Top 10 Marketing Tactics for Small Businesses
By Veronika (Ronnie) Noize, the Marketing Coach

The following tactics support the most common strategies successfully used by small businesses (particularly service professionals such as coaches and consultants) including visibility, credibility, sampling, direct sales, and networking.  While it is possible that not every one of these tactics is appropriate for you in the long term, they make a great default list until you develop tactics that are tailored to your unique talents, personality, and business strategies.

1. Put up a web site and update it with sticky content at least monthly.

2. Register your site with search engines, your industry referral sites, and local/national chapters of any other professional organizations to which you belong. Add reciprocal links to your site to drive traffic.

3. Attend at least one networking function per week.  Offer a free sample of your service to five people you meet there. This doesn't have to be your time; it could be an article or Top 10 list that you've written. 

4. Ask everyone that you want to work with for their business.

5. Send a networking letter to everyone you know (everyone!) to let them know that you're in business, and looking for clients.

6. Make phone calls daily to set up meetings with your centers of influence, make presentations or follow up leads.

7. Write articles for your web site (or someone else's) and/or submit them to business and industry publications.

8. Send out a newsletter (or contribute to someone else's).

9. Host a seminar or workshop on your area of expertise, or speak at an industry event or association meeting.
10. Include an annotated signature in all your email.

Read more articles or view Top 10 lists.

Top 10 Marketing Tactics for Small Businesses copyright © Veronika Noize 2002. All rights reserved.