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Written by: Stone
Evans
Web Site: The
Home Biz Guy
Date
Submitted: 06/09/2003
When
you are starting out in a new home business and no one
knows who you are, one of the greatest challenges you
will face is how to drum up new business.
If there were not people in your community or
marketplace that you knew who needed your products or services, you
probably would not have started your business to begin with.
But, once you have talked to those who you personally knew who
needed your what you offer, then your next task is to find
others who will help keep your doors open.
Many people know that they must turn to advertising at
some point in the future, but they hope that day will be
long down the road. For some, this utopian concept will come to
fruition. But for the rest of us in the real world, we must come
up with creative solutions for meeting our home business
advertising needs while working within our budget.
Most people have a misconception about having to spend
lots of money in order to advertise their home business. When
you start out, you honestly will not have much money available
for advertising, and if you do, you should still spend it
wisely.
Before you jump headfirst into the world of
advertising, let me share some of the lessons I have learned concerning
this most important topic.
LESSON #1
It does not have to cost an arm and a leg to advertise
your home business, unless you fail to plan and fail to
test.
As much as is possible, you should always test your advertising.
If you jump in and start dumping tons of money in to
advertising without first testing your advertising, you might find
yourself broke and without sales at the end of the road. Most
people who commit this error write off their failure on the home
business they chose or the economy or any of a hundred other
excuses. But, if they are unwilling to take responsibility for
their mistake, they will never learn from their mistake.
Don't let this be you.
LESSON #2
All testing should be done in blocks. If you begin to
advertise simultaneously in newspapers, radio and television,
how will you know which advertising is bringing people to your
cash register? You won't. All you will know that something
might be working, but you will not know what is actually doing
the trick.
Even if you tell people in your advertising to tell
you how they found you, my experience shows that fewer than 10% of
the people ever will tell you anything --- and those people who
do may not even get the facts straight! You cannot rely on your
customers to tell you what advertising is working for your home
business. You must put in the extra effort to know for yourself.
LESSON #3
Only when you have a proven and solid advertising
portfolio should you venture to drop big bucks in an advertising
campaign. Even then, you should be careful to keep further
measurements to determine how much the maximum advantage of an ad
would be. Sometimes you might be able to reach ten times as many
people, but depending on the kind of media and other factors,
the additional exposure will only generate twice as many
sales. Keep your eye attuned to situations like this to get
the most from your advertising dollars.
LESSON #4
As Lesson #3 illustrates, sometimes your best
advertising investment may actually cost you less money. When you
are first starting out, whether you are running a home
business or a business outside of your home, you need to be
able to get people talking and thinking about your business.
If you are busy testing ads in media's such as the
newspaper, magazines, radio, and television, you need to learn
ways of promoting your business that do not require large cash
expenditures. A few examples are:
· Word of Mouth
· Business Cards
· Press Releases
· Non-Primetime Ads on Radio and Television
Here is more information about each type of low-cost advertising:
WORD OF MOUTH
This of course is the cheapest kind of advertising on
the planet --- it does not cost you anything. Ask your customers
if they know anyone who could also use your products or
services. When they are happy with your offerings and service, they
will be willing to tell you whom you can contact, and they
will pass the word for you.
BUSINESS CARDS
You can usually pick up 500 business cards for about
$20. When you do, hand them out. Do not give more than a couple
of cards to each person. If they need more cards from you, they
will ask.
Some people are known to network with others on a
regular basis. Some of these people are also known to be always
looking for an extra few bucks. With these people, you can suggest to
them that if they write their name on the back of one of your
business cards and the card is presented to you, then you will
pay a referral fee to them. You do not have to offer much
--- sometimes one dollar is enough. Look at your home
business and your offerings and decide how much would be a good
referral fee.
PRESS RELEASES
Press Releases are a good source for generating news
about your home business. The business editor at your local
newspaper is always on the lookout for a good business story to
fill the business news section of the newspaper.
Of course, the business editor understands the
economics of running a paper and is more inclined to run your story
if you buy advertising in his/her publication, but will still
print stories for special events and openings.
The important thing to remember about Press Releases
is that it must be constructed in the form of a news story. Even
if you are a sole proprietorship, quotes from you should be
written in a third person format: John Doe said, *Your quote
here.*
A Press Release should pack the most important
information at
the beginning of the copy, and leave extra details
towards the
end.
You should always provide the reporter who gets the
task a simple and easy way for him/her to contact you
directly. Often the reporter will want to contact you to get details
that will enhance their take on your story.
To learn more about creating Press Releases, you may
check out Rusty Cawley's site: http://www.PRrainmaker.com/
NON-PRIMETIME ADS ON RADIO AND TELEVISION
Believe it or not, some of the best rates for radio
and television are on the overnight and non-primetime
venues. These target times are not a total waste as they can easily
keep the infomercial people in business.
These off-hours are just less populated than the
primetime hours.
Don't be afraid to check your local radio and
television rates for non-primetime hours to see what bargains may
exist. With television, primetime is 7pm to 10pm. With radio,
primetime is 8am to 5pm. This sure leaves a whole lot of hours
available to advertise your home business at discount rates!
IN CONCLUSION
When it comes down to it, there is a lot to understand
about advertising, but when you have the basic knowledge
down pat, everything will fall into place and bring more dollars
to your bank account.
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Stone Evans publishes Home Business Tips, a fresh and
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like
YOU! If you're looking for the *best rated* home
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opportunities, the latest time saving tools and
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