Are you a business owner or marketing professional looking for new ways to generate leads? Do you want to get more customers through the door without overspending? Well, it’s time to use those marketing resources more wisely.
Whether you are a marketing pro or an entrepreneur, you’re constantly looking for potential clients. No clients means no sales and no sales means sooner or later no business.
In this blog post you’ll find a selection of marketing resources to help you generate leads and close more deals.
1. Start Blogging
There are loads of ways to build rapport and trust with visitors who come to your website. Blogging is without doubt one of the most powerful marketing tools for a business owner. It’s relatively easy to set up and it’s amazingly cheap.
Blogging is a long-term investment that requires commitment, strategy and marketing resources to make it work well. Therefore, if you’re looking for short-term gains… you’ll need to skip blogging.
So, what do you need to set up your own blog?
The first thing you’ll want to do is to register a domain (e.g. Namecheap, GoDaddy) and decide on hosting for your blog (e.g. Bluehost, Hostgator, WP Engine). Once you’ve chosen your domain name and your hosting provider, you’ll need to add a blog.
There are a variety of blogging platforms you can choose from: WordPress.com, Tumblr, weebly, Blogger, Squarespace, Typepad, WordPress.org, Drupal or Joomla for example. However, WordPress is the most popular blogging system in use and probably one of the best options for a business blogger.
The next thing you’ll want to do is pick a theme. You can pick a free theme from the vast collection of templates offered by WordPress, or purchase your preferred theme at Themeforest, WooThemes or Elegant Themes for example.
The last thing you want to do before you start planning the content and writing your articles is to install several amazing WordPress plugins that will help you get the most from your blog.
Say you’ve accomplished everything above and now you’re sitting in front of a blank sheet of paper with an equally blank mind, wondering how to begin the first sentence.
Not to worry.
Here are a few marketing resources I use to overcome writer’s block.
Buzzsumo allows you to analyze what content (articles, videos, guest posts, infographics etc.) performs best for any topics or competitor. Just type in your keyword and hit the “Go!” button.
HubSpot, The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur or Forbes magazine are amazing places to find high quality articles to help you come up with topics for your own blog. On top of that, you should also visit blogs and websites of key influencer in your field.
2. Start Your Own Podcast Show
Do you enjoy speaking? Do you want to share your valuable message in a fun and easy way? Have you ever thought of podcasting?
Podcasting is an amazing marketing weapon. And here’s the best part: you need a computer and an internet connection and you’re basically good to go. Sounds too good to be true?
OK, let’s led some light on this miracle marketing strategy.
So you have internet connection and a computer with an integrated mic (if you have an older laptop or computer you might want to spend $10 to buy a microphone).
Next you’ll need is a software. No need to go fancy, just download the free audio editor and recorder Audacity. The free, open source software is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Is this a reliable marketing resource?
Yep. I’ve been using Audacity since 2012 and it never let me down. To this day, I use Audacity to record and edit my own podcast shows.
The next piece of the puzzle: Hosting!
Here’s a list of really awesome podcast hosting providers:
The ones I’m using currently are Podomatic (my main provider) and SoundCloud.
The next step is to record a couple of shows and upload them to your chosen podcast host. Once you’re done with that you can submit your show for inclusion in the iTunes store and other key podcast directories such as Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, Miro, Zune etc.
If you want to listen to my show and see how I’m doing it, here’s the link to the podcast …. Strength In Business Podcast: Marketing Strategies With Krisz Rokk.
Here’s the show for those of you who’re Apple fans…
And here’s the show for those of you who prefer Android…
Special Note:
No need to go bananas and spend you’re valuable marketing resources on super fancy microphones, software and other gadgets — especially if you’re just starting out with podcasting. I’ve seen so many people go out and spend a ton of money purchasing a bunch of high-tech, lacking the strength, passion and determination and failing to stay in the podcasting game.
If you think high-tech alone will make you successful, you’re really running down the wrong path. The most important thing is to get started, to record 10-20 shows and to continuously grow and improve yourself. You can “upgrade” your mic anytime. You can improve your intro and outro on the go.
The key is to be consistent. If you’re doing weekly shows, fine, stick to that. If you’re recording daily shows, excellent. Again, stick to that. Upload regularly and meet (better yet, exceed) your audiences expectations.
3. Promote Your Content To The Max
So you’re done with the first part of the equation, and that is: you’ve created high quality content and you’re using podcasting to deliver your valuable message.
What else can you do to promote your content? What marketing resources can you use to reach the right people and generate high quality leads?
You can use social media to spread the word. Prior to doing that, make sure you pick the appropriate social channels. If your audience is on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, you have to be there. Share your content, ask people to leave a comment, and answer questions that arise. Find relevant Facebook and LinkedIn groups, sign up in these groups and provide help to the members of the community. Establish yourself as the go-to person in your industry.
For all small business owners and marketing pros with limited marketing resources
Stop wasting your time and resources on social media platforms that are not relevant to your industry and target audience.
Example:
If your demographics show that 95% or more of the community are 35+ of age, shut down your Instagram account. Focus your energy and attention on the social networks with audiences of people 35 or older. Makes sense?
Next you could do webinars (e.g. GoToWebinar), teleseminars (e.g. Skype, Google Hangouts, FreeConferenceCall.com) or live events.
Than there’s email marketing (e.g. InfusionSoft, AWeber, GetReponse, Mailchimp, Constant Contact) and affiliate marketing (e.g. Amazon Associates, ClickBank).
Pay-per-Click (PPC) is an awesome way to generate targeted traffic and get new clients if done properly. Whether it’s Google AdWords, YouTube advertising, or Facebook ads, PPC delivers instant results. The key is, however, to know exactly how to use these marketing resources in order to generate the best outcomes for your business.
Wrapping It Up
No matter how small your budget is, there are always ways to optimize your business processes and maximize your outcomes. You don’t need to spend millions to make it in business. Use marketing resources intelligently.
As Tony Robbins says, “The defining factor [for success] is never resources; it’s resourcefulness.”
Which marketing resources do you find useful?
THE MARKETING TRIANGLE
This is a book about mastering the marketing fundamentals. It’s designed especially for busy small business owners and entrepreneurs who wish to understand what marketing is really about and how they can choose and deploy certain marketing weapons to get the results they want and beyond.
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