Small business marketing is all about getting prospective customers to notice you. I KNOW, you think that small business marketing is about getting them to BUY from you, but first they have to know you exist!

The easiest way to get people to notice you is to show up everywhere they go, from in person, to their mailbox, online at social media and in their email inbox. This process of being everywhere is officially called layering and should be part of a planned structured marketing campaign.

LL Bean is stalking me. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the LL Bean gang! They have American made clothes (I am from the rust belt near Pittsburgh so this has always mattered to me). Their clothing is unbelievably high quality and they have a no questions asked return policy. Seriously, you can wear your shoes, clothes or coats for YEARS and if something goes wrong, they will make it right, no questions asked.

Years ago I got on their mailing list and they have continued to send me catalogs, even though I have not ordered in quite some time. Sort of nice, but did not compel me to buy.

Social Media Marketing

So today I opened my Facebook and they had posted a message about extreme weather clips on the LL Bean Facebook page. Not a picture of their product with a link (although they have them too!), a video from the weather channel about terrible cold weather.

Small Business Marketing Tip – So NOW I am thinking about cold weather in conjuction with LL Bean! They have snuggly warm coats and slippers in case it snows like that here.

Email Marketing

After cruising the Social Media and noticing the LL Bean clip (I didn’t watch the video but got the gist and the association stuck). I popped open my inbox to delete messages (I mean read my email…hehehe). What showed up there? An email from LL Bean!

Now I am in marketing so I tend to notice when things happen like this, but I am also human and the urge to buy something from LL Bean is getting greater and greater!

Direct Mail Marketing

So, as most of you know I am an internetty kind of gal. I get leads from the internet, teach internet marketing classes and have every whiz-bangy kind of appliance needed to access the internet at my disposal.

That having been said, I rarely BUY things on the internet. I go to stores and look at catalogs (doh, I just happen to have an LL Bean catalog handy!). Sending me a catalog will definitely make this layering marketing work better for the Bean!

How To Do Layering For Small Business Marketing

So you are a small business owner or entrepreneur and you are thinking to your self (in a really snarky tone, I can hear you) that you do not have the millions of dollar advertising budget that LL Bean has! That figuring out all that technology is going to take time and money you don’t have.

Here are some easy ways for small business owners to capitalize on what we have seen here today!

• Direct mail marketing – There are two ways to do direct mail marketing on a shoestring. Print dinky postcards on colored paper, 4 to a sheet or buy them from Vistaprint for pennies on the dollar. I checked yesterday and the cost for a postcard stamp is 29 cents so the cost to do a 100 piece mailing should be less than 50 bucks total. I am getting ready to send a 100 piece dinky postcard mailing this week and will let you know what the response rate is!
• Email marketing – if you are not using an online database like Constant Contact or Office Auto Pilot (the one I use) yet, start today. Figure it out and start building a list! Send them informative emails. I KNOW, you are all clamoring about what to send, send something that is related to your business!
• Pick up the phone – Call them to see if they got what you sent! Your mailing made this a much warmer call.
• Social Media Marketing – Post something about this on your social media like Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus or LinkedIn. Be careful not to be too salesy, just something good and interesting for them to enjoy that is related to your business.

With my coaching clients, I recommend that we have “theme months” where we pick a theme and market to that using multiple sales channels. I can’t stress enough that you should pick a theme for this month RIGHT NOW, set up some of these layered sales outlets and get started bringing in more prospects and sales!

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If you would like to find out more about my Small Business Marketing coaching programs today, give me a call 727-415-9165.

Related posts:

1. Airports, Snow Boots and Your Small Business Marketing Message
2. Small Business Marketing – How To Get More Traffic
3. What is database marketing? Solving small business marketing problems!

Small business speaker and trainer Tara Jacobsen is teaching Market like a Maniac for Realtors in the Largo market center of Keller Williams Realty, December 22 2008 from 11-2. This class is designed to help realtors with an overview of things they can do to increase their business through marketing techniques and tips! Keller Williams is located at 2401 West Bay Dr #603 Largo, FL 33770. Call Tara to confirm at 727-415-9165.

Topics we will cover include, direct mail marketing, email marketing, low cost and free realtor marketing ideas, and more!

Everyone is welcome! A Helen Maday of Charles Rutenberg Realty, arecent attendee of one of Tara’s classes said,

Your training sessions today were so terrific – like I said that is the 1st time I’ve been at a seminar or training session that I didn’t put on my sunglasses even once (to take a quick snooze)!!!!! Also, I’d like to thank you for the personal help you gave me afterwards – that meant so much to me because it would have taken me forever to figure out what you did so quickly & effortlessly!!!!! You’re quite a gal & I feel very fortunate to have met you!! Keep up the GOOD WORK!!!!! Helen L. Maday REALTOR

Related posts:

1. Small Businessses – How To Survive In A Down Market
2. How To Market Your Small Business
3. Private Small Business Networking Class – Feb 27

Small business success! So you think you are an expert? Who says? Sometimes people are “crowned” an expert on TV, Doctors are experts through training and education, and sometimes you can join a business association or get a designation within your industry.

More often than not though, it is what you DO that makes you an expert!

Books – Conventional wisdom says that if you want to become an expert on something read 3 books. That seems a little light to me BUT if you read three books and it sparks you to read 2 magazines and visit 5 associated websites AND talk to a human, I think you can consider yourself an expert.

Time – If you like something for long enough you will be come and expert! My father has a VW “Thing”. It is old and he doesn’t drive it very often BUT he has had it for a while so he has gone to VW meetups, he gets catalogs, he has read A LOT about it, he used to get a VW magazine. He knows A LOT about an obscure car that few people care about.

Interest – We think of computer guys as nerds, they think of themselves as geeks! They are REALLY interested in computers and how to make them work. They have websites like SlashDot.com where they can gather for the latest geeky news. They have causes like “Open Source” which means that everyone can contribute to programs to make them better because they have access to the source code. The great programmers that I know have rarely taken a computer science class. They don’t have time for it because they are too busy playing around on their computers!

Channels – You can even PICK what you might be interested in! I work with two great realtors who have decided to focus on Short Sales. Julia Fishel (The Pinellas Peach) works these in the Palm Harbor area and Deb Ward who works them in the middle of Pinellas County (TampaBayBankForeclosures.com). The interesting thing is that they are only about 10 miles apart BUT because of the nature of real estate are not direct competitors! Both have taken every class they can to learn about the current rules of short sales, they have found a great title company who can support them (Star Title) and they are actively looking for that kind of work!

Because I Said So – This is the one that seems the hardest to get a handle on! To be an expert, you just have to say that you are an expert and it will become so. If people think you are an expert, it makes you want to find out more about your chosen topic so you don’t look like a schmoe when people ask you about it. You will start to get mail about that subject. You should start a blog. You could join an association. But most of all the universe will say “dang this woman likes marketing and training, let’s give her some opportunities to do both!”.

Do Something – Make sure to do something (preferably everyday) that reinforces your expertise, write a blog post, attend an event where you tell people what you do, send out a direct mail piece that tells people what you do, SING IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS!

Related posts:

1. Small Business Marketing – Success Is HARD!
2. Blogging Success Stories for Small Biz
3. How To Pick New Small Business Opportunities

So Mary Dado of Business Writing, Ink and I have been on a whirlwind tour of 4 South Florida Keller Williams market centers. We went down there to talk about the Fab 5 Contest our region is having and the 33 Touch Program that we developed to go along with it. What the heck is a Fab 5 Contest you ask?!!?

Our region of 29 offices is competing to be the best at sales and lead generation! We KNOW that if we call, email and direct mail to enough people our business will grow. (On a side note – I LOVE lead generating because it gives you the chance to have people call you, it gets you lots of opportunities and it allows you work with only people you like and can truly help!)

Marketing Frequency

100 Calls – You should be making (at least) 100 calls to your sphere, your clients, your prospects and your vendors each month. This ALWAYS seemed overwhelming to me, but now that I am doing it, not so much! I made 12 calls in one day, got two opportunities and one appointment – go figure!

Email – You should email your database each month. This is FREE and if you send interesting and relevant info, people will enjoy getting your emails. I do not advocate sending more than two emails per month unless you are working with a targeted group like investors, since you can overwhelm them and get on the “send to trash immediately” list! If you send a weekly newsletter and do not have a huge drop off rate for your list, you can send two emails IN ADDITION to the newsletter because that will be your baseline for starting.

Direct Mail – I know, direct mail is dead, everyone is using the internet and emails. Except they aren’t. There are many segments of the population that are not online 24/7 to read your information. Also there are people (like me) who get a gagillion emails a day and delete most of them unless they are TREMENDOUSLY relevant. If you send a mailing out to people’s home address (preferably) they will see it and notice it. If you send relevant info they might even stick it on their fridge! Make it a personal note and watch out!

Learning Something

So I was roaming around “pontificating” as Mary Dado says (meaning she can’t get me to keep my mouth shut if I can get 5 people in a room to listen to me!) During these sessions with other Realtors, I asked what they were doing to grow their business. I got LOTS of great answers and learned a few new tricks!

It reminded me that NO ONE knows how to do everything! I make sure to surround myself with interesting people, who cumulatively might know ALMOST everything. We have a “Mega Chicks” mastermind group with 6 intelligent, determined women. I have an internet mastermind group every other week. I hang out with people who are smarter and funnier than I am so that I can learn from them. I ask for help and appreciate when I get it.

Some of the people that we talked to were VERY receptive to trying something that might make their business better. They were not POSITIVE that it would work but were willing to give it a shot – hey what do they have to lose? And they might wind up with a thriving business in a tough economy.

On the other hand, some of the people were SURE that it was not for them. They would NEVER send anything out, or they would NEVER make 100 calls, or they had tried this before and it did not work at all. They didn’t want to be accountable to anyone else for having said they would do something. If this is YOUR knee jerk reaction, is it holding you back? Could you TRY doing something different and SEE if MIGHT work rather than rejecting it out of hand?

I was just sitting here wondering if that was too strong a statement against people who have a closed mind (I don’t want to offend someone I might have met in the last couple of days). But then I realized they won’t be interested or open minded enough to read my blog anyways…:)

No related posts.

While I was an active realtor I was VERY good at keeping in touch with my clients and prospects. It was my favorite part of the job (which is why I am now helping agents and small business owners with their marketing instead of actively working with clients)!

Lead generating is like a really neat game of hide and seek with the prize being someone calling or emailing you with an opportunity! There is nothing more fulfilling than preparing a well thought out marketing piece, generating the content, doing the sticky-sticky of the labels and stamps, then sending it out into the world and having someone notice it and contact you! (I KNOW – I really need help with this, like a marketing 12-step program)

What I have found is that not everyone loves this part of owning a business. It can sometimes seem overwhelming and can fall by the wayside while you are busy doing your “real” job. It can seem really pointless to get MORE business when you are feeling swamped by the business you already have BUT… if you wait until you are less busy then you have lulls in your work (and income).

Some tips to make your marketing less intimidating:

• Do what you like to do (Part 1)! If you like to talk to people then do it more – join a small business networking group, go out for dinner at the same place and get to know the clients and staff (tell them what you do and they WILL refer you!), visit businesses and tell them about your service and how it can help them.
• Do what you like to do (Part 2)! If you like to talk on the phone do it more – call your friends and remind them that you give great service, call your prospects, call your past clients. Make it a part of your daily routine and it will get easier – I promise!
• Do what you like to do (Part 3)! If you are an online guru do that more – send emails with a signature line from your business, have a great website to capture leads, comment on blogs with a link to your site. Internet marketing is a VERY affordable way to go!
• Mail stuff out – Don’t wait until you have the “best” direct mail piece or the most extensive marketing plan finalized, send something. Send just listed or just sold postcards, send your brochure, send a market snapshot or a great article you found, send out helpful tips for your industry, just do it!
• Start an email list – Find out how to set up an email list subscription on your site (I use www.feedburner.com) OR call everyone you know and tell them you are setting up a GREAT mailing and need their email address. DO NOT SPAM them! Make sure you send relevant content and not too often.

Marketing is fun and anyone can do it (remember that at the end of it you will have new clients to work with!) I have one realtor friend who gets a new client EVERY time she sends out her newsletter! It takes her a little money and a while to send them, BUT knowing that it gets her results makes it all worthwhile. While you may never be a marketing nut like me, think of it like a game of hide and seek or an Easter egg hunt and it may seem easier!

PS – If you are a realtor and would like to hand off some of the work to us visit our 33 Touch page for more info!

Related posts:

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