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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business Marketing’

Online advertising versus Phone book ads

Monday, July 12th, 2010 by shahar

Yellow Pages vs. Online Advertising (”Let Your Fingers Do The Finding”)

• Yellow Pages are difficult to track and have limited tracking options. Online marketing offers extensive tracking options.
• Yellow Pages reach can only go so far and if you advertise in more than one directory it can get very expensive. Online marketing has an unlimited reach and is very cost effective.
• You can only change your advertising message on a yearly basis with Yellow Pages. You can change your message online at any time.
• There are over 13 billion searches on the web/month and growing. Yellow Pages receive an approximate 1 billion references/month and is losing more and more customers that advertise in the Yellow Pages every year.

Don’t forget we can help you with local marketing.

Tags: online ads, online advertising, Small Business Marketing
Posted in Small Business Marketing | No Comments »

What to look for when outsourcing small business marketing

Thursday, July 8th, 2010 by shahar

Outsourcing marketing efforts has become an essential aspect of business strategies. After all, you should focus on what you are good at and outsource the rest.

Outsourcing allows a company to put more focus on product development and overall operations. Many marketing agencies can often provide the same service as an in-house marketing department, but at half the cost.

By outsourcing you gain the following:

Specialized skills and expertise
More time- your most valuable asset
More implementation
Fast results

Every time you hear outsourcing marketing you think about how expensive marketing agencies are. Don’t forget that there are some Marketing companies that specialize in small businesses, just like BuzzBooster. They are not in the business of selling you on expensive advertising, they focus on other strategies like internet marketing, direct response marketing and social media marketing to bring you more exposure and more results.

Here are a few questions that should assist you in finding a marketing agency that is right for you.

Area of ExpertiseFind out what their expertise is in. What do they focus on? Here are common areas of expertise:
- Search Engine Marketing and Optimization
- Branding
- Positioning
- Affiliate Marketing Development and Management
- Marketing Strategy and Plan Development
- Internet Marketing Strategy and Plan Development
- Lead Generation
- Sales and Marketing Campaign Development
- Marketing Classes, Seminars, and Workshops
Figure out what areas you need help in and look for consultants with expertise in those areas.

Training/EducationWhat type of training and/or education is important to you. I will tell you that education is important, however experience and hands-on expertise can far out weigh education when it comes down to success in marketing.Ask for case studies, referrals, and experience in the areas that you need assistance in.

Company AchievementsWhat are the notable achievements that the marketing consultant has achieved. What work are they most proud of?Ask them to show you examples of campaigns they run for other clients.

Tags: outsourcing, Small Business Marketing, social media agency
Posted in Business, Small Business Marketing | No Comments »

How to Outsource and Delegate in your Business

Monday, March 15th, 2010 by The BuzzBooster Team!

You can only go so far in business without the help of other people. For most small business owners, there comes a time that they know they need to start getting help but don’t know how they can really afford to get help and are not clear on how to manage a worker.

Usually, getting the first person to help is the challenging decision. Fear comes to stop you and you will need to overcome that in order to grow. You might have to give a leap of faith. After the first one, this will not be an issue anymore.

Remember that you don’t have to hire an employee. You can start just outsourcing.

I for one, don’t like to micro manage or to be stuck inside an office when I don’t have to. So far, we have a great team that is outsourced.

Now, about the part where you are not clear on how to delegate tasks and how to outsource what to whom, a simple way to deal with that is to use a simple spreadsheet.

It can be really frustrating if a virtual assistant comes to work for you and you just don’t know what tasks to do.

First understand that you will have to delegate, even if you think only you can do it well. This is a trap that won’t allow your business to grow.

Now, back to the spread sheet.

Use 3 columns.

On the first column add areas that you could use advice or help like accountant, lawyers, marketing.

On the second column put all the things you could outsource or teach someone how to do it.

The third column, add things that only you could do. Remember that tasks can always be outsourced, strategies not so much, so you should focus on strategies.

For column one, you should find the expert to help you with those tasks or teach you how to do it fast. Focus on the things that you are good at and outsource the rest. For example, I am not good with numbers, so the first thing we outsourced was accounting. It also makes no sense to spend time in something that I could pay $45 an hour to someone when my time is a lot more valuable than that.

On column 1, you have all the tasks that could be easily delegated to a freelancer, a virtual assistant or a part-time employee.

The third column is for high-profit activities, where you should focus. These are tasks that you get paid a premium and that you enjoy doing. If you free time with the other 2 columns you will be able to increase profits, grow your business and do things you love.

Now, here at BuzzBooster Marketing we use an open source software to manage our products and the people we outsource to. Since we have more than one business and people are not inside our office, the software helps keep things a lot more organized and we can access anytime, anywhere, even from our phones. There are many project management softwares out there, from free to very expensive for you to use.

In order to find people to outsource to, there are also many options. Guru.com and Elance.com are two of them.

Prices in these places tend to be very interesting but don’t forget to check the person’s portfolio and past projects.

Mechanical Turk.com is a new option that seems to work really well. Check that one too.

You can pay people per project or by the hour.

Again, don’t waste time with tasks that are not worth your time or that you are not good at. Focus on becoming even better on the things that you already excel. Outsource all the rest.

Tags: delegating, outsourcing, Small Business Marketing
Posted in Business | No Comments »

How to market a business in this new economy

Saturday, March 13th, 2010 by The BuzzBooster Team!

I hope you understand that things are not going back to the way they were before. So, the longer you wait, the more disappointed you will be at the end.

Things have changed a lot, the way people buy has changed and the way we sell has changed and the sooner you understand that and change the way you have been marketing, the better. This is especially true if you are still using the same channels to market your business and see decreasing results every time. They will not go back to what used to be normal and most likely they will adapt to the new economy or they will just cease to exist.

There is a reason why last year there were 273 magazines going out of business and you hear all the time that newspapers are dying.

Here are a few things about the new economy and the way you should be marketing to prospects and clients:

You need to focus on your prospects problems and not only on your company and products like before. Remember, people search for a solution to a problem.
Define the top emotional reasons people purchase your products.
Start a dialogue with prospects and clients. This is crucial today and not at all like before where you would just broadcast a message to them using TV, Radio etc.
Look for quality of prospects other than the quantity. Everybody is not a prospect and some can bring a lot of headaches. Don’t forget that the gold mine lies in existing clients.
Try ideas, fail fast and come back. You don’t need a business plan, you need an action plan.
Master business storytelling and tell true stories that are compelling.
Provide valuable information using social media tools. That is a lot more effective than spending a lot of money with advertising.
The more education you provide, the more profit coming your way.
Use an ethical bribe or a compelling offer to build a list of people interested in what you are talking about.
Position yourself as the to-go expert.
Use tools like teleseminars or online videos to get the word out and position yourself in the market.
Make a sale to get a client. Don’t focus only on the first sale and create upsells.
You need several products or different services. There is a lot of money in the back-end offers. Give buyers more chances to buy and they will spend more. Repeat sales can increase profits by 22%
Create a continuity program
Leverage technology. Stop giving excuses that you were not born in front of a computer, or you are too old and start using technology not only to attract prospects but to follow-up in an automated way. For example, using auto-responders.