Trends

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Online advertising versus Phone book ads

Yellow Pages vs. Online Advertising (“Let Your Fingers Do The Finding”)

• Yellow Pages are difficult to track and have limited tracking options. Online marketing offers extensive tracking options.
• Yellow Pages reach can only go so far and if you advertise in more than one directory it can get very expensive. Online marketing has an unlimited reach and is very cost effective.
• You can only change your advertising message on a yearly basis with Yellow Pages. You can change your message online at any time.
• There are over 13 billion searches on the web/month and growing. Yellow Pages receive an approximate 1 billion references/month and is losing more and more customers that advertise in the Yellow Pages every year.

Don’t forget we can help you with local marketing.

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Online Advertising versus Phone Books Ads

Yellow Pages vs. Online Advertising (“Let Your Fingers Do The Finding”)

• Yellow Pages are difficult to track and have limited tracking options. Online marketing offers extensive tracking options.
• Yellow Pages reach can only go so far and if you advertise in more than one directory it can get very expensive. Online marketing has an unlimited reach and is very cost effective.
• You can only change your advertising message on a yearly basis with Yellow Pages. You can change your message online at any time.
• There are over 13 billion searches on the web/month and growing. Yellow Pages receive an approximate 1 billion references/month and is losing more and more customers that advertise in the Yellow Pages every year.

Don’t forget we can help you with local marketing.

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What to look for when outsourcing small business marketing

Outsourcing marketing efforts has become an essential aspect of business strategies. After all, you should focus on what you are good at and outsource the rest.

Outsourcing allows a company to put more focus on product development and overall operations. Many marketing agencies can often provide the same service as an in-house marketing department, but at half the cost.

By outsourcing you gain the following:

  • Specialized skills and expertise
  • More time- your most valuable asset
  • More implementation
  • Fast results

Every time you hear outsourcing marketing you think about how expensive marketing agencies are. Don’t forget that there are some Marketing companies that specialize in small businesses, just like BuzzBooster.  They are not in the business of selling you on expensive advertising, they focus on other strategies like internet marketing, direct response marketing and social media marketing to bring you more exposure and more results.

Here are a few  questions that should assist you in finding a marketing agency that is right for you.

  • Area of ExpertiseFind out what their expertise is in.  What do they focus on? Here are common areas of expertise:
    • Search Engine Marketing and Optimization
    • Branding
    • Positioning
    • Affiliate Marketing Development and Management
    • Marketing Strategy and Plan Development
    • Internet Marketing Strategy and Plan Development
    • Lead Generation
    • Sales and Marketing Campaign Development
    • Marketing Classes, Seminars, and Workshops

    Figure out what areas you need help in and look for consultants with expertise in those areas.

  • Training/EducationWhat type of training and/or education is important to you. I will tell you that education is important, however experience and hands-on expertise can far out weigh education when it comes down to success in marketing.Ask for case studies, referrals, and experience in the areas that you need assistance in.
  • Company AchievementsWhat are the notable achievements that the marketing consultant has achieved. What work are they most proud of?Ask them to show you examples of campaigns they run for other clients.
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    What doesn’t work in social media

    Small business owners know they need to be using the internet and social media marketing to promote their business. Many times they start doing themselves and after a while start questioning what they are doing because they don’t see any return on the time and money invested.

    This is actually very common. Here is a list of things you need to know that do not work with social media in order to avoid wasting your time: – Trying to do a million things at the same time – Fail to understand that social media is a process and will not work overnight.

    – Fail to see that an advertising approach will not work. – Trying to use social media tools without a strategy. – Not automating most of your social media efforts. – Confusing marketing with social media with becoming a social butterfly. – Using social media as your only marketing effort. – Believing you can make money with no work, no investment and do it overnight. – Buying every new product promising the above. – Join or use every new tool that comes up.

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    How to choose a marketing consultant

    With the internet and social media marketing along came a huge line of new marketing consultants. Unfortunately a big chunk still live in their mother’s basement and never made a penny online.  Even worse, they have no business experience.  Getting advice from these people can cause you a lot of headaches and take your business down.

    Here are several tips for securing talent that will save your project time, mistakes and money when choosing a Marketing Consultant:

    – Meet 1 on 1

    – Look at their work product, PR, past strategies, designs

    – Ask about the products they have launched themselves

    – Check the Alexa Rank and Page rank of their websites.

    – Check their presence online.

    – Ask about their revenue models online and check examples given.

    – Have they won or been nominated for  industry awards?

    – References are nice, but really, who gives bad references?

    – What specific, off-the-cuff strategies does the consultant propose?

    – Do the strategies proposed seem cogent, offer fresh perspective?

    – Check if what he/she is offering are real strategies or just a bunch of tactics you could learn from a book.

    – Do they have hands on experience in business?

    – Don’t price shop. Good consultants are not cheap. Here the saying “you get what you pay for” really applies.

    – Listen to your guts.

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    Get more results with Facebook

    A great conversation about being more productive with Facebook took place with Alex Mandossian and here are a few nuggets:

    Tips to maximize Facebook for business

    Want more people to visit the links you post
    in your Facebook updates? Be sure to include the http:// before the
    www to make them clickable links

    Why not make a theme for each week for your posts

    On a page, add events manually, rather than letting the event app
    post them.Just copy the URL
    of the event, and add as a link, along with relevant copy of your
    choosing on the wall of the page.

    You can subscribe to any Facebook page in an RSS reader and monitor
    content from afar.

    Connect the Networked Blogs application
    (http://networkedblogs.com/) to your Facebook account. Then add
    the rss feed from you main blogs. Next, select the option in the
    Networked Blogs setting to post your RSS feed to your Facebook
    Page. As soon as you have 20 people follow your feed your content
    is syndicated on Facebook!

    Create a Welcome tab and a default setting for first time visitors
    to your page so that they can learn a little more about you and what
    you do.

    Research shows that people watch video on Facebook for an average
    of 1-minute, 45-seconds

    To get the free report click here:  Facebook tips

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    Information Marketing- Turning your Knowledge into products

    Life is not easy for a lot of people out there these days. Unemployment is high and people over 40 years old know that chances of getting a job will be a daunting task. The only way out for many people is to finally start their own business. The selling of franchises is on a all time high and a lot of home based businesses are popping up.

    Starting your own business comes with a lot of challenges and money is always a concern.

    From all the options out there, one that offers low risk and great profit margins is an information marketing business.

    In a nutshell an info-business is when you turn your knowledge into products.

    Information based businesses can have many formats and it is a lot more than just making an e-book.

    The entry point to start an info-marketing business is really low, you can really start with a few hundred bucks. Compare this to a normal $200,000 to buy restaurant equipment for example; money that you will invest with no guarantees of success.

    An information marketing business can be totally automated. There is no need to be face to face with customers and prospects the whole day which buys you back time to do the things you love and create more info-products.

    In most cases you don’t need to have a staff. There are minor things that you can outsource and in some cases you will want to have a fulfillment company doing the fulfillment for you.

    There is no need for a store front or office. An information marketing business can be run from anywhere.

    Let’s not forget the profit margins in an info-business. They are quite tempting. For example, a CD will cost you around a dollar to burn and will be sold for at least $27.

    Besides CDs, e-books, DVDs there are close to 40 different formats of info-businesses out there many offering residual income.

    As long as you are passionate about a subject that other people are interested in, you can start your info-biz.  You don’t need to understand technology, have degrees etc.

    You might be asking yourself that information is available everywhere and anyone can Google anything and will find information about it for free, don’t forget that while this is true, people will always pay for knowledge they can apply right away and see results.

    We are all very busy and researching for information can be quite frustrating. We all save time and money for specific information we can apply.

    In times like this we need to improve our skills or acquire new skills. This is an opportunity for savvy people looking to start their own business.

    If you want to know more about information marketing and how to start your info-business take a look at this: Info-marketing business

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    List of uses in mobile marketing for small business

    I’ve talked a lot about QR codes and the possibilities it has for business, so, let’s talk about something close to codes today. We will talk about mobile marketing for small businesses.

    As you probably have noticed, almost every one carries a mobile phone. Some of us cannot imagine life without a cel phone anymore and many families are getting rid of land lines because they have no more use for them.

    When you think about marketing a business, most of the time we think how to reach them in a specific place. For example when they are online in a search engine on a social network or we try to reach them with direct mail or phone when they are at home.

    Up to a short time ago we had no way of reaching people wherever they are. Here comes mobile marketing and QR codes, geo-based games like FourSquare and text messaging. All very powerful ways to reach your audience and if used properly, a great way to increase sales and do follow-up.

    Here I want to provide you with a list of things you could use mobile marketing, more specifically, text messages to promote, sell and follow-up.

    – You can send people a Today’s special
    – Buy one get one free
    – contests
    – New items arrived
    – Raffles
    – birthday specials.
    – Restaurants can text when a table is ready.
    – Send basic info about an item
    – Basic info about you
    – Photos of products
    – for Real Estate you may want to send the property description
    – Property virtual tous.
    – New property listing
    – Link to websites
    – Appointment remiders
    – Meeting reminders
    – Networking events
    – Special promos
    – Emergency alerts
    – Events
    – Fundraisings
    – Time to refil your prescription
    – Reminder to set next appointment

    There are probably many more ways to use mobile marketing in your busienss. Remember that text messages are usually received within seconds of sending, which means it is a great delivery method and is more reliable than e-mail.. you don’t need a special phone to received messages, most phones have this capability.

    Americans sent over 90 billion text messages just last month, that is a lot more than voice calls.

    You might not be texting a lot but you are not your audience. Mobile marketing is simple, effective and very low cost so there is no reason to not use this as a way to keep in front of your audience.

    Basically you choose some keywords that you display in other marketing amterials like flyers, car window etc. People dial a number and input the keyword. They will see a personalized message(ex coupon) and now you have access and permission to send that person other messages. Be careful not to over do it. Ideally not more than 2 messages a week.

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    Different uses for QR codes for small business owners

    We get a lot of questions about our favorite social media tools. Well, most social media tools can be useful in one moment or another and when they help you convert prospects into customers or strengthen the relationship with existing customers, I tend to love them.

    There is one social tool that I think is one of the best things out there for savvy business owners.

    It is the QR code. This simple code does something that every small business owner should dream about every night. It creates a bridge between the printed or offline world to the online world.

    How powerful is that?

    qr codes

    I don’t know about you but when I started my business money was not easily available and every penny spent counted. One thing that annoyed me a lot was going to networking meetings and passing some flyers knowing most of them would end up in the trash really soon. If at that time QR codes were around things would be different.

    QR codes stand for quick response codes. They store a lot of data- around 250 characters. Not enough? Well, it is a lot more than a tweet and people are doing just fine marketing themselves with tweets.

    The QR codes can be scanned with any smart phone and will take the person to a web page, a coupon, a contest, whatever you can imagine. Just think of the possibilities. They are simple to create and very inexpensive. People can check right away and get the offer right away too.

    Authors for example can have QR codes at the end of their book with an offer. Yes, I know you can add a web address to a page but let’s face it, how many times have you gotten a book or a flyer with a web adreesand took to your computer to check the URL? For me, most of the times I make a mental note to check the URL and then just forget.

    I think QR codes can become huge allies for small business owners. Maybe what is missing is just some ideas on how to use the codes, so here is a list I compiled:

    1. linking to full text journals from print journals; making mobile friendly videos available at the point of need; embedding videos & links to extra help online in printed guides.

    2. QR Code on bus stations to allow you to purchase ticket without typing the message.

    1. At bus stations with the schedule

    2. Geo caching adventures

    3. Share presentations

    4. Music Downloads

    5. Apps downloads

    6. Self-branding

    7. Geo-based reviews

    8. Geo-based tours

    9. Green tickets

    10. Fashion

    11. Product details

    12. Offers

    13. Event details

    14. Contests

    15. Competition details

    16. Contact details- we use them in our business cards

    17. Coupons

    18. Random coupons- Starbucks does this very well, each time you scan you get a different offer.

    19. Social media Ids

    20. Links to your videos

    21. how to information in products

    22. How to information in printed materials

    23. Book offers

    24. Authors bio

    25. Use in Billboards

    26. Use in your shop window to entice reviews

    27. Maps

    28. Invitations

    29. Link to your blog

    30. Special offer on flayers

    31. On trade shows

    32. On trade shows where when you scan tells you to go to a specific booth for a freebie. (saw this one done by a company called Print concierge. Very clever!

    Probably there are many more ways to use QR codes, just takes a little imagination and as usual, action.

    Want to master marketing for small businesses? Try Small business marketing mastery program

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    Refining your positioning

    Positioning is not a simple thing. you don’t get done in one day. You need to answer several questions in order to know how to position yourself in the market as a small business owner. You need to know exactly who is your ideal client, in what business you are really in and what is the end result your provide.

    You may get quite close to the perfect positioning but there will be some refining over time either because your business changes or the market changes.

    Have always in mind that there are two main reasons that impact sales conversion: the level of trust people have in your company and how clear is your message to your target audience. Positioning has to do with both of them.

    We try to refine our promise to the market every now and then because we think that although it is ok, was never perfect. We finally think we have something that will resonate well with our audience and makes the message really clear about what we do.

    It is: Your modern marketing GPS.

    I don’t know about you but I love my GPS.  It took  a lot of frustration out of my life and quite a few arguments between my daughter and me. i don’t get lost anymore and I arrive wherever I’m going with no anxiety and on time. We named our GPS Nicky.  We are about to buy another one for our geoaching experiences.

    They are a piece of new technology that don’t invade your life and are extremely useful.

    We believe that what we do as marketing advisors is pretty similar. We provide the kind of knowledge that people can apply and see results. They don’t feel overwhelmed or anxious and can track results. We can guide them to amazing new places in their business and lead them through business breakthroughs.

    So we are quite content with this promise.

    Tell me about yours