A Tour of Solo Business Marketing

Here is what you will find at SoloBusinessMarketing.com Are you as familiar with the Solo Business Marketing Web site as you are with this blog?

I’ve maintained a successful solo business since 1990 and developed this site to share the best of what I’ve learned and now share with entrepreneurs at workshops and seminars conducted at business and trade shows worldwide.

Maintaining a solo enterprise is smoother, and the revenue is higher, when you find support through plans, ideas, and videos. That’s what you’ll find on the main site.

After reading my welcome message, start with the frequently-asked questions to learn the basics to stay motivated and productive.

Browse the library for numerous start-up and growth strategies separated into five categories, and view a selection of online videos that focus on project planning and more.

There’s also a support section with guidance on creating business cards, finding a good Web host, crafting press releases, and developing your marketing plan.

Sign up to receive the six-part marketing course delivered by Email. It simulates the exact methods I use to gain revenue in less time and with minimum effort.

I encourage you to subscribe to Solo Smarts, the site’s weekly newsletter. You’ll receive a quick and useful tip each Wednesday to keep your firm profitable.

Bookmark Solo Business Marketing and visit often for updates to keep your business successful in any economy.

Shirley George Frazier

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March 4, 2008 | Filed Under Online Ideas | Leave a Comment

Print Directories Require an Online Component

Even local businesses need a Web site Copies of a community directory were stacked neatly on a table at a barbershop where my husband gets his hair cut. He picked one up on the way out and brought it home.

After breakfast he thumbed through the directory. Ten of the pages featured a business card-sized listing of eight firms per page promoting a variety of services. Most of all, he noticed one thing: only one company added a Web site to their listing (I browsed through the pages to find one more).

This basic piece of the marketing puzzle continues to be overlooked by small and solo firms, especially those with no vision for doing business outside of their local community. And there is plenty of business elsewhere, starting in neighboring towns.

For example, a pie-making company sells to the public and to institutional firms around town. A Web site presence provides an opportunity to put their pies in supermarkets, bakeries that don’t make the types of pies they make, and hospitals.

I’m not saying that this company has to go in that direction. However, an optimized Web site, publicized in the directory and in other formats, expands options for a more-diversified business if a firm chooses to serve other industries. That may be beneficial if current clients downsize.

This ongoing dilemma is one reason why I conduct Web Site seminars at business and trade gatherings and bring my marketing book to the event.

Business owners exit the event with a clear plan to get online, but there are many more who’ve yet to realize the marketing potential.

Perhaps by the time the next directory is compiled, there will be many more firms listed that proudly include their URL.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, business directory, solo business marketing, create a web site, solo entrepreneur

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March 3, 2008 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Online Ideas | Leave a Comment

Webinars — Are Yours Free or for a Fee?

Fee-based webinars may be more successful than free ones I’m a huge fan of webinars, teleseminars, and anything else that can be launched singlehandedly or with little assistance on the Web in order to reach a local or global audience.

As an early attendee of these online events, I not only learned topical information, I also studied how the event was launched. Most of all, I noticed that the well-attended events were paid for in advance by Web audiences who understood that a small, upfront investment translated into data that was well worth the money.

I was glad to read the topic of webinars mentioned in the ToolBox section of DMNews’s February 18th issue. Christopher Dean of KRM Information Services Inc. responded to the question, “Should I charge to attend my webinar?”

Dean provided his views in two paragraphs. Webinars:

Act as an effective lead generation method.

Increase skepticism when offered free of charge, as attendees expect a sales pitch during the session.

Exceed a 50 percent no-show rate when offered at no cost.

Why charge for your webinar?

Cost equals more-qualified leads.

Attendees expect (and receive) a quality event rather than an online infomercial.

The event’s value is understood because you’re the expert, or one who will interview a knowledgeable source.

Years ago I charged a fee for my online events, and I’d still do so today. In addition, current technology from free conference call companies allows you to record the event and sell it on CDs or as a downloaded product.

There’s nothing wrong with offering customers free webinars. Perhaps by scheduling one free of charge and one for a fee you can gauge which of the two draws the most attendees and leads.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, create a webinar, solo business marketing, DMNews, solo entrepreneur, Christopher Dean, KRM Information Services Inc.

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February 21, 2008 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Online Ideas, Revenue | Leave a Comment

A Few Good Blog Marketing Tools

Optimize your blog for better marketing results

“…only a small portion of Fortune 500 companies have their own blogs today, according to Forrester — despite the fact that blogging is inexpensive and easy compared with other marketing tactics.”

Large companies may not be blogging, but it’s more likely that a direct competitor who’s solo in size like you is on the blogging wagon. However, that doesn’t mean the competition can be found online through their blog as easily as you, especially if your blog includes keywords that increase your search engine ranking.

That was a key focus in BtoB’s February 11th NetMarketing column. The above quote from BtoB was hardly a revelation, as many of us escaped the corporate world where everything is stuck in a committee meeting followed by extensive reports, studies, and findings.

While the main article, The Blog Boost, introduced non-bloggers to the blogging world, the sidebar Ask The Expert column mentioned links to bookmark if a blog is one of your marketing tools.

Duane Forrester, senior program manager at Microsoft, was this issue’s expert, stating:

“Tools such as www.keyworddiscovery.com or www.wordtracker.com can help you see how many people have searched for a given phrase, helping you understand which keywords to use.”

You’ll find the Ask The Expert column here and The Blog Boost article here, at least while the issue is online.

With all of the information available on marketing with a blog, I usually don’t find links within the content that take me directly to marketing and tracking tools. Now you have a few to increase your marketing status above your nearest competitor.

Note: The “Forrester” mentioned in the Fortune 500 quote belongs to Forrester Research, not Duane Forrester of Microsoft.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, blog marketing, solo business marketing, BtoB, Duane Forrester, solo entrepreneur

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February 18, 2008 | Filed Under Customer Connections, Marketing News, Online Ideas, Recent Entries | Leave a Comment

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