I found myself getting pretty interested in participating at LinkedIn Answers. Yesterday I spent a good hour or so browsing the questions and offering some responses. It was fun. It’s always rewarding to share your knowledge, and connecting with people is also a plus.
I wanted to share a response I gave to a question about small business marketing. You can see it on LinkedIn here. I’ll also paste it below. FYI you can find my profile on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/donniebryantcopy.
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The solution will vary a bit depending on your industry and market, but there are some methods that are proven effective across the board.
You’ve already gotten some good answers to this question, so let me expand the horizons a bit.
First of all, you may want to clarify (to yourself) what you mean by “effective.” You can spend several million dollars to buy commercial spots during the Final Four tournament. You will get thousands and thousands of “impressions,” but is that the effectiveness you’re looking for?
Consider:
1) Direct mail is still one of the most powerful marketing techniques available. It can be a little costly, but if it’s done properly, the ROI can be amazing.
2) Canvassing is very cheap, but it can take up a lot of time. It can also be very effective as far as being able to sell your company face-to-face with potential prospects. It’s easy to convey passion in that environment.
3) Believe it or not, there are people making a killing advertising their business on Craigslist. It may take some time to figure out the best way to get the response you’re looking for from your posts, but it’s free. There are also tons of free tools online to make this process even more powerful.
4) Related to #3 is targeted classified ads, or even space ads in periodicals. By targeted, I mean, find out what the people you want to talk to are reading, and advertise there.
5) Even better than ads are ARTICLES. If you can get articles in the magazines, trade journals, etc., your target audience reads, you have become an instant expert. Articles are not like ads; readers don’t hesitate to believe what they read in articles!
This is also true online. Getting articles posted online where your readers will “bump into them” or find them with search engines can get you tons of “hot” leads.
6) Businesses are using Blogs to create followings and draw organic search results for their business.
7) Well-written press releases are a secret weapon of many small businesses.
Find a way to get interviewed on the radio or local news. I hear Alex Carroll is good at this.
5-8 are awesome because they get people coming to you, rather than you searching for them. This makes all the difference in the world. It’s a matter of positioning.
9) Pay-Per Click and banner advertising.
10) Good old-fashioned cold calling still works. Pick up the phone book, find businesses that NEED what you offer, and get in touch with them.
You may want to buy a copy of Guerilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson, as well. Lots of good foundational information in there.
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