Keep Costs Down and Keep the Marketing Strategy Simple

One of the biggest mistakes we could make as business owners is spending too much money on marketing our service or product without knowing how to market it correctly. I've seen plenty of money wasted on marketing that did not produce any sales and most home based business don't have too much money to waste when ramping up. Failed efforts can make businesses run out of money too quick and eventually close shop. The reason for this is there is a learning curve with marketing your product.

Product knowledge must increase to a point where you know who you must sell that product to and how to sell it. In my opinion you have two choices when it comes to marketing:

1. Hire a marketing firm that can advertise your product for a fee or?.

2. Take the time to learn about your product and try different marketing methods without spending all of your money.

If you are on a tight budget then Option 2 may be the choice to make.

One lesson I learned when trying to sell my product is actually telling the customer you have what they are looking for in an ad. I realized this when I started marketing my product on the internet. I never knew keywords meant so many different things to so many different people and I really had to put my money management skills to work for me so I can live to market another day and get closer to my target market.

In my perfect world a prospect would become a buyer in the following manner:

1. Prospect sees your ad and visits your web site wanting more information.

2. Prospect loves what you are saying and is ready to buy.

3. Prospect purchases your product becomes a customer.

In order for a prospective buyer to visit your web site to start the sales process, the shopper must react positively (meaning have interest) to your advertisement. The bottom line is: Your ad must be good enough to attract many prospects because you are paying hard earned money to have that ad presented to the world. So how do you know if your ad is good enough? In my opinion it's trial and error. You need to run different types of ads showing different combinations of features and benefits of your product and choose the best producers. Then you must track that ad and see if they are converting into sales.

Taking the approach of creating a smaller advertising budget and try 2 or 3 different advertising methods I found works well when marketing on a shoe string budget. You'll have less pressure on yourself to determine which ad worked best for your business to use again. It takes time to create a meaningful ad to attract many shoppers to visit your site. You will need to budget accordingly to sustain business until you have the right combination of ad's convert to enough sales for you to use the same method again. An approach like this could allow you to sustain your business. The approach works great when advertising with Pay-Per-Click (PPC) sites because you have the option to set your budget in some capacity and some PPC firms have the technology to help you track the ads.

One thing I learned is that working hard and smart is required make money on your own and profitability doesn't happen over night. Also, it takes a well funded business to sustain it. Marketing is the only way to get your name out there and sell your product. If you are wearing many hats with your home based business it may be best to keep it simple and most of all don't over spend. Failure with small amount of money can provide success if you keep learning and trying new marketing methods.

Topher John is a webmaster for http://beinbusiness.net, http://mybenefitsavings.com, and http://vision-plan.net. He specializes in building internet small businesses. His interests are the healthcare industry, specifically how it relates to the family and physical fitness.

---

How Would You Handle This?

We have been talking about choosing groups to participate in... Read More

Marketing Through Associations

©2004 Jeffrey DobkinIf you're in direct marketing, you're continually looking... Read More

Help! What Happened?

Let's be honest, when you're writing sales material for a... Read More

Are You Attracting or Repelling Prospects?

There are basically two ways in which you can either... Read More

Mastering the ABCDs of Small Business Marketing & Selling

I believe that small business marketing and selling follows a... Read More

Client Attraction Technique #1: Niche Marketing

When asked "what business are you in" many business owners... Read More

Fax Marketing : Reaching a New Niche of Customers

Traditional marketing and advertising assumes that all of your customers... Read More

How to Run a Successful News Release Program

Marketing public relations gives you cost effective ways to reach... Read More

Boost Your Direct Mail Response Rates with Mapping Technology

On Superbowl Sunday, Domino's Pizza delivered more than 900,000 pizzas-and... Read More

How to Add Warmth, Color & Texture to Your Advertisements

"?A powerful agent is the right word?" --Mark TwainAnd what... Read More

Winning At Business With Your Marketing Game Plan

Stuart from Colorado had talked to a number of marketing... Read More

The Role of Marketing for Boards of Directors

Small and emerging companies often do not put together a... Read More

Direct Mail Marketing Generates Sales Leads: Heres How

1. Personal Unlike an advertisement in a trade publication, which... Read More

The Right Logo

The Logo: a little historyLogotype, commonly know as a logo,... Read More

Signage for Mobile Car Wash Vehicles

If you are in the mobile car wash business and... Read More

Love My Dentist

I love my dentist! When is the last time you... Read More

Nice Guys Finish First

Volunteering your services can be an excellent way to form... Read More

Small Business Bonzai Marketing

Do you own a small business? Do you wish to... Read More

Reasons Why People Usually Dont Buy Again

There are many psychological reasons why people will buy from... Read More

One-A-Day Marketing Vitamins

Is your business growing, or are you on a plateau... Read More

Creative Emulation

In business we have a number of ways or tools... Read More

Marketing From Both Sides Of The Ball

In the world of business, marketing is often conveyed as... Read More

The Marketing Secret Every Child Knows

Little Kids Ask Until They Get What They Want.Mom, Mom,... Read More

How To Create Urgency So People Buy Now

..products or services now. They may not revisit your web... Read More

Increase Your Response with Multi-Step Marketing

"There is only one way to judge the effectiveness of... Read More

Trade Show Promotions That Are Memorable

If you have been to expos and trade shows as... Read More

The Silver Bullet For Success: Revealed

Looking for the magic formula or the whiz-bang approach that... Read More

Ten Easy Marketing Tasks You Can Do NOW

Who says scientists can't market? Here are 10 easy marketing... Read More

Are You Playing Checkers or Chess?

When you think about how to attract more clients for... Read More

The Value of a Customer

The Driver of All Marketing EffortsYou need to determine what... Read More

4 Steps to Successful Offline Drawings

There are many different ways to market offline, each important... Read More

Renting Your Mailing Lists to Others

RESOLVING THE "PROPRIETARY" DILEMMA... SHOULD YOU RENT YOUR OWN MAILING... Read More

What Does Your Business Address Say?

If you are operating a business from your home and... Read More