Check out these low-cost marketing ideas for your new business.

By Steve Wyrostek

As a small business owner, article marketing may be a good approach to establishing yourself as an expert and spreading the word about your business.

Whether you write the articles yourself or have them ghostwritten by a professional web writer, following are a few thoughts you might want to consider:

- Mechanics- Consider writing pieces between 400 and 700 words. That works for search engines as well as reading weary readers.

Write while roaming in the head of your prospect. What words do they use when they search for your product or service?

If you’re writing about exercise equipment does your prospect search for treadmills, weight machines, or exercise equipment? Is your business localized so that prospects search for Chicago treadmills?

Read article…

10.02.2009 | Author: Charles Rogerson
A man lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. He was hard of hearing, so he had no radio or computer. He had trouble with his eyes, so he read no newspapers, he didn’t watch television. He didn’t know much about the outside world, but he sold good hot dogs.

He put up a sign on the highway telling how good they were. he had a web site built. He stood by the side of the road and cried “Buy a hot dog, folks!” And people bought and bought and bought.

He increased his meat and roll orders. He bought a bigger stove to take care of his growing trade. He got his son home from university to help him. He hired a hotdog chef.

But then something happened.

Read article…

by Jules Rosen

Running your own business requires you to do it all. Sales , advertising, accounting etc. Even serving as your own marketing department as well. That’s where imprinted products can have such a big impact

The Small Business Association, said small owners often act “not only as the CEO of their company, but the head of sales, head of finance, and whatever else it takes to get the job done.”

If you’re the head of marketing at your company, you’re looking for ways to get your company’s name in front of the public, and you probably don’t have a huge budget to work with. Imprinted promotional products can be the perfect solution for the business owner. Read article…

(SearchEngineWatch.com)

April 29, 2008
Are there really opportunities for small business to succeed using social media?

Absolutely, if one factors the strengths and weaknesses of the media with the strengths, weaknesses, and goals of the company.

The reality of the matter is that various social media have different strengths and weaknesses. While it is true the most obvious benefit of social media is branding and traffic, the truth is that social media can also:

• generate lots of good, quality, relevant links, which we all know can help a site perform better in the search results
• help to forge relationships. Not necessarily relationships with potential clients, but with those who help to influence potential client decisions i.e. indirect sales
• generate direct sales
• build a company’s authority in an industry

In order for a small business to utilize social media to its fullest, and to determine which social media it should be using as part of its effort, it must understand the trade-offs it faces. Without being able to commit time or money to social media, many small businesses will seriously need to question their commitment to winning in their space in the foreseeable future. Read article…

Looking for more ways to get the word out about your business? One of the most proactive things you can do is develop a media kit. Having a packet of promotional materials ready to go will come in handy when potential clients and partners, or local television or newspaper reporters come calling.

E-mail is perhaps the No. 1 mode of business communication today, utilized in almost every business sector across the nation. But while most of the business world understands the function of e-mail, not everyone understands the importance behind using proper etiquette in their messages.

Big corporations are reaping the benefits of establishing strategic business alliances. In fact, says Steve Steinhilber, vice president of strategic alliances for Cisco Systems, such partnerships are becoming the norm in today’s globally linked business world.