Small Business Marketing

Small Business Marketing -

Knowing where your competition is marketing and what their message is -- is very important information that can make your marketing challenges easier.

1 - do a google search for your business product / service
2 - track what your competition promotes
3 - track what websites they are connected to - do they have business listings for free, do they have business listings they paid for or do they have articles that someone else posted for them?
4 - create your own marketing message
5 - know and remember your competition's message and have a comeback in case your prospect asks you about it
*** well your competition has a special promotion each month - why don't you?
*** your competition's price is lower - why is your price higher? (turn-around time, quality, guarantee)
6 - analyse where you message will get to your prospects
- very few seniors are on social media
- very few University students are reading the newspaper cover to cover
- are they ever meeting in a group
7 - implement your marketing plan and monitor how it does

To create a marketing action plan so that you can market with little or no money, call Cheryl at 647-287-0320.

Cheryl Rankin
Fit For Business
647-287-0320
info@fitforbusiness.ca
www.fitforbusiness.ca

Cold Calls / Phone Calls

Cold Calls / Phone Calls

Whether you are making a cold call to promote your business or a phone call, they can be extremely stressful.  Here are a few tips that can help you make them less stressful and more productive.

1 - write out a script of what you would like the conversation to look like

2 - practice your script on your own; practice it with a co-worker / friend

3 - review your goal for the phone call / what would you like the prospect to do after the call?
If you are selling something big then you probably will not get the sale through the first phone call so you are best to create a complete sales process with the cold call being one step.

4 - can you sell them on anything that is safe / maybe you get them to sign up for your newsletter or ask them to lunch --- you want them saying 'yes' to you

5 - decide in advance what information you will share on the phone - prices, product outline, references.....

6 - schedule a timeslot when you plan to make these calls

7 - make the call!

8 - record your results and make yourself some notes so you can continue to build the business relationship and learn for the next call.

To improve your cold calls and add muscle to your marketing plan, call Cheryl Rankin at Fit For Business 647-287-0320, info@fitforbusiness.ca

Building Social Media lists

Building Social Media Lists

 

 

 

Social media seems to be one of the tools small business owners are using to

build their contact lists.  Is a large social media list actually useful or not?

 

 

 

Social Media things to consider -

 

1 - are you connected to people / businesses that are your target market?

 

2 - are you able to service your contacts or are they on another continent?  It is hard to give a massage to someone in Europe if you are in Toronto.

 

3 - does anyone ever 'like' or comment or share your info?

 

4 - is your list growing?

 

5 - is anyone responding to your posts?  calling you / emailing you / signing up for the newsletter / visiting the website

 

 

To build your list

 

1 - follow / connect with people who are your target market

 

2 - follow / connect with people who can help you with tips or articles that you can share with your clients

 

3 - invite / follow people - write a short note with the invite that explains how you found them

 

4 - help other people - "like' or comment on a post when they have an event and help them share the info with more people

 

5 - occassionally ask people to 'like' or comment on your post (private email or phone call)

 

6 - let facebook, linked in or twitter search through your email list for friends / contacts who are on social media and send them an invite (you are already connected to them so why not connect on social media?)

 

7 - go through any new business cards to see who you can connect with on social media

 

 

To make your social medai work for you - call Cheryl

 

Cheryl Rankin

Fit For Business

647-287-0320

info@fitforbusiness.ca

www.fitforbusiness.ca 

Booths / Events / Tradeshows

Do I get a booth at an event or tradeshow?

Marketing always comes back to your target market.  Will your target market be attending this event.

Here are some questions that will help you choose great events for your business:

1 - will my target market be attending this event?
2 - how many people are expected to walk through the event?
3 - is there a chance that I can have Revenue from the event that is at least 10 x the booth cost?
4 - other than sales, what are the benefits of attending this event?
5 - how much manpower does this event need and do I have it or do I have to pay for it?
6 - is your business the correct size for the event?  If you are a one person business and you have a booth at a national tradeshow you may look out of place; larger businesses may look out of place at evening business networking events. 
7 - is the timing right for your business to have more exposure?

Cheryl Rankin
Business Consultant
Fit For Business
www.fitforbusiness.ca
647-287-0320
info@fitforbusiness.ca

Small Business Marketing

Small Business Marketing

 

Small business marketing is one of the main pieces to your business success.  It is extremely rare that your business is so special that you do not need to marketing.  Even small towns now have more than one accountant / bookkeeper and more than one pizza place and more than one car dealership that their residents have access to.  Everyone needs to market.

 

Marketing can be expemsive and unpredictable.  An advertisement in the newspaper may go unnoticed for months or a radio ad gets a low return rate.

 

Traditional marketing -

a) paying for advertising in newspapers, radio and TV

b) flyer distribution through the mail, newspapers and magazine inserts

c) word of mouth - network and make sure as many people know about your business as possible

d) referrals

e) events - have a booth at an event, participate in the event, create an event

f) direct mail to your current clients, past clients, prospects and then the general public

 

Online marketing -

a) e-newsletters

b) individual newsletters

c) social media - facebook, linked in, twitter through every day posts and comments

d) social media ads - pay for advertisements in these websites

e) online advertising - google ads

f) website

 

1 - know your target market before creating your marketing plan

2 - know how much a new client is worth

3 - know your budget

4 - create a flexible plan so that you can adjust based on your results (do not pay for / sign up for 1 year and have no changes possible)

5 - get busy and do it

6 - evaluate and then start your plan over again

 

To set up a marketing action plan for your small business in Mississauga or the Toronto area, let's meet in person for your consultation.  Other areas can meet over the phone.  Call Cheryl Rankin at 647-287-0320 or email info@fitforbusiness.ca to schedule your marketing action plan appointment.

 

Cheryl Rankin

Fit For Business

647-287-0320

info@fitforbusiness.ca

www.fitforbusiness.ca

 

Blogs, Newsletters & Email

Blogs, Newsletters & Email

We can communicate with potential clients and clients using a variety of online systems. Our marketing has expanded well beyond the traditional newspaper ads and posters.

E-mails - Usually emails are sent out indivdually. You should take the time to be polite and write like a business letter. Keep it short so that people will read it. Remember to tell everyone what you want them to do after they read your email.

Newsletters - you can still create and print a hardcopy (paper) version of your newsletter and distribute them to your contacts. You can also create emails that you will send a group. Be careful - you should blindcopy your group emails unless everyone has preapproved the distribution of the list. You save time by sending out the same newsletter to 25 people at a time. You do lose the ability to customize the newsletter. Be careful that it does not get too long. Really long newsletters in a regular email can be tough and bory to read.

Online newsletters - whether you use your website system to create fancy, online newsletters or a special program like Constant Contact -- you can send a more professional looking newsletter to large groups of people. It is easy to add pictures and your logo into these programs. Everyone can get their first name in the newsletter. Even though the received knows it is a group email; it is still customized with their name. You can use and track the usage of links to your website and create more traffic to your website. The best thing is that you can track which newsletter topics get people to open the newsletter and read.

Your choice of communication system depends on your budget, your target market and your time.

Call Cheryl Rankin, www.fitforbusiness.ca for help on choosing the best system. We can also do the newsletter for you if you do not have the time.

Cheryl Rankin
Fit For Business
647-287-0320
info@fitforbusiness.ca
www.fitforbusiness.ca

Targeting your Marketing

Targeting Your Marketing

All marketing workshops and books talk about target markets. They are important because the more you know about them - the more money you save, the faster you get clients and the easier it is to get clients.

If you are selling make-up and I sen you to one networking meeting:
a) 100 ladies - you might have a chance of getting the attention of half of the people
b) 100 men - you might have a chance of getting the attention of 1 or 2 of the people
c) 50 women / 50 men - you might have a chance of getting the attention of 26 people

Which event would you go to if you were only allowed to attend one? The event that has 100 ladies would be your best option for your time, money and effort.

You can target your marketing even more than that. I challenge you to list 20 details about your target market.
- geographical area
- male / female
- age
- size of business
- are they busy? are they slow?
- are they searching for your services or have no idea you exist?

Once you have 20 ideas then stop and read them outloud. Usually a great marketing idea will jump off the page at you. Try this and send me an e-mail with your new / revised idea that jumps off the page.

Having trouble coming up with a list of 20 - book a coffee session and let's do it together.

Cheryl Rankin
Fit For Business
647-287-0320
info@fitforbusiness.ca
***sales workshops on April 27th and May 11th

No Dollars Marketing

No Dollars Marketing

Here are some helpful ideas to market your business without spending any money from Cheryl Rankin, Fit For Business.

- use a signature block on your e-mail
- make sure your voicemail has your name, your business name and try to give them a reason to leave a message
- respond to incoming newsletters and advertisements (thank you, your ad or something to help them)
- put all of your contacts in your e-mail and phone lists
- send 5 pro-active e-mails and make 5 pro-active calls a day
- have coffee with a new contact every week
- call at least one previous client for a nice chat each week
- put your business cards in all stores, coffee shops and board of trades that will let you
- send out an advertisement / introduction to a business contact to everyone on your list in trade for them to send out an ad/introduction to their list
- offer to be a guest speaker at your networking group/other groups
- volunteer for any charity but remember to tell them that you run your own business (bet they ask what you do!)
- post your product or services on some other web-sites like kijiji
- put your business listing on any internet directories that you can for free
- update your profile on all member listings that you have in books and internet directories
- linked in / Facebook / twitter – use them for business only
- find 3 other people who have the same target market and create a mailer to be sent to your target market; divide the cost by 3 and you do the work
- be the contact person for the next event
- help at least one other business owner a week with no strings attached
- tell people what to listen for in order to find you referrals
- offer a referral fee to a few people who might promote your business
- trade with someone who can get you publicity or advertising in trade for your product or service
- go knock on doors
- be sure that your close friends and family actually understand and can talk about what you do….they are going to talk anyway make sure it is helpful
- hire someone on 100% commission sales
- create a helpful handout

To get help implementing this list into your action plan – call Cheryl Rankin at 647-287-0320 to book a Brainstorming Session for your business.

Fit For Business
info@fitforbusiness.ca www.fitforbusiness.ca
Twitter: FitForBusiness / Linked In / Facebook