Marketing: Your Business Deserves a Second Chance!

Your Business Deserves a Second Chance!

Written by Al Hanzal

Your Business Deserves A Second Chance! When you started your business, you dreamed your customers would love your products and services. They would be excited. You would make money doing what you love. Then reality set in. You put lots of time in your business. You got fewer profits. Now you compete with every Tom, Dick and Harry to sell your product or service. The future is not secure. Today, you get a second chance to change your business picture. A fresh start! In this article, you will focus on repparttar

second of five critical issues that influence how customers come to your business. Last issue we focused on your target population. This time, you can complete an exercise to clarify your marketing message. The Need to be Different The only way to be successful in our new economy is to be different, be unique and special to your market. When you separate yourself from your competitors, you can get back to repparttar 120137

original dreams you had about owning your business. Over 3000 impressions bombard your customer every day, asking them to buy. How are you going to make yourself different from repparttar 120138

2999 impressions that he or she ignores each day?

Stake Out a Position

Complete this exercise to carve a position for your business and to clarify your marketing message. Start by answering repparttar 120139 following questions: •What are repparttar 120140 three biggest problems your customer want solved when they come to your business?

•What are three gaps or complaints customers have about your industry?

•What positions do your competitors take in addressing customer problems?

•What three things could you do that are different from what others are doing in your industry?

You create a marketing position by staking out one piece of your target market. It could be a place where no competitor goes. It could be a place where others are now but you can do it different or better. Here are some other ways to carve out your position.

•Can you add or subtract something from your industry standards? •Can you make it bigger or smaller? •Can you customize? •Can you make it last longer? •Can you combine it with something else? •Can you make it more portable for your customers?

For example, your industry standard offers a one year guarantee on a product. You could offer an 18 month guarantee. You could be known as “the business with repparttar 120141 best guarantee”. From repparttar 120142 above process identify at least two potential positions you can take in your target market that will make you unique, different or special to your customers.

10 Ways To Create A Popular Online Community

Written by Daniel Lesser

10 Ways To Create A Popular Online Community Daniel J. Lesser

An online community could be a chat room, e-mail discussion list, discussion forum or other technologies that allow groups of people to communicate at your web site. When you have a popular online community it will increase your traffic and sales. Below are ten ways to attract people to participate in your online community.

1. Tell your visitors that you post a new, free offer every day, week or month in your online community. The free offers should be attractive to your target audience.

2. Regularly schedule experts or famous guests to participate in your online community. You could design it to be a virtual class or a question/answer session.

3. Post testimonials on your web site from people that have participated in your online community. The testimonials could be about what people have learned or liked while participating in it.

4. Don't allow blatant ads in your online communities. If people decide to visit your online community and see a ton of ads they most likely won't be back.

5. Post all repparttar benefits of participating in your online community on your web site. You could write it like you're writing an ad for a product you're selling.

6. Submit your chat room, e-mail discussion list or discussion board to online community directories. You can find them by typing " repparttar 120136 community type" with repparttar 120137 word "directory" in any search engine.

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