Small business owners are sticking to the “tried and true” marketing strategies in this tough economic year.  An October 2008 Small Business Marketing Outlook report by Adology shows that small businesses continue to be optimistic about marketing, but that they are not venturing out into new marketing efforts. According to the Adology survey, small businesses say they will spend money for online advertising (69%), Yellow Pages (54%), newspapers (51%), and direct mail (51%).  This is pretty typical, standard marketing; nothing new and exciting here.  Even online marketing has been around for almost 15 years. Top of the list. Most small businesses (74%) believe their company “must be one of the first 2-3 that come to a customer’s... [Read more]

People love free things, and there are catalogs full of great stuff you can give them.  Give-aways are another way you can promote your small business, as I was discussing yesterday.  Looking over the huge number of possibilities (so many, they fill catalogs), you may wonder which are the best.  These 5 are, I believe, the ones that can give you the most for your money: Why Give Stuff Away? Three reasons why you should be giving stuff away to people: (1) People respond to gifts by feeling a sense of obligation.  It’s the principle of Reciprocity I talked about several months ago.  If you give them something, they will feel they should do something for you. (2) People can put the gift somewhere to remember your business. (3) They can... [Read more]

“Are you still in business?” A small business owner told me she was talking with a friend, who asked, “Are you still in business?”  If her friends didn’t know she was still in business, she was obviously doing something wrong. You have a great business, I know.  And you are working hard to do everything you need to do, including marketing, customer service, and managing your finances.  Just don’t forget to promote your business.  What I’m talking about when I say “promotion” are those things you do to keep your small business in the “eye” of the community, to keep people aware that you are still out there, especially if you are selling to the community. Ways to Promote Your... [Read more]

Every day people go into small businesses with the hope of making enough money to enjoy life, save for retirement, and gain financial security.  But one big barrier stops them from making enough money to achieve their goals – it’s called “payroll taxes.” otherwise known as Social Security and Medicare. Joshua Kennon, who writes the Investing for Beginners GuideSite for About.com, says, The single biggest threat for those who want to move from the lower or middle class to the “capitalist” class, as some academics have called it, is the payroll tax….[which] effectively serves as a barrier that makes it nearly impossible for the average American to accumulate wealth, especially if he or she is self-employed and... [Read more]

You have probably heard the saying, “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.”  I have always disliked this saying, because it’s not true. Many small business people think they can create a great product, get funding, and start producing that product, and everyone in the world will flock to their business to get that product.  It’s not going to happen.  The “better mousetrap myth” ignores one concept: you have to tall people about your mousetrap so they know where to find you.  Even more, you have to convince them they want that mousetrap, need that mousetrap, and can’t live without it. Napoleon Hill, author of the classic motivational work Think and Grow Rich, said: In... [Read more]