For many service business owners, marketing can be a real mystery. We do not really know exactly how it works. We are not real sure about what works best for us. And probably because of some past frustrations, we are not even sure where to start. Most seem to at least have a notion of what is involved in marketing...a web site, Yellow Pages advertising, brochures, direct mailings, networking, seminars, trade shows, etc. But if that is all it took, would not we all be attracting enough clients. First, let is agree to a definition of marketing. Here is my favorite one for small, service based businesses. Marketing is the use of strategies to generate a constant supply of high quality leads for your service business. Simple to understand and speaks directly to the results we want. OK, so does not this definition take us right back to what we said we already knew about marketing... a web site, Yellow Pages advertising, networking, etc.Well maybe, but first its important to understand why your current marketing activities are not producing consistent results. Put your message and materials to the So What test. Start with your core marketing message. Pull out your most frequently used marketing tool and read it out loud. Put it to the So What test. Do not just accept opinions, but try to get down to realistic response. For example, I think this part is too wordy and detailed.opinion versus I got pretty lost and confused with the level of detail in this part. response Remember that it is the intended audience that counts. If it is not clear who the message is intended for when it is received, then how can it pass the So What test.

There was a time when radios and television was the only way through which you could advertise your products and services. Now people have a busy life. They actually don’t have the time to sit back home on their couch to enjoy television. Hence, all what the companies spend to advertise their products over the television or radio would not fetch them as many customer as they would need to.

1. Classified Ads The first you want to do is start small! Place 2-4 classified ads in the online newsletters/ezines... and wait for the results. How were they?

What am I talking about? Capturing? No, I don't want you to go out and start catching people and putting them in a cell. What I am talking about is capturing their name and email address. You want to have a home based business. You will need to have a source for customers. Where are you going to go for your customer base? Well, you could find a good list broker and pay a lot of your hard earned dollars for a list of names (that may be good or may not be good) and then, you could start emailing them and hoping that they would become one of your customers. That might work. What you really should do is start capturing those customers by having them sign-up for your free ezine, newsletter, email course or whatever on your website. The way to do that is to set up an account with a reputable autoresponder provider and have a sign up box. If you have never seen one before you are truly a newbie. Almost every website that you will visit will have a sign up box.

Manufacturers of food products are masters at marketing. When they launch a new product, they hire crews of merchandisers to pass out samples and coupons during peak grocery shopping times. The result – a large percentage of shoppers become first-time buyers after receiving their free sample and an incentive to buy. Many of those buyers will end up loyal customers.

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It starts with recruiting selection and orientation. It is easier to train an eagle then to teach a pig to fly! -- Mel Kleiman As a legendary leader, building a winning team from the beginning can make LEADING a winning team much easier. In most business realities today, managerial-leaders assume their positions and thus assume their teams. When an opportunity presents itself to add a complimenting player to a team, management most often fumbles this opportunity.

The highly competitive environment forces every business to think of innovative ways of promoting their products and at the same time, the promotional methods should be cost effective because every business has suffered the effects of recession. Unlike before, we have a number of promotional methods available to us today and thanks to the latest technological developments.

After spending months in meetings, logging a ton of phone calls, and sitting across from a prospective client for days in negotiation, you get the project. The hard part is behind you – or is it? Bringing in your dream deal is a great achievement, but if you cannot deliver on your promises, that dream could turn into a nightmare that buries your company.

The concept of promotional gift is gaining much popularity in this era. It is one of the best means of marketing and enhancing business. Many companies and organizations are following this business strategy to improve their reputation in the business world. Promotional gifts are actually commodities and articles of merchandise carrying organization’s logo, name, message or slogan and are used in communication and marketing programs.