One of the first barriers you will encounter as a new small business entrepreneur is the resistance you will meet from customers and not to forget that onslaught from established businesses. The resistance from prospective customers is understandable. They may have their own views about your abilities to service their needs, but the ones from established businesses may have some sinister motives. It is simply that they don’t want another competitor to tackle.
Keeping your promotional expenses at its minimum
Marketing is the lifeline for any business, because that is what will give you revenue and profits to sustain your business in the long run. As a small business owner, the biggest hurdle you will face is the wherewithal to fund your business operation. In spite of the support from government agencies, banks are often too unwilling to finance small business operations for the reason that in the event of the business going bust, there is little that they can do to recover their money.
There is at least one marketing channel however, that is less expensive and free for all to explore. They cost little by way of travelling or marketing expenses and what is more they will work for your business 24/7 throughout the year. Understand what I am hinting at? Of course it is Online Marketing that I am talking about. The advantages of emphasizing your marketing efforts online are not difficult to see. All that you need to do is be a little ingenious and you can stand up against even the mightiest corporations.
The importance of a website & helpful content
Online marketing is not without its problems. To lead a successful campaign for your small business, the first prerequisite is a website. The second of course is developing the right kind of content. Online marketing remember is not a substitute for physical marketing. It is simply a smart way of cutting down on expenditures. It is not a build-a-website-and-forget, strategy either. There is a lot you need to do to make it a success.
Work with strategies and monitor success
Here are the top 5 strategies that successful small businesses do to remain afloat in the initial years and build a vast clientele as time goes by. You can adopt them in your strategies as well. You can even be a little innovative and add that little punch to take your business to soaring heights.
- Explore every channel for directing your marketing efforts. There are scores of them that include email, RSS, news feeds, blog participation and much more, but don’t forget the social media. They should receive your maximum attention. Consider social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Each has its own specialty; direct your effort at the right ones.
- Update your website’s content regularly and that is the best way to get a good page rank. The days of static pages are long gone and the days of constant change is in. And content, remember, must provide value to your readers. Don’t be too conscious about making a sale the moment a visitor has stepped into your website. Have patience, they will turn into sales later.
- Keep your website highly interactive. It will ensure that visitors get engaged fully. A placeholder for writing comments is an excellent means to ensure that they keep coming to your site repeatedly. Repeat visits are what culminates into sales ultimately.
- Make full of use of online tools to keep track of your website’s performance. Some of the tools are free to use. They will help you analyze your visitors’ profile. The information tools can include – geographical location of your visitors, the time they spent on your website and conversion ratio. Paid tools have more features you will not find in the free ones. We recommend you order a paid tool when you can afford it.
- Blogs are important sources of information for most prospective customers and you should direct at least part of your resources to contribute here regularly. Use blogs judiciously and make your contributions look like a sale copy. Hire writers who can put across your businesses’ point of view eloquently and convincingly. Use infographics liberally when they can substitute for words.
Combine traditional and online marketing for results
Though online marketing has an unprecedented reach, it is not wise to ignore traditional ways of selling products and services altogether. It is always a good strategy to maintain a balance between the two when it comes to allocating your resources. There are still some people you will prefer to do business the traditional way.
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