Kit Miller Group

what (specifically) works for you and your small business?
I need some marketing technqiues for advertising around where I live.
Craigslist is not working.

Thanks!
>>>>>>i have a website of course and great prices.
that was not my question.
>>>>>>looking for ways to advertise.

An interesting question, though the answer is not straight forward.

What is your specialist photographic skill? Portrait, fashion, landscape, wedding etc.

Look for companies that you can Joint Venture with. If you take wedding photographs, contact wedding organisers in your area eg wedding dresses, caterers, hotels where receptions may be held.

Research is important, who needs the services that you provide and what is your specific USP. Why should someone use you rather than other in your area.

We offer a free report dealing with this specific area, details below.

We need the ability to run our businesses positively without the constant hammer of insecurity around finances and operations. We still need the safeguard or cushion of credit to maintain peace of mind and progress successfully. Any suggestions??

These are indeed brutal times to grab credit. The Small Business Administration has been expanding its loan-guarantee programs, but still banks have been tight in getting the cash to the small companies that so desperately need it. The result is that many entrepreneurs find the spigot shut off. Frustrating indeed. Here are a few thoughts for getting a capital cushion:

– All is not lost in loan land. There is talk these days that Goldman Sachs and Warren Buffett might create a new lending vehicle aimed at helping up to 10,000 small businesses. We’ll have to stay tuned on that. But for now, there is an SBA loan that is lesser known and might be open to you. Called the Micro-Loan Program, it generates loans of up to $35,000 for businesses and certain nonprofits. The average loan is $13,000. But the best thing about the program is that it sidesteps banks altogether, with the lending being managed by community-based nonprofit organizations. You can learn more about it here: http://www.sba.gov/financialassistance/borrowers/guaranteed/mlp/index.html

– As the stock market has stabilized, and even rebounded handsomely over the past few months, I’m hearing increasingly of a rise in friends and family investments. Typically those investments are made in return for an ownership stake, but they can be structured as loans too. I’ve been on both sides of those deals, both lending money and borrowing it from friends.

– Suppliers and customers are often a great, untapped source of capital. They have a vested interest in your financial health, and with the economy improving you might chat with the largest ones about extending credit.

Hopefully, one of those solutions will be right for you.

As you may know, small businesses like individual retail stores etc can’t afford to pay or hire a full time marketer.

SO.. i was thinking of starting a small business in my spare time to market small businesses websites for a small one-off fee e.g $500. This would include everything especially recommendations.

I have a degree in marketing and many years experience in the industry.

That is an excellent idea. Even small businesses are realizing they need a web page for their customers. Keep it simple and remember at times you will be dealing with the computer illiterate. Good luck.

Location, advertising, free press releases, free give-aways.

Hi there, we don’t have a huge budget, but need to get our name out. We are a small independent custom made jeweller, and need to get new customers! Any help would be so appreciated.

A few free resources – check out the sources box for links:

1) Create a blog pertaining to your field

2) Use Yahoo! Local & Yahoo! Groups – Be sure to read the TOS for each one!

3) Write articles pertaining to your field and/or expertise.

4) Advertise on Craiglist

Also, consider signing up for an affiliate program. These programs enable you to advertise on other’s sites (your affiliates) and once a sale is made to you, your affiliates & the program are paid a commission.

I listed a few handy sites & articles relating to marketing, promotion & advertising. Here are some book titles that are relevant:

* 301 Do-It-Yourself Marketing Ideas: From America’s Most Innovative Small Companies by Sam Decker
* Off The Wall Marketing Ideas: Jumpstart Your Sales without Busting Your Budget by Nancy Michaels, Debbi J. Karpowicz
* Guerrilla Marketing for Free: Dozens of No-Cost Tactics to Promote Your Business and Energize Your Profits by Jay Conrad Levinson
* Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide: Over 1500 Great Marketing Tricks That Will Drive Your Business Through the Roof by James Stephenson

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

I have a Bed and Breakfast and I also make stained glass, but my adwords campaigns are losing serious money. Is there any company I can pay a monthy fee and they will guarantee so many –

Backlinks
Leads
Website Visitors

I have loked at a few, but they are WAY too expensive for my budget. I have no idea about the web, but I do know there is business to be had.

I’ve lost a lot of money on AdWords myself. But I have lost more money paying for hits through other services. One site was simply sending me forwarded traffic from random web pages that have absolutely nothing to do with my product.

I honestly wouldn’t trust any company or site that claims to send me a certain number of hits or directed traffic.

Nearly everyone uses Google these days, so your best options for getting good traffic are proper search engine optimization, legitimate link exchange, , social bookmarking and careful, researched use of AdWords.

SEO is something you can hire out and probably get a better job done than what you can do yourself – this is possibly true with link exchange too. But Bookmarking and AdWords is easy enough to do yourself,and you’re likely to get ripped off by anyone who you have to pay to do this.

Bookmark your site at popular web 2.0 sites like Digg, Delicious, etc. That will take you about 5 minutes and your done.

Adwords – you need to make sure you are bidding on teh proper terms. Also, there are other paid ad programs besides AdWords – often with much cheaper cost per click. A one time investment in keyword research software such as Market Samurai or ClickAdEqualizer will earn it’s money back in no time. They’ll lets helps you find what keywords your competition is using, point out alternative keywords, and even help you find the lowest cpc for those keywords. Anyone that you hire is simply going to use this software, and charge you 5 time the purchase cost, monthly!

Do it yourself. You’ll get better results. Nothing looks as unprofessional as having your site linked to known spam sites – that’s what happens when you let someone else do it for you. Trust me, I know from experience.

Good luck with your business.
For more information about Adwords researc software – visit http://www.clickadequalizer.org

"If you build it, they will come" is not necessarily true on the Web. Putting a website up is one thing, but getting visitors to come to your site is another. The process becomes even more difficult if you have limited resources to market your business.

Here are some shoestring marketing ideas that can help you get the visitors you need at the least cost possible:

1. Create the best content you can with the best products you can possibly offer. Your content is your best advertisement – if visitors love your content, then they will go back and spread the word to others.

2. Make it easy for users to recommend your site. Viral marketing is very important — and easy to tap on the Web. But give your users the tools. Get a Recommend this Site script from websites such as cgiscripts.com and similar directories of scripts. Some even go as far as giving incentives to those who recommend the site to their friends. If only 10 people go to your site, but these 10 people invite 10 more – that’s additional traffic that you get for FREE!

3. Rank well in the search engines (organic search results, not the pay per click). SEs can be a big source of traffic. The key is to create the best content in your niche. If you have good content, other websites will gladly link to you and offer your site as a resource to their audience. Check the on-page factors and be sure to get linked from authority sites in your topic area.

If you are going to read only one piece on search engine optimization, I suggest you read Brett Tabke of WebmasterWorld.com’s "Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone: 26 steps to 15k a day." http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/2010.htm

4. Send out press releases. While outfits charge as much as $650 per release, there are free press release submission places on the Web. Press releases allow you to (a) attract media attention; (b) get more back links to your website without sending each website an email request; and (c) get more visibility especially if your press release gets in Google News or Yahoo News. My website (see my profile) accepts free press release submission (no strings attached!)

5. Submit articles. Write articles and submit them to websites accepting author submissions. You get exposure for your business; establishes you as an authority in your field, and allows you to get backlinks for your website. If 50 websites publish your article and it contains a link back to your website, then you easily get 50 links from a single article. The more links you have, the greater your chances for increasing your search engine rankings.

6. Improve your conversion. Getting visitors is one thing; getting them to buy your products is a whole different story. Read the article "10 Ways to Convert Visitors to Buyers" http://www.powerhomebiz.com/072005/conversion.htm for tips on how to improve your conversion rates.

http://www.powerhomebiz.com/guide/cases/ii-lexi.htm

I am a young marketing professional located in the Houston, TX area. I received my B.B.A. in Marketing in 2006 and I am eager to establish my on Marketing Business with the target market of small businesses. I am currently a Marketing Assistant and plan to join the American Marketing Assocation. Is there any advice that can be shared for my endeavors?

From one marketing pro to another, congrats on your BBA and on your upcoming business!

A former product marketing colleague started a business here in the Dallas area, he found that he could give talks at Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club meetings and even holds several of his own events. The idea was basically to share his expertise on certain topics ("how to market your services" or "how to increase your sales") in a public forum, and hand out business cards and pamphlets to attendees regarding the services he could offer.

Another suggestion is to look at local nonprofit organizations and pitch those that need your part-time consulting help. (Examples: I marketed our church’s school for a year, also contacted the city-run golf course because I read in the newspaper that their revenue was declining, so I figured they needed some marketing help!) )

Be sure to offer different packages at various price levels, so you can market to any size of business.

After you’ve been in business a while, word of mouth will be your best advertisement.

Best of luck to you!

No lender will talk to you unless you provide them with a valid business plan. Go to http://www.sba.gov , http://www.score.org or http://www.bplan.com for sample business plans and instructions on how to write a business plan.

Then, go to http://www.score.org/ and in the upper left hand corner, enter your zip code. On the next screen, you will get information on the nearest SCORE chapter. Call them and arrange for a free meeting with a SCORE counselor to review your business plan and discuss various loan options available to you.

SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

SCORE has 389 chapters in locations throughout the United States and its territories, with 10,500 volunteers nationwide. Both working and retired executives and business owners donate time and expertise as business counselors.

I do NOT want to use Constant Contact. I would like a company that will create a custom e-mail newsletter to send to clients and prospective clients. I also do NOT want a Do-It-Yourself company.

Thank you in advance for your answers!

I use aweber