1.  Blog

If I’ve written it once, I’ve written it at least a hundred times.  Blogging is the foundation of all of your marketing activity.  Blogging is a great way to offer potential clients and customers a broader view of who you are and what you do.  It’s “the” place where you can begin to establish yourself as an expert in your industry.  So if you implement only one “new” marketing activity this year, I recommend you start a blog.

2.  Testimonials

Have you ever driven to a restaurant and seeing that there were no cars in the parking lot decided to go somewhere else to eat?  This illustrates the concept of social proof.  People want to know that they are making the right decision and they do that by seeing if others have made the same decision too.  Give people the proof they need to make their decision to do business with you through the use of testimonials.  The best way to get testimonials is to ask your raving fans to give them to you!  Use them on your blog, on your brochure, online or anywhere!  (Make sure you get permission to use them first!)

3.  Yelp

Love it or hate it, if you have a brick and mortar business that requires customers to go to your location to do business with you, Yelp is a must.  That’s because the popular iPhone application Siri, uses Yelp reviews to recommend businesses close to you.  Businesses with more positive testimonials have more appeal to users, so while you’re at it, make sure you have plenty of good reviews on Yelp.

4.  Stake Your Claim

Claim each and every listing for your business across all the different online business listing sites like Google Places, Yellow Pages.com, Manta, etc.  Many of these sites are populating their contents from info across the web anyway and you may be already listed.  Take the time to make sure your listing is correct and optimized meaning that you have taken advantage of every place possible in the listing to fill it up with information about your business.

5.  Give Thanks

One of the most important things that you can do as a business owner is to say thank you.  There are many opportunities to do this; when you get a positive review online, after a sale, or just because.  Set yourself apart from the crowd by taking a minute to make your customers feel important, appreciated, and special, and you’ll inspire loyalty and create a relationship that will drive future sales and referrals.

6.  Be Visible

“Visibility + Credibility= Profitability.” This quote from Ivan Misner, the Founder of Business Networking International (BNI) should be hanging on the wall of every business.  It’s not only about who you know, it’s about who knows you.  To sell more you’ve got to be known by everybody.  This is the concept behind advertising of course, because it’s simply foolish to think that if you “build it they will come.”  So work to establish visibility for your business by becoming well and favorably known everywhere.

7.  Get Social

Speaking of visibility, one of the best ways to gain visibility is to be social.  Join networking groups, professional development groups, and professional associations and get out there and get your face, your business and your brand known.    You can do this on social media including Facebook and Twitter too, but there’s nothing like meeting people face to face.  Go out and get connected.

8.  Be a Winner

Ever go to a movie just because it was starting an “Academy Award” winning actor?  The idea was that if the actor had won awards, therefore becoming known as one of the best, certainly the movie they were in would be a “best” movie too.  The same concept can be transferred to your business.  Apply for and win awards and establish yourself as “the best” in your industry or community.  There are hundreds of awards you can apply for including the “Best of” awards run by your local newspaper.

9.  Be the Best

In fact, if you’re going to win awards, you might as well make sure that regardless of what you sell that yours is the best that anybody’s ever had.  Only then will you be able to guarantee that they will keep coming back for more.

Of course, there are many more big marketing ideas out there that will make a big difference in your business.  I would love to hear yours!!

Want to get more inexpensive and practical small business marketing ideas, grab a free e-book called “Build Buzz for Your Biz, 23 Creative and Inexpensive Marketing Strategies That Will Get You Noticed” at http://23kazoos.com.

Wendy Kenney is the bestselling author of How to Build Buzz for Your Business available on Amazon.com, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsday.

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Sometimes it is as important for business owners to understand what not to do as it is to know what they need to do.  It is also important to remember that not every tactic or strategy is right for every business.  What can turn out to be the worst marketing advice for one business may be marketing gold to another.  Having said that, there are some pieces of marking advice that qualify as the world’s worst for any business.

1. Focus on the Products

Countless business owners have been advised to do things like “Build a better mousetrap,” or “Just make it and people will buy it.”  Michael Greaney, of Universal Values Media discovered that focusing on the product isn’t always the best advice. After spending all of their money on developing their product, they didn’t have any money left for getting the word out about it.

The fact is; even companies with the best products in the world, (such as Apple) use marketing and advertising to get the word out about their product.

2. Directory and Phone Book Listings

One of the biggest challenges all small businesses face is figuring out which channels are the right match for their business.  Spending valuable marketing money on ineffective channels is bad news for any business.  Ryan Schmudlach of Wisconsin Canoe Company said that he was advised to invest a significant portion of his startup funds in phone book listings because “That’s where people will find you.”  But Ryan went with his knowledge of where his customers hung out and invested in adwords instead.  He’s glad he did because his business has doubled in sales every year since.

Martha De la chaussee from Advocate Tax Group LLC has a different story.  She paid for expensive online directory  listings, participated in social media platforms, and invested in several different kinds of advertising mediums.  None of these channels provided her with the leads, prospects, clients, or cashflow expected.  Honing in on where her niche customers were and finding ways to reach them directly provided far better results with less effort and expense.

This is a great example of how things that work for one business can be ineffective for others and emphasizes the need to laser focus on your niche.

3. Give it Away for Free

Another thing I hear about all the time from small business owners is that “everyone” in their field said that if they did this one thing, they would have all the clients they could need.  Unfortunately, that is rarely true for any business and putting all your eggs in one basket can leave you with a lot of eggs but no cash flow.   Zenobia Garrison, of Success Transitions, took this advice when she was starting out in her coaching business.  She focused on building private clients by offering free sessions which was touted as the fastest way to positive cash flow and a full client list.  But without a specific focus on the right niche, she discovered that spent a lot of time helping people for free without gaining a single client.   Once she focused her marketing efforts on the right prospects and adopted marketing strategies that fit that niche she started to see results.

This is a great example of why it is important to understand who your target market is because even though offering free sessions is a good tactic, it doesn’t work for all prospects.

4. Social Media Marketing

Another area where bad advice can really take a bite out of a marketing tactic’s benefit is when it leads to using a great platform for the wrong thing or in the wrong way.  Ian Aronovich, the CEO of GovernmentAuctions.org made this mistake.  Based on the advice from others, the company initially used its social media presence for promotion purposes only.  Posting to their Facebook page meant plugging the business and linking to the website.  They found it difficult to build a following or expand their fan base because they weren’t doing anything to engage or encourage interaction with their fans.  Once they changed gears and started using contests, giveaways, and casual interactions with fans to give people a reason to “Like” them, they were able to build a valuable social media community.

This is a great example of how the right thing used the wrong way can be just as ineffective as doing the wrong thing or nothing at all.

5. Guerilla Marketing

While guerilla marketing can be effective in attracting attention to your business, it may not be the attention you desire.  Merrick Pickens from Oak Mortgage Group in Dallas, Texas was advised to “Pay some dude to tattoo your logo on his chest and go workout at the gym where he can recruit for you as a walking billboard. It might be expensive but if you pay him a commission he can get it removed later.”

6. Websites

Michael Esser, copywriter and author for hire was told “build it they will come.” What he discovered was that just because you have a website doesn’t mean people will find it.  It takes time to build content and gain top search engine rankings.  And while having a website is one tactic in your marketing strategy, it’s not the only thing you should do.

Lesson learned. Diversify your marketing.

Can you relate to these stories of the worst marketing advice received?  I know I can.  The lesson for me are don’t take advice from people who don’t know your business, your customers or your market.  Also, I suggest that before you invest heavily in any marketing strategy, test it out first to see if it works.

Have your own “worst marketing advice” story?  Share it here!

Want to get more inexpensive and practical small business marketing ideas, grab a free e-book called “Build Buzz for Your Biz, 23 Creative and Inexpensive Marketing Strategies That Will Get You Noticed” at http://23kazoos.com.

Wendy Kenney is the bestselling author of How to Build Buzz for Your Business available on Amazon.com, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsday.

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I think the new Facebook Pages for business is a good thing.  This format offers businesses a greater ability to develop relationships with new customers and deepen relationships with existing ones.  In fact, Mashable reported that the release of Timeline for individual pages resulted in a 37% increase in the amount of time people spent looking at another person’s profile page.  This can only be a good thing for business.

So before the official roll-out, take some steps to make sure your page is ready.  Here are 5 tips to optimize your Facebook business page for Timeline.

1. Choose a Cover Image.

A Timeline cover image is your chance to tell the world what your business is all about and I don’t mean what you are selling.    For example, Coca Cola’s Facebook Timeline Cover image shows happy, people having fun and enjoying Coke!  The image tells me that the brand is all about friends, good times, good memories and fun!

The Timeline cover image is 851 X 351 pixels and there are some very specific rules about what you can put on it, or more specifically, what you cannot put on it.

Your cover page cannot be an advertisement.  It cannot have a call to action such as “like” or “call now” or a special offer such as “buy one, get one free.”  It cannot have your phone number, URL or email or physical address . This information is supposed to be documented on your “About”  tab which is on the left hand side of your business page, just under your cover image.

So what should you put up as your cover photo? Any kind of image or collection of images that tells the story of your brand.   Here some more examples of some excellent Facebook cover images from Mari Smith, Starbucks, Cool Fords , and even Facebook. Here’s  a tip:  Need a graphic designer to make a custom Timeline cover image for you?  Hire one on Fiverr.com or Elance.com.

2.  Familiarize Yourself with the new Display.

The new Timeline gives page owners a couple of different options on how information is displayed on the page.  It can be “pinned” to the top of the page for 7 days (pin your info by clicking the pencil icon on the top right of your post; a yellow flag will appear at the top.).   Hint:  Use this feature to post a call to action.

Posts can also be highlighted  by clicking the star icon on the top right of the post which will make the post or image stretch across the full width of the page.  (Great for images).

3. Add Important Events to your Timeline.

With timeline you’ll now be able to record and showcase important dates in the history of your business.  Think; grand opening, anniversaries, special events, any date that is important in your business should be documented on your timeline.  Don’t forget to add photos.

4. Clean up Your Business Page.

This is the time to take irrelevant posts off  your business page.  You can either hide them or delete them.  No more explanation is required.

5. Determine Which Applications to Showcase.

Gone are the navigation links (or tabs) on the left hand side of the page which was labeled “photos, events, wall, etc.”  Those are now positioned on the top right hand of your business page right underneath your cover photo.  Make sure that the first four are the ones that you want your fans to see first.   You can edit which tabs can be seen by clicking on the icon that has a number and an arrow next to it which is just to the right of the rightmost tab.

Change can be a good thing, and I think the new Timeline for business pages is going to be good for all business.

Do you have your Facebook business page optimized for Timeline already?  Share it here so that members of StartupNation can learn and “like” your page too!!

Want to get more inexpensive and practical small business marketing ideas, grab a free e-book called “Build Buzz for Your Biz, 23 Creative and Inexpensive Marketing Strategies That Will Get You Noticed” at http://23kazoos.com.

Wendy Kenney is the bestselling author of How to Build Buzz for Your Business available on Amazon.com, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsday.

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But there is a downside to going guerrilla. Guerrilla marketing strategies can easily backfire, leading to negative press for your company, fines, and the loss of both new business and existing clients.  Shifting your focus to attention getting stunts takes away from time spent building the customer relationships that make small business sustainable.   When you start using guerrilla tactics, you compromise the cohesion of your marketing strategy.   The end result for some small businesses is that going guerilla turns your sound marketing strategy into what I call “spaghetti marketing” where you are just throwing your marketing dollars (or spaghetti) at the wall just to see if they will stick.  Here are four reasons guerilla marketing can make spaghetti out of your marketing strategy.

1. What Happens After the Blast

Guerrilla marketing tactics focus on getting the word out in a creative, in-your-face way.  But you also need a plan to reconcile that with your day to day marketing campaigns.  If you cannot successfully tie the two together in a meaningful way and continue the messaging of the guerilla campaign in a more traditional marketing format, you risk losing any momentum gained by going gorilla.

2. Measuring Success

Spaghetti strategies are hard to measure.  The variety of tactics can make it difficult to determine which ones are working and which ones are not.  If your sales go up, was it because of the traditional ad in the Sunday paper or the sticker bombing of two downtown streets over the weekend.  Some might think, sales are up, why do I need to know which tactic worked, but knowing what lead to the increase is critical to understanding where to focus future marketing money.

3. Diluting the Message

One reason guerilla tactics can turn your marketing strategy into spaghetti is that it can dilute, mishandle, or otherwise mess with your message.  You might sacrifice sophistication to create a guerrilla campaign that is guaranteed to appeal to the younger generation in the hopes that they will take it viral.  But if they aren’t your demographic, it won’t matter how much of their attention you gain, especially if the message reaches your ideal customer base for which the sophistication your company offers was a serious selling point.

4. Cost Effectiveness

Although a guerilla campaign can be inexpensive, spaghetti marketing is not.  As soon as you start marketing in multiple mediums with multiple messages, you run the risk of skyrocketing costs whose impact on customer acquisition is difficult to measure.

While guerilla marketing campaigns can be integrated into a comprehensive and cohesive marketing strategy, small business owners need to understand this and do the work required so that they ensure the success of the overall plan.  Otherwise, even the best guerilla campaign will only end up as more spaghetti stuck to the wall.

Want to get more inexpensive and practical small business marketing ideas, grab a free e-book called “Build Buzz for Your Biz, 23 Creative and Inexpensive Marketing Strategies That Will Get You Noticed” at http://23kazoos.com.

Wendy Kenney is the bestselling author of How to Build Buzz for Your Business available on Amazon.com, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsday.

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In case you haven’t heard of it, Pinterest is like a virtual version of the bulletin board that you keep in your office.  Users have their own “boards” where they can post images of things that they find interesting, inspiring, or memorable online.  Users can follow other uses, “like” each other’s pins, and comment on each other’s boards.  They can also “repin” images to their own boards.  It’s social, fun, and visually stimulating in a way that other social media sites aren’t, which may be why so many people find it addicting.

Pinterest is now second to Facebook as far as how much time each visitor spends on the site per visit.  This is tremendous growth especially considering that the site is still accessible to users by invitation only!  Judging by the adoption rate and the time spent on site per user, Pinterest may very well be the social networking site that small business owners want to pay attention to.

There are two benefits that Pinterest can provide for small business owners.  One is visibility and the other is referral traffic to your website.  Think of Pinterest like a sign on the road that says “turn this way.”  If your image is engaging enough you may just distract Pinterest users enough from what they were doing to turn from what they were looking at to go to your site and find out more.

So is Pinterest right for your business?  It depends.  Here are 5 tips on using Pinterest to market your business.

1. Make sure it’s right for you.

Seventy percent of Pinterest users are females under the ages of 45.  (Although men are starting to adopt it as well.) If this is not your demographic, then Pinterest isn’t likely going to be a good fit for you (at least right now).  There are, however, some specific types of businesses that I think may benefit from exposure via Pinterest.

• Clothing retailers
• Cosmetologists, makeup artists, fashion designers
• Personal shoppers
• Grocery stores, food stores, anything food-related
• Restaurants and Caterers
• Personal Trainers
• Fitness gurus
• Florists
• Photographers
• Chefs
• Toy Companies
• Stationary Stores
• Interior Decorators
• Home Improvement Stores
• Unique Gift Shops
• Handmade Items
• Graphic Designers
• Other businesses with a visual product or service

2. Follow the rules.

If you decide that Pinterest is a good fit for your business, make sure you follow the rules.

• Avoid too much self-promotion.  While it’s okay to share things from your website, if that’s all you do, you may find you have little interest.
• Share things you love, not just the things you sell. (But make sure they are related to what you sell)
• Take this opportunity to share a different side of yourself or your business with current and potential customers.
• Use Pinterest to build relationships and rapport that can lead to sales in other arenas.

3. Share things that are visually appealing, new, and fun!

• Keep your target demographic of women under age 45 in mind all the time.
• The best way to know what to share is to see what people are “liking” and repining.
• Since the whole point of Pinterest is for members to discover new things, look for ways to share new and interesting things that will attract and inspire your ideal clients.
• Make “share something new” your Pinterest motto.

4. Credit your sources.

• A crucial part of the Pinterest environment is giving credit where credit is due.
• Crediting sources and linking back to the content creator helps preserve copyright while allowing people to share the things they love.
• Take the time to locate the original source in order to ensure credit is given appropriately.

5. Host a Pinterest contest.

Challenge followers to create the best board featuring ways to use your products or offer a prize for the most repins of a specific subject matter or for a topic relating to your business.  Be creative and make sure your contest appeals to the people you want to participate.

The most important thing to remember when looking to Pinterest as a way to market your business and build your brand is to use the visual atmosphere of the pinboards to your advantage.  Inspire customers and prospects to interact with you and with each other in new and interesting ways and you may bring in new customers without a single sales pitch.

Want to get more inexpensive and practical small business marketing ideas, grab a free e-book called “Build Buzz for Your Biz, 23 Creative and Inexpensive Marketing Strategies That Will Get You Noticed” at http://23kazoos.com.

Wendy Kenney is the bestselling author of How to Build Buzz for Your Business available on Amazon.com, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsday.

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If you’re like me, you’ve probably said this statement many times: “If I had only known then what I know now.” I understand that mistakes are part of the process, but do I have to make so many of them!?! Experience has made me a fast learner and now, more than ever, I pay attention to those who have gone ahead of me so I can learn from their mistakes and hopefully not make so many on my own. Maybe you do too.

To gain some more insight, I asked business owners who have been in business five years or more the same question, “If you would have known then what you know now, what would you have done differently and why?” Their answers were not only insightful, but inspiring and I think you will really appreciate what they had to say.

So here you go; 29 (plus one) insights from business owners like us on what they would have done differently had they known.

We would love to hear your answers too, please leave a comment and let us know, “What would you have done differently in your business if you would have known then what you know now.”

Enjoy!

1. Hire Slowly, Fire Quickly

Oh man, I wish I would have remembered this one every day when I woke up. There is little of greater importance than having the right people on your team(s) and when you find out an apple has gone bad or you have found a worm in a seemingly perfect apple, get rid of it ASAP! The old adage is often true, ’some dogs can’t hunt’.

Thanks to Ben Sayers, VoIP Supply, LLC.,VoIP phone systems, in business 8 years

2. Be More Open to ChangeTechnology and trends are constantly evolving: one day you are set in your Facebook ways and the next day Pinterest is the new phenomenon. Social media has changed the way we do business and how startups utilize it is integral to your success. However, if someone told me this during social media’s infancy, I would have called them crazy. I let all my years in business bias my first impression of social media and thought it was simply a fad. I couldn’t have been more wrong! Social media has changed the way we do business and has set the bar for the way we measure success. If companies are not willing to adapt, they will never become an industry leader or experience great successes.

Thanks to Jim Joyal,, SHIFT Communications, PR and social media agency, in business 9 years

3. Be the Boss Not the Buddy

Don’t be friends with employees. When you try to be too nice it makes it easy for others to take advantage of you, and that’s been true of about 80 percent of everyone I hired in the past. There was a time when I would give a job to almost anyone who asked, regardless if they were qualified or not, because back then I had the capital and I did not want to be the person who turned them down. Most of the money I lost when I started out was due to being overly tolerant of inefficient employees. It’s fine to be friendly with your staff, but you have to set boundaries and be willing to be a firm boss — whether you have three or 300 people working for you.

Thanks to Cathy Ward, BridesVillage.com, wedding accessories e-commerce retailer, 11 years in business

4. Lock in Your Location

Had I known then what I know now, I would have done everything possible to purchase my own business property. Last year, the rent for my original office, located in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn doubled, necessitating my having to move during my income tax preparation season.  If I had to rent a property, the lease would have included a “lease to own” clause and have a termination date during my slow season.

Thanks to Eustace L. Greaves Jr., Greaves Financial Services, Insurance and Income Tax Preparation Services, 17 years in business

5.  Start with Sustainably in Mind

In hind sight I would have focused much more deeply on a sustainable way to generate deal flow and new leads. No matter how large you think your network is (mine is large) it is not large enough and although power networking/word of mouth is the best source of leads of all the advisor/coach /consultant/soloprenuers I know almost none are reaching their personal income goals. What I am doing differently is focusing on the internet. I have just launched an e-commerce site and hope to launch a content site in the next 90 days. Historically my advisory services were delivered on site at companies located regional. I will continue with my advisory work with about 1/3 of my time, but focus on national and to a lesser extent international clientele via phone or Skype.

Thanks to Ajax Greene, On Belay Business Advisors Inc., business advising, 7 years in business

6. Know the Value of Vision

I would have placed an earlier emphasis to define the vision, mission and values of our company. It is important for the value of our employees to be aligned with my vision for our Company.

Thanks to Jason Maxwell, MassPay Payroll Services, payroll services company, in business for 8 years

7. Eliminate Distractions

Having owned several companies, I would have eliminated my distractions sooner than I did, e.g. real estate investments (rentals), buying and selling a laundromat, renovating homes, etc. While all the ventures were profitable they took away from focusing on building a brand that ultimately would have had more value than the combined profits of each transaction not related to directly building that brand.

Thanks to Joseph Carvelli, Retail Ingenuity, retail inventory and sales forecasting, in business for 12 years

8. Set Aside Significant Saving

I assumed if I built a good product, they would come! I had no idea how costly being in business would be, the amount of money I needed to succeed, or the toll the financial strain would take.

I am blessed that I had the tenacity and the strength to succeed despite overwhelming odds. If I could go back to the beginning, I would make sure I had significant savings set aside, or capital from another source. I cannot overstate the importance of being properly funded!

Thanks to Regina McRae, Grandma’s Secrets, dessert delivery, in business for 18 years

9. Put More Emphasis on Processes

If I had known then what I did now I would have put a lot more time into creating processes.  I find that with the majority of businesses these fundamentals often get overlooked and sometimes ignored completely. To me this is utter madness! A company can succeed or fail just by their processes. We find that we avoid 99% of mistakes because we process them out. This not only avoids unnecessary errors and client issues, but actually makes the company as a whole more efficient.

Thanks to Ben Norman, Koozai Ltd., UK based digital marketing agency , in business for 6 years

10. Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

I would have delegated more and not tried to do everything myself. Although it does take time to build relationships with your staff, I waited too long to delegate certain responsibilities that could have been done by someone else. Giving responsibilities does much to validate a staff member’s gifts and also demonstrates a deeper level of trust in the employer / employee relationship. Letting go of certain tasks has been difficult for me but I have come to realize that the more responsibilities I entrust to others in their areas of expertise, the lighter I feel, the more confident a staff member becomes and greater things are achieved by their efforts than could have been done otherwise.

Thanks to Stephanie Ciccarelli, Voices.com, online voiceover talent marketplace, in business for 8 years

11. Let Go and Let it Grow

For many years I had to know everything and do everything. I have discovered that other people and organizations can do things better and at a lower cost than doing it myself.  Letting go has enabled my business to grow and prosper and made my life much easier.

Thanks to Bob Shirilla, Keepsakes Etc. and Simply Bags in business for 30 years

12. Avoid Delaying Difficult Decisions

My biggest lesson over the years was learning that sometimes decisions had to be made for the good of the company, which sometimes meant disciplining or dismissing employees. In particular, when the economy started going into recession, I had to fire one of my closest friends in order to keep the company going. I should have done it sooner. As a result of my delay, it took a while to regain the company’s financial stability. Making difficult decisions is part of owning a business. Owners have to be willing to do it.

Thanks to Susan Southerland, Just Marry, Just Right DM and The Susan Southerland Secret, event planning, destination management, and small business consulting, in business for 20 years

13. Start with a Solid Team

I would have started with a solid business plan, hired an account, and started with a solid team around me.  There are not many businesses that are successful with one person wearing so many hats. Do what you do best and allow others to contribute what they do best to help your business grow.

Thanks to Amore Leighton Black, Apples & Oranges Public Relations, public relations and marketing, in business 7 years

14. Charge What I am Worth

I would have charged more! I was so excited to be working for myself doing something I loved. I’ve never been a person who chased profits -that’s not why I do what I do. But I didn’t do my homework and when I started, I charged pretty close to what I was making hourly at the jobs I’d left behind. That was all fine dandy except when working for myself, that wasn’t enough to cover things like taxes, health insurance, and so on. And also, I was definitely undervaluing my services. I was booked ALL the time, yet I could never seem to get ahead. Even though my clients all loved me and thanked me for my work, I doubted my value, and that was definitely reflected in my pricing.

Thanks to Alaia Williams, One Organized Business, professional organizing and small business systems consulting, in business 5 years

15. Focus on Building Relationships

We spent a fortune of money on advertising when we started out (with unimpressive results). We then changed our focus on relationship building with existing clients and organic search maximization vs. paid ads.  Now we see incredible returns in the form of referrals, and new business at a cost that is a fraction of what we used to spend. We needed to learn the hard way but if I knew then…

Thanks to Ben Schusterman, ElJet Aviation Services - private jet charter service, in business for 5 years

16. Start with More Money, Less Friends

I would start with about three-times as much cash as I thought I needed. I’d also be cautious around hiring friends/family.

Thanks to Heidi Ganahl, Camp Bow Wow, doggy day & overnight care, in business for 12 years

17. Use a Better Business Model

If we knew then what we know now, we would have started with the business model that we changed to about two years ago. Before the recession hit, we charged $39.95 for an annual membership with no free trial, and no automatic rebilling at the end of their membership term. During the recession, the rate in which we generated new members waned and we reached a growth plateau. To combat our stagnation we decided to change our revenue model to a free trial and a monthly rebilling combination. We implemented a three-day free trial and then a recurring $18.95 monthly fee after the three days expired. We are doing very well as a company now, but in retrospect, we should have thought about rebilling from the get go.

Thanks to Ian Aronovich, GovernmentAuctions.org, providing information about government auctions of seized and surplus merchandise

18. Hire Employees Sooner

One thing I would do differently if I were starting my training business today would be to make my first hire sooner. Operating on shoestring (and a broken one at that), I originally had to do everything myself. The thrift that made it possible for me to survive and then thrive in the beginning quickly became a hindrance when I delayed hiring people who could do any number of specific tasks easier, cheaper and far better than I could.

Thanks to Barry Maher, Barry Maher & Associates, motivational speaker, leadership trainer

19. Dream Bigger

I would have dreamed bigger from the start. In the beginning, my focus was on serving clients in my own Puget Sound backyard, even though successful people who were familiar with my publicity expertise and storytelling gifts were telling me to think nationally or globally. If I had it to do over again, I would have put more emphasis on national and global reach of my message right from the start.  Lead with juicier, higher value, and leveraged offerings first. When I was just starting out, I put a lot of emphasis on creating the absolute best $10 product about do-it-yourself publicity that I could create. Yes, the Media-Savvy-to-Go Publicity Tips Booklets have sold by the thousands since debuting in August of 2006. However, it is so much easier to make a bigger impact for more people and my own balance sheet by leading with a juicer, higher value offering. Today, the Broadcast Your Brilliance Webinar Series and Bye-Bye Boring Bio PLUS! Programs deliver great value for many around the nation and the world at price points that make it a whole lot easier to make a good living. Whether you create an entry level product or something much more, you still have to create all the systems to support those offerings. By leading with a deeper offering, the rewards are greater for all.

Thanks to Nancy Juetten, Authentic Visibility, PR tools and training, in business 11 years

20. Approach Additional Services More Cautiously

I’ve been in business as a web designer for 18 years. The main thing I would have done differently knowing then what I’ve learned along the way is I would approach any add-on services very cautiously. I used to briefly check out add-on services such as hosting, domain name management, and others, and then I would jump in whole-heartedly. Most of the time, it worked out fine for me. However, the occasional missteps cost me dearly.  As I learned more about running a business, I also learned through hard knocks that it is much better to approach additional services methodically and cautiously. I don’t put a lot of funding and energy into them until I’m sure it is the right thing to offer. I’ve learned it is easier to resist the urge to jump at opportunities than it is to extract myself from the occasional quagmire!

Thanks to Jim Smith, Blarneystone, LLC web design, in business for 18 years

21. Give More Away Sooner and Speak More

Network a lot more in person (the Internet was in its commercial infancy) and hunt for in-person speaking engagements, even if they are not paid.  Good writing alone is not enough to convince clients to hire you. They want to hear you speak on your topic of expertise, and when you help business owners with their problems or concerns, they are more likely to hire you and/or to recommend you to others who hire you. I once helped a business owner write something for his church at no charge, and with another small assignment that paid very little. That led to a long-term writing assignment that exceeded $40,000 in fees. Sow seeds of good will and interest through your networking, speaking, and help. Continue to do this even after your business is successful because it leads to more success.

Thanks to Candace Talmadge, Talmadge Writing Services, writing services, in business for 29 years

22. Been More Focused on This Business

I wouldn’t have started it out of my apt.  I would have “cleared the decks better” by parsing other interests that I was juggling at the same time. I would have learned more about guarding a business (legal, insurance, LLC/Scorp/Inc).  I would not have spent so much money on a business plan.

Thanks to Todd Greene, HeadBlade men’s grooming, in business 12 years

23. Don’t Do It All Yourself

I would have gotten an assistant, accountant and web coder much earlier. I did it all myself for 8 years in my business and have only been hiring assistance for the last two years. I knew it would free up my time to hire people - and what I didn’t know was how much it would free up my mind and let me do better, more powerful work along the way. I’ve been able to create more products and do more thought leadership since getting those little tasks off my plate… and if I’d done it earlier, I can only imagine how amazing things would be.

Thanks to Erin Ferree, BrandStyle Design, branding for small businesses, in business for 10 years

24. Look Before Leaping

What I know now is the huge cost of marketing and promotion required to build demand. We started out expecting to sell retailers and distributors and attend trade shows and travel to customers and sell and spent two years on that path. Then we took a hard right and for past two years we have evolved into an Internet retailer running DRTV (Direct Response TV) infomercials with 85% of our business now direct to the consumer. Social media was never in the business plan either now it’s vital.

What would I do differently knowing what I know now? (1) Keep my old job as long as possible and not leapt off the cliff (but it was a nice feeling) (2) Anticipate 5 years to break-even, and set aside “don’t touch” money.

Do I regret jumping off the cliff? No way. As I tell my wife- don’t look down, keep looking up!

Thanks to Brad Barrett, GrillGrate, LLC, grill surface for better food, in business 5 years

25. Pick More Profitable Partnerships

I would have used deeper discernment in picking partners/vendors/joint ventures, even markets. I picked some doozey’s AND after the fact, saw all the red flags.

Thanks to Shawne Duperon, ShawneTV, media coach and production company, in business 11 years

26. Focus on Face to Face Interactions and New Technology

We learned a lot of lessons in starting our company. For example, we would never produce four-color mailers that are sent to mass prospective clients. We’ve learned that face-to-face interaction and building the business relationship is key. (This was pre-Internet). We also learned that a lot of mailing lists are not updated. This endeavor was expensive and resulted in a poor ROI. When the Internet came around, we certainly would have jumped on this new technology much earlier — developing a website much sooner. It’s an amazing tool to get your message out to the world to sell products and services with visuals. We try to make it much easier for clients to find us rather than we search for a ‘needle in a haystack’ to find prospective clients.

Thanks to Greg Jenkins, Bravo Productions, event planning and production company, in business 25 years

27. Plan For Growth, Be More Discerning in Following Advice

As the owner of a driving school in New York City, my first big regret is that I did not get all other licenses (Motorcycle, Bus, Truck license) earlier in life. I just pass my truck road test Tuesday January 17 2012.  Now I have to wait two more years before I can expand to teach Truck Lessons thanks to NYS requirement. Secondly, I was too naive and trusted many so called experts that convince me how to run my business only to find out they were wrong.  I wasted a lot of money trying ideas that did not work. 3.  In the real estate boom time I should have purchase commercial real estate to accommodate my growing business.  Now it’s impossible to get a loan.  I would have preferred to spend a bit more money to secure a property.

Thanks to Rajendra Hariprashad, Ena’s Driving School, in business for 8 years

28. Leverage People, Build a System

If I knew then what I know now I would have invested in two areas. One, I would have developed other people and brought them into the business sooner. No one is good at everything. Even Michael Jordon had a coach and team mates. One of my friends started a business five years ago and has 700 people working for him today. The more you can leverage other people and create a ladder for them to achieve what they want to then the more successful you will be. Find people you can trust and learn to work effectively with them. My business is much stronger today because I have a strong team.

Secondly, every business needs a system to build a pipeline that is consistent and measurable. I have depended too much in my business on my farming method which is delivering exceptional value to people I meet and eventually they and their friends become clients. I wish I would have understood how to build visibility for my business in my target market like I do today. I am beginning to develop a hybrid model that is both farming and hunting which I believe in the long run will deliver greater growth to my business. My approach that involves taking a prospect from visibility, credibility, and trust is proving to be highly effective. When people work with me they become more than clients they become friends because I am invested in their success. Everyday owning a business is a learning experience. I am very happy it is what I have chosen to pursue in my life.

Thanks to John Paul Engle, Knowledge Capital Consulting in business 10 years

29. Focus on Building Relationships with Customers

When I first started out, like most new veterinarians, my prime concern was my patients and their care. What I failed to fully appreciate was that each patient had an owner (aka client) attached to it! Often I would not address the needs and concerns of the client as well as I was trying to practice medicine and over time, I likely lost clients who, if I had better built my relationship with them, would still be a client today.

Thanks to Dr. James Day, Glendale Animal Hospital, veterinary practice in Glendale, Arizona, in business for 27 years

Bonus Tip:

30. Establish Boundaries With Employees

I would certainly separate “church and state” and I would have been more of a leader than a friend. As an owner and an active President& CEO of a small business- I’m in constant contact with my employees. When hiring new employees, certain requirements and credentials are necessary including: experience, expertise, and industry knowledge. Additionally, I look for multiple interpersonal skills and qualifications. That said, I’ve managed to find and retain wonderful employees who work well and who work well with one another. Formulating good friendships with my employees is nice but maintaining and stepping up as more of a leader at times, has been challenging. Establishing boundaries early on with employees is key and I wish I had known the importance of this, earlier on.

Thanks to Georgette Pascale, Pascale Communications, LLC. a healthcare specific PR firm, in business 7 years

Want to get more inexpensive and practical small business marketing ideas, grab a free e-book called “Build Buzz for Your Biz, 23 Creative and Inexpensive Marketing Strategies That Will Get You Noticed” at http://23kazoos.com.

Wendy Kenney is the bestselling author of How to Build Buzz for Your Business available on Amazon.com, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsday.

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1. Give ‘Em What They Want

For us, at The Burger Dive, it was all about offering something that we didn’t think our city really had, and that we believed would be wanted. Our city is overflowing with fast food burger chains, and a couple of higher end burger chains, but it really lacked that one little mom and pop burger joint that everyone loves. We have maintained our standards from day one, using only fresh and quality ingredients. We make everything ourselves, and it has paid off. People tell us daily “this is the best I’ve ever had,” and they say they can really tell the difference between us and our larger chain competitors. It really comes down to freshness, and also our creativity with our burgers and our specials.

Thanks to Brad Halsten, The Burger Dive

2. Become a Winner

We have won multiple awards and we are proud of them. The awards have become not only a pat on the back, but a great marketing tool that really gets our name out there. The award definitely holds its value as the years go on.

Thanks to Matt Pringle, DCP Productions

3.  Become Really Good at Something Really Difficult

We are a team of professional organizers who specialize in the severely cluttered and hoarders. We actually receive referrals from other organizers because this is a very difficult segment of our industry and is too much for many organizers.

We allow the client to be in command of their costs by charging hourly rather than making them buy a package up front and we make sure they are very comfortable with their organizer since this is SUCH an intimate business. We offer a quicker turn-around time if they are up against a deadline (often imposed by the county) while still allowing them to keep their dignity and self-esteem.

Thanks to Maria Spetalnik, ConquerTheClutter

4. Cater to Your Customer

Madcapz are specifically made for women by a woman. Most ball caps are made for men so they are too big and don’t fit women well. Our caps are low profile, meaning there is less room in the crown and this is better suited to women’s heads.

Also, Madcapz are available in over 20 fabulous prints; most baseball caps are in boring, drab colors and splattered with corporate and sports logos.

And finally, a growing trend with our buyers: they love that our baseball caps are Made in the USA! Most ball caps today are made in Bangladesh and China, ours are made here and buyers love that!

Thanks to Carrie Bell, Madcapz

5.  Tap into What Works and Make it Your Own

We are a military/patriotic fashion apparel brand. We just got started about 2 years ago but within 18 months had the most popular website among our competitors and the second largest following of fans on Facebook. How did I do it? A lot of long nights… But seriously, we separated ourselves. When I started the business I really just wanted something cool to wear that looked modern but had a military or patriotic twist to it, being a veteran of the United States Army and a Drill Sergeant at the time.

We took modern cool looks and quality from what’s currently hot in the market, put a patriotic or military twist on our designs and then guaranteed our apparel for life like another apparel retailer does. We really didn’t innovate anything, but took what works from other successful companies and put them together to come up with us, Grunt Style. It’s worked fantastically and we continue to explode with growth.

Thanks to Drill Sergeant Daniel Alarik, Grunt Style LLC

6. Specialize: Be The Expert-Then Deliver

There are a ton of freelance writers, but not many have expertise in my niches (aging, senior care, evidence-based health advice, and high-end SEO friendly content for websites). My clients come to me for expertise they haven’t seen elsewhere. They could pay cheap prices for lesser work, but they know that with me, they’ll get exceptional content that beats the competition’s. So I help their businesses stand out too! I also strive to be outstanding to work with.

Thanks to Leigh Ann Otte of LA Wordsmith

7. Ice The Cake

So many businesses advertise their “quality” or “speed” as if the competition doesn’t have this. Come up with something the competition doesn’t have, something extra - icing on the cake. I don’t market this enough - maybe I should - but when we write a book for a client, we will happily prepare a synopsis and query letter at no extra cost. We only bring this forward when a lead asks about what comes after the writing. It helps close the sale rather than generate new leads.

Thanks to David Leonhardt of THGM writers

8. Be Authentic, Be Bold, Be Different!

Here is something different in this day and age, NEVER TAKE ANY ONE for granted, listen to your clients. provide value in your products and service, and go above and beyond to make people feel like they are your only customer. Return to simple values such as face to face marketing, handshakes, and then use modern day technology to stay in front of them and provide resources, education establishing yourself as the authority in your field.

Thanks to Marc Abelman, Las Vegas Interior Design

9. Be Honorable and Forthright and You are Golden

Honest straightforward communication and portrayal of your product. No gimmicks schmooze.

Thanks to Lys Fulda, Sphinx Group

10. Cater to A Specific Niche

We make accommodations for, and cater, to special needs kids.

Thanks to David Perkins, Bubble Swim School

11. Specialize

I am a freelance copywriter competing with dozens, if not hundreds, of other freelance copywriters for assignments. However, with a degree in Chemistry and an insatiable appetite for understanding anything related to science and technology, I have a unique selling proposition. There are plenty of good writers “out there” who are terrified of anything having to do with technology. There are also plenty of highly skilled technical people who can’t tell you in English exactly what it is that they do. I have the rare ability to interview a scientist or an engineer, or read a very technical paper, and translate the “Techno-Babble” or “technical gobbledygook” into compelling English that even people with no technical training can read and understand. My corporate logo is a red apple, and my tag line is, “Technical copy with a delicious difference. Like an apple, it will be “red.” This is how I differentiate my business from my competition.

Thanks to Robert P. Baker, Copy To Go, Inc.

12. Create a Better Experience

Ringadoc puts patients in touch with doctors from any phone, anywhere, anytime. Our meticulous attention to technology separates us from our competitors. We devote just as much time to perfecting our software as we do to finding the best team of doctors, because we believe great technology goes a long way in creating a better healthcare experience. Most recently, we developed the first app that enables patients and doctors to video conference right on their Apple and Android devices.

Thanks to Stephanie A. Higa, Ringadoc Communications

13. Position Yourself As The Expert In Your Field

I try to not be a jack of all trades. We have a tendency to say, “Oh sure, I can do that.” By doing so you quickly find yourself in an over promise, under deliver situation. If you don’t spread yourself too thin, it gives you a chance to perfect the areas that you are really good at. That way you can be THE person in town who is the expert to work with. Be sure to have a list of people you trust to suggest in the fields that you don’t cover. You want to be the person your client consults for referrals!

Thanks to Darlynn Nangano of Little Blog Dress Media

14. Do it Differently Than Your Competitors

Listia.com is an online marketplace where you can buy and sell things without money. You post auction-style listings to earn credits, and can then use those credits to buy things from other users. It’s a great way to trade things you don’t use for things you actually want.

Our main competitive edge is being a truly free service, as opposed to eBay who charges listing fees to sell your things. In addition, we offer a charity donation feature so users can essentially turn the things they don’t want into charitable donations (www.listia.com/charities). We’ve captured a lot of users from the eBay market as well as the Free listings on Craigslist, and hope to continue expanding our services so everyone can barter instead of buy.

Thanks to Mabel Yoshimoto, Listia.com

15. Tell People HOW You Are Different

I changed my tagline last year to: We are not the biggest mover, but our clients tell us we are the BEST!

Then all of my follow-up with prospects and customers outlines how/why our clients say we are the best. This puts psychological triggers in their head so once we provide services for them (and my guys in the field are aware of this campaign), then when we ask for a testimonial they already have it in their head, that we are the best, and are more inclined to put that in their testimonial.

Thanks to Jim Howey of TechMove

16. Speak Their Language

We are the first marketing communication firm in the world to achieve LEED Platinum. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and was established in 1993 by the U.S. Green Building Council to encourage sustainable building practices in the U.S. My traditional marketing communications firm has clients in the building materials industry and we wanted to increase that business. Getting accredited, teaching LEED and finally getting the office Certified at the highest level tells our potential clients that we know what their customers are wanting in sustainable building products and that we can speak the customer’s language.

Thanks to Chuck Lohre, Lohre & Associates Marketing Communications

17. Niche-ify!

There are many companies that offer marketing services to small businesses. What makes Market Mommy different? We cater to the mom business owner who is trying to get her business off the ground in an affordable manner. All of our services are extremely low cost, yet professional. We help moms brainstorm and develop a marketing plan that is both effective and realistic. Our rates are low and we suggest other marketing efforts that are affordable as well.

Thanks to Dawn E. Berryman, Founder, Market Mommy®

18. Be Yourself, Have Personality

For many freelancers, we ARE our business. There’s just one person, just us. So, just like in personal relationships, just be yourself. Your business is unique because you are unique. Allow your personality to shine through. You don’t have to be the biggest or the fanciest or the most well-known company to be successful. Just look at me. There are bazillion web designers in Phoenix. What sets me apart? I treat clients like friends and let them get to know me.

Thanks to Perri Collins of Perri Collins Consulting

19. Partner with Your Customers

My company stands out because we make our members/customers revenue sharing partners in our business. Our referral program pays our members a percentage of the earnings of the customers they refer to us. They earn money without even shopping and establish residual income for themselves.

Thanks to Frank DeBlasi, Hoopla Doopla, Inc.

20. Helping Nurses Become Heroes

I recently launched a nurse speaking, training, and consulting business. At first, my sales message looked like the others (telling potential clients I could help improve their nurses’ clinical and professional…etc). Ugh. I looked like a cookie cutter. So, I got to the core of what I was trying to do and simplified my message. I want nurses to believe they are heroes; that making a difference is a choice. What makes me different is I tap into their emotions and help them believe in themselves.

Thanks to Renee Thompson of RTConnections

21. Be Old School!

I know that what makes my business stand out shouldn’t be so simple, or old school, but it is. I live by this motto: “Do What You Say You Will Do!” I know it’s not the golden rule, but pretty close to it. I am constantly amazed that my clients thank me for doing such a simple thing as returning a phone call. But, when your friendly competitors take days, or do it not at all, it makes you stand out from a huge pack. All you have is your word, respect it and others will respect you!

Thanks to Karen Berg of United Brokers Group

22. Personal Recommendations and Testimonials and Celebrity Endorsements

I work as a professional magician in the UK and it’s important to stand out in some way as there are hundreds of magicians fighting for the same (relatively small) amount of business and little to differentiate them.  One thing I have done is to make sure I get personal recommendations and testimonials from people who have hired me. It’s always useful to have plenty of these on your website, they really help. People can be a bit wary, as they know these things can easily be faked, so actual screenshots of any written “thank yous” are very powerful.

Also, I love celebrity endorsements. They are tricky to come by, but worth their weight in gold. I was working in a restaurant and an old guy came in with his family. I went over to do some magic for them and (OMG!) it was Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin! I made sure to get a photo with him and put it onto my website; I’ve had several bookings as a result from people who say “If you’re good enough for Jimmy Page then you’re good enough for me!” Always be ready to grab a picture with any celebrity you come across, even if you only speak to them for a few seconds grab that shot, it will be invaluable.

Thanks to Mike Stoner (magician) Magician For Hire UK

23. Provide a Money-Back Guarantee

We offer a 100% money-back guarantee for our services. This means that if one or more objectives are not met within the agreed upon deadlines, we will give the client back every penny of their fee. At first glance, there appears to be a lot of risk involved with doing this. However, we’re confident in our experience and the level of services we provide to our clients.

Thanks to Tim Parkin, Parkin Web Development, LLC

24. Provide a Free Trial

GovernmentAuctions.org is a subscription-based service that gives the customer the best and cheapest possible way to view and participate in government auctions via our site. We have changed the game by offering people an initial three-day free trial membership which has never been done before by anybody in the industry.

Thanks to Ian Aronovich, GovernmentAuctions.org

25. Offer Something that Your Competitors Don’t

In Phoenix we have a lot of problems with car windshields breaking due to rocks from never ending road construction and excessive heat.  The problem was that you could get your windshield fixed one day and then need it again the next.  Our glass company, Desert Breeze Glass become the exclusive licensee of Diamon Fusion glass guard which is a coating that is applied to the exterior portion of the windshield making it water and rock resistant. We have several insurance agents who have said their glass claims have reduced from the repeat glass offenders since applying DFI to their windshields.  This makes agents refer customers to us again and again.

Thanks to Cathryn Curcio of Desert Breeze Glass

26. Don’t Follow the Dots, Create Your Own Path

At SaveOnBrew.com we have both a blessing and a curse by having a very unique product.  It is easy to share with people and we often hear “why didn’t I think of that.”  The downfall is we have no marketing model to follow.  We had to become just as unique in our marketing techniques as our product.

Thanks to Jennifer Davidson Director of Operations SaveOnBrew, LLC.

27. “World Change is How We Roll.”

Sevenly is a social good startup that stands out from the competition in several key ways. Lots of people sell cool t-shirts, but we sell tees with a cause. Each purchase gives $7 to the charity of the week. We also standout by getting our customers involved in promoting the cause. For example this week, when we hit $4,900, we’ll have raised enough to pay for a clean water well for a village in Peru.

Thanks to Justin Palmer, Sevenly

28. It’s All in The Name

I think our memorable name differentiates us from competitors: Fatpacking

Obviously people don’t base their decision to join our weight loss backpacking trips by name alone, but it does get them to at least consider us.

Thanks to Steve, FatPacking.com

29. Stand Out on Every Level

Boxiecat.com is the first provider of mail-order subscription-based home cat litter delivery. The number one way we stand out is by being more convenient. In truth, we also strive to provide a better product in a more green way and to have great customer interactions. We really try to stand out on every level, as a startup, we know that’s our best chance for success.

Thanks to Josh Wiesenfeld, Boxiecat.com

30. Send Your Message in a Unique Package

It’s trickier to get the attention of the decision maker with your message. Two ideas we’ve used that have worked: (1) We have emailed a letter to a nearby pizza restaurant, they printed it out & delivered the pizza (vegan & cheese free since we publish a newspaper on natural preventive health) with our letter taped on top of the box. This idea was a big hit and helped establish the relationship and sale. (2)

Send your info by mail in nice 4 color/gloss file folders (label goes horizontal).

Thanks to Thomas Katovsky of Healthy Referral Newspaper

Want to get more inexpensive and practical small business marketing ideas, grab a free ebook called “Build Buzz for Your Biz, 23 Creative and Inexpensive Marketing Strategies That Will Get You Noticed” at http://23kazoos.com.

Wendy Kenney is the bestselling author of How to Build Buzz for Your Business available onAmazon.com, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsday.

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Here are 28 Small Business Marketing Resolutions for the New Year that will inspire you to write your own.

1. Build Relationships With Customers

To create more opportunities for our end buyers to interact with the company. As a manufacturer it’s always difficult to have a dialog with customers because our primary “sale” is to the dealer and we don’t get many chances to communicate with customers directly.

Stephen Roberts, Marketing Manager, Timberwolf Manufacturing

2. Engage and Monitor

To be consistent and emotionally engaging in all marketing efforts. To continue to monitor and measure all results. (I know that in 3 years my unique visitor traffic has increased by 250% to just under 8,000 unique visitors per month.)  To convert more visitors specific to eproducts thus increasing monthly income.  To achieve Alexa.com ranking of under 100,000.  To have the blog recognized as one of the top business, leadership and sales blogs.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, www.increase-sales-coach.com

3. Waste Less Time on Social Media

I resolve to waste less time on social media channels!

Tea Silvestre, www.theWordChef.com

4. Be More Visual

Don’t forget: All marketing is VISUAL.

David Langton, Principal, Langton Cherubino Group, Ltd. (http://www.langtoncherubino.com)

5. Consistency!

It is easy when we get busy to stop marketing ourselves, but we know that we need to do it consistently if we want to grow. So we have resolved to be more consistent in 2012 on doing our own marketing and PR.

Beth Walsh, Clearpoint Agency, Inc., (www.clearpointagency.com)

6. Update The Plan, Then Walk the Plan

Ann Siegle, Tria Marketing & Design, (http://www.triadesignfirm.com)

7. Discover Previously-Unidentified Markets

To find new ways to help customers obtain loans - financing is still a major issue.  To further expand our worldwide presence.

Catherine B. Ahles, APR, Fellow PRSA, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Business Development, Premier Aircraft Sales

8. No More Advertising

Our 2012 marketing resolution is we will no longer buy advertising. We will buy results. After spending a year and a half attempting to optimize click through conversion rates, design high quality marketing communications and locate appropriate advertising vehicles we have discovered that we are not advertising experts. We have also discovered
that the risk for advertising success lies entirely with us. If we buy media space in a publication that does not produce results we lose both time and money. The publication, however, gets to keep our money.

For 2012 we are completely converting our marketing efforts to shared risk. We will no longer pay for click through or brand exposure ads. We will only pay a percentage of sales actually produced by the ad. Our advertising budget had previously floated at about 9% of revenue. For 2012 we will be increasing this about 30% of revenue. Instead of paying $600 for a quarter page ad we will pay 25% of all sales produced by the ad. If the ad produces $10,000 in sales the advertiser will receive $2500. If the ad produces $100 in sales the advertiser will receive $25. This will be tracked through coupon codes for print. All web advertising will be converted to affiliate programs which pay by the sale. We can increase our media budget since all advertising will be paid for by additional sales.

This does not mean that we will stop brand awareness advertising. Our brand awareness strategy for 2012 however will be entirely based on shareable content and partnerships with publications that have a similar audience. We will be producing more free downloads and more shareable content on the assumption that if it is valuable - it will be shared and republished. This is a big risk since traditional paid advertising guarantees space in a publication. Shareable content, however, may or may not get reused in other publications.

Chris Tobias, Director of Educational Excitement, School Skills

9. Positioning

Our 2012 our resolution is to position ourselves as the Thought Leader in our industry and also to all lose 5% of our current body weight, eat right and exercise more.

John Fairclough, the r e s i c o m group (http://www.resicomonline.com)

10. Happy Shoppers

Our 2012 Marketing Resolution is to keep our shoppers happy. Our success is driven by word-of-mouth marketing from wonderful customers. When they like their experience with us - as in our jewelry quality, diverse selections, low prices and customer service - they come back and they tell their friends about us. And the cycle continues when those friends have a wonderful experience too! That’s why we always try to listen to the needs and wants of our shoppers and make their Joolwe.com shopping experience amazing.

Monique Bird, Marketing and PR Specialist, Joolwe.com

11. Regular Communication.

Contact our email list on a regular basis (no more being flaky!) and not worry every single time that I might lose subscribers. It’s better to have tried and lost, than to never have tried at all!

Chris Wise, Online Marketing Director,  Guideline Central

12. Systematic Marketing

For our own firm and for our clients, we are resolving to commit to a programmatic approach to marketing (strategy) instead of simply a project approach (tactics, often with no real plan behind them : “one offs”).

Charles J. Morris, Jr., Principal, Morris Creative Group, LLC

13. Community Centric, Mobile Friendly Website

For 2012, The Voice of Your Customer plans to revise our company website to be less content driven and more mobile friendly with a great focus on customer engagement and community involvement. Previously, our website as focused on flash and SEO heavy content that is no longer of interest to our visitors.

The Voice of Your Customer also plans to increase our visibility in the media by distributing more company press releases and applying for more industry, small business and community awards. In years past, we won several awards that generated quite a bit of exposure in the local, regional and niche media that resulted in more visits to our website and social media pages.

Additionally, The Voice of Your Customer plans to increase the activity on our LinkedIn and Facebook company pages, better utilize the engagement tools and more effectively use the visitor analytics. When the pages were launched, the focus was on increasing likes and daily posts. In the near future, we would like to use these pages for survey research, recruiting and content management.

Crystal L Kendrick, President, The Voice of Your Customer

14. Mobile Marketing

In 2012, our company, Leon Mege Inc. (custom made engagement rings and fine jewelry) will be doing a lot more mobile marketing. We will also be focusing more on Google+ and are allocating a smaller budget to print ads and Facebook ads. A lot more branding is also in store for the New Year for our company (we are currently in the early stages of developing a branding strategy).

Olga Topchaya, Director of Marketing,  Leon Megé Inc.

15. Increase Twitter Following

Our marketing resolution is to increase our twitter following, in order to control cost and to weed out the multiple offerings of Marketing Services that I am swamped with on a daily basis. If I can control advertising cost, I can hopefully make better use of time and money to hire help.

Lance Dzintars , Zaria & Bella’s LLC, www.zariaandbellas.com

16. More Online Engagement

Going to do more: Webinars, email campaigns with partners who send on our behalf, retargeting, startup daily deal sites, guest blogging.

Going to do less: sitting around twiddling our thumbs

Going to start: LinkedIn advertising to drive webinar signups

Joshua Krafchin, Clever Zebo (www.cleverzebo.com)

17. Have a Conversation

We’re going to be more conversational and ‘broadcast’ less. We’re going to bring true value to our customers as opposed to just marketing our products. We’re going to listen to our customers and ask them, instead of making guesses as to what they want from us.

Kendall Moyles, Green Surf Shop

18. Give More Value

My resolution is to contribute more ideas and expertise to social networks that are related to what I do within my company.

Christi Pemberton, Global Crest Productions

19. Invest in Advertising

In 2012 I am going to jump off the bridge and go for big advertising in a major wedding magazine THE KNOT…it is needed at this time and so for 2012 I am placing an ad in this national player in the wedding industry.

Kelly Marie Albert , The Perfect Card Box

20. Intentional Marketing

A.    Greater emphasis on social media. We want to expand our presence on Facebook by adding custom tabs/pages to help grow our fan base. In terms of audience interaction, we are committing ourselves to posting at least twice per day on both Facebook and Twitter. The significance of LinkedIn is also something we plan to utilize in the new year.

B.    Videos, videos, videos. In 2012 we are launching a YouTube channel to post things like customer testimonials and information videos about our products or services. The goal is to educate our existing and potential customers through the informational videos while building and reinforcing a sense of trust with videos such as client testimonials.

C.    Targeted mailings. When we first started our original business we worked out a deal with a local printer to create some post cards for us. We mailed them out to local businesses and the response was better than expected. It may be a new year but the world is still generally the same, so we’re going to get back to some basics with this one.

D.    Launch an email newsletter. It is important for us to stay in front of our customers and on their minds. We are committing to sending out an electronic newsletter each month to those customers who opt-in to receive it. The newsletter will give them a first look at upcoming specials and promotions, as well as offer subscriber-only opportunities.

E.    Advertise in local newspapers. This relates a bit to point three above. We ran a few ads early on and experienced some moderate returns, so we will return to this as an option for us in 2012. Online readership is growing and rates are more than reasonable at this time.

Daniel J. Spence, President, Big Bird Media, LLC

21. Develop Partnerships

I plan to develop some strategic partnerships with other business owners so that we can combine our efforts to host a Mini-Telesummit.

I will be attending the Diva Toolbox Conference in Boston, MA for the second year and also be connecting regularly with my local chapter members of NAWBO.

I enjoy blogging and will be sharing my ideas on my LinkedIn Profile and the new Facebook page I am creating for my Coaching Business: “Moving Forward Through Divorce.”

Nancy A. Kay, Divorce Management Coach,

22. Focused Marketing

Narrow our marketing focus by eliminating distracting products and services that don’t pay their way that we carried in the past to be a “full service” company for our clients. They are a distraction from our meat and potatoes offerings. Instead, we’re creating a group of complimentary partner companies to take over those duties using other area business people we’ve known and trusted over the years to take over those services. We’re referring to them as “trusted local partners”. We’ll refer business to them and in return they’re going to refer back to us based upon our defined competency. Members in this group must have a complimentary business product or service that enhances the group. This is different than a networking group like those formed by Chambers of Commerce that group non-competing businesses together without any regard to how well they complement each other as businesses.

We also plan to drop the less sophisticated parts of our previous offerings as they’ve become commoditized by the market. Offerings such as retail software, Internet Content filtering, computer repair services (we call it break/fix) and retail sales of computers and printers. We’re trying to move up the IT food-chain and focus on more sophisticated products and services that aren’t generally offered at the “shallow end” of the IT services pool. This is our effort to differentiate ourselves from the retail big-box “Geek Squad” type guys.

Jeff Hoffman, President, ACT Network Solutions

23. Pick a Few Good Marketing Strategies

Narrow down social media to 2 - 3 tools that REALLY work in terms of responses. Narrow down my marketing hours. Make more effort to make human to human contact rather than just social media. Hire people to do some work for me. (PR, day to day tasks). I know it’s an investment but it will free me up to think of the big picture.

Sandra Mendoza-Daly, DebutanteClothing.com and VintageFindIt.com

24. Increase Local Exposure

We will continue to get involved in our community through various B2B channels, such as the local Chamber of Commerce, regional newspapers and their online versions, and traditional “small town” handshake efforts. The goal is to have every local business owner know who we are, and more importantly, understand what we do.

Leverage the Local / Mobile / Social aspects of technology. Being in a small town environment limits the effect of many social media efforts, however the growth in location based services such as Foursquare, Oink, Gowalla, and Facebook check-ins have allowed small businesses to focus on the people who are already around them. As smart phones continue to grow on older customers, these services and features will become more and more important on the local level. We plan on offering specials and contests that involve being physically close to our location.

Increase community involvement. We plan on sponsoring a local softball team, running a clothing drive, and taking part in our local Autumn festival in 2012. We plan on doing at least one major community campaign per quarter of 2012.

We are in the process of developing tools for local business owners to leverage technology that they simply don’t yet understand. We have found that the average local business owner still does not know how to properly use even their old outdated Web sites to their advantage. Add in Social Media, iPhone apps, and local search listings (Google Maps, Bing, Yahoo Local, Yelp, etc.) and it just spins their head. We are working to bring these tools to the average person through a series of free seminars, online tutorials, and even a local business app builder which will allow for our community businesses to take a giant leap ahead of even their larger corporate competitors.

I am really proud that the same efforts that we use to market our company are going to help our local community and our local business owners. Although it sometimes feels that technology drives us apart, we feel that it can be used to bring back the Mom & Pop way of doing business of yesterday.

Jon Berry, Berry Smart

25. Create More Local Partnerships

Our resolution is to find more local/regional partners in order to foster visible job growth right in our own backyard. Restoring hope locally is job one in this economy!

John Leschke, Green 3 Apparel

26. Get Involved

We are going to work with more websites that cater to our target market. This includes offering free valuable information to other relevant sites on how businesses can start implementing strategies of their own to start seeing results. Developing more relationships with experts in the industry. Giving away more free information to prospective clients. Also participating in more guest blog related public relations.

We plan to do less direct mail advertising and instead use email and other virtual mediums to maximize profit. We also plan to continue not participating in cold calls.

A major thing we plan to start doing in 2012 is to be involved with more charitable events and more offline activities that are in the public eye. We feel that in conjunction with our online promotions, this could create a synergy that is unmatched.

Mike Calloway, Trinity Marketing

27. Be More Personal

I hope to be more personal than ever in my marketing.  As a freelancer and now a small business owner with predominantly remote work, online content marketing is a stellar way to establish my expertise, inform potential clients about my methods, and get my name out. But blog posts, newsletters, tweets, and Facebook posts only go so far as information vehicles. I’m finding more than ever it’s the thoughtful notes, unexpected responses, and general accessibility that powerfully push my business relationships and my career forward. It’s easy to write these things off since they don’t have the same reach of our other efforts!

Stephanie Peterson, Fairground Media

28. Referral Marketing

We plan on giving a strong push to referral marketing through social media in 2012. We’ve played with it in the past, but it’s time to really see if we can make it work to help grow our business!

Sara Sutton Fell, CEO & Founder, FlexJobs.com

What are your small business marketing resolutions for 2012?  Share them here along with the link to your website.  We always love hearing from you!

Want to get more inexpensive and practical small business marketing ideas, grab a free ebook called “Build Buzz for Your Biz, 23 Creative and Inexpensive Marketing Strategies That Will Get You Noticed” at http://23kazoos.com.

Wendy Kenney is the bestselling author of How to Build Buzz for Your Business available onAmazon.com, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsday.

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Don’t wait until the last minute to consider the logo design needed to represent your business.

Again and again, I’ve received panicky calls and emails from those preparing to open a new business conveying the message “My business is opening in (insert “one week,” “two weeks” or “three weeks” here) and I don’t have a logo.” Seriously?  The identity of your new business, one of the most important branding and marketing elements for your company, is one of the very last things you’ve considered?

In the course of posting entries to this blog, many tips about business logos will be shared. Here are some immediate thoughts:

Make your business identity part of your business plan

When initially mapping out the plan for your new venture, give your potential customers’ possible visual perception of the business some serious thought. Your business identity is just as important as the physical location of your business, the customer base you wish to target, and the product or service to be provided. Consider, and plan for, the creation of a business logo from the get-go.

Budget realistically for a logo design

Often the business owner waiting until the last minute to have a logo design created, finds themselves lacking funds for a proper logo design process. At that point an inexpensive online logo design option may seem like a solution. But should the owner of a new business really go for frugal when investing in the long-term public graphic image of their company? Do the research necessary to determine what logo design resource will best serve the requirements of the business - and establish that budget line item early in the planning stages for the venture.

Define all possible needs for your logo

Often a logo is designed for a new business’ immediate need, instead of giving real thought to the requirements that may occur down the road. Yes, the logo must work in the printing of business cards and letterhead, the creation of product or service information sheets, as an identifier on a web presence, and perhaps in print ads. However, will that design translate well to vinyl signage, the silkscreen printing of T-shirts you may wish to produce, or embroidery for baseball caps to be given to valued customers? Time and money will be saved by defining all possible logo needs early in the process.

Hire a professional

The best result for a logo design need will be produced by a professional designer with a real understanding of the identity design and branding process - and proven track record for creating great logos. Yes, I’m a professional identity designer and have a vested interest in that statement. However, over the past three decades about a quarter of my clientele has come to me with an existing logo needing to be updated or completely redesigned. In many cases that original image was a last minute, shortcut solution to an immediate logo need.

With planning, defining of needs, a realistic budget and the proper design resources in place; solving the identity crisis of a business does not need to be a struggle. Opening for business with a clearly thought out, well-designed logo will provide the opportunity to make a very memorable first impression.

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1. Thanksgiving Cards Make a Difference

Send out a Thanksgiving card to clients & potential clients. You can go the catalog route… or send a series of personal notes. One previous client had his kid draw something and he made copies…depends on your style. But I guarantee your card will stand out since Thanksgiving is traditionally not a card-oriented holiday.
Rita Kueber

Beaumont School

2. Rubber Stamp It

When I was a caterer, I used a rubber stamp on every piece of mail, every check, every bill that went out of our office; it said (in big red letters….) ‘who’s catering your Christmas party?”

Celia Milton

www.celiamilton.com

3. The Early Bird Gets The Worm

In a nutshell; we believe that the early bird gets the worm. At Medelita, we begin planning our holiday sale in June and begin promoting it in early to Mid-October. We are currently building up interest on Facebook, for our upcoming sale, and a recent post asking who planned to shop the sale got a lot of positive feedback. As we grow closer to launch, we’ll expand to include emails, ads, etc…

Our holiday sale starts on Thanksgiving Day, offering our customers the ability to pre order at a 20% discount for the upcoming holidays. This ensures they don’t miss out on popular sizes or styles of our lab coats and scrubs that frequently sell out.

80% of our orders also get customized with embroidery, adding a personal and professional touch that our customers love.  Knowing this, we offer free expedited shipping and embroidery up until December 20th.

Angela Sherlock
Medelita.com

4. If you Sell It They Will Come

We are a small computer company located in Middletown CT. What we did last year that worked really well was a “Black Friday” special. We ended up selling all of our equipment at cost which really brought in tons of traffic and more sales after the special was completed. We advertised the sale over all social media outlets including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Blogger to generate buzz. We also sent out a specials press announcement and released information on the sale a couple months prior in our monthly newsletters. We are planning on doing something very similar this year to once again bring in a great amount of traffic to the site and increase sales for the future.

Shane Hardy
All Star Software Systems

5. Themed Holiday Events

Here are a few themed holiday marketing ideas from Le Potager Décor in Fullerton, California.

• Fall Open House: With this event, we posted a page of a few of our recently acquired items that we bought on our summer road trips. People came specifically to buy a certain item they saw on this page. This was our best event (money-wise) yet.
• Annual Paris Flea Market: People love this event! They call the store all year long, asking when it will be taking place. It’s an outdoor event where
• vendors come to set up their wares, and the store is open as well. That day we offer 15% off in the store.
• A Day of Pampering: We will be having an esthetician give 15 minute mini facials. A local business will be setting up to give mini foot massages. A
• vendor will be having a trunk show with her soap line.
• French Apple Harvest: A day where will be offering sweet and savory dishes made with apples and using items from our pantry. Also being served: Calvados brandy and French apple cider.

John Reed and Jennifer Owens
Le Potager

6. “Best Darn” Contest

I have a line of fine glass Christmas ornaments with a Latino flair. Since tamales are very popular during the Christmas season I started a Best Darn Tamale contest with a list of locations to purchase tamales across the USA as a cheap, let say, clever way to draw people to my website during the holidays. I figured that if people love Mexican cuisine they will also probably love my ornament designs. Ads for my ornaments are of course sprinkled down the sides of this popular web page.  In fact the tamales are so popular we started doing tamale workshops last year and it has grown into a whole subcategory for my business.

Darlene Tenes
CasaQ

7. Holiday Gift Guides

We are a retail home furnishings, accessories and gift boutique in Fairfax, Virginia. One of the best holiday marketing practices for our business has been to develop an online gift guide slideshow. We send the slideshow link via press release (attached) to local media outlets and have had good success with getting our ideas picked up in publications. We also send it to our customers via our email newsletter. It allows us to present our customers with images, details and pricing of our top picks for holiday gift giving at very little cost. Our clicks through rates are extremely high as customers love being able to browse from home. It entices them to then come into our store to purchase and see what else we have to choose from.

Ann O’Shields
The Nest Egg

8. Holiday Cards With a Twist

Christmas cards are almost mandatory nowadays. However, most people get inundated with an avalanche of cookie-cutter Christmas cards that might be “pretty,” but few people take a second glance at them. Christmas cards are a fantastic way to bring you attention, but only if you do it right. Add a personal flair, make it humorous, and stop taking yourself so seriously.

Last year, some lawyers and their staff sent a Christmas card from their criminal alter egos. The resulting card was unique, stood out from the sea of cards most people got that year, and allowed them to show a side of themselves that no one would otherwise know. Not only was it great for personalizing and marketing their firm, but the photo shoot itself was great office bonding.

Tripp Watson
The Watson Firm

9. Holiday Gift Guides on Blogs

My business has received the best return on investment from blog holiday gift guides. I simply submit a product or a small fee and my award winning learning kit series gets promoted to my target market, parents! Small businesses should target blogs that reach the same market, research the blogs stats to be sure the audience is wide reaching and form an alliance. It may not be for long but blog gift guides are still a fraction of the cost of an advertisement in a print magazine!

Christy Cook
Teach My
www.teachmy.com

Have more ideas?  Share them here in the comments section.  I will pick a random winner to get a copy of my book “How to Build Buzz for Your Biz- Tap into the Power of Social Media, Publicity, and Relationship Marketing to Grow Your Business.”  Contest ends midnight Nov 5th, 2011.

Want to get more inexpensive and practical small business marketing ideas?  Sign up for my free marketing newsletter and grab your free download of my eBook at http://23kazoos.com.

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