3 easy steps to market your business

Written on the 1 June 2013 by Kellie Williams

Forget Marketing 101 - this is Marketing 1, 2, 3! Here are three easy steps to market your business that you can implement immediately without much fuss.

Branding

Yes we always talk about  it, but if you’re not doing it your business may be suffering. Branding is so important in our modern world. Branding can make or break a product, even a business. The easiest thing you can do to ensure your ‘brand’ is working hard is to make sure that everywhere your business or product is mentioned, the graphics and colours are the same. The logo you use in the Yellow Pages should be exactly the same one that is on your vehicle. If you don’t have a logo, make sure you always use the same font and colours. Being the same everywhere makes you easier to recognise and therefore remember.

For example: “What’s the name of that pool guy with the pink balloon on the side of his car?”
“Check the phone book.”
“There it is – Pink Poppers Pools! I’ll give him a call right now.”

Education

How do customers know about your business, what you do or what specials you have on at the moment? …You educate them! That’s right, you have to be the teacher. Every chance you get, tell people what you do, how well you do it and how much for. Does your neighbour know about your business? Does the customer standing in your showroom know you have a deal on right now? Tell them! And the “upsell” is an essential part of your business communication. Get your staff to upsell without even thinking about it. It doesn’t have to be “Would you like fries with that?” – there are other more subtle ways that can actually make your customers feel special.

For example: “Oh you’re buying our new model remote control car? These are fantastic, great fun. But make sure you don’t run out of batteries. We have packs of 10 for $10.”

Directories

Take an hour or two out of your weekend to add your business to the many free directory listings on the internet. Make sure all the address and phone details are correct and current on any existing listings. These listings help people find you, especially when they are Googling. They even help Google drive people directly to your website! By being ‘legit’ on as many directory listings as you can, Google will recognise your business “really exists” and rank you higher on the list.

Try these ones to start:

Google Maps – http://maps.google.com.au/
Hot Frog – http://www.hotfrog.com.au/
The Web Listing – http://theweblisting.com/
True Local  – http://www.truelocal.com.au/
Aussie Now – http://www.aussienow.com.au/
Aussie Local – http://www.aussielocal.com.au