Debbie LaChusa

Today I am sharing Small Business Advertising Tip #2: Select Your Advertising Venues Carefully

Take some time to research what media your ideal clients are reading, listening to, watching or visiting.

What magazines or newspapers do they read?

What websites do they visit?

What radio or television stations do they listen to or watch?

Select the media that will best reach your ideal clients. This sounds fairly obvious, but you'd be surprised how many small business owners advertise in the publications THEY read instead of looking for what their ideal clients are reading.

If you'd like a little more guidance, there's an entire section on Advertising in Step 9 of my 10stepmarketing System. I used to buy advertising for a living, so I share everything you need to know to make a smart advertising buy and to create an ad that will get you the best results possible.

Tomorrow I will share Tip #3.

Weekly Marketing Success Podcast: "3 Tips to Make Your Advertising Work Better"

In my 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.

Listen as I share 3 tips to help you get the most out of your advertising

Click Here to Download MP3/Audio

(length 5:27 minutes)

Today I am sharing Small Business Advertising Tip #3: Follow the 3-10x Rule.

You never want to advertise just once. To be effective, advertising requires frequency. Follow the 3-10x rule and plan to run your ad at least three times in a row. Because that's what it takes for your ad to be noticed, and acted upon. So, if you are advertising in a monthly magazine, that means running your ad in three consecutive issues.

If you can't afford to advertise at least three times, reconsider your decision to use advertising, because your chances of success go way down.

If you'd like a little more guidance, there's an entire section on Advertising in Step 9 of my 10stepmarketing System. I used to buy advertising for a living, so I share everything you need to know to make a smart advertising buy and to create an ad that will get you the best results possible.

I was speaking to a group awhile back and one of the first questions I posed to the audience was, "Do you have a marketing plan?" About 10 hands went up, rather tentatively. When I asked a woman in the front row, who had raised her hand, "What IS a marketing plan?" she replied nervously and with a bit of uncertainty, "Isn't it what you plan to do to market your business?"

Well, certainly that IS an umbrella answer. But what does that really mean?

At that point it became very clear to me that many solo professionals and small business owners don't really know what a marketing plan is. Yes, they may understand that it is what they plan to do to market their business, but what does that really mean?

I could say I plan to advertise, or I plan to use public relations, or I plan to create a website. Those are all things I plan to do to market my business, yet they do not equal a "marketing plan."

In addition to outlining the marketing activities you plan to use (that's what advertising, PR and a website are - they are not the plan itself, but rather ONE STEP in your plan), your marketing plan should establish the foundation for all of your marketing.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be discussing what some of those important foundation steps are.

In the meantime, if you'd like to share your response to the question, "What is a Marketing Plan?" feel free to post a comment.

In my last post, I clarified that a marketing plan is more than just "what you plan to do do market your business." A marketing plan is the foundation for all of your marketing. And, while it absolutely does not need to be a big, thick document, it does require you to spend some time thinking about the business you are trying to create.

For example, the first you thing you need to determine is what are your goals and objectives? What do you want to accomplish over the next year in your business? I call this "painting your target." As when throwing darts, or shooting a bow and arrow, you don't just aim into the wild blue yonder, you aim at a target that has been placed on the wall.

Your goals and objectives establish your target. And, without them, you too are aiming into the wild blue yonder. Your marketing has no focus, because you haven't taken the time to determine what you are aiming for ... what results you want your marketing to achieve.

You must be specific about your goals. To just say, I want more clients or more sales, is not enough. That's like pointing your arrow in a direction, but not knowing where the target is. There's a chance you might hit the target, but odds are you won't, because you don't know where it is.

I encourage you to paint a clear target as one of the first steps in creating your marketing plan. Next week, we'll discuss two more key elements in your marketing plan.

Weekly Marketing Success Podcast: "What is a Marketing Plan?"

Listen as I share the common misconceptions about what a marketing plan is, and one of the very first steps you need to take in creating your marketing plan.

Click Here to Download MP3/Audio

(length 4:50 minutes)

Just this past weekend I was once again reminded of the power of free gifts to generate business. I was in Las Vegas with my daughter and husband - my daughter was playing in a fastpitch softball tournament. We stayed at the Orleans Hotel with my daughter's entire team and their families.

When we checked in they gave us a coupon book with a variety of coupons that could be redeemed within the hotel, casino and restaurants for free gifts or discounts with purchase. On Saturday night, we all decided to go to the hotel's buffet for dinner. Not only had a few families eaten there the night before and reported the food was very good, but there was a coupon for a free bottle of wine.

So off went 20 of us to the buffet for dinner and to collect our free wine. We were happy to get our free bottle of wine, and at $14.99 per person for dinner, and two dinner purchases required to get the wine, I'd say the hotel did quite well that night, too!

I'm not saying the free bottle of wine was the only reason we went, but with all of our other choices of places to eat in Las Vegas, it certainly tipped the scale in the favor of the Orleans Hotel buffet for us!

The free gift with purchase is a marketing strategy works. How could you use it to build your business?

I shared with you yesterday about the coupon book we received when we stayed at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas last weekend. Well, in addition to the free bottle of wine we received for eating dinner at the hotel's buffet, we also got another completely free gift.

One of the coupons in the book was for a free gift from the hotel's souvenir shop. Now, I have been to Las Vegas so many times, I never buy souvenirs. So I never even bother to go into the hotel gift shops when I am there. BUT, since they were offering me a FREE souvenir, I figured why not check it out.

So we stopped by the gift shop on the way back to our room Saturday night to pick up our free souvenir: 3 strands of brightly colored Mardi Gras beads. And they were totally free - no purchase required. I noticed when we were in the gift shop, a lot of other people were also picking up their free beads, AND while they were there, they were looking around at the merchandise available.

I also noticed every time we walked by the gift shop, there was a line of people at the register. I'd be willing to bet many of those people were like us and would never have stepped a foot inside that gift shop were it not for the free gift. And many of those same people ended up buying something.

Just like my daughter. She went down to the gift shop to cash in her coupon for her free Mardi Gras beads and ended up buying a small souvenir for her boyfriend.

Once again, I was reminded of the power of the free taste. And, this is a great example of a tangible free gift in the offline world, that probably costs the hotel next to nothing, and is generating business for them.

How could you use this marketing strategy to increase sales in your business?

Another key step in creating your marketing plan is understanding who your competitors are. We all have competition, and while I believe we live in an abundant Universe, I also believe you can't successfully market a business with blinders on. If you haven't taken the time to assess your competitors, you are in effect going into business with blinders on.

And, you will have a hard time establishing a niche or a positioning for your business. How can you possibly give your prospects a reason to hire you or buy from you, over all of their other choices, if you don't know what those choices are?

The answer is simple. You can't.

I encourage you to take this very important step and size up your competition. So you can then determine where your business, product or service fits in. If you need a little help doing this, I've devoted an entire step to helping you determine who your competitors are - the obvious ones and the NOT so obvious ones - in my The 10stepmarketing System.

Another key step in developing your marketing plan is determining WHO you are going to market to. When I first speak to a client seeking help with their marketing, I always ask them who their ideal client is ... or who it is that they are trying to get as clients.

Very typically they respond with a long list of potential clients, or a very broad description, such as "baby boomer women." Or, they might even say, well just about anyone could be a client for my product or service. It's very easy for me to see at that point the reason they are so overwhelmed and frustrated with their marketing.

The ONLY way you can effectively market your product or service is to FIRST identify WHO it is you are going after. This is your ideal client. The only way to effectively reach them is to first identify who they are - specifically!

Think about it this way. When you make a phone call, what do you do? You call a particular phone number ... the number for the person you are trying to reach. Let's say you want to call someone, but you don't know their phone number. What are your odds of reaching them if you just start random dialing? Pretty slim, huh?

The same goes with your marketing. If you have not identified WHO you are trying to reach, you can't determine where you can reach them. And you also can't possibly know WHAT to say to them to get them to purchase your product or service.

That's why knowing WHO you are marketing to is such an important step in creating your marketing plan. I encourage you to take this important step in creating your marketing plan and identify who your ideal clients are. If you need a little help, my The 10stepmarketing System has an entire step devoted to helping you determine who you most profitable ideal client is.

Weekly Marketing Success Podcast: "Pink Spoon Marketing Works in the Offline World, Too!"

While most people associate the "free taste" marketing strategy with the online marketing world, it has actually been around much longer than the Internet. Baskin Robbins ice cream stores have been using it in the offline world for 60 years. And, this past weekend, I experienced two more examples of "pink spoon" marketing in the offline world. Listen as I share these examples, and who knows, it just might inspire you to come up with a creative way to implement this tried and true marketing strategy in your business.

Click Here to Download MP3/Audio

(length 6:05 minutes)

Another important step in creating your marketing plan is to determine HOW you will position your business, product or service in a way that will make you stand out from your competitors.

I often call this a marketing hook. And, it's that marketing hook that is going to make your prospects stand up and take notice. It's that hook that keeps your marketing from blending into the background. And, it's that hook that will attract exactly the right clients to you.

Without a hook, your business, product or service is generic. Without a marketing hook, you give no one a REASON to purchase your product or service. You don't stand out from the crowd and your marketing might as well be invisible.

I encourage you to take some time to identify your marketing hook. I realize this can be a challenging task, especially when you are so close to your business. So, if you need a little help, I'd like to suggest my 10stepmarketing System - I've devoted an entire step to helping you systematically uncover your marketing hook.

Another key step in creating your marketing plan is determining what your marketing message should be. WHAT you say in your marketing will in large part determine whether or not your marketing is effective.

You need a marketing message that is targeted precisely at your ideal clients. You need a message that compels them to take notice and makes them want to know more. You need a marketing message that strikes an emotional chord with them, because people buy based on emotion, not logic.

Unfortunately, most marketing messages created by solo-professionals and small business owners - the folks who can't afford to hire a marketing pro to create their marketing for them, not only appeal to the logical side of the brain, they also are usually talking about the wrong thing. It's no wonder they don't generate any results for their business owners.

So what's the message in your marketing? Have you taken the time to identify the ONE KEY MESSAGE that must be communicated in all of your marketing? And, are you using that message in everything you do? Are you appealing to the emotional reasons your prospects will purchase your product or service, or are you trying to logically convince them to buy?

I encourage you to take this important step and identify what what your key marketing message is and start using it in all of your marketing. If you need some help, I devote an entire step to creating your key marketing message in my 10stepmarketing System.

Weekly Marketing Success Podcast: "How to Catch Clients...Hook, Line & Sinker (Okay, Maybe Just Hook!)"

What do Dominos Pizza, FedEx and M&M's have in common? They all have a compelling marketing hook. In this week's Marketing Success Podcast, learn how you can use the concept of a marketing hook to attract more clients to your business.

Click Here to Download MP3/Audio

(length 5:17 minutes)

Once you've created the foundation for all of your marketing, and you know what your goals are, who you need to market to, what your marketing hook is (or what sets you apart) and what your key marketing message should be, you are ready to start marketing. Ironically, THIS is where many solo-professionals and small business owners start. But now you hopefully understand the reason NOT to start with this step.

Once you have chosen the marketing activities you plan to use to get the word out about your business, you need to lay out a plan of when you plan to do what. It's not just enough to say, "I will advertise, or I will publish a newsletter." You need to determine when, and how often, you will do each marketing activity you select.

This is where the next key step in creating your marketing plan comes in: creating your marketing schedule or calendar. By creating a marketing schedule, you can make sure you are using each marketing activity for maximum effectiveness. You can make sure your marketing activities are integrated, and that they support each other. Have you ever heard the phrase "the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing"? Well, you don't want your marketing to be disorganized in this fashion.

I encourage you to take this important step of planning our your marketing schedule. It's so important I've devoted an entire step in my 10stepmarketing System to it. This system will help you develop and implement your marketing plan, in 10 simple steps - I've shared a few of these steps with you over the past few weeks.

Over the past few weeks I've been sharing some of the key steps you need to take as part of developing your marketing plan. Hopefully you can now see that a marketing plan is much more than just "what you plan to do to market your business."

It's an entire series of steps you must take to establish the foundation for your marketing. And, just like a foundation is a crucial step in building a house (can you imagine what would happen if you tried to build a house without pouring a foundation, first!?), your foundation is what will make or break your marketing efforts.

Yes, creating a marketing plan requires a little research. It requires you to stop and think about the business you want to create. It forces you to evaluate your marketplace and how your product or service fits in it.

However, when you take the time to go through these important steps, and create a marketing plan for your business, you are in a much better place to implement whatever marketing activities you decide to pursue. Because you'll know exactly who you are trying to reach, where you can reach them, what you need to say to them, and how how often you need to market.

So, now my question is, do you really have a marketing plan? Or, do you just have a list of marketing activities you plan to implement? And, if it's the latter, isn't it time you took the steps to create a marketing plan? If you need a little help, my 10stepmarketing System can walk you through the steps in creating your marketing plan, one simple step at a time.

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you know I am a big fan of The Secret and that I believe whole-heartedly in the Law of Attraction. I have seen proof of it's amazing power so many times in my life and my business.

I was recently introduced to The Optimist's Creed by the creators of The Secret. It's a powerful creed and is a great way to affirm what you are wanting to attract more of into your life. So I wanted to share it with you.

If nothing else, it's hard NOT to feel good when you read it - I make it a practice to read it every morning. And, it's a great way to start the day!

You can check out the Optimist's Creed here. And, you can also print out a copy to keep. Enjoy!