Home Based
Business
Marketing StrategiesEffective home based business
marketing is the key to a successful business. It
requires special strategies because of the unique circumstances
of the business.
The regular brick and mortar type business can simple hang up a
sign on a busy street and generate walk in traffic. Most
of the advertising and promotions they do is aimed at getting
people to come to their business. A home business, unless
they are in a commercial zone generally cannot do so.
ObjectiveThe home based business marketing strategy must
be designed to have as little impact on the neighborhood as
possible while promoting awareness of the business. Since
the physical location of the business is rarely seen, the
marketing must establish the appropriate image for the
business.
"Marketing is an organizational function and a set of
processes for creating, communicating and delivering value
to customers and for managing customer relationships in
ways that benefit the organization and its
stakeholders."
The objective of your marketing campaign is to create a
public awareness of your business and it's products and
services. There is a common mistaken belief that
marketing and selling are one and the same. A good
marketing campaign presells-sells your product or service.
It creates within your target market a desire to buy it.
People like to buy, they hate to be sold.
You can make the most wonderful widget in the world, it can
be a time saver, money maker / saver, life enhancer but unless
you run an effective home based business marketing campaign, no
one will know it even exist.
Traditional Marketing Start with the business card.
Even if your business is all on line, you will still want
to use to drive traffic to your site and when dealing with
potential business associates. It is very inexpensive,
but care should be given to it since it is the one marketing
piece that tends to stay around for a long time.
Same holds true for the business stationary. Make it
attractive and professional. Other home based business
marketing tools are fliers and brochures. The
emphasis is to get the business name out along with your phone
number, email and web address.
Trade shows, art shows and other special events can be very
effective in attracting customers. You have a chance to
give massive exposure to your business's products and services.
Very important that you collect names. Today you
especially want the email address, since it gives you the
opportunity to communicate to your potential customer very
quickly at virtually no cost to you.
NetworkingNetworking is another very important home based
business marketing activity. Success is very often
dependent on not what you know but whom you know. The
value of knowing someone who can open a door to an important
contact, or being able to discuss with someone a business idea
with experience in that area is immeasurable.
Another popular function, particularly of organized networking
groups, is lead sharing. People in non-competing
businesses provide qualified leads to other members.
- Chamber of Commerce - They generally hold many
networking events. They provide a chance to get to
know other business owners.
- Networking Groups - Organizations like BNI are set up
for the specific purpose of helping local business people
share leads. Often the leads that come through these
events are high quality because they are a referral.
- Charities and Civic organizations. Astute
business owners have long recognized the value of serving
in these organizations. They often provide the ideal
environment for getting to know other top leaders in a
non-threatening context.
There is no such thing as a "self made" man. We are
made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has done a
kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us,
has entered into the make-up of our character and of our
thoughts, as well as our success.
-George Burton Adams
Internet
Has revolutionized home based business marketing. It
has taken many small local home businesses and given them a
global reach, all from the comfort of home.
Every business today needs a
website and it's own email address. The website
becomes your virtual brochure. You will want to list your
website address every time you give out your company name.
The website increases the effectiveness of your advertising
dollar. Rather than paying for a large ad in a directory,
go with a smaller that gives out some key points and your web
address. On your business cards, list your address,
easier than carrying a lot of brochures.
Having an email address with your company name looks more
professional and conveys the message that you are serious about
your business.
Internet ads are an inexpensive way to meet a targeted
market.
Web 2.0 brought in the social media. This has changed
the way all businesses interact with the consumer. The
social media has given the consumer an active voice that must
be listened too.
Some of the media and their use are:
- Facebook - You can establish friends throughout the
world. You can target whom you want to become friends
with.
- MySpace - Same as Facebook, but appeals more to younger
crowd and to those into music.
- Twitter - A concept rapidly catching on that allows
instant communication to those who choose to follow
you.
- LinkedIn - A professional site for building up your
network of contacts. Every business owner should be
on it.
- Stumbleupon - A site where people tell you which sites
they like.
- YouTube - Gave rise to the sharing of short video
clips. Has turned into one of the hottest ways to
market today.
For home based business marketing this gives you a short
list of some of the most popular sites out there today.
Sites that all smart home businesses are becoming
familiar with and establishing a presence on.
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