Improve Business

You promote your business by getting the word out. The first axiom of business promotion is that you have to do this consciously. By working with Gilmore’s professional staff, you’re half way there. The second axiom of business promotion is that like every other aspect of your business, it’s a budgeted activity. But business promotion doesn’t have to be expensive.

You have business cards, but you also put out a lot of other documents in the course of doing business. Check these to make sure you’re using their promotional possibilities to full advantage.

For instance, business stationery is an ideal business promotion tool. Is your business name, logo, contact information (including URL if you have one), and slogan on your envelopes as well as on your letterhead? or are your envelopes only printed with your business name and return address? What a waste! Your phone and fax numbers, your URL, and even a memorable slogan should be there, too. It’s not just an envelope, it’s a business promotion tool! You’re sending it out anyway, so why not make it work for you?

The same goes for outgoing faxes, bill payments, receipts; whatever paper you send out should carry your full company message. And don’t forget to make sure that your email has a complete signature that provides all your business information and a promotional tagline.

Electronic documents, such as email, are also easy to update with your latest business promotion information, whether it be a special price on your product or service, or letting people know that your company has won an award. If you need information about using signature files with particular mail programs.

Articles and press releases are also excellent business promotion tools that you can use to promote your business inexpensively. We will advise you on what types of articles and press releases you should write and tips on where to send them to promote your business effectively.

The caveat to using press releases as a business promotion tool is that your press release has to actually contain information that is newsworthy, and be engaging enough to get people’s interest. Has your business recently expanded? Do you have a new product? Have you been involved in some promotional activity such as sponsoring a charity event? Have you or your company recently won an award? All of these are examples of “news” that you can capitalize on to get promotion for your business.

While many business people send press releases to newspapers as a matter of course, don’t forget about the Internet. Web sites that specialize in providing business-related information, are interested in you and your accomplishments.

What else can you do to get some business promotion? What about using Inernet as business promotion tools or doing some buddy marketing to promote your business?

Posting messages in forums (a.k.a. bulletin boards) is a great way to make your business known to people you would otherwise be unable to contact. You can’t blatantly advertise your business on most forums, but you can show others that you’re a knowledgeable, personable individual and promote your business through your signature file.

Getting people interested in your business and perhaps attracting new customers works best if we choose forums that are business-related or directly related to your business’s product or service.

The other caveat with choosing forums to post in is to check their level of activity; posting in a forum that doesn’t have much traffic or regular activity isn’t going to do much to promote your business.

Well-written articles can provid advertising and build positive word-of-mouth. If you’re a realtor, for instance, you could write a piece on preparing your home to be shown. If you’re a Web site designer, you might write a piece about assessing Web site usability. The more specific your topic, the better. Write a short biographical note, or “blurb” about you and your business to go with the article. Then send it out!

Where? As the goal is to promote your business, ideally you’d like it to appear in a publication that your target audience will be reading. Realistically, so we would focus our first efforts on the ‘Net. There are an astronomical number of e-zines and sites with newsletters that are hungry for content.

Newspapers are also excellent places to place your business promotion article, as they too have a much shorter lead-time than magazines

The local radio station or cable TV station may have programs that are looking for guests – a great way to promote your business! Business-related programs are ideal

Call in programs are popular;

If you’re a mechanic, you might offer to take call-in questions on car maintenance; if you operate a health store, you might market yourself as an expert in herbal remedies. Have your proposal clearly worked out before you contact the program host, and make sure the parameters of your appearance, such as details about plugs, are clear beforehand.

You have expertise that other people are interested in! (You couldn’t be in business if you didn’t.) Why not share that expertise and promote your business at the same time?

For example, a local carpet company advertises a free seminar on installation techniques for a type of laminate flooring. Participants not only learn how to install this type of flooring themselves, but are offered special discount prices if they wish to purchase laminate flooring. Another local retailer who sells goods made of stained glass offers courses on working with stained glass on-site.

For example, if you send out brochures, you could include a leaflet and/or business card of another business, which had agreed to do the same for you. This gives you the chance to reach a whole new pool of potential customers.

we might also plan and carry out business promotions with complementary businesses. A pet store and a pet grooming business, for example, might use shared advertising, or run a contest together.

We’re all familiar with hearing or reading advertisements that promise that the first 50 people to visit a particular store will receive a free (____). You fill in the blank. It could be anything from a red rose through an ice-cream cone! We’re all familiar with this kind of spot promotion because it works. People love to receive things that are free.

What small, inexpensive things could you give out with your product or service that will get your customer thinking good thoughts about you? Combining business promotion with customer rewards is definitely a win-win situation.