Home | Business | Marketing
Over the next few years we are all going to be working harder for less, longer hours loom as people and business demand the same standards of service and product for less money. Those businesses that don't use new ways and lateral tactics to get fend off the impending financial hole the world has dug itself into will suffer hard. We all know that's what they want us to believe but hold on... Switch off your television. Don't believe the hype, they're just out to scare the shit out of us all - and they're doing a damn good job of it. 'They' are the people that own us. They own our houses, businesses, money and ability to trade and even socialize. But that's not enough, now it seems they want our spirit. In business your spirit is an important factor in trading, your optimism and hope should shine through and influence all that you meet, and we must hold on to this at all cost. So, apart from the age old advice of 'Don't let the bastards grind you down' id like to introduce my own 'Switch off, log-on and start thinking' advice for those who may be wondering how they can get through this seemingly dark period of world recession. 1. Turning the negatives into positives. Your prospective clients have now been scared into thinking they need to spend a lot less (and yes, may have to as their clients are!). So they want to find the same services for less without hopefully having to compromise on the quality of the outcome. Look at your services as products in themselves and think about them hard from the perspective of the client - how can you make them seem to have more value than they do now without lowering their monetary value? Repackage Repackage Repackage. Make your products and services more valuable by re-evaluating the current needs of the client and market position - give the illusion of incredible value without lowing your price but possibly offering just slightly more within the product or service. 2. Educate yourself with the latest marketing techniques -online and off. This is obviously an infinite amount of information but a lot of the old tried and tested methods of advertising and marketing will need to be filtered. Are you advertising through interruption and is the audience taking any notice? Check out inbound marketing techniques that make your business place to go for information and use this as a way to gain new custom. 3. Your prospective clients now may well instead of relying on brand name and reputation be scouring the internet for better value. They want it cheaper, and they want the same amount. The yellow pages turned into the book that people pick up to source the cheapest services and are willing to sit on the phone for hours to find them. Google is the new yellow pages and you can use this to huge advantage if you get it right by gearing your site totaly toward the new mindset and still looking the business. Getting on first page may be a mountain to climb for your generic search terms and you may get there eventually but what about regional ones? They're a lot easier to optimize for and yield a lot of very relevant traffic to your site - business loves local business, we want to be able to meet people and make connections and real relationships! A first page listing on google for at least three regional search terms with a web presence that creates enough value to the prospect to get in touch or purchase is singularly the easiest way to gain a steady stream of (bread and butter at least) custom. 4. Traditional Marketing - don't just rely on Tinter-web, as thousands of businesses don't and wont find you that way. People love printed material. Think hard about what kind of well designed brochure would serve well in the hands of your clients to give them a reason to use your services on a regular basis. I know i use Printing.com a lot more than i would if i didn't have a copy of there brochure at hand when i need it, it gives me the power of knowing the price of print in my hand and because i will use that price i will more than likely end up using them! What should your clients have in terms of information at hand about your business which will be usefull and prompt them to use you? 5. Optimism is all. It's a trade in iteslf and a form of energy to supply to others. Cheer up, the world is not going to end if we have anything to do with it!
Article Source: http://www.searchforum.org/articles
www.edot3.com
Please Rate this Article
5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
