From the article: 101 Small Business Marketing Activities
It may take a little creativity to uncover new small business marketing ideas, and hearing what other business owners do in their businesses is a great way to spark your own creativity. We already listed 101 small business marketing ideas, but now we want to hear from you. What is your favorite small business marketing idea? Share Your Marketing Idea
Ultrawantrapren/dadpreneur
- I’m a social media enthusiast, and future home business owner but I’m also a single unemployed father who hopes to create and serve as a manufacturer, and developer, for a line of natural home remedies. I encourage everyone to stay healthy by offering community walks. I’m currently researching, and brainstorming, campaigns and developing public speech techniques. I’m interested in attending conferences, lectures, seminars, and reading industry publications and other periodical releases, on fatherlessness and other social problems, including poverty, and child-care. I’m currently developing articles, newsletters, and blogs to promote my brand.
- —Guest UltraWantran
Create a Google Profile for yourself
- Use the power of Google by branding yourself as an integral part of your business. Add your website, your business location, your phone number, your social media connections - anything that can link back to your business. Use keywords that you use in other areas of your website or online presence.
- —JackieTEwing
Weird & Wacky Holiday Marketing Guide
- Unusual holidays offer a chance to market you business every day of the year. This annual ebook is filled with tips, tools and templates to get you started. A terrific resource that you will turn to time and again.
- —Guest Ginger Marks
Have a Call to Action
- With each communication you do -- be it website, brochure or email campaign -- know the next step you would like your potential customer to take. It should be something that offers value. Having this call to action makes it easy for you to measure the effectiveness of a campaign and has an outcome driven marketing tool.
- —Guest Danielle MacInnis
Get an Accountability & Planning Partner
- When you are a small business owner, sometimes the only person you can rely on is yourself. It can get lonely! It can get overwhelming! That is until you start scheduling a consistent day on your calendar for Accountability and Planning. Find another entrepreneur who has a complimentary business to your own. Write a short agenda with a few of your challenges/goals and meet once a month to discuss and support each other. If you choose a motivated partner you'll find strength in their advice and encouragement regarding your challenges. I have recently started this process in my consulting business and am already seeing the benefits.
- —Guest MamaSleeveShirt
Small Business Marketing idea
- If you have a web site, start another one. I just started my 3rd web site with the same name as the other two. The idea is to re-introduce people to my business by telling them about my new site. Even though it's basically the same, the web hosts for each one is different. So it gives me a fresh start and it's good practice in creating web sites. OfficeLive, Webs.com, and Doodlekit.com are the three free web hosts that I am using. Visit one or all of them now :) http://onqgraphicdesign.doodlekit.com/home http://onqgraphicdesign.webs.com/ http://onqgraphicdesign.media.officelive.com/default.aspx
- —OnQGraphicDesign
It's All About Your Reputation
- Join a community-minded group of other business people - for example Rotary - and ensure that the other members know about you, your business and the quality. They will be great allies in getting your name out there and supporting you through word of mouth advertising. Your reputation, as you get involved in Rotary (or whatever other group you join), will identify you as someone who cares about the community - and improve to your reputation.
- —Guest Marketing through Contacts
Develope a Niche
- Develop a niche for your product or service. An early client of mine was into racing. He grew his hobby into a business, and I now buy advertising on his car. My business is announced as a sponsor at races, and I have gotten a fair number of new clients from this advertising in my niche market. This was my first niche, and I now have several others.
- —Guest Develop a niche
Mail or package inserts
- Develop an insert about your product or service to be included with vendor packages or bank statements for a relatively cheap way to market to customers who are proven buyers.
- —Guest Jason
Host a WIFI Social Media Marketing Event
- Host an event in a small conference room with WIFI. Charge $25 for a two-hour session, and invite everyone to bring their laptops and share social media marketing ideas. Focus on giving them something they can apply to their business that is free on the Web such as Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin. You have created a win/win situation: They got their money's worth and you promoted your business and made a profit by helping someone else succeed. - Sherri Henley
- —sherrihenley
Study Competing Business' Complaints
- Knowing what to market is important. Knowing what has failed to work for your competition is also important. Take time to read any public complaints you can find about your competition. Take complaints with a grain of sale but look for trends in what might be valid customer concerns. Then market to address those concerns. For example, if your competition does not return calls or charges for returns, one up them and advertise services that address common consumer problems.
- —Guest Lahle Wolfe
Partner with Other Businesses to Win BIG
- My favorite marketing idea for small business owners begins by targeting your ideal customer. Once you have that particular customer in your sights - take a look at other types of business who also target that particular customer and find a way to work together so you both win. For example, a spa owner may look in his parking lot and see his customers are driving late model BMWs. That spa owner can then partner with the BMW dealership to create a win/win campaign where the dealership offers a free spa treatment with a test drive. The auto dealership wins because the free spa treatment will bring in previous customers to test drive the latest cars - and the spa owner gets a chance to introduce his business to the car dealership's customers.
- —Guest Beyond Niche Marketing
Contacts, Contacts, Contacts
- The best way to market a local business is to make contact with many, many people. Some marketing experts say you should make 3,000 contacts (with business cards!) before you start your business. The best way to get customers is word of mouth, and the only way to get word of mouth referrals is to have the customers to refer. A good professional-looking business card is essential, too, particularly for personal service businesses.
- —Guest Jean
