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| Jul 08, 2007 7:22 pm |
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re: re: Marketing- Getting Name Out- Rounding up new business |
Kurt Schweitzer
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Don't do one thing - do MANY things!
How much are you investing in marketing? Marketing costs aren't expenses, they're investments. Manage your marketing costs the way you would your investment dollars. Put together a "marketing portfolio" and then monitor the returns on your investments. Put more money into those avenues that give you the greatest return, cut back on those that aren't working, and don't be afraid to try new things.
For example, I'm placing ads in local "alternative" newspapers. Customers coming into my store say "I saw your ad in ... and thought I'd drop by and see what you have."
I also put an awning up in front of my store. Yes, this is marketing! The awning seems to have eliminated the "boy you were hard to find!" comments, and has started generating "I was just driving by and thought I'd drop in" comments.
In terms of return on investment the awning is not doing as well as the ads, but that's because its a big, one-time investment. In six months I'll still be paying for ads, and the awning will have become more cost effective.
Another marketing technique I'll start soon is co-marketing. I plan to place my products (scooters) in the showrooms of related businesses (motorcycle repair shops and RV dealers) along with arrangements so that they receive a piece of the profits from each sale they generate.
I'm already doing something like this with business cards. In three months I've distributed close to 1,000 business cards in part because other businesses are handing them out for me. As are current customers. I can measure the return when a customer comes in with one of the cards in his hand.
Yes, this all costs money. My sales, however, are growing faster than in any of my previous businesses where I used the "tightwad" approach to marketing. I'm well on track to meet my first year goal of $100,000 in sales, which I only matched once in the third year of one of my previous businesses.
Please note that I don't advocate throwing money at marketing, but expecting to get rich with absolutely NO marketing budget is unrealistic.
Kurt Schweitzer
Urban Village Scooters
Private Reply to Kurt Schweitzer (new win) |
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