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Make Your Small Business a Winner: The secrets of marketing

by Anna Hipkiss

• The first secret is that marketing is not a magic wand, but more of a useful set of tools.
• The second is that marketing does not have to be expensive, but it can be hard work.
• The third is that you need to be ruthless in finding out what works for you, and do only that.

Let’s take two examples: first, selling a retail product, and second, doing business consulting.

If you are selling a product to consumers, then you can spend a fortune on advertising, but no small business has a fortune to spend, so you will be clever, and use the internet well. A good website, filled with active keywords, and some careful investment in Google’s pay per click may be enough. You might supplement this with PR. Can you draft an article for a magazine which would feature your product?

If you are a business consultant, the marketing picture will be very different. You’ll need a website and business cards, but they are just to establish your organisation’s identity. Your marketing will be aimed at generating a network of contacts and building business by referral. Networking can be very time consuming, but it will pay off.

The marketing approaches are very different, and it is vital to do what works, not what feels like glamorous marketing. Keep asking yourself the question: ‘Will this deliver more business?’ This is the acid test of any marketing activity.

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Credit – staying ahead of the game

Credit is about three things:
• Where can you borrow money from, if you need it?
• Can your customers pay you on time?
• Can you pay your bills on time?

If you have a good answer to these three questions, you have credit well under control. If you don’t, then you are likely to be at serious risk, particularly when times are hard.

In difficult economic conditions, banks are reluctant to lend, but banks aren’t the only source of funding: private investors may be a better option. Ideally have a source of funds in place before you need it, then there will be no whiff of desperation, the turnoff for any investor or lender.

Keep an eye on the credit status of your customers, particularly if you deal with a few large ones. Take nothing for granted, things can change and a good payer may suddenly become a bad debt. If you see trouble ahead, ask for payment upfront.

It is important that you are seen as creditworthy by your suppliers. If you don’t pay up, you might contribute to their demise, and then you’ll have to find a replacement supplier, which can create its own problems.

It’s a tough discipline to anticipate problems like this, but it’s what you need to do to stay ahead, and ultimately to stay in business!



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