Every good marketing plan should have a section on ongoing promotion and publicity, which outlines ways of reaching your target market. These tools can do many of same things paid advertising is supposed to do, at a fraction of cost. With an on-going publicity strategy, you can enhance your image and bring in new business.

Your first step: examine your marketing plan. Does it outline a carefully selected target market and identify its needs? Does it list your products and services that will meet those needs? Your marketing plan should describe how you will make it easy for your potential customers to buy what you sell. And, it should describe how these people will learn that your business exists - i.e. your promotion.

Next, take a look at your business itself. Do you know who you are? Are you using your image as a consistent marketing tool? In a world of intense competition, credibility and trust are crucial. This stands true for corporations, small businesses, and non-profit organizations. Establish a company message you believe in and repeat it over and over in your promotional materials.

Fortunately, consistent promotion is a state of mind - once you start promoting your message, you'll find opportunities everywhere you turn. By reinforcing your image and repeating publicity, you'll begin to see dividends accrue for your organization. As your company's stories appear in media, your clients and prospects will perceive you as more credible. You are positioning yourself as expert. As you send out materials such as newsletters and ezines, you build a relationship with people over time. They feel like you are a friend, not a pushy salesperson.

If you're not sure where to start or where to go next, a professional agency can help you refine your existing strategy and create marketing tools to meet your specific goals.

Are you contributing to one of estimated 36.1 million (and growing) blogs online? Or are you thinking of entering fray and starting to publish a blog for your small or home business? Make sure you are publishing right type of blog for your kind of business, or all that writing time will have been for naught.

Just as there are different types of blood, there are many different types of blogs, and each serves its own purpose. Giving your blog a blood test will help you determine which type of blog is best for your business and what may be wrong with one you've got now.

Blog Blood Type 1: Customer Relations - Blogging is one of best ways to put a face and personality on your business, especially if you operate entirely in cyberspace. Those that best employ their blog in strengthening relationships with their customers spend a lot of time interacting with customers, answering questions, providing useful tips, and keeping them informed of business happenings. These blogs focus less on company's products and more on company's culture and outlook. The goal of this type of blog is to engender customer loyalty and establish a consistent flow of interested website visitors.