Marketing 101
Marketing can be a mysterious and elusive concept for a lot of entrepreneurs. It easily gets confused with sales and often has resistance associated with it because of that. People often are not sure what they need to do to effectively market their business.
Marketing is the process of deciding what you will sell, to whom and what the product or service will look like. It is about getting clear on the benefits, features, and value the client receives and matching that with what the market wants. Advertising, promoting and selling your product or service are all part of marketing but not marketing as a whole. Another important piece of marketing is building relationships.
In order to be able to market your business you need to know and be able to share what it is that you offer. You need to be able to describe what it is, what it does, how it works, what's included in the service, what happens when a client uses it, what the benefits are, and what the value is they receive. Get really clear in all these areas and be able to articulate them in your sleep.
As mentioned above advertising and promoting your business are part of the marketing process. There are several ways you can promote and advertise your business...
Your business card. Always carry them and make them readily available to potential clients in a variety of locations. Ask other businesses your potential clients may use if you can leave some at their location. At networking events bring a stand to display them.
A brochure. You can pack quite a bit of information into a brochure just don't overdue it! Make sure you leave some white space and it doesn't look like a novel to read. Bring these to networking events, trade shows, conferences, workshops etc.
A flyer. One page that says it all very succinctly. Once again make sure there is white space along with a hook or attention getter right at the top, something that will pull them in to find out more.
Your web site. Make sure your web site address is on all your marketing materials and that all the pages are working properly. Make it interactive or give something away. Speak directly to your potential clients.
There are many other ways to market your business so be creative (pens, mouse pads, note pads, magnets etc). Make sure that you are always branding your company identity and that your target market will connect with the information.
Marketing your business is where building relationships and providing value are so important. You can do all the advertising and promoting you like but when it comes right down to it your relationships and the value they provide will be what will make the sale. In order to build any relationship you need to find out who the person is, what they are facing, what are the challenges, what is missing, what they need most right now, and what they value. You can then offer support and/or solutions that fit the client and begin building trust and the relationship. Making it about the client makes you very attractive to them and they can see the value of the relationship.
Offer complimentary sessions or discount services for people to be able to try your services. There is no better way to demonstrate value. Ask potential clients what would be of value to them.
Remember that any marketing initiative should be measurable. In order to determine what is and is not working for your business find out how people heard about you. Keep track of web site statistics, business cards, brochures or flyers given out at an event. The only way you will know is by finding out.
Copyright 2002-2006 Virtual Strategies - All Rights Reserved.
Mary-Lou Ashton
Virtual Strategies
Phone: 604-483-3740
Fax: 604-648-8641
Email: marylou@vatp.ca
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Mary-Lou Ashton has been a pioneer in the Virtual Assistant profession in Canada since 1997 and developed a training program to support other VA's in being successful. Her passion for the profession continues to grow and Mary-Lou invites you to visit her at http://www.vatp.ca
