If you are running a small business, chances are, you do not have the employees or the budget that bigger businesses have to embark on a marketing campaign. But fret not because this is not the end of your marketing endeavor. There are plenty of ways to get your name out there, even if it means having to write and submit your own marketing material.

Here are 7 low cost but highly effective marketing tips that can help small businesses find customers and generate sales.

Create your own website

You need to get your company online if only for one reason – the Internet never sleeps. Many small businesses fail to advertise online and this can do more harm than good. The Internet is typically the first place that people go to for information and by putting up a website, you are creating an awareness of your business. Building a website is inexpensive (and sometimes free!) as there are plenty of website building tools and scripts available on the web.

Make email marketing a priority

Sending emails is free so create a list of existing and potential customers and start sending them newsletters or offers. Building a list is one of the easiest ways to recycle your traffic and earn more money from the same amount of traffic.

Get involved in social networking sites

Even if you have a website, you should set up a Facebook or Twitter account, or do both! These sites allow you to connect with regular and potential clients and may even give you a chance to build relationships with potential business partners. The best part is you can create a Facebook page or a Twitter account for free!

Use buddy marketing

Plan business promotions with complementary businesses. For example, if you sell wines, you could work with a restaurant to have a food and wine pairing night. Or if you send out brochures, you could include a leaflet of another business and have them do the same for you by printing stickers, leaflets or name cards and getting the company to include them with their brochures.

Offer a cheaper version or a premium version

Many customers keep an eye out for bargains. A good business strategy is to accommodate for this by having a no frills version of your product that you can sell for a lower price. At the same time, it is important to bear in mind that not all customers are looking for a cheap price. There are plenty of people who are willing to pay a premium for quality products. Thus, be sure to keep quality products in stock. Essentially, you want to have a financial strategy that caters to all budgets.

Don’t advertise like a big business

Because you do not run a big business! It is better to do your research and advertise smartly and not largely. Instead of paying for a television advertisement, look into poster or flyer printing and drop these materials into letterboxes.

Reward the faithful

Did you know that it is easier to get business from someone you have dealt with before than someone you have never had contact with? This is why it is important to retain your customers. Implement a loyalty program and reward these customers with exclusive or special deals. Good service equals happy customers and chances are, these customers will spread the word. Word of mouth is one of the best marketing strategies.

Now that you have these tips, you can develop your marketing strategy. As long as you fine-tune your marketing plan as you progress, you will succeed.

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Moneymaking In Recession

The shape and duration of the economic times have made it necessary for many people to formulate a new marketing strategy in recession. This is especially true when the goal is to create money making business online. Obviously, those who get involved in online marketing, the idea is to gain some extra income. It remains a question whether they can create a new income stream that will offer more flexibility and freedom. If you keep reading I will share three guidelines that will help you increase your odds of success.

Internet Marketing

Affiliate marketing, network marketing, and other web-based business all have their learning curves. They are the things you need to know in order to make your bid as an internet marketer an advantageous one. Using the following guidelines, you will increase how effective your business works and will increase your rates of success.

3 Simple Guidelines

Use A System. Quite naturally, it is important to have a program or marketing strategy in place when forming an online business that is easy to implement. You want one that makes use of all the information available about the state of the economy – as well as the specific performance of particular niches. You may end using more than one system or evolving the one you have to make use of new market conditions that occur as the recession moves forward.

This may make it more valuable to get involved with someone who has more experience dealing with the fluctuation in the markets. Mentors can make a big difference provided you trust their advice. This comes from evaluating how they’ve carried out business.

Have A Focus. It is imperative to have a focus even when the economy is good. It is even more important when success is far rarer. Once you’ve found what seems like a solid system, then you should pour time, money, and resources into this endeavor. Perhaps, it’s a bigger risk in our economic climate. Research and preparation go a long way – both can help you allocate your attention and efforts in ways that make sense. However, even focus will not help you when the system you’ve chosen ceases to function under current recessional conditions.

Keep It Simple. It is easy to go too far when it comes to research and implementation of different strategies. It is better to focus on gaining a working knowledge of certain skills while you’re ratcheting up business activity. Again interaction with mentors or colleagues in the business you’ve chosen can help assuage fears and keep things more streamlined. You might also learn what successes and failures these peoples endured – whether caused by the economy or wrong choices. This can save you time and allow you to keep the structure simple enough to get results.

Don’t Expect Easy Success

Even in the best of times, business is a challenge, but when you are trying to maintain a marketing strategy in recession you will find it requires even more fortitude. Yes, fast money schemes are out there, but few offer legitimate offers. Finally, business requires generous helpings of time, hard work, and commitment. Be patient and you’ll start seeing some results.

We all need to understand more about marketing strategy in recession and understand how to best protect yourself. Click the link and sign up to watch a video which will explain everything you need to know about the recession and the mechanisms behind it. I can help you learn how to start protecting yourself and your financial future from the current economic recession. Act now before it’s too late!

Does your marketing sound most like…

Your last economics teacher…?

A frazzled work-at-home mom with two kids…?

A charming but cheeky young British girl…?

A super-techie computer nerd…?

Ryan Seacrest…?

And even more importantly, how do your prospects respond to that voice?

If you don’t know, or have never even thought about it, you really should. Because whether you realize it or not, every business-even yours-has a voice. And that voice has the power to grab your prospect’s attention and hold it, or make them turn away in frustration.

It can set you far, far apart from your competition, or make your products or services sound like the same old same old. And it can create passionate raving fans or cause people to yawn in boredom.

So if you’ve never given the voice of your business and marketing a second thought, it’s time to reconsider.

You see, anytime someone reads a piece of your marketing or advertising, visits your Website, watches a video you made, or generally comes into contact with your business they are exposed to that voice. It’s in the words you choose and the way you talk…Even on paper (IE: copywriting).

Sadly, most entrepreneurs use the same stale, dry, academic, “professional” voice we all learned writing term papers and scientific reports. BORING!

And as the great ad man David Ogilvy once said, “You can never bore someone into doing business with you.”

That means it’s important for your company to have a voice that at a minimum is warm, friendly and engaging. Ideally, you want it to sound a lot like your customer’s best friend.

Of course, maybe you’re thinking “But I sell B to B.” Or, I’m in a business where I have to be as formal and professional as possible.”

Listen, I’m not saying you have to be unprofessional. I’m saying you need to sound like a human instead of a textbook-no matter what you’re selling or who you’re selling to.

This holds true whether you sell to businesses, or you’re a lawyer, financial planner, mortician, or high-tech company. Because in the end you’re still always speaking-and selling-to a person.

So at the least you should sound like someone they could relate to and like. If you can find a way to be quirky, funny, hip, suave or interesting in a way that’s appealing to your prospect, even better.

How exactly do you go about creating an effective voice for your marketing copywriting?

I’m going to lay it out for you here in 5 simple steps:

Step #1 - Do a little research on your ideal customer. Look at the Websites, online networking forums, magazines and books they read or participate in. Figure out who they are and what they like and sound like.

Step #2 - Decide what type of voice you think will most appeal to your IDEAL client or customer (NOT everyone who might buy from you). Don’t be afraid to be different. You want a voice that appeals specifically to the type of people you most want attract.

Step #3 - Make a list of the common words and phrases you see and hear when doing your research or talking to prospects and customers. Then grab a piece of marketing you’ve already written, or write one the way you normally would, and put your list of words and phrases at the top.

For example, if I was writing for a wedding store, I’d use words like: Elegant, inspired, enchanting, irresistible, magical, memories, unexpected, fanciful, captivating…

On the other hand, if I was writing to sell a high tech gadget to teens, I’d use words like: Sweet, nano, sweatin’, flip, cool, pals, tunes, customize…

Step #4 - Go through your marketing and search for places where you can substitute in the words and phrases from your list. Also try to get rid of as many 50 cent words as possible (IE: words with three or more syllables), even if all you do is substitute one or two shorter words not on your list.

Step #5 - Read what you’ve written out loud, or have someone else read it out loud to you. Now edit it so flows smoothly and sounds like a real person speaking directly to you.

Bottom line, creating a unique voice is all about the vocabulary you choose. So find interesting, specific words that resonate with your customer and use them to make your marketing-and your business-stand out from the crowd.

Stacy Karacostas is on a mission to end entrepreneurial overwhelm and burnout! Discover how to grow a thriving 6-figure business & have a life by downloading your FREE “Success without Shackles Starter Kit” at http://www.TheUnchainedEntrepreneur.com

There’s a little silent refrain that goes on in people’s minds whenever you bring up differentiation. I think that for many business owners, its almost an excuse. “It’s different in my industry; it’s hyper-competitive and it’s such a mature industry, it’s a waste of time pursuing differentiation”.

I want to introduce you to a concept I call the 4P framework, and it’s very simple.
This framework is made up of 4 elements.

People, problem, process, passion

People represents the customer profile, the target market segment that you choose to do business with. It’s the first element in your overall differentiation.

The 2nd P represents Problem. What problem of the people you chose will you be solving… So let’s say that you and I both decided on starting a new business working with dentists. That means that the people, our P would be Dentists…for both of us.

But if I’m a business growth consulting firm, and you’re a dental office design firm, then we’re solving 2 different problems for the same people. Now even though we’re serving the same market, we’d be complementary businesses rather than competitors.

Now since we’re talking about differentiation, this example is probably a little too easy so let’s step it up a bit.

What if you and I were both business growth consulting firms and we were both targeting Dentists. Here’s where the 3rd P would come in as a differentiating element.

The 3rd P represents Process – And by process I mean your unique process or approach to solving your target customer’s problem or delivering your ultimate benefit. If business growth is our ultimate benefit, your primary lever or tool might be strategic marketing and mine might be business networking.

To explore just how much power of differentiation you get by layering the 3 Ps, let’s look at a different target market.

Let’s say our 1st P was mid-sized networking technology companies and you and I were concerned with their business development and growth needs.

My Unique Process might be to show these mid-sized networking technology companies how to leverage internet marketing in their business-to-business marketing, while you may concentrate on how they can grow their business through improved performance from their sales force. So while I would be offering comprehensive internet marketing consulting, you might be offering sales training or sales management consulting programs.

This differentiation by offering a different process or solution has so many different variables that you should never seriously run out of options for differentiating your business. Even if you and I were decided to compete in the Sales training niche, I might differentiate myself by highlighting a branded and proprietary teaching system, learning method, or what have you, or I might differentiate myself by the medium of delivery – maybe all our training is done online through multimedia webinars and Teleseminars, while you go the traditional route with on-site training.

These are just a very few of the ways you can differentiate through method focus, delivery method, areas of emphasis, etcetera

Let’s go on to the 4th P which is Passion
Passion here is the ultimate icing on the cake when it comes to differentiating your business. Passion has to do with the unique way in which your business injects emotional selling into your branding and marketing communications. Years ago, the Government Employees Insurance Company had a brand profile that was as boring as it gets. Today, GEICO is recognized for the Geico Gecko’s continuous insistence that 15 minutes can save us 15% or more on car insurance, and for their highly entertaining campaign that repeats that switching to GEICO is so easy a caveman can do it.

Passion is where so many small businesses make a mistake and turn their natural advantage into a distinct disadvantage. So many small business owners are mistakenly led to believe that branding means a lack of personality, and a transition to slick but faceless marketing that marks so much “Big business advertising”.

Countless research studies have shown that people make their buying decisions based on emotion, and then supports that decision by logical arguments.

Some of the simplest ways to inject emotional selling into your marketing communication is to articulate a core emotional epic. Mary Kay built a half-billion dollar business on the back of her touching story of being a single mom and entrepreneur struggling to make it at a time when women were barely allowed in the workforce.

Another way to differentiate yourself with emotional selling is to personalize your marketing. Put some kind of human face on your company. Even a company as big as Southwest has been able to stay personal. Recently, they launched a “Bags fly free” TV campaign that made lovable heroes out of their grounds crew and bag handlers. If it’s good enough for Southwest, why isn’t it good enough for you?

One last note on emotional selling is that it should still answer a “What’s in it for me?” for the clients. Note in the earlier GEICO example that the underlying promise is still – Convenience, savings, and easy!!

Note that the Southwest commercials were still highlighting the convenience and savings of having “bags fly free”.

If you study these 4 elements – People, Problem, Process and Passion, you’ll find multiple points of potential differentiation for virtually any business activity you want to undertake. Whether you’re starting a new business, contemplating a change in business strategy, or rolling out a new product or service.

Review this video, apply these lessons to your business, then go out there and stand out from the crowd.

Gogo Erekosima, The Small Business Digital Coach is the CEO and Lead strategist at Denver Internet Marketing Specialists, Idea Age Consulting.

He recommends the resources at www.TurnAttentionIntoDollars.com for small businesses (and professionals) seeking to leverage the internet to attract clients, build profitable email lists, generate internet traffic, win influential partners and grow sales in record time.

Your business, my business, every business attempts to be better in some way than its competitors and then use this “better” thing (known in marketing circles as differentiation) as the keystone of its marketing strategy. I can cite an endless number of examples of differentiation strategies from Wal-Mart’s low price strategy to Tiffany’s high price exclusivity and from Fed Ex’s fast, accurate delivery to the “Make it your way” sandwich at Burger King. Having a differentiation strategy is important but there is more to communicate and it is important.

This critical element is “The Benefit.”

Your customers and prospects are primarily interested in your answer to just one question – “What’s the Benefit?” or stated another way, “What’s In It For Me?” When you give them a meaningful answer to that question they will understand good reasons for being your customer.

For it to be effective, the benefit has to be understood by the targeted consumer and that means that you have to show them and tell them in a way that they can understand. It means that your language must be clear, not industry lingo. It must be stated simply in short memorable sentences, not in long arcane technical paragraphs. And the information must be available and accessible across many different methods of communication – when spoken, when read, when seen in print or transmitted electronically.

It is good that a product is more durable and lasts longer (that’s a feature) but what is the benefit of it lasting longer? Perhaps it is lower maintenance costs or less down time / higher productivity or lower cost per use or more enjoyment as a point of differentiation. I believe it was Beech-Nut Gum that used “longer lasting taste” (“I’m not talking while the flavor lasts”) as their point of differentiation?).

There are many possible benefits from every “better” innovation and differentiation. It is your challenge is to discover what those benefits are and how best to communicate them constantly and frequently so that your customers and prospects understand “What’s In It For Them” and why they should buy it… from you!

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, “Front Lines with Larry Galler” For a free coaching session, email Larry for an appointment – Larry@larrygaller.com. Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com