Ten Tips for Marketing Your Business to Grow in a Shrinking Economy
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Transcript of Ten Tips for Marketing Your Business to Grow in a Shrinking Economy
TEN TIPSfor Marketing Your Business to Grow
Nancy WilhelmsMay 14, 2009
Why it’s important:
We’re in a brand new ballgame!
Getting Started
• Introductions - Name and business
• What questions would you like answered or discussed today?
Goal
• Make you think about
• Marketing your business
• Marketing yourself
The same dilemma
• When there’s little business out there...how do we get the customers to come to us?
#1 Communicate BENEFITS of what you do!
What is the RESULT?
• Granite installer: “I make homes more beautiful with granite.”
• Bedding store owner: “I help people get a good night’s sleep.”
• Realtor: “I help families achieve the lifestyle they dream of.”
• Chamber Exec: “I help local businesses succeed.”
Exercise
• Let’s take a minute to write out the benefit(s) of what you do.
#2 Know your customers
They are your best asset
• Your best source of repeat business
• Your best source of new business
• Your best source of referral business
Market to, in this order
• Current customers
• Friends and family of current customers
and very last...
• Tall dark strangers
#3 Target your customer
Go where he/she goes
• In media
• In habit
• For fun
#4 Ask for Referrals!
Don’t Be Afraid of This!
• Your current customers are the best source of new customers.
• If you don’t ask, they won’t share!
QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Expose Yourself to NEW
• New “social media”
• My Space
• Linked In
• More
#6 Go where others aren’t
You can do it, too!• If no one is advertising/promoting and you are, you stand out!
• If no one is advertising/promoting and you are, you get the business!
• This economy is full of customers and opportunities, and they will go the the companies that are VISIBLE!
• Opportunities can be VERY affordable.
Whatever you do
• GET YOUR CUSTOMERS’ EMAIL ADDRESSES!!!
#7 Go Outside the BOX
Try Something New• Web-newsletter to your clients with
links back to your site - Constant Contact.com
• Add a blog to your website
• Sponsor a program on NPR - KAJX or KDNK
• Sponsor an event (join with others) - get your name and logo out there - esp. with “benefits”
• Sponsor a contest or a giveaway
• Create traffic - like Las Vegas
• Be an expert - take a reporter to lunch! Give a talk…like this one!
#8 Fly your sail!
Get out there!• Network
• Volunteer for something you care about
• Partner
• Attend Chamber events!
• Don’t stay “in”
#9 Change Your Environment
Make Same-Old NEW• Landscape - ColoradoBiz says landscape architecture can boost real estate sales
• Clean up a retail or professional environment
• Make the same thing look different - for both you and your customers - paint, re-arrange, re-do for FRESH!
60-Second Exercise:
• Quick thoughts - What can you do that you’re not doing now?
• Five quick thoughts!
#10 Be CREATIVE
Have some fun!• Ellie the dog sells real estate
• Ski jumpers sell high end menswear
• Gay ski week sells bodywaxing
• 10 deer sell a magazine
• A refrigerator magnet sells a health club
#11 Be Contrary!
Be colorful. Be yourself.
• Don’t buy in to gloom.
• Take a break from things that aren’t moving forward.
• Envision what you want to make happen and make it happen!