Marketing: ARE YOU USING ALL 7 OF THESE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE MARKETING TACTICS?

ARE YOU USING ALL 7 OF THESE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE MARKETING TACTICS?

Written by Bob Leduc

Here are 7 well known, highly effective marketing tactics many small business owners overlook when developing their marketing program. How many have you overlooked?

1. BE UNIQUE

The best way to beat your competition is to promote a distinct advantage your customers cannot get from a competitor. This is often called your USP (short for Unique Selling Proposition). If you don't already have a distinct advantage, create one. Add something to your business you're not already doing. One network marketer I know doubled her sign up ratio by providing free sales leads to her new distributors for their first 4 months.

2. USE TESTIMONIALS

Collect and use testimonials. Testimonials from satisfied customers are similar to referrals. Both provide your prospect with evidence that your product or service produced results for other customers just like them. I've performed many tests using repparttar same messages with and without testimonials. Those with testimonials always increased sales, often by as much as 65% or more.

Don't wait for satisfied customers to volunteer a testimonial. Instead, follow up with some customers soon after completing a transaction. Ask what they liked best about your product, service or business opportunity. You'll get many flattering compliments. Ask for permission to use them in your promotions.

3. MAKE AN UPSELLING OFFER

Upselling is a proven technique you can use to get more money at repparttar 121928 point of sale. Customers will never be more receptive to an attractive offer from you than when they're paying you money. Offer your customers or clients repparttar 121929 option to upgrade to a better product or service at a special price. Or, offer repparttar 121930 option of adding a related item to repparttar 121931 sale for a special combination price. Many will accept your offer. An upselling offer can increase your average sale by 30 percent or more without creating any advertising expense.

4. TRIVIALIZE YOUR PRICE

HOW TO USE A "HOT MARKET" TO BUILD YOUR BUSINESS

Written by Bob Leduc

Do you remember all repparttar

anxiety about Y2K in 1999? It created a "hot market". A lot of businesses jumped into that hot market. Many of them failed when repparttar 121927

Y2K problem evaporated. But a few used repparttar 121928

unique opportunity it provided to build permanent, profitable businesses.

HOW TO IDENTIFY A NEW HOT MARKET

A hot market usually involves something new or previously unknown. It offers a big benefit or solves a big problem for a lot of people.

Pay attention to what you hear from other business owners, what you read in trade publications or what you find on repparttar 121929 Internet. When you uncover a new product or service ask yourself, "What are repparttar 121930 characteristics of repparttar 121931 customers who use this? Are there lots of them and are they easy to find?" If your answer is "yes", you may have discovered a new hot market.

When you think you've found a hot market, look for ways you can profit from it. For example, you may be able to become a distributor for repparttar 121932 product or service you found ...or you can develop your own products or services to serve repparttar 121933 same market.

GET IN AT THE BEGINNING

A hot market can produce a surge of business for a short period of time, especially if you get in at repparttar 121934 beginning. That's when sales are easy to get because repparttar 121935 market is growing and there isn't much competition. Later, it becomes more difficult and expensive to get sales as more competitors flood into repparttar 121936 market. Hot markets become highly competitive.

Most hot markets won't vanish like repparttar 121937 Y2K market. A hot market may be a permanent market but repparttar 121938 extraordinary profit potential it offers is temporary. It's difficult to build a permanent business based exclusively on a hot market. But you can use it as a temporary opportunity to launch a new business or to increase repparttar 121939 profits of your existing business.

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