Be a Resource to Gain Clients and Customers

One of the best ways to market your business is simple: Be a resource to your potential clients and customers. There are many, many ways to do this that are very effective. Being a resource gives you more credibility than you get with a standard advertisement. It’s less blatant, less in-your-face, and actually provides value so your potential clients are more likely to pay attention, particularly if the information is relevant to them.

By being a resource, you’re basically providing information or some expertise related to a topic within your industry. It doesn’t have to be exactly the same thing that you get paid to do, but should be within the same general area, and it should be applicable to your client base. For example, this blog allows me to be a resource to my potential clients, because I provide relevant information and advice that my customers can use today to help build their business. 

Marketing and business are my expertise. It wouldn’t make sense for me to write articles on minimizing your insurance costs, because the people who are interested in reading an article like that are not my target client. If the reader of the insurance article would happen to also be a business owner, they’re not seeking out information on marketing at that moment. If they were, they’d be clicking on marketing articles instead of insurance articles. The key to being a resource to gain clients is to put relevant information in front of them at an appropriate time.

So how can you use this marketing tactic? Writing articles is an easy way to start, and it’s free. You can summarize what you already know about your industry into targeted articles and submit them to article directories all over the web. If you don’t have time to spend on that sort of thing, you can hire an expert, like Stringfellow Creative, to write and submit articles on your behalf, with your name as the author and a link to your website in the byline. It’s a totally hands-off way to conduct an effective marketing campaign.

Blogging is also an easy way to generate publicity for free. You can set up a WordPress blog just like this one, completely free. You’ll have to make an investment of time to keep your blog fresh and up to date with new content regularly, or you can hire a blogging expert, such as Stringfellow Creative, to keep it up to date for you. We have multiple blogging packages available to meet your specific needs, and we can assist in designing your blog as well.

Depending on your industry, it is often useful to offer free seminars in your community. With the ever-growing popularity of the internet and technology, it’s now easy to offer a seminar online to a global audience. Stringfellow Creative can assist with seminar production, marketing, and design. We can create your materials, design powerpoint presentations, and design online delivery systems.

Take advantage of any opportunities in your community to lend a helping hand. Yes, you might be giving out valuable information for free, but it will only build your reputation. Educational opportunities are abundant, you just have to seek them out. Network with other professionals – someone might be holding a panel discussion relevant to services you offer, and you could easily end up being a panel expert. Discussions like these frequently end up getting free media coverage. It’s a win-win situation.

Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. When you offer your knowledge as a resource to your clients, it’s an easy way to get free advertising, and it’s often more effective than traditional advertising. You’ll boost your reputation and your brand awareness, while at the same time saving your advertising budget.

Article Marketing

Article marketing is still one of the best ways to improve your search engine rankings and drive traffic to your site. The key to effective article marketing is to write your articles with search engine optimization in mind. Create meaningful and informative content that uses your keywords naturally. You don’t want to turn your readers away by creating content that reads like an advertisement or sounds odd because of overuse of keywords.

Be sure to come up with a compelling title that will entice browsers to click on and read your article, and use keyword link anchors to help improve your search engine rankings for those keywords. Submit your article to as many article directories as you can, because the links back to your site will also help your rankings.

If you don’t have time to write or submit your own articles, it’s still very affordable to outsource those tasks to a freelance writer or marketing consultant. Visit http://www.stringfellowcreative.com/services/articles.htm for the updated description of available packages and pricing for your article marketing campaign. We’re happy to create custom packages that meet your needs, and we try to combine article marketing with other services at lower prices for longer-term, ongoing projects. Let us help you keep driving sales in this unsteady economy!

Prospering During Tough Economic Times

Our current economic crisis has most of us afraid for the future.  Small business owners seem to be in the most delicate balance of the whole situation, and political campaigning has small business at the forefront.  What can you do as a small business owner to remain prosperous during these difficult economic times?

The mistake most businesses make during a slow economy is that they immediately cut back on marketing.  Now is the time when you need to focus more on your marketing efforts, because other businesses will be cutting back on their marketing budgets, which leaves an open opportunity for your business to be top-of-mind.

There are ways to increase your marketing efforts without spending more money.  The internet is rich with opportunities to advertise your business free or for a very minimal cost.  There are free directories that you can submit your website to, free article directories that allow you to publish articles showcasing your knowledge to your potential customers, discussion forums for you to participate in, social networking opportunities, and much more.

If the web atmosphere is unfamiliar territory for you, seek the advice of an internet marketing expert. Many marketing consultants, such as Stringfellow Creative, can teach you how to use the internet to run a successful, low-cost internet marketing campaign that will drive sales even during periods of economic crisis.

Don’t Be Afraid to Use Coupons and Discounts!

Attention business owners everywhere – small, large, international, Fortune 500 – take note: It will not kill your business or significantly decrease your profits for you to offer your customers a coupon, a periodic discount, a reward or a special offer! In fact, you will more than likely see an increase in your profits!

I just cannot believe the number of business owners I come across who are stingy with their coupons. They don’t want to give any coupons to any non-profit organizations for any promotions or fund-raising efforts. They’re afraid to offer a sale or discount on any of their products or services, until they’re so desperate for business that they have to in order to move anything.

The number one reason I get from people who balk at the idea of offering a promotion of some sort is that they simply can’t afford to take that cut into their profit margin. I guess it never occurs to them that by offering even a small snivel of a dicount, they would probably move a lot more product or sell more services during that time frame, because bargains attract buyers! And even if your profit margin is a little bit less on those few items or for that short amount of time, if you bring in twice your normal number of customers due to the offer, you would more than make up for the difference in your profits.

Hmmm…do I really want to be sure I’m making no less than $5.00 profit on each and every item I sell, or would I rather sell more items and probably double my normal profits for the month?

Generating Internet Buzz

In the new online media landscape, new strategies have emerged that allow businesses to create viral marketing through what is essentially “word-of-mouth” advertising via the web. It’s a highly effective way to create buzz about your business without placing direct advertisements that could be ignored by your potential customers. It also enhances your web presence by providing backlinks to your website, which will generate higher page rankings in the search engines.

Web marketing consultants, like Stringfellow Creative, offer web publicity services that will generate interest in your business through forum postings, discussion groups, blogging and the use of social media and social networking. It’s not the right solution for every type of business, but for some it’s an incredibly effective strategy.

To do it right requires a lot of time and dedication, and some specialized knowledge and researching skills. It makes sense to hire an expert who knows where to find your target customers and how to communicate with them, saving you the time and energy it takes to launch an effective campaign. If you’re looking to increase your web traffic and generate more business, and your market is not geographically restricted, this strategy may be right for you. Send an email to info@stringfellowcreative.com for more information.