5 New Year's Resolutions for your business success

2009 looks like it will be a year of belt-tightening for businesses and individuals.

When it comes to marketing, you can spend a lot of money and not achieve much, unless you target the spend cleverly and carefully. This year you might be able to streak ahead of the competition by smart use of your marketing budget, however small it is.

Here are some tips so you can plan how to market and promote your business this year without wasting a penny.

1 always measure the effectiveness of what you do and what you spend; if you advertise, make sure you know exactly how many people responded to the ad, and don't repeat the ad if it didn't pay for itself in new business several times over.
2 talk to your potential customers as if you were sitting having a coffee with them; don't overwhelm them with jargon
3 tell them why they need your product or service, not what it is you are trying to sell
4 tell them how other people in other companies have seen real financial benefits from using your product or service; people are more impressed by hearing who else is a customer of yours than what you have to offer. If another well-known local company uses your services, then people will conclude that you must be good at what you do.
5 network with business people in your area, so that they know who you are, what you do, and how they can benefit from doing business with you; make sure you give your business card to people who might be interested, and use it as a way to explain who you are, what you do.


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