10 Marketing Tips for Entrepreneurs

10 Marketing Tips for Entrepreneurs
by Sharif Khan

Nothing happens in business until a sale is made. Marketing is simply
about getting new customers and keeping them. If you're not doing
something everyday to market and promote your business, your competitors
are. Here are ten easy-to-implement tips to effectively market and grow
your business:

1. Partner with large email database list owners and offer to cross
promote each oher. The list owner will advertise your event, product, or
service to their email database and you'll offer to do the same to your
list.

2. Create your own blog which is an online journal with frequently
updated posts to entertain and excite existing and potential customers.
It's more personal and immediate then a website and keeps people engaged
and hopefully coming back for more. You can even create one for free at
www.blogger.com.

3. Create an educational or promotional DVD movie of your business to
increase sales and spread word-of-mouth. It's not as expensive as you
may think: www.paytribute.net cost effectively produces high-quality,
personalized DVD movies for clients.

4. If you want to increase word-of-mouth fast, do something beyond
normal industry expectations. For example, Mr. Lube offers fast and
affordable tune-up service to customers right on the spot, without
having to leave the car, while offering coffee, cappuccino, and a fresh
newspaper.

5. Always ask happy clients for endorsements or testimonials and put
them on your website and other marketing collateral. They're worth their
weight in gold. Try to get some recognizable names in your community for
additional cachet.

6. Put a special offer or product advertorial on every invoice and
statement you send out. Likewise, you can also negotiate a deal with
another company to advertise your product or service on all their
invoices for a percentage of revenues from placed orders.

7. Make your business cards stand out and be natural keepers. Offer
important information on the back such as emergency phone numbers, a
map, or special dates to remember. Have a slogan that offers a powerful
benefit statement to your prospective customer.

8. Offer special bonus packages with your product or service offering.
Get corporate sponsors to give away products as part of the bonus
package in exchange for free exposure.

9. Align your business with a cause or charity. Give back to your
community. Customers appreciate doing business with companies that are
bettering their
communities and the environment and being good corporate citizens.

10. Post frequently in online message boards/forums relevant to your
business or expertise. Include your signature and offer tips and
valuable advice. Eventually you will begin gaining word-of-mouth
exposure as a leader in your field. Posting messages with your company
information also helps to increase your search engine rankings and drive
traffic to your site.

[Excerpted from Sharif Khan's new ebooklet: "101 Ways to Market Your
Business"].

Sharif Khan is a professional speaker, writer, coach, and author of
Psychology of the Hero Soul, an inspirational book on awakening the hero
within and developing people's leadership potential. For more
information, visit http://www.herosoul.com. Email: sharif@herosoul.com
Tel:(416)417-1259