Small Business Pricing Strategies

Written by Sharron Senter


It's tough out there, particularly because of layoffs and our sluggish economy. So what's a small business entrepreneur trying to make a living to do? Try these low-cost pricing strategies to keep sales moving. TACTIC #1 -- Never simply slash your prices, unless you're trying to empty obsolete inventory. Instead, try repackaging your prices so they're more affordable inrepparttar short-run so more prospects can afford them. For example, rather than pricing your service forrepparttar 119601 year, "Our monthly newsletter is only $39 forrepparttar 119602 year." Instead, try "Our monthly newsletter is only $3.25 per month." If you accept credit cards, it's very easy to set up reoccurring monthly charges that are billed to your subscribers without having to intervene every month beyondrepparttar 119603 initial account set up. The upside to offering your subscription on a monthly basis is that you can now market a $3.25 headline versus a more expensive $39 headline, i.e. you're able to offer services at a more affordable rate without slashing prices. ANOTHER EXAMPLE Here's another example. Just last night I was onrepparttar 119604 phone with a potential marketing client. As a small business owner she's trying to get some marketing help and is on a tight budget. My standard hourly consulting fee is $225, which is not always appealing to some businesses. However, in trying to work within her budget I suggested that my services could be more affordable for her if she allowed me to help her through email instead of face-to-face or onrepparttar 119605 phone. Let's face it, when you're onrepparttar 119606 phone with a client it takes longer to accomplish what you're doing since you're not only answering their questions, but you're building a relationship and talking about unrelated topics. It's difficult not to. In fact, you should! No matter what type of consultant you are, building a successful business is not aboutrepparttar 119607 initial sale, it's about establishing a long-term relationship with customers. One-off sales don't lend themselves to growing a profitable business; rather, deep customer relationships do! However, since I was able to establish a trustworthy and comfortable relationship with my prospect onrepparttar 119608 phone, she thought my marketing services through email would be a win-win. Did I slash my prices? No, instead I found a more efficient way to offer my services, whereby I could offer them in less time and therefore, my client will pay less money. This strategy could work for business coaches, fitness experts or personal chefs, whenrepparttar 119609 latter prepares meals in her home rather than in a client's home.

Simple Media Kits with the Help of Publisher

Written by Granny's Mettle


For a marketing campaign to work, you have to providerepparttar media with a kit. Announcing news and information about your business can be attractive when combined with a useful and packed media kit.

A media kit is a collection of significant materials that givesrepparttar 119600 media information on who you are, what you do, and best of all, why they should care. It can be as fancy as you want it to be, just make sure that it is consistently clean, attractive and relevant. Proofread and edit thoroughly any copy that you include inrepparttar 119601 media kit. This can and will be used for future reference, so make sure thatrepparttar 119602 information is reliable and correct.

For easy and quick creation of a simple yet professional media kit, Microsoft Publisher can help you a lot to come up withrepparttar 119603 items needed such as a cover letter; a brochure; a press release; business cards; your company mission and history, and even profile; and biographies and credentials of key personnel.

Userepparttar 119604 same Master Design Set in Publisher (e.g.repparttar 119605 Studio Design) for consistency in your materials. Create your company letterhead, business cards, brochures, and labels usingrepparttar 119606 featured tool in Publisher. Customize and tailor your materials according to your specifications. As such, you can be sure that your media kit, and everything in it, will convey exactly what your company wants to convey torepparttar 119607 media.

Here are some tips for an effective communication materials in your media kit:

Cover Letter- It should be short, straightforward, and should be able to introduce you, your company, and your media kit. If you can, address your cover letter to a specific contact person, and not just Dear Sir/Madam. The Publisher has a Mail Merge feature, which you can use to address your letter to different names even withrepparttar 119608 same content inrepparttar 119609 body ofrepparttar 119610 letter. The Mail and Catalog Merge Wizard will guide you throughrepparttar 119611 process.

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