Small Business Marketing Guide - DIY (do-it-yourself) BRAND MARKETING STRATEGIES to HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS

I’ve owned my own business. I’ve helped launch and manage two successful dot-coms (Netflix and CNET).  And I currently work for HP (which is ranked #9 in the most recent Fortune 500 listing). So I’ve seen my share of marketing and brand-building efforts — both good and bad.

Here’s one marketing secret I want to share: You don’t need a dime in your marketing budget to successfully launch and build your brand. You simply need the right resources, a bit of time and the commitment to learn, improve, and share.

Free DIY Marketing Resources

The adoption and acceptance of social media is very good news for small business owners. The quality of marketing expertise that’s available via blogs, communities and online conversations is staggering and could cost you thousands of dollars were you to actually pay for it out of pocket (I did when I had a business).  But why would you, if you can get the same expertise for free (or at incredibly affordable rates)?

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Getting customer feedback is vital to learning how well you’re reaching your customers. Sadly, most companies fail miserably to both collect and effectively respond to customer feedback.

Just think about the last time you made a complaint or suggestion to a big company like AT&T or Comcast. Did you get a lame response like “Thank you, we’ll take your feedback under consideration?”

That scripted response is an important lesson for your small business:

It’s not enough to simply say you’re listening. You actually have to mean it. Then, you have to prove it by taking concrete actions to address the feedback.

Here’s how you can better listen to your customers:

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What does every business have in common? A brand. It might not be the same for everyone, but it is a strategy they all have to employ at some point. Essentially, it will represent every positive, or potentially negative, thought a customer will have about your company.

Of course no business would want their brand to give people a negative impression. But, what do they want it to say? That’s a question that you need to ask yourself. The actual answer will depend on you.

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One of the classic mistakes many marketers make is to assume that potential customers inherently care about their company or the product they have to sell. It may sound harsh, but the fact of the matter is that they just don’t. Most customers don’t care about you, your product, your exciting young company or what you have to say.

What do they care about? Solving some problem or meeting some need of their own. But increasingly, they also care about doing business with companies that care about them.

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If you click on the “Direct Marketing Strategies” tab, you’ll see a ton of great advice on how to boost your revenues through direct marketing.  Here’s an Editor’s Roundup of some of the hottest direct marketing tips from our group of small business marketing experts.

CRAFT A MESSAGE: Joe Costantino offers six rules for creating an effective direct marketing message.

Before you can embark on your direct marketing journey, you have to figure out what message you want to send and what action you want prospects to take. It’s important to remember that people won’t know why they should buy from you unless you tell them.

GET RESPONSE: Anita Campbell outlines four ways to get a high response from your direct marketing efforts.

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