Note: Work-At-Home Success contains advertising along with screened jobs and information. Visit WAHS's Disclosure and/or FAQ page for more information.

Tag Archives: Marketing

31 Days to Work At Home Success Day 25: Affordable Marketing that Works

January 25, 2012   LTruex   1 Comment
Big Sale sign in red over white background

Yesterday you learned that marketing is crucial to home business success. You identified your product or service’s uniqueness, how it helps others and the groups of people most likely to buy. Once you know all that, you need to use marketing strategies to get your message to your market. Here are some of most effective and low-cost marketing tactics:

1) Tell your network of friends, family, and acquaintances. While they may not need your product or service, they may know people who do. So don’t be afraid to tell people you know about your new business.

2) Business cards…hand them out to everyone. For as cheap as they are, people are really stingy with business cards. Leave them in public places, hand them out to people you meet during the day, put them in your bills, etc. You can make business or drop cards with a computer and some business card paper. Or check out VistaPrint, which has very affordable pricing on business cards and other print marketing tools.

3) Press releases. Post them online to improve search engine ranking and send them to your local media outlets.

4) Article writing. This is one of the best ways to get your business in front of other people for free. Website owners and bloggers will happily post a quality article for free because they need content. In return, you article has information about your business with a link back to your website.

5) Advertising. Many blogs and websites offer affordable advertising. Just make sure the site targets the market you want to reach.

6) Blogging. Search engines love blogs because content is updated frequently. Blogs help you stay in touch with your market and set you up as an expert in your industry.

7) Social networking online and off. Twitter, Facebook and other social networks are a great way to reach your market. To avoid wasting time, develop a social networking plan and stick to it. Don’t forget offline networking options such as through your local Chamber of Commerce or Meet-Up.com.

8) Offer freebies such as reports, samples, etc. People like to get free stuff. It’s an easy way to get your name in front of potential customers and build your credibility as an expert.

9) Create a newsletter. Email lists are the bread and butter of many businesses. Offer something free to entice people to join your list. Email them tips and information related to your business to build rapport. Keep direct pitches for customers at a minimum.

10) Hold an event such as a grand opening, expo or sale. Events are a great way to jump start your business.

The options are endless. Consider getting books on copywriting, marketing and publicity to create a marketing plan that works for you.

Share
Read More

31 Days to Work-At-Home Success Day 24: Key to Home Business Success

January 24, 2012   LTruex   No comments
announce

I talk to people all the time who tell me that a home business just didn’t work for them. When I ask specific questions about what they did or didn’t do to build their business, I find that most failed to develop and implement a successful marketing plan. You cannot make money in your business if you don’t have people buying what you have. And you can’t get people to buy what you have if you don’t let them know about it.

But marketing isn’t just about putting your name in front of people. It involved understanding your market and crafting messages they’ll respond to. Here are some tips for developing a successful marketing plan:

1) What are you offering and why is it different from everyone else? You can be different in many ways. Your product or service might be different, or how you deliver it can be different.

2) Who will benefit from what you have? Women? Single people? Kids? etc. This is about identifying the most likely people who will buy. Don’t go into marketing thinking everyone will love what you have. That may be theoretically true, but you have to identify why people buy. For example, many people want to work at home, but moms want to work at home for different reasons than baby boomers. I need to develop marketing specific to each group if I want to attract them to my site.

3) How will they benefit from what you have? Become thinner, richer, stronger, etc? Ultimately, marketing isn’t about how great your business is, but what your customers can get from your business. Determine the benefits your customers will receive by using your product or service.

4) Where do these people hang out? What magazines do they read? What websites do they visit? To put your message in front of your target market, you have to know where they hang out. You need to put your message in places they are most likely to read it.

Use the answers to the above questions to create marketing materials (ads, articles, blogs, websites, brochures, publicity, etc) that speak directly to your market. Develop a plan that involves marketing your business everyday whether its giving out business cards, running an ad, writing an article, or calling someone.

Visit your library or bookstore and get books on copywriting, marketing, and publicity. Below are some of my favorite marketing resources:

Share
Read More
« Older posts

  • Work At Home Success Podcast

    Show 181 Dr. Barnsley Brown - Working with Interns

    MP3 File
    Check out previous podcasts plus get the resources mentioned on podcasts.
  • workingmother.com's badge