Great Brands Are Consistent

One characteristic that all great brands share is they are consistent in what they look and feel like, as well as what they do. Bayer aspirin has changed little over the decades and still does the same thing today that it did 50 years ago: gets rid of headaches. Everything you do to promote and manage your brand needs to be consistent, including design, look, feel, tone, voice, benefit, and message. The reason brands must be consistent is they take a long time to build, maintain, and evolve, and this is what builds consumer awareness of the brand. In orther words, it makes consumers think of your particular business, service, or product when they have a specific need to be filled that is relevant to what you do or sell. Even brand king Coca-Cola got caught in the consistency trap when they tried to change the recipe for the soft drink after more than 100 years of it being the same. Consumers revolted and coke was forced to issue two recipes of their cola, New Coke and Classic Coke. The consistent Classic Coke that looked and tasted the same won out hands down over New Coke.

Excerpted from 'The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide'

Getting Connected: Join the 'Better Business Bureau'

Before they spend their hard-earned money, most consumers want to know they are doing business with a credible and honest firm. One of the best and most affordable ways for you as a business owner to drive home the fact that your business is both credible and honest is by becoming a member of your local branch of the Better Business Bureau. Membership in the BBB is especially important if you're in the business of providing consumers with services. As a service provider, one of your main sales and marketing tools is your business reputation and how you treat customers. Being a member of the BBB will help form an instant impression of credibility adn good reputation. Once your business is registered with the BBB, be sure to promote the fact by including the BBB member logo in all advertisements and sales materials you use. Furthermore, most BBB branches publish an annual Better Business Pages or similar publication that lists member businesses and what they do. Advertising in these BBB publications is inexpensive and you'll quickly discover that many people, especially those have had bad past experiences purchasing a product or service, will only deal with businesses that belong to the Better Business Bureau.

Excerpted from 'The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide'

Three Rules For Niche Marketing

1. Meet their unique needs. The benefits you promise must have special appeal to the market niche. What can you provide that's new and compelling? Identify the unique needs of your potential audience, and look for ways to tailor your product or service to meet them.

2. Say the right thing. When approaching a new market niche, it's imperative to speak their language. In other words, you should understand the market's 'hot buttons' and be prepared to communicate with the target group as an understanding member-not an outsider. In addition to launching a unique campaign for the new niche, you may need to alter other, more basic elements, such as your company slogan if it translates poorly to another language, for example.

3. Always test-market. Before moving ahead, assess the direct competitors you'll find in the new market niche and determine how you will position against them. For an overview, it's best to conduct a competitive analysis by reviewing competitors' ads, brochures, and web sites, looking for their key selling points, along with pricing, delivery,a dn other service characteristics.

Excerpted from 'The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide'

Four Fresh Ways To Target Your Market

1. Reach college students. The more than about 15 million students in colleges nationwide spend around $200 billion in products and services each year. Now there's a down-and-dirty way to reach them-with ads posted in laundry rooms on college campuses. For information, contact Wasboard Media and OnPoint Marketing.

2. Hit the links. If golfers are your target, trying advertising on the sides and backs of hospitality carts-mobile units selling beverages and golfing supplies that stop once every hour at each group of golfers. Sports Cart Media offers hospitality cart signage on nearly 1,000 golf courses, with seven advertising spaces available on each cart.

3. Pump them up. Local business owners in select markets have a new form of advertising available to them via the nearest gas pump. Direct Cast Network has embedded computer chips in gasoline pump handles that play a mix of advertisements, information, and entertainment when a nozzle is placed in a fuel tank.

4. Get in the swim. Take corporate sponsorship of sports facilities one step further with logos and ads in and around public swimming pools. you can place signage on scoreboards, timing clocks, starting blocks, walls, and supporting pillars-even on the bottom of the pools. Contact your local community pools, aquatic centers, and universities concerning sponsorship.

Excerpted from 'The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide'

It's All In The Name

Skip the hip and latest fads in terms of naming your new business enterprise. Instead stick with the time-tested and proven formula of keeping it simple and making a good and memorable first impression on consumers. your business name should tell people in a flash what you do and what's in it form customers (the benefit). It should be memorable and easy to spell and pronounce. ABC Pool Cleaning, granted, is not a very original business name. But it does tell people what you do (clean pools), what's in it for them (not having to slave all day cleaning their own pool), it's memorable (we all learned our ABCs), and it's very easy to spell (once again, we all learned our ABCs). more than anything else your business does or sells, it is your business name that will promote your business and get used the most, in print and verbally. The importance of having the right business name cannot be understated. Avoid names tied into your specific geographic area in case you want to expand the business nationally or internationally down the road. Seattle Pool Cleaning just wouldn't have the same recognition and impact in Miami or in Dallas as it would in Seattle. yet, National Pool Cleaning would be a name that would be universally adaptable regardless of geographic operating location.

Excerpted from 'The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide'

It's All In The Name

Skip the hip and latest fads in terms of naming your new business enterprise. Instead stick with the time-tested and proven formula of keeping it simple and making a good and memorable first impression on consumers. your business name should tell people in a flash what you do and what's in it form customers (the benefit). It should be memorable and easy to spell and pronounce. ABC Pool Cleaning, granted, is not a very original business name. But it does tell people what you do (clean pools), what's in it for them (not having to slave all day cleaning their own pool), it's memorable (we all learned our ABCs), and it's very easy to spell (once again, we all learned our ABCs). more than anything else your business does or sells, it is your business name that will promote your business and get used the most, in print and verbally. The importance of having the right business name cannot be understated. Avoid names tied into your specific geographic area in case you want to expand the business nationally or internationally down the road. Seattle Pool Cleaning juist wouldn't have the same recognition and impact in Miami or in Dallas as it would in Seattle. yet, National Pool Cleaning would be a name that would be universally adaptable regardless of geographic operating location.

Excerpted from 'The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide'

Create A Marketing Calendar

Small-business owners are busy people. In fact most work in excess of 60 hours a week. By creating a marketing calendar you can prioritize the importance of each change you want to make in your current marketing activities. Or prioritize each new marketing idea you want to implement into your marketing routine. Developing a marketing calendar is actually quite simple to do, even if you already have a marketing plan in place. Get started by making two lists; the first should comprise the new marketing ideas you would like to test or implement. The second list should comprise current marketing activities that you feel could be improved upon or done better. Each list should be prioritized with the most important things at the top. Once you have created the lists, simply place each item into your yearly business planner on the dates you feel each new or improved marketing task should be started or implemented in your marketing and action plan.

Excerpted from, 'The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide' -page 25