ADUTAINMENT: Advertising as Entertainment
JellyBasket.com - JELLY by the CASE or as a GIFT BASKET.

Austin Company Network Logistic, Inc. Offers Full Line of Business Telephone Systems
Network Logistic, Inc. (NLI) the leading name in Convergence Technologies and Managed IT Services in Austin and San Antonio, is proud to add to its full line of Business Telephone Systems: the ITEL IP. Network Logistic, Inc. is one of the few companies in Central Texas Authorized to offer the ITEL IP hosted PBX system.

HundredBanners.Com Reinvigorates Internet Advertising
Brand new site offers users a chance to buy a banner in 10 second increments. HundredBanners.com, started by a Business Administration student, offers an ever-changing matrix of ads designed to enhance any company's online visibility. Purchase a single spot or purchase the entire matrix. Purchase 10 sec. or purchase longer blocks. It's advertising across both space and time.

Using Publicity As A Creative Marketing Tool
Publicity is an important and often overlooked tool of creative selling; and a more cost-effective way of reaching your target audience than advertising. With the inherent third-party endorsement of the media implied in every editorial story, a news or feature article in a newspaper, magazine, or on television or radio, is an infinitely more credibly-perceived communications message than an ad or commercial.

Marketing Tips, Resources, And Ideas On Starting And Promoting Your New Business
Hello Entrepreneurs,I wanted to let you all in on a great opportunity available to you now..

It Pays To Be Candid: Feedback In Business
The ability to both give and receive candid performance feedback is critical in highly dynamic, fast-moving organizations "Too-nice bosses often make workplace worse" is the title of Jared Sandberg?s recent Wall Street Journal article

New Book Lead Like a Pirate! is a Big Hit with Big Business
Organizations of all sizes, including some of the world's biggest, have found an exciting new training resource in the old world saga of tall ships and tall tales that make up Christopher Novak's buccaneer book, Lead Like a Pirate!

Small Business Research Board eCommerce Study: Small Businesses in Northeast, Midwest Most Optimistic About Revenue Growth Generated From eCommerce Sa
Small businesses in the Northeast and Midwest are far more optimistic than those elsewhere in the country about the prospects for generating more sales through Internet driven transactions during the next 12 to 24 months, according to the latest Small Business Research Board (SBRB) study released here today.

Cutting Edge Media Provides a New Low-Cost Way to Advertise Home Businesses
Your Home Biz magazine is specifically designed for network marketers, party plan representatives, and direct sales companies.

Shore Trips Gets Help from Small Business Magazine to Help Expand Business
Shore Trips, a tour business group that leads land excursions for cruise and plane travelers in exotic places, was recently featured and helped by Small Business Magazine to increase its sales, fix its website and maintain high quality employees.

Orange Announces Launch of Ad-Funded Video Magazine Service 'Zap!' on Orange World
Mobile advertising company Rhythm NewMedia is both selling and serving the advertisements

Got a Small Business? Choose the Right Domain Name
Choosing a domain name can be daunting. Research the subject (after all, you're the type of marketer who researches, right?) and you'll be hit with a landslide of opinions, most contradictory.

Microsoft Small Business CRM
Microsoft is a well known reliable software vendor. Microsoft has developed CRM software that helps to provide CRM solutions for your company. Microsoft Small Business CRM is CRM software that is especially designed for smaller companies.

Marketing Guru Michele PW Gets a New Columnist With More 'Barks' Than Bite
Marketing Strategist Michele PW (Pariza Wacek) likes to help entrepreneurs in the information business succeed. Not only does she supply her services as a marketing strategist, but she offers lots of free articles and resources on her web site, MichelePW.com. And since last summer, when she launched MichelePW.com, she's had an unlikely helper - her border collie, Nick. "He told me he really would like a job and he thought it would be fun to help out by writing a column on my web site," PW said, about the new column written from the perspective of a dog.

Guerilla Marketing With Koozies And Other Promotional Items
Lots of new companies, may not have any Marketing plans or build their brand , I will just going to advise you how to start out small, on a effort less budget One aim, the central aim of Branding is to guarantee that the public identifies the company brand

Search Engine Marketing Firm: Experts At Website Promotion
A common marketing method in use long before the internet era was that technique called article marketing. The seller publishes articles with interesting content related to their product to promote it and to get others to use the copy for more exposure to other potential clients. Now this is a very popular and effective web site marketing strategy as well.

Beware: Marketing Sinkholes Ahead!

Life provides your business with enough opportunities for failure. Don't help it along by creating sinkholes to consume your limited financial resources. There are seven key mistakes most businesses make in the game of marketing. Learn to avoid them!

Marketing Sinkhole #1: Indiscriminate Lust

Many companies want as many customers as they can handle (and then some). Because of this indiscriminate lust for volumes of customers, they treat everyone alike in their marketing efforts. Much like a randy stud will hit on every female at the bar, your marketing comes off just as "special" to your prospective customers. If you won't take the time to decide who can really benefit from using your product or services, why should they take the time with you?

Successful marketing efforts start with identifying the specific customer who will benefit the most from your product or service. Then all your efforts should be directed at learning more about her, rather than creating the second sinkhole of marketing.

Marketing Sinkhole #2: Veiled Contempt for Customers

The most powerful marketing tool you have available is to truly understand your customer's unique needs and problems. Every customer segment will have different concerns and problems you need to address in your marketing efforts. When you don't even attempt to understand them, you are demonstrating contempt for them. You have to earn the right to be a supplier to your customer.

Your customers don't really buy your specific products and services. They are actually buying solutions to their problems. So, provide them with enough information to make informed buying decisions. Use articles, presentations and case studies to educate them about what you do, how it works for them and why it's the best solution to their problems. Don't be arrogant enough to think you know better than your customers.

Marketing Sinkhole #3: Arrogance

There is a very thin line between confidence and arrogance (I have crossed it many times so I know of what I speak). You and your company are not the "end all" and "be all" of the Universe. You need customers! They are (or should be) the "end all" and "be all" of your business.

Because you need customers, don't treat them like they are stupid! Your marketing should never talk down to them. Your ads should never be insulting to them. Isn't this apparent? You would think so. However, many companies violate these principles every day. They use hand puppets or animated germs to advertise their product.

Building off of the information you have learned about your customer, speak to them in their language. If they are 13 years old, talk to them as a 13 year old. If they are college educated, talk to them as if they have earned their degree. This will start you on your way to standing out from the crowd of competitors your customers have available to them today.

Marketing Sinkhole #4: One of The Crowd

You may have spent all of high school trying to be part of a crowd, now it's time to break old habits! As a business, you need to stand out from your competition to be noticed and make sales. You need to be one in a million, not just one of the millions. In Marketing, this concept is referred to as your "Unique Selling Proposition", or USP. Your USP must tell customers "what's so special about you?" It needs to answer the question "why should I do business with you?"

How do you develop your Unique Selling Proposition? What makes you different from others offering a similar product or service? Don't know? Better find out fast! The more competitive your industry the more important it is to emphasize even the smallest differences. Are you better than others in addressing a specific issue? Is your product unique in some way? Do you guarantee your work?

Better stand out from the crowd or expect a lot of red ink on the bottom-line. Wasting time and money on your marketing efforts is not a goal to aspire to.

Marketing Sinkhole #5: Wasting Marketing Time & Money

Which of your marketing efforts being employed right now result in the most new business? Don't know, do you? Have you ever measured? Without measuring the success (increased sales) of each marketing effort, you are wasting time on ineffective methods. You are also neglecting the highest yield activities.

As an example, most professionals believe that networking is the best way to get new business. Let's see. Add up the amount of time you spent networking last month and attach a dollar value on it based on your fees. Then, add the actual price you paid to attend those events. When you have a total, divide this total amount by the number of new customers your networking produced. Are you happy with your results? Maybe not!

Now, do this exercise for all your marketing efforts. Marketing does take effort. Never forget that!

Marketing Sinkhole #6: Build It and They Will Come Marketing Vision

By virtue of the fact that you have a business (and maybe a website) doesn't mean you get any customers. Tough fact! That's life!

Too many people naively enter business thinking that the world will beat a path to their door. Sorry! You have to work, and work hard, for every customer you'll ever get and keep. Marketing is about promoting yourself and your business in a way that motivates customers to buy from you, return again to purchase, and refer others to you.

Marketing Sinkhole #7: Not Asking for Referrals

One of your biggest costs of running a business is the cost of acquiring new customers. So, how can you take that investment you already made on existing customers and get the maximum return? Referrals! But you have to ask!

One of the biggest mistakes made by most small business owners or salesmen is not asking happy customers for a referral to someone they know who would benefit by the same product or service. It is far easier to call a prospective client and say, "Mike Eastman asked me to call you", than to make a cold call! You will buy yourself an extra minute or two in that sales connection to promote yourself and a customer solution. If you have trouble getting the referral, at the very least, ask if you can use them as a customer testimonial in your marketing efforts.

Many online businesses have other mechanisms to encourage referrals from happy customers by providing "refer a friend" links on their websites. Others also offer monetary return to the customer administered through an affiliate program. No matter how you do it, you need to use the happy customer to create more business. It is easier and cheaper than the alternatives!

Conclusion

The game of business throws you enough curve balls without contributing to your own demise. Learn to avoid building and falling into your own sinkholes of marketing. Now, go back and read the article again, applying its concepts to your business. Do the work and reap the rewards. Like "they" say, NO PAIN, NO GAIN! Or, better stated, NO WORK! DIE BROKE!

Michele Schermerhorn calls herself a "Corporate Freedom Fighter" dedicated to freeing cubicle prisoners to experience their own successful online business. She has over 30 years experience in the business world and over 12 years running her own successful online businesses. She is President of Online Business Institute Inc. (http://www.obinstitute.com), authors a sassy marketing blog (http://www.imarketblog.com), and regularly conducts free online seminars. Online Business Institute Inc. exists to "Create Successful Online Business Owners One Person At A Time".