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Advertising Your Home Business on a Budget
When you are starting out in a new home business and no one knows who you are, one of the greatest challenges you will face is how to drum up new business. If there were not people in your community or marketplace that you knew who needed your...
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Pick up your palette and slap that paint on the canvas……We are about to prepare a masterpiece! Creating an advertising plan is a mix of analytical preparation and creative conceptualization. Who are you trying to reach? What do you want to say...
Explode your Search Engine Results without Ever Paying for Advertising Again
When I first started my online business, I had absolutely no
idea what I was doing. With the help of a friend, we mapped out
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Free Reprint Articles - Inexpensive Advertising For Your Business
Publishing articles and making them available for free can be a very effective way of promoting your business or website without spending a lot of money. This article contains some tips and resources that I have discovered by publishing free...
Going Beyond Banner Advertising
Going Beyond Banner Advertising R.M. Blackledge ©Copyright 2005 A major stumbling block for many internet marketing newbies is the false belief that the placement of a banner ad on a web page is all that's required to immediately start making a...
Internet Advertising Opportunities
Your online business will likely require more
advertising than a contemporary business downtown, yet
some new to the world of online business do not spend
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"Internet Advertising Options" Copyright @ Pradeep Aggarwal www.Internet-successkey.com
Internet Advertising Options By Pradeep Aggarwal
Your online business will likely require more advertising than a
contemporary business downtown, yet some new to the world of
online business do not spend the time and money to advertise
their...
Offline Advertising for Online Companies
The goal of any business should be to reach the most amount of people possible with the right message at the right time and for the right reason. Many people with online companies are missing out completely when all they do is networking, search...
Six Ways to Stretch your Advertising Dollars
Every business worries about advertising costs and the effectiveness of their advertising. Inserts into newspapers are often thrown away before anyone looks at them. How can you get your advertising dollars to stretch and generate sales? Whether...
What Great Online Advertising Really Is!
Copyright 2005 Daniel Levis Many business people have a distorted view about the distinction between sales & marketing. The common view looks something like this. "Market by advertising to get your name out there, so that people will be familiar...
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Marketing Myth #1: Marketing is Just Another Word for Advertising
Copyright 2005 Mary Eule
This is perhaps the most common marketing myth and must be debunked right away if you have any hope of accomplishing your business goals.
A belief in this myth necessitates a view of marketing as a tactical function rather than the series of cross-functional processes, approaches and activities that it really is. Yes, advertising (marketing communications) is an essential component of your overall marketing plan, but it is not THE plan – and ideally should account for only 1-2% of your entire marketing efforts.
If you devote all of your attention and efforts on advertising activities (e.g. ad copy, sales channels, websites, media, etc.) you’re putting the cart before the horse and are missing critical issues that may be having a negative impact on your business.
Advertising should never be substituted for the marketing process as a whole. No amount of advertising is going to make up for shoddy workmanship; rude employees or an unpleasant customer experience. It’s like building a house of cards… it may hold up for a little while, but it most certainly will come tumbling down.
You’ve heard of the ‘domino effect’, yes? If all of the dominos are set up correctly then one push and they will all fall into place… achieving the expected result. It all begins with that first domino… it sets up the chain reaction for all the rest. Moreover, if any of the others are out of place the ones after that will not drop. This common, but vivid analogy clearly demonstrates how one element can significantly alter results.
The marketing function can be broken down into two distinct parts – Strategies and Tactics. Strategic marketing defines who you are… It spells out how you differ from your competitors so that your
prospects and customers can make wise choices. Additionally, it serves as the working foundation for your entire company. It is the content of your marketing message: what you say, how you say it, and who you say it to.
Tactical marketing (Advertising, Promotions, Sales Materials, etc.) involves the communication of your strategic plan. In other words, it is the vehicle(s) for delivering your message.
Strategies and tactics will be discussed in much greater detail in Chapters Three through Seven.
Bottom line: You cannot advertise your way to success. If you choose to tell the public how great you are… make yourself great first.
The quickest way to kill a bad product, or business, is to advertise it.
Classic Symptoms of a Myth #1 Believer
They…
• Ignore essential research, analysis, and planning
• Act like a “show horse” instead of a “plow horse”
• Think/Say things like, “advertising works” or “you can make a fortune on the Internet”
• Don’t believe in giving anything away for free
About the author:
Mary Eule specializes in helping small and medium-sized businesses get and keep profitable customers. Formerly a Fortune 500 marketing executive; founder of two successful small businesses and award-winning speaker, Ms. Eule is President of Strategic Marketing Advisors, LLC. and co-author of a new book, "Marketing: What it Really Means and How to Make it Work for Your Business". She holds a master degree in marketing from Johns Hopkins University. Log onto http://www.StrategicMarketingAdvisors.comfor free articles, newsletter and helpful tools, tips and templates.
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