payment. You can fulfill orders yourself or you can outsource these duties to a company that specializes in managing all or part of the fulfillment function. Read More »
Now's the Time to Perform a Competitive Analysis (12 tips)
For anyone trying to grow a business, one of the first tasks is to map the competitive landscape. With a good understanding of the competition facing your company, you’ll be able to spot and exploit opportunities as they develop. These dozen points should help you draw and refine your map, beginning with your earliest efforts to plan your new venture and continuing for as long as you stay in business. Read More »
Special Events for Small Businesses
The goal of a promotion is to get your business noticed. Special events — including open houses, educational seminars, and sporting events — are effective ways to positively differentiate your business from the competition. Read More »
Trade Show Strategies
Planning, preparation, presentation, and follow-up will maximize the benefits of trade shows.
Trade shows can be extremely effective outlets to showcase your products and services Read More »
