Small Business and Entrepreneurship Experts, Tips and Advice | BizLaunch Small Biz Blog » marketing for small business

Custom Art at Affordable Prices:Claire Hall Designs

Heather Largy — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:56:28 +0000

We’ve all heard the phrase “starving artist”. Typically this description refers to some poor soul who is struggling to make ends meet while putting their time and effort into their art. When I think of the term, I think of someone who has the courage to risk everything and follow their passion.

Meet Claire Hall. After I interviewed Claire in her downtown Toronto art studio, I was inspired. Through her business, Claire helps people feel more comfortable in their homes by creating custom-designed artwork at an affordable price. “Many people want original artwork, but they don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on it,” she said. Claire’s solution is simple. Clients can submit a picture of their room through her website and she will create custom art based on their décor and budget.

When I asked her how she got her start she said, “I went to school for fashion-design, but I always loved to paint.” Claire’s hobby became a business when she decided to load some of her paintings onto Facebook. “After one day I had 20 orders, so I took it as a sign.” Shortly after, Claire left her successful career in the fashion industry to pursue her true calling.

Not long after that she ran into a problem that is all too familiar for many entrepreneurs – getting business. “Once people found out about my business they were really interested, but getting the awareness was tough.” That changed when she was featured in the Toronto Star earlier this September. “The day the article appeared, I received over 1,500 visitors to my website, 200 emails and 100 orders.” The article was so effective that she now has a 50 person waiting list, and the orders keep coming in.

This story not only illustrates why you should follow your passion, but it demonstrates how small businesses can profit from free publicity. When your submit your story to news outlets, you aren’t the only one benefitting as journalists are always looking for new and interesting content to write about. Additionally, if Claire purchased an advertisement in the Toronto Star there’s a good chance that most readers would have skipped over it. Why? Because traditional advertising just can’t compete with the credibility that public relations can offer. Most importantly PR is free! Free publicity can work wonders for businesses with a limited advertising budget. So get your name out there by submitting information to newspapers, social news websites, or to journalist support sites like Help A Reporter Out (HARO) – and you might be surprised at what happens next.

Making Marketing Easier With Google

Heather Largy — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:26:02 +0000

When it comes to marketing, many small businesses have trouble measuring their investment. Sure you could always advertise in the local newspaper, or hire someone in a guerilla suit to stand on a busy intersection, but how do you know if your marketing efforts are paying off? This question becomes even more important when you’re a small business with a limited marketing budget.

Small business owners increasingly want to know how they can get the most of their marketing dollars. To answer this question we look at some of the tools Google is offering to help small businesses with marketing – many are free! Here are the top 6 Google tools that can help maximize return on marketing.

1. Ad Words – Allows you to target specific keywords that will appear on the right hand side of a Google search in the sponsored links section. Your ad words will also appear on Google’s partner sites as advertisements.
Google Adwords.

2. Keywords – You want to pick key words that are specific, not overly competitive, and relevant. The Google Keyword tool gives you this information on a local, national or global basis. Google Keyword Tool

3. News and Alerts – If you want information specific to your industry set up a Google alert. These alerts email you a list of news worthy items so you always have content for your social media accounts and so you can stay on-top of your competitors and your brand. Fresh and interesting content can make you a knowledge expert in your industry and may even provide content for journalists.
Google Alerts or Google News

4. Reader – This tool helps you access various blogs in one place allowing you to easily find, read, and comment on them. By commenting on other blogs you can attract readers and get ideas for content.
Google Reader for more.

5. Places – A Google listing helps people find your business online. If you enter the right keywords, people in your area will easily be able to find you through search results. You can also add media to make your listing more interesting.
Google Places

6. Google + Button – This button not only allows users to share content from your website, but more importantly lets people promote your page in Google search results. According to a recent study by HubSpot, websites that use Google’s +1 button got 3.5 times more traffic than websites who didn’t use the button.
Google Plus

For even more information on this topic, attend one of our free small business webinars.
Source: http://www.hubspot.com/

How to Grow Your Business in 2011

Andrew Patricio — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 15:49:41 +0000

Growing a business is one of the toughest but also most rewarding things you’ll ever do. You’ll be increasing sales, adding employees & suppliers and people will start recognizing your brand.

Here are some tips on how to keep the momentum going:

Delegate non-essential tasks.
Develop relationships with suplliers, customers and industry experts.
Create systems so that you can focus on leading and managing.
Market constantly and focus on growing your sales.
Find great mentors and advisors to assist you
Attend Bizlaunch webinars

Simple Small Business Marketing Plan Template for 2011

admin — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:58:03 +0000

1. What are your marketing goals for the next 12 months?

2. What benefits do you offer clients?

3. What are the key differentiators of your products and or service?

4. What are the key features of your products and/or services? Why can’t people do without your product or service?

5. Who is your specific target market? Which customers would you like more of?

6. What marketing tools can you use to connect with your target market?

7. What is your marketing budget (Time and Cost)

8. List your 12 Month marketing to do list

Free small business webinars click here

Use Viral Marketing to Expose Your Brand & Grow Your Small Business

Andrew Patricio — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 22:28:49 +0000

People often wonder how you can make “viral” web content, as if there is a magic formula. If someone tells you to just add a funny cat and a top 40 song, beware.
In today’s digital landscape, content is king. Whether you are an SEO expert or a social media master, if the content is not there, the audience is not there.
But what else can you do to build your brand awareness and extend your reach without breaking your budget on high-cost viral marketing campaigns (ie. Old Spice)?

One suggestion is promotions with sharing incentives. Are you having a special sale or a giveaway? You’ll probably be able to reach people in your database and/or your followers on your social media channels, but what about attracting outside attention from your customers’ networks?

Why not in addition to your current offer add a sharing sweepstakes? “Share this offer on Facebook, Twitter or Email & win a $50 gift card.” There currently are web-based tools such as Pinpoint Social (launch.pinpointsocial.com/pinpoint-social) that can help you build promotions , track and capture this data for you.

This is a cost-effective way of creating new leads while rewarding your loyal brand advocates. There word-of-mouth recommendation can have as much influence, if not more, than any flash-in-the-pan viral campaign.

Learn How to Grow Your Business

Andrew Patricio — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:00:24 +0000

Click here to register

Monday April 12th at 7.00PM EDT – Low Cost No Cost Marketing Ideas You Can Use to Grow Your Business – Webinar

Tuesday April 13th at 2.00PM EDT – The Art of Successful Networking Offline and Online –Webinar

Tuesday April 13th at 6.30PM – 5 Small Business Strategies for Social Media – at Staples 945 Eglinton East, Toronto, ON – Live Event

Wednesday April 14th at 2.00PM EDT – 7 Secrets to Building a Successful Business – A Growth Strategy – Webinar

Wednesday April 14th at 6.30PM – How to Build a Successful Business a Growth Strategy – – at Staples 945 Eglinton East, Toronto, ON – Live Event

Thursday April 15th at 2.00PM EDT – Free Online Tools and Apps You Can Use to Accelerate Your Business Growth – Webinar

Thursday April 15th at 6.30PM – How to Improve Your Website and Develop an Online Marketing Strategy – at Staples 945 Eglinton East, Toronto, ON – Live Event

Click here to register

Top 10 Marketing Tools for Small Business

Andrew Patricio — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:32:52 +0000

Networking with clients and potential referrers
Great customer service, which leads to testimonials which leads to referrals
Email marketing with great subject lines
Telephone – the telephone is still one of the best marketing tools. Use it connect with potential clients and set up meetings
Community relations and free publicity
Blogging – start blogging even if you’re not sure why
Social media – LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook in that order
A Website that is well designed, easy to navigate and optimised
Joint marketing ventures with companies that sell to similar target markets
Sales letter – develop an excellent letter and follow up with a phone call

4 Ways to Make Millions

Andrew Patricio — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:02:20 +0000

The marketing plan for your new small business is the most important part of your business plan. After all, without customers, you won’t have much of a business to run. Unfortunately, many small business owners just focus on acquiring new customers and ignore strategies to get more business from existing ones.

It’s a well-know marketing fact that strategies designed to reach existing customers are far less expensive than strategies to attract new customers. Why? You’re preaching to the converted. Existing customers are already familiar with your business through prior experience, and – hopefully – trust your products or services. New or ‘non’ customers have no such experience with you, and therefore it requires more energy and money to attract them.

In marketing, there are only four ways to build your business sales:

Get more customers. A startup business needs to focus on getting new customers. The most expensive strategy of the four presented here, you really have no choice if you’ve just launched your venture. Invest some of your dollars in well-targeted advertisements, brochures, direct mail, a website and sales calls. Consider offering a discount, free sample or money-back guarantee to encourage prospects to try you out. Once you’ve got some customers, you can implement the following three strategies.
Help your customer to buy more. Considered a ‘volume’ strategy, it’s always easier to encourage a customer to spend a little more at the time of purchase. Use suggestive selling to offer an additional product or service to complement their purchase for just a little more money. Stereo stores sell warranties. Convenience stores display chocolate bars and gum near the cash register. Fast food restaurants ask you to “Biggie Size It” for a few cents more.
Help your customer to buy more often. ‘Frequency’ strategies keep customers coming back to buy from your business again and again. Find or create reasons for your customers to return week after week or month after month. For example, Mr. Lube reminds you to change your automobile oil and filter every 5000 kilometers by placing a simple sticker on your windshield.
Keep your existing customers happy. It’s far more expensive to chase new customers than it is to keep your existing ones happy. So, overwhelm your customers with attention and value-added services. Let your customers know how much you appreciate their business, again and again. “Loyalty” programs can include some kind of tangible gift, discount offer, rewards card, special event, free service, or a simple note to say “thank you for your business.”

By Entrepreneurship Expert Roger Pierce, www.BizLaunch.ca