Marketing_Secrets_for_Small_Business_Owners

							Marketing Secrets for Small Business Owners

Word Count:
610

Summary:
If you're a small business owner and have ever wanted to learn what works
in advertising, then this article is for you. Discover how to make your
marketing dollars drive results for your business.


Keywords:
marketing, small business marketing, Internet marketing


Article Body:
If you’re a small business owner, you’re probably wondering where you can
get the biggest bang for the buck with your marketing dollars. As a
veteran marketing professional and small business owner myself, I
understand the importance of making the most from a limited marketing
budget.

The good news for today’s small business owner is that the Internet and
local advertising can provide targeted reach at a reasonable cost. In
particular, email, Internet marketing, and classified advertising, can
generate huge returns for your business.

•     Email Marketing. Each year, nearly 20 billion emails are sent to
consumers and businesses. As many as 60 percent of these emails are
considered SPAM and about 20% are automatically tagged as such – making
their way into the SPAM mailbox of your everyday email client.

However, what most email marketers fail to tell you is that the most
productive email solicitations don’t come from businesses, they come from
word-of-mouth or viral marketing. Viral marketing is the practice of
telling others about a positive experience with a brand, product or
service.

As a small business owner, you can take advantage of email marketing by
simply encouraging those who receive your emails to forward them to a
friend. Also, tag your web pages with a “tell a friend” button which
allows for easy emailing of a web page, URL, PDF, or related document.
These features cost little or nothing to implement and can generate
impressive results.

•     Internet Marketing. Often the topic of Internet marketing scares
off small business owners. However, Internet marketing itself can be an
effective tool if leveraged appropriately. There are a variety of
Internet marketing mediums. These options include “pay-for” Internet
marketing options such as Google AdSense, the Yahoo! Directory and so on
as well as free or cost neutral options.
In Internet marketing, there are a couple of techniques that are highly
effective and cost little or nothing to implement. The first and most
popular is article marketing. Are you a subject matter expert? If you
are, provide articles to other well known websites that can get your
company name and URL out there. This can be done for free and provides
the added benefit of having other sites link to your website, increasing
your site’s link popularity scores.

The second Internet marketing strategy that can drive you business is an
affiliate program. At its most basic level, an affiliate program allows
other website or companies to sell your products and receive a
commission. Explore affiliate programs that can help distribute your
products or services.

•     Classified Advertising. Still one of the best and most affordable
ways to sell your product, classified advertising can be effective if you
run your ad for multiple weeks. For as little as $30 per week or less,
you can get your company name, product, website, or other unique
identifier in front of a local audience.

Weekly papers are especially good if you are targeting a small area.
These local papers are also well read – often cover to cover. So, if you
want to advertise, forget the large display ads, magazine ads, or
anything that costs more than $100. Spend your money on classified ads
and measure the response.

Marketing doesn’t have to break the bank for the small business owner.
In fact, it should be seen as an important way to drive revenue for your
business. If you have little or no money to spend on marketing, be sure
to take advantage of email marketing, Internet marketing, and classified
ads to drive the success of your business. Also, make sure that
everything you distribute (letters, invoices, business cards, and even
your voicemail) mentions your company name and website.