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Marketing Ideas – 50 Simple Marketing Ideas You Can Use To Grow Your Business

Charlie Seymour Jr — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:16:18 +0000

Grow Your Business Online And From Home

Work-at-home entrepreneurs have many choices when it comes to marketing. Below you'll find 50 simple ideas that you can adapt to your own needs.

Some ideas are geared toward online audiences while some target your neighborhood and involve getting to know local businesspeople.

It's a good idea to choose a few methods from each category and make them work for your own business. Give each one a try to see which works best for you and your business.

Online Marketing Ideas

1. Start a Blog and write 2 – 3 times a week. Start simply at WordPress.com or Blogger.com.

2. Post articles online that others can use with your byline and signature information – visit EzineArticles.com.

3. Regularly comment on blogs that relate to your business – you can find some great examples at AllTop.com (which list the top blogs in the world and divides them into categories for easy searching). (In fact, look for my RaisingGreatFamilies.com blog there! We're proud to have it listed.)

4. Visit Meetup.com and instigate a gathering relevant to your line of work OR join an existing group.

5. Check out Podcamp.org or Barcamp.org to see if they work well for your business.

6. Create your own Facebook profile.

7. Join groups on Facebook that relate to your business and post regularly.

8. Create your own Facebook PAGE and use it like a mini website to promote your business.

9. Become a source on HelpAReporterOut.com.

10. Suggest a story about work-at-home entrepreneurs to a blogger or offer a post for other people’s website by joining BloggerLinkUp.com.

11. Write an ebook and offer it for free on your own website or Facebook Page.

12. Send a press release about your business to PRWeb.com or PRLeap.com.

13. Reply to questions on Wiki.Answers.com and similar sites.

14. Open a Twitter account and send 2-3 tweets a day about what you are doing in your business.

15. Distribute monthly eNewsletters to your clients (having captured their names on your website or Facebook Page).

16. Put your business in both online and print directories.

17. Use Google to search for forums that are in your niche (use your keyword followed by the work “forum” to find these) and become involved with the chatter on the forum (NEVER “sell” on these – participate and leave your name with your contact information below it).

18. Write pieces for other companies' eNewsletters.

19. Keep in touch with classmates through Facebook.

20. Search Twitter for people who tweet about your type business and begin to tweet back and forth with them (find them using keywords at Search.Twitter.com).

21. Optimize your blog by using keywords in the titles of your posts.

22. Videotape short weekly talks and publish them online.

23. See if Affiliate Marketing is right for you – search Clickbank.com.

24. Trade blog ads with other work-at-home entrepreneurs.

Neighborhood Marketing Ideas

25. Join groups like the Lions Club or the Chamber of Commerce to Network.

26. Ask potential clients about their needs and follow up with them – don’t be bashful: if they say “NO” you’re in the same place as if you hadn’t asked them; if they say “Yes,” then you have new business!).

27. Ask clients for recommendations.

28. Send out a mailing to local businesses and then follow up with two additional mailings (we call that Sequenced Mailings).

29. Get other work-at-home entrepreneurs to package their promo material with yours.

30. Offer referral bonuses to clients.

31. Offer the first meeting for free with a potential client.

32. Mark the end of large projects with your clients in a public place – make it festive, memorable, and fun.

33. Attend local business mixers to meet new people and collect THEIR business cards – it’s less important to give yours out (though certainly do that if someone asks for it). Then follow up with everyone you met and keep them informed about how you can do business together.

34. Print and distribute business cards, using BOTH sides of the cards (and make an offer on the back – something like “Email for my free report, 7-Steps To Business Success.”

35. Leave your brochures with businesses where your target clients might frequent – but make this brochure gives an offer for some free information NOT a three-panel brochure about your business that most people don’t want to read (just as you don’t read most other people’s brochures like that).

36. Sponsor a local event that would appeal to your target client and then tell them.

37. Print coupons and put them on local bulleting boards – again, offer some free information.

38. Speak about your business at local events.

39. Partner with an entrepreneur who has a business related to yours.

40. Schedule a regular mastermind meeting with several entrepreneurs in your area – make time to chat about what each is doing and find out how you can help each other.

41. Visit your local bookstore each week to plan your schedule (I call that my Dreaming, Planning, Scheming Time) and chat with folks who are there – you never know what other local business person might need your services.

42. Give a class in your area of expertise – local school districts often sponsor these.

43. Volunteer your time to local charities.

44. Write some ‘case studies’ that closely parallel work you just completed and send them with a PostIt Note greeting to prospects.

45. Contact local businesses to find the right person to invite for an early morning cup of coffee – and suggest s/he tell you more about his or her business – when you offer to learn about someone, they often tell you a LOT (much of which can help you find more business for THEM and for YOU).

46. Create a 3-part postcard mailing campaign to prospects in your area.

47. Keep in touch with former clients.

48. Develop a contact at an employment agency for leads.

49. Put coupons for your services in gift bags.

50. Track down local giveaways and donate something.

Some of these ideas will cost a bit of money but many of them are free and only require your time and thought.

Make time each week to explore a new marketing option. Be creative and see how you can tailor each item to your specific needs and let us know how you're doing.

Give us progress reports so we can all be inspired by each other's success. And leave a comment here with YOUR ideas that can be added to this list – let’s grow it to 100 Simple Marketing Ideas!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

To learn more, stay in touch with my blog – I'll keep you informed so that YOU won't have to do the heavy lifting. Charlie Seymour Jr's Blog – Click HERE To See More!

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

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Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at Charlie Seymour Jr's Blog to learn more about his successes.

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Marketing Ideas – 50 Simple Marketing Ideas You Can Use To Grow Your Business

Marketing Lessons From Podcamp Philly 3 (#PCPhilly3)

Charlie Seymour Jr — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:52:13 +0000

Share Ideas With Like-Minded People And You Always Get More Than You Started With

I have to hand it to Whitney Hoffman and her group of organizers – they know how to put on a really good "show" when it comes to Social Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Link Strategies, Podcasting (audio and video), and much more.

Podcamps started in Boston 4 years ago and they bill themselves as UnConferences dedicated to podcasting, blogging, vlogging, and new media. And they had seminars for the newbie all the way to the most experienced. (I'm one of those experienced ones, but learned a ton from each "class" no matter what level it was aimed for.)

First they find a location (Temple University's Tuttleman Learning Center), then get some of the best speakers around (people volunteer to speak and everything said is shared with everyone), and then they have to make sure we spend some time getting to know each other so that the "social" aspect of what we do will lead to our doing more of it even after the "big day" is over.

I hadn't spent much time on the Temple University campus in North Philadelphia before, but I sure was impressed with the Tuttleman Learning Center and all the electronic gadgets and computers it has.

Where Else Can You Get So Much For Free?

The Podcamp was free… well, we paid a small fee to guarantee we'd show up and then the organizers turned around and donated the entrance fee to Covenant House which serves mostly 17 – 21 year old homeless youth: and the success stories we were told were very impressive.

How could all this be free? Because Sponsors stepped up to help.

I had a good chat in the hallway with AWeber Founder and CEO Tom Kulzer and Director of Education Marketing Justin Premick. I was telling them about some of the difficulties I had had with some of their competition and how impressed I was when I installed AWeber for one of my clients. These folks are from the Philadelphia area and they support Social Marketing events throughout the area and deserve our support back (even if they weren't the number one email marketing service in the world).

Tom had already spoken to our local GKIC-Philly chapter and I have to tell you he's as nice as he is sharp. What a special treat it is to talk with industry leaders just like they're normal, regular folks (which, of course, they are!).

You can learn more about Tom, Justin, and their services by clicking on the small notice below. I am now a proud supporter and affiliate of theirs (and you might just see me in my T-Shirt that says "I Love AWeber" on it).

Try AWeber Email Marketing Risk-Free

Other sponsors included:

Microsoft
Blubrry.com (the social podcasting folks)
The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (who KNOW we'll go from this conference saying good things about the Temple Campus and the city itself)
Springhouse (the world-class training and consulting group)
realPlayer SP (which some describe as the digital Swiss Army Knife for playing audio and video online)
Social Media Club (with it's chapters all over the country)
LTLPrints.com (with larger than life prints – and if any of the prints at the Podcamp are an example of their work, you should use them when you need a larger-that-life hard copy of a graphic or photograph), AND
Temple University itself.

What Were Some Of The Sessions?

If you are involved with Social Media, blogging, podcasting, being online, how is this for a range of topics:

And those were only SOME of the listings… on the FIRST DAY!

What Are Some Of The Added Benefits Of Being Face-To-Face?

Not only did I get to listen and watch such super-talents as Wil Reynold, Mike Grehan, and others, I was able to ask them questions during their sessions and speak to them afterwards. And when back to Facebook, I was able to friend many of them as well.

Having lunch together, chatting in the hallways on breaks, finding people who share my interests are just a few of the extra benefits of committing a Saturday and Sunday to learn more about what I spend so much time doing. Here are just a few of the folks I got to know;

Scot Wittman

http://www.rutgersprep.org

Everett Reiss, Project Manager, Applied Systems Technology but who also has his own blog the speaks directly to those of us who work at home (they way my own blog speaks to the same group).

Flip20091004VID00038PodcampPhilly3EverettReiss.flv

Hans Fremuth, Founder, Metability Software who lives about 2 miles from me (so we found out)

Whitney Hoffman, Head, Hoffman Digital Media who pulled the whole event together and who is raising two fun boys who shared the weekend with us (and whom I had met at Podcamp Boston 4 a few months earlier).

Adam Zand, Consultant, Almost Ubiquitous, who flew down from Boston for the weekend

Corynne Corbett, Founder & CEO, Chic Jones Media who asked me a question after one of our sessions and found herself on my Facebook profile. LOVE the name of her website: The Black Girl Site

Flip20091003VID00033PodcampPhilly3TheBlackGirlSite.flv

Gloria Bell, Red Stapler Consulting, a sharp marketer who spoke at one of the sessions I attended.

Liana Evans, Director of Social Media, Serengeti Communications who knows her Search Engine Optimization and shares clear information very easily.

Chris Abraham, President, Abraham Harrison LLC, whom I first met at Podcamp Boston 4

Matthew Ebel, Musician, Matthew Ebel Entertainment – you have to check out his music – this guy is working hard and will give you three free songs just for joining his email list!

Flip20091004VID00037PodcampPhilly3MatthewEbel.flv

… and SO many more.

What Are The Lessons From Podcamp Philly 3?

As an entrepreneur, many of us get narrowly focused and often need great input from others to reopen our minds. This is a perfect place for that.

There is WAAY too much for you to learn on your own. You HAVE to let other people help, and folks at Podcamps are there for that exact reason: to help!

YOU often have a great deal you can offer to others – volunteer to lead one of these sessions – you'll learn more because you had to prepare AND you'll learn from everyone who attends your session.

Thanks To All Who Participated

This post didn't start out to be a commercial nor a thank you letter… but SO much information, good feeling, helpful advice was given over the weekend it's hard to mention the Podcamp and not be an evangelist for it while also being so grateful for all who participated.

Thanks, everyone!

To learn more, stay in touch with my blog – I'll keep you informed so that YOU won't have to do the heavy lifting. Charlie Seymour Jr's Blog – Click HERE To See More!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: You can find me here:

http://twitter.com/UltimateWAHDads

http://facebook.com/CharlesSeymourJr

http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesseymourjr

PPS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

Keep this with this article, please:

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Icons and Slogans – Advertising Week Walk Of Fame Announced For 2009 – Vote For Your Favorite

Blogging For Business – Turning Your Words Into Gold

Charlie Seymour Jr — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:45:45 +0000

Write A Blog For Business – It Can Be Fun And Profitable

Search engine optimization for blogs is easy to do if you follow a few rules.

To make sure that your main website gets noticed and your content absorbed, you need to attract search engines which then attract people who will read your posts.

When you become an expert (at least PERCEIVED to be an expert as your knowledge grows), people will arrive at your site to find out what you say.

And when you follow a few rules, you will turbo charge your work at home, get people AND Google to find you, and turn your words into gold.

Search engines (let's read that GOOGLE, as well as others) LOVE fresh content. Blogs are easy to update and add fresh content. And these days, Current Content will have a great impact than scholarly content that has been on a website for a long time.

Static isn't good. Current is.

Follow these rules to improve your blogging success:

1. Create a list of at least 50 keywords that apply to your business.

2. Each time you write a blog post, write on ONE topic… THIS post is about Blogging (it's not about guarantees or offers or direct mail – it's about writing a blog).

3. Write at least 2 times every week – you aren't creating huge novels, just some blog posts of great content. And as #2 said, keep the topic to ONE of your keywords and be sure to explain it fully.

4. Use Keywords in your title – notice how my title STARTS with the keyword? "Blogging – Optimize Your Posts For High Search Engine Results" is a much stronger title for Google than, say, Get High Search Engine Results By Optimizing Your Blogging." Can you see why? Words to the left and higher in the post are given more weight than words to the right (near the end of a sentence) and lower down the post.

5. Restate your keywords in your comments. When someone leaves a comment for you, don't even just say "thanks so much for your comment, I really appreciate it." Instead say something like, "Thanks for your comment about my Blogging for Business post – I appreciate your thoughts." Sometimes comments are read by themselves, and now anyone ready my comment will know WHY I was pleased that a comment was left.

6. Use keyword-rich anchor text to link your blogs. HUH? You know, text links that have your keywords in them. And then create links that point to your other blogs or your main website, like this: Business Blogging by Charlie Seymour Jr – Read UltimateWorkAtHomeDads.com blog – Click Here! Google will now find THIS post and travel along this anchor text to find my main site.

7. Have you noticed that I use text bolding on many of my keywords? Google sees that too, and it makes these words even more important. Google feels that if you use BOLD, ITALICS, UNDERLINE, etc (though usually I stay away from underlining since it can be confused with a live link), you are telling the reader that these words are important, and if they are important to YOU (the writer), they are important to Google.

8. Make use of H1, H2, and H3 tags. Often blogs will do that for you automatically. The title of this blog is automatically put into an H1 tag… but I often add more of these tags since I know Google Likes them. "Blogging For Business Can Be Fun And Profitable" at the top was put into an h2 tag, to tell Google I felt it was important.

9. Though you might not be able to see it, the "alt text" for that little line drawing of me at the top of this post has "Internet Marketing Expert Charlie Seymour Jr" in it. Google sees that and connects what was written there to the entire article. It's good if you can name your images with good keywords too, something I don't always do but know I should.

10. Use your keyword in the title, at the top of your post, AND repeat it at the end. You saw the title already. You can see that my h2 tag the word in it. And now look below to see that the last word I use is ALSO the keyword.

Don't over do these. Don't "stuff" your keyword everywhere you can – this needs to look and read well, but follow these 10 steps to improve your Search Engine results when you blog… and you'll be glad you did!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad since 1983, succeeding in this economy

PS: Blogging is a steady, sure way to give away great content, attract interested people to your information, and keep Google sniffing around for more. Keep going!

PSS: Do you have trouble writing? Turn Your Words Into Gold – Go Here To Learn More! NOW is the time to start.

Follow Charlie Seymour Jr On Twitter!

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Blogging

Good Web Design – For Beauty Or For Business?

Charlie Seymour Jr — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:22:34 +0000

Do you want your website to be beautiful or successful for your business – don't let the design rule you

Ahhhh, beautiful design: it's pleasing to our eye, it's fun to look at, it often inspires us to higher levels of thinking and creating.

But is it good for business?

Believe me, I have NOTHING against art, photography, theater, and great website design. As a pro photographer (as ONE of the things I do) for high end family portraits, weddings, and bar mitzvahs, I always create the most emotional, beautiful work I can.

I'm creating the heirlooms of tomorrow today.

The bride and groom just after their wedding but before her diagnosis of MS.
The mother and son two days before his Bar Mitzvah (the last time he rested his head on his mom's shoulder, she says).
Three children on a common summer chaise in their backyard, but "painted" in the computer to enhance its beauty and make it a lasting memory before they grew up and moved away.

Website Design – Beauty or Business?

What is the purpose of YOUR website?

Are you attracting art lovers to see how great your site looks OR are you creating a business?
Do you use lots of images and flash or do you focus on guiding the visitor to leave his or her name and email address so that you can build your business?
Are you so creative in the look of the site that people forget why they found you and what they are doing on your site?

Is your site lost in Google's shuffle or does the coding of your site enhance the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) automatically?

Are you asking the viewer to do several things while visiting your site and then they get confused (A confused mind always says NO) or do you have ONE purpose for your site?

What Is The Difference – How Can I Tell If My Site Is Set Up For Business?

Here are a few websites that are GORGEOUS. Look how creative they are. Look how up-to-date they look. Look how clever the designers have been. See A Beautiful Showcase of Popular Web Design Trends, Click Here!

So, what is missing?

Ask yourself these questions:

What is the purpose of each site?
Are they capturing names and email addresses right up front so that they can build a list to build their business?
Are they asking the viewer to do too many things, confusing him or her?
Are you so fascinated by the design that you forget what you are doing there?
Can you imagine selling a product from this site?

How Can You Learn More About What Your Site Needs To Do?

Perhaps my earlier blog post can help you learn about your business and how you need to set things up. To Learn More, Click Here!

And soon I'll be releasing Say It So They Buy It: 15 Direct Marketing Musts When Your Salesmanship Is In Print^TM. If you sign up for my Ezine here on this site, I'll be sure to tell you when this is released.

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
A Work At Home Dad, succeeding in this economy

Friends, if you like this post, please leave a comment, join our email list to get updates sent to you, and retweet it. And I've made it easy to retweet – just click on the icon below. Thanks!