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How To Kill Your Business In 10 Easy Steps

By Curt Gutierrez

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 11Sep2009 Word count: 820 Viewed: 602 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

1. Don't Advertise or Market Your Business
2. Don't Advertise or Market Your Business
3. Don't Advertise or Market Your Business
4. Don't Advertise or Market Your Business
5. Don't Advertise or Market Your Business
6. Don't Advertise or Market Your Business
7. Don't Advertise or Market Your Business
8. Don't Advertise or Market Your Business
9. Don't Advertise or Market Your Business
10.Don't Advertise or Market Your Business

This is an overused joke in the advertising industry, but it still rings true. If a company fails to market its products and services, it runs the risk of having to close its doors from lack of sales.

What is advertising & marketing really? In my humble opinion as a business owner, advertising and marketing represents a group of tools used to promote a product or service. Obviously, there are much drier, textbook definitions from Marketing 101 classes, but in a nutshell it is what companies do to win new customers and remind existing customers that you have great products and services that they need. It also is about fulfilling needs, launching new ideas, creating impressions and correcting misconceptions.

But...mainly it's about getting new business, right? There are a myriad of ways to accomplish this with a fascinating array of tools available, both old and new. What you use may depend on your industry and budget and even what your competition is using. How much you spend depends on various factors such as effectiveness, customer value, company size and host of others.

So, do you really need to advertise and market your business? If you want to build sales, customer base and profits....Uh...Yeah! Marketing your company and purchasing advertising keeps you in business and helps guarantee that you will stay in business for the long term.

I had a friend who owned a commercial glass company. One year, he pulled all of his advertising. The reasoning was that he would have to sell "X" to just pay for the ads and he felt that it wasn't worth it. He used the same logic when talking about hiring an outside sales representative. What he didn't consider was that since he serviced builders and commercial property management companies, one new customer over the lifetime of his business could mean thousands of dollars in repeat business. In fact, one customer could be worth $100,000 in the long term for his company.

What happened? He killed his business in 10 easy steps.

Use the marketing tools at your disposal. There are many ways to accomplish a task as is exemplified by the thousands of ways to market and advertise a company ranging from the effective (direct selling) to the not so effective (grocery basket signs).

Since we are using the number "10" as the villain here, let's counter that with a list of 10 great ways to market and advertise your company.

How to Grow Your Business in 10 Easy Steps

1. Hire a sales force. This is a tried and true marketing tool that has proven to be effective in the long run. These people are the face of your company, hitting the pavement (or the phones) to bring you customers.

2. Exhibit at trade shows. Trade shows are perfect for reaching a target audience. Buyers of your products and services attend them to find companies to fill there needs. You can spy on the competition, reconnect with current customers and win new business.

3. Build a website and advertise online. The internet is the ultimate tool to reach an audience in a "buying mood" who is interested in what you sell.

4. Direct Mail (AKA: Junk Mail) is a traditional method for reaching potential customers. You can mail to current customers to remind them you are alive and well. Lists are available that allow you to target any market segment you desire.

5. Put up a sign at your location, on a freeway or anywhere your customers will see it. Your sign could be a banner stand set up outside a restaurant to attract people walking by or it could be a billboard that is reaching 100,000 motorists driving by each day.

6. Email marketing is another way to drive traffic to a business or a website at a fraction of the cost of traditional direct mail campaigns.

7. Yellow Pages advertising has been effective for local markets to help customers locate a business and find products when they are ready to buy something. The internet is obviously diffusing the effectiveness of the yellow pages, but it is still effective for some businesses.

8. Magazine and newspaper advertisements still abound and are another way to target an audience or reach a larger group either nationally or locally.

9. Networking is a way to make contact with buyers. By joining organizations and attending events you can build contacts and good will which will result in higher sales.

10. Word of mouth advertising can't be beat. If you take care of your existing customers, they are more likely to refer your company to someone needing your product or service.

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