Marketing Myths

Marketing Myths<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Your online
marketing battle will include a number of different methods in different areas
of the Internet. You may have a web site, use an auto responder, post
classified ads, post articles, place banner advertisements, sponsor lists and
newsletters, distribute press releases, and much more.  Keep in mind,
though, that when you are first starting out, it is critical that you focus on
one aspect of your marketing campaign at a time and promote it to its fullest
extent before moving on to the next.

It is better to slowly become
profitable by focusing on one issue at a time, than to barely be profitable
because you are attacking all of the issues half-heartedly.

Diversify and spend small
amounts on advertising at first. If you use a cautious approach, you will not
be wiped out financially if an ad doesn’t generate the sales you were hoping
for.  Just keep testing ads as your budget allows until you find the one
that works best; then you can roll it out and be confident that you are going
to make money rather than lose it!  

If you have a lot of
competition, state that you will honor all of your competitors’ coupons and/or
discounts; use “their” advertising to your advantage.

An age-old problem in
business is collecting final payment for services rendered.  As a business owner, you need to be prepared
for “difficult” clients and “mooches” by doing such things as…

1. In your contract or sales
agreements, state the interest rates and late fees that will be assessed if
payment is not received within 30 days of completion.

2. Write form letters to be
used for collecting the balance. There should be three letters in total -- one
after the payment is ten days late, another after twenty days, and a third that
lets the client know that you’ll be turning their account over to a collection
agency (or taking them to small claims court). The third letter should not be
sent until 45 days after the payment is late.  
And of course, never bluff.  If
you say you will turn it over to a collection agency, do so.

3. The best way to protect
yourself is to take payment via credit card. 
State to your client that you will bill their credit card one third of
the total price as an initial down payment, another third just after you have
passed the 50% completion point, and the final third on delivery. Or use the
two-payment system -- half at the initiation of the job and the remainder upon
completion.