Debbie LaChusa

Did you know you can make your marketing dollars go farther and improve your response rates by tying in or coinciding with holidays and events? Just look around at the ads and promotions you are seeing right now.

What do you see? Lots of advertisements that tie in with springtime, Mother's Day and weddings. Because it's that time of year. Pretty soon you'll be seeing marketing related to Father's Day and graduation for the very same reasons.

Smart marketers know that consumers are already thinking about these things so they tie their marketing in with these events.

Take Mother's Day for example. Smart marketers know we'll be buying gifts for mom. So they're capitalizing on that fact by spending their marketing dollars in the weeks leading up to Mother's Day.

In fact I just did the very same thing with my business. On Monday, I introduced my brand new program, 6 Figure Work At Home Mom. Since the beginning of the year I have been planning the launch and I purposely tied it in with Mother's Day. Why? Because it's a natural tie-in.

For example, I issued a press release to announce the program and I'm betting on the fact the media will pay more attention to it because of the Mother's Day tie-in. I used this same marketing strategy when I launched my Extreme Marketing Makeover Program, by tying it in with the Extreme Makeover craze that was going on at the time. And it worked. My press release got the attention of Entrepreneur Magazine and they ran a feature on my program.

Have you built holiday and event marketing into your marketing plan? If not, I encourage you to consider how you could.

If you follow my 10stepmarketing System, you know that seasonality can play a key role in your marketing plan. Marketing to your prospects when they are most likely to be thinking about your product or service category can greatly improve your response rates and sales conversion.

For example, if you are marketing a health and wellness product or service, what would be the natural time of year to focus your marketing? Easy, right? Coincide with January and all those New Year's resolutions to lose weight and get in shape. Or, market during late spring and early summer when everyone wants to get in shape for swimsuit season.

Springtime is also a big time of year for wedding-related businesses. Just look around at all the ads you're seeing right now and you'll start to get a feel for what types of other businesses are taking advantage of spring seasonal marketing.

Then take a look at your business and see how you can tie-in with the seasons to improve the effectiveness of your marketing.

Weekly Marketing Success Podcast: "How to Make Your Marketing Budget Go Farther"

As a small business marketer, it's important to make the most of your marketing budget. You want to get the biggest bang for the buck, as they say. Today I share a strategy that can not only stretch your marketing budget, it can also improve your response rates and your sales conversion.

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I just finished reading an article on MSN. The subject was "What's a mom worth?"

Now as moms, we know we are often undervalued and underappreciated. It just goes with the territory. We're still devoted to our kids.

BUT, according to a recent report by Salary.com, which calculates the wages that would have been paid to a stay-at-home mom in 2007, if you were paid for everything you do in your job as "mom," that job would be worth $138,095 a year!

The report goes on to say that moms who have jobs outside the home would earn another $85,939 for their mothering work, beyond what they bring home with their current salary.

Don't forget about your mom this Sunday - it's Mother's Day!

And, if you'd like to learn how you can actually make 6 figures, check out my new program for work at home moms, 6FigureWorkAtHomeMom. It starts on May 16th and I still have a few spots available!

One of my 10stepmarketing Ezine subscribers recently asked me the following question, "How do you determine how large your market is when almost anyone can be a potential customer?"

There are two problematic words in this question. And those two words are "almost anyone."

This is such a common small business marketing mistake that I wanted to share a few pointers here, so everyone can benefit.

First of all, while almost anyone COULD be a potential customer, you should never be marketing your business as if almost anyone IS your potential customer. What's the difference?

Even if you offer a product or service that a wide variety of people could purchase, you ALWAYS want to identify a small group of clients that you are going to target with your marketing.

By identifying who your IDEAL clients are, you can then very easily figure out where to reach them, and what to say to them to get them to take action. This is next to impossible if you are trying to market to the masses. Especially if you have a limited budget. And, as my subscriber points out, it's also impossible to determine how large your market is, when you haven't clearly defined your market.

Take the smart marketing step and identify who your ideal clients are. The narrower the niche, the easier it is to determine the size of the market and create a marketing strategy to effectively reach them.

Find out what the Top 10 Small Business Marketing Mistakes are here.

Weekly Marketing Success Podcast: "3 Rules for Marketing Yourself as a Solo-Professional"

So you've decided to hang out your shingle as a solo-professional. You've decided to leave behind the safety and security of a steady paycheck in exchange for the thrill and excitement of entrepreneurship.

As you may have already figured out, opening up for business involves more than just being good at offering your services. You also now bear the responsibilities of managing that business and all that entails, from accounting to marketing and everything in between.

There is certainly a lot you need to know to be successful in business. But when it comes to marketing, there are some basics that can help you get started on the right foot.

Listen as I share the 3 most important things you need to know when marketing yourself as a solo-professional.

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(length 5:17 minutes)

If you want your prospects and clients to take you seriously, you need to project a professional image. A quality logo mark is a great way to do that. That's why a logo mark is one of the 10 marketing "must-haves" in my The 10stepmarketing System.

I use and recommend a service called LogoWorks. For as little as $300 you can get a quality logo. This is a great deal. In my agency days, we charged clients anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 for a logo!

Logoworks is just one of over 100 resources included in my Small Business Marketing Resource Center. All 10stepmarketing clients get lifetime access to my Resource Center.

Have you used Logoworks? If so, I'd love to hear about your experience. Please post a comment.

These days your prospects and clients will expect you to have a website. As a result, it's another one of my marketing must-haves. There are a variety of ways you can get your own website, very inexpensively.

You can build the site yourself using a software program like Microsoft Frontpage. You can use one of the "site builder" programs available through companies like GoDaddy. Or, you can have the pro's design and develop your site.

Elance is a great resource for quality, inexpensive website development professionals (and many other kinds of pro's as well!).

In fact, I just had my newest web page done through Elance. You can check it out here.

Elance is just one of over 100 resources included in my Small Business Marketing Resource Center. All 10stepmarketing clients get lifetime access to my Resource Center.

Have you used Elance? If so, I'd love to hear about your experience. Please post a comment.

Once you have your logo, you are ready to get business cards and letterhead. I share several options for getting quality letterhead in my The 10stepmarketing System, including one that doesn't cost a dime! For business cards, or if you want printed letterhead, I recommend a service called Prints Made Easy.

Prints Made Easy is just one of over 100 resources included in my Small Business Marketing Resource Center. All 10stepmarketing clients get lifetime access to my Resource Center.

Have you used Prints Made Easy? If so, I'd love to hear about your experience. Please post a comment.

Weekly Marketing Success Podcast: "3 Ways to Brand Yourself on a Budget"

Many of the questions I have been receiving lately from my 10stepmarketing Ezine subscribers, center on the topic of where to get a quality website, graphics and marketing materials, on a budget.

Branding yourself is one of the most important tasks you have as a small business marketer. Listen as I share some tips for branding yourself on a budget, along with 3 high quality sources for getting the marketing materials you need, without breaking the bank! These sources are just 3 of the over 100 resources included in my Small Business Marketing Resource Center. All of my clients get lifetime access to this valuable Resource Center.

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One of the biggest challenges many of my clients face, is actually getting their marketing done. Marketing is usually the first thing to get put on the back burner, when business gets busy.

After all, if you're swamped with sales and clients, marketing isn't usually your top priority, right? Well, actually, marketing should always be your top priority. It belongs right up there with servicing your clients.

Because if there are two things that will make your business successful for the long run, it's happy satisfied clients (they buy more and they refer their friends) AND a marketing system that continuously fills your business with new prospects.

So HOW do you stay on track with your marketing, when you get bogged down with running your business?

Here's a tip ... Make sure you have a Marketing Plan.

When you have a marketing plan, you don't have to re-invent the wheel every time you need to implement a new marketing activity. All of the "heavy lifting" is done when you create your plan. This makes implementation much more efficient.

Tomorrow I'll share another tip to help you stay on track with your marketing.

Do you have a time-saving tip? If so, post a comment and share.

If you're having difficulty finding time to market, here's another tip to help you get it done.

Tip #2: Create a Marketing Calendar

In my 10stepmarketing System, we create a marketing calendar where we map out all of our marketing activities for the year.

We schedule time to accomplish everything. This allows us to have an integrated, well organized plan AND it serves as a road map. This is an easy way to stay on top of the marketing you've committed to.

Tomorrow I'll share Tip #3 to help you stay on track with your marketing.

If you're having a tough time staying on track with your marketing, here's one more tip to help make it easier. Because after all, it's consistent marketing that will sustain your business for the long run.

Stay on Track Tip #3 : Schedule Time for your Marketing

Schedule time in your calendar, day-timer or PDA for all of your marketing activities, just like you schedule time to meet clients, pay bills, and go to the dentist.

By scheduling time, you MAKE your marketing a priority and eventually doing your marketing activities will become a part of the way you do business.

Do you have a tip that's made staying on track with your marketing easier? If so, I'd love to hear it. Post a comment and share.

Weekly Marketing Success Podcast: "Too Busy to Market? Here are 3 Tips"

One of the biggest challenges solo-professionals and small business owners face is time management. Finding time to get your marketing done when you are busy running your business can be difficult. Because marketing is usually the first thing that gets put on the back burner when business gets busy.

If you've let your busy schedule or perhaps even an aversion to marketing let you get off track with your marketing plan, it's only a matter of time before your business starts to suffer the consequences. Listen as I share 3 tips to help you stay on top of your marketing so your business will continue to grow.

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(length 4:24 minutes)

If you get stuck when it comes to putting your marketing plan into action, pay attention to this...
 
In June, I will be introducing a brand new program. It's called the "Step of the Month Club" and it will put ME on your marketing team. That means you'll get MY step-by-step help every single month with a different aspect of your marketing.

We'll tackle everything from Websites to Auto-responders, Email Marketing to Uncovering your Unique Selling Proposition, Determining Your Key Marketing Message to Pay-Per-Click advertising and PR. A new topic every month!

You'll even have the chance to vote on what topics will be covered!

This program is all about TAKING ACTION!

Click here now to join the Interest List to be notified when this program launches and to get a Special Discount on membership.

I've been working pretty hard lately, getting my new Step of the Month Club ready to launch, teaching my 6FigureWAHM teleclass, and serving my consulting clients.

And, I have found that sometimes working too hard can be counter-productive. So, over the three-day Memorial Day weekend, I decided I wasn't going to work at all.

I just hung out and relaxed, and I went hiking ... twice! Hiking is something I absolutely LOVE doing and haven't done in far too long. It was wonderful!

This little break also provided me with a lot of clarity. And, it reminded me that every time I get too bogged down with my work, inevitably my business starts to stall and I can't see clearly.

And, the best thing I can do is take some time off. This creates the space that is necessary for success. And, in my case, it provides the clarity I need to move forward.

If you're finding yourself stuck or unclear about how to move forward in your business, maybe a little R & R is just what you need, too!

In my The 10stepmarketing System, I share many marketing methods that don't cost anything, because I know most solo-professionals and small business owners don't have big marketing budgets.

But even if you are marketing on a shoestring budget, you may want to consider advertising. Sometimes it is the most direct way to get your message in front of the prospects you are trying to reach.

In this case, you want to make sure you know what you're doing so you don't waste your valuable marketing dollars.

This week I am sharing 3 tips to make sure you get the most out of your advertising. Here's the first one:

Tip #1: Write Client-Focused Copy

One of the biggest mistakes I see is copy that doesn't focus on the client. Make sure your ad copy focuses on the problem your potential client has, and how you can solve it.

One tip is to use the word "you" more than you use the words "I" or "we."

Tomorrow I will share Tip #2.