Get the Word Out Now!
I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen an increase in small-business marketing budgets in the last few weeks.
More small businesses are realizing that they need to market and promote their services more than ever to get their piece of the consumer’s shrinking budget.
After all, if you don’t get your name in front of potential customers, you’ll be swallowed up by the competition who is actively marketing their products and services.
As Robert Kiyosaki (author of the “Rich Dad” book series) states in the November 2008 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine, “When times get tough, your job is to promote more, not less.”
Look at Long-Term Benefits
Sure, you’ll save time and money if you stop promotional efforts. But months from now, when you don’t have any media clippings or potential clients lined up from lack of activity, you’ll feel the pain of playing “catch up.”
Competitors who have been consistently promoting their marketing messages will be far ahead of you. Plus, it will take another four to six months to get published in print venues that have advanced editorial deadlines. And you’ll need to start from scratch to build media momentum so you’ll be way behind in many ways.
With this in mind, try to keep your marketing and public-relations activities going. This can mean hiring a boutique PR agency or doing the work yourself if your money is really tight.
After all, it doesn’t cost anything but time and effort to call up a media member and pitch a unique story angle or write and post a press release on the free sites out there (see my list at www.rembrandtwrites.com).
Now is not the time to be quiet. Get the word out about your business any way you can now. You’ll build buzz and sales and be that much farther ahead of the competition when the economy turns around.
Do you need help building buzz for your business with PR, SEO copywriting and social media? Please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’m here to help!
March 28th, 2010 at 3:45 am
The saddest part is that most small businesses, when faced with shrinking sales, cut the marketing and promotion budget first.
When really that is the last thing that should be cut. Many other areas can be cut without impact on your sales; but cut your promotions and sales drop even further.
The real trick is to make every dollar of your marketing and promotion budget work for you to the maximum it can. Yet, almost 50% of every marketing dollar spent is wasted.
That is why we wrote the Small Business Marketing In A Nutshell book. It helps business owners know what, where and how to make their marketing a science, not an art. If you would like to read more about the book, go to http://www.smallbusinessmarketinginanutshell.com and have a look.
April 17th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
I need to know how to get the word out that we need donations or a benefactor for a ligitimate charity. We take in abused, abandoned and neglected horse and use them for therapy for disabled persons. We need to raise a minimum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to pay for the property, fix it up and build a horse barn. How do we get the word out. We will gladly answer any questions you have to our ligitimancy by emailing moocheevan@aol.com
HELP we are desperate and do not know where else to turn
April 18th, 2010 at 8:39 am
Thanks for your comments BestFit Solutions! You are right.
Circle K Horse, for free help with your publicity, check out all of the articles on this site regarding publicity and marketing, http://www.startupnation.com/steps/77/steps-successful-public-relations.htm.
Also, reach out to the local media and tell them about your charity. You can also look into partnering with local organizations and businesses to help you get the word out about your organization. Social media will help too.
There are many ways to build buzz on a limited budget. It’s a matter of coming up with a plan and taking action.
Who else has tips for Circle K?
All the best,
Melanie, rembrandtwrites.com