Is there a specific marketing tool that works best for your unique business?
As a “solopreneur”, I am currently obsessed with marketing. I am most intrigued by finding the right combination of advertising and marketing for any given business. With all that is now available to us in the way of marketing, the mix can be very diverse. I am currently on a mission to figure out what are must have’s in business in general. I realized nine years ago that simply a web presence for my own business was vital. I knew that a website, or even just a webpage, was an essential marketing tool. Things have certainly evolved since January 2006 – a blog, Instagram, and Twitter being a few of my current obsessions as I realize their overall value.
Recently, I had an interesting conversation with another entrepreneur – a boat tour operator in St. Margaret’s Bay, Nova Scotia. Always interested in others promotional plans, I asked the owner how her marketing was going. I was surprised and delightfully interested to find out that the only advertising they did was using the deal-of-the-day website, Groupon. As of five years ago, Four Winds Charters spends no money on print ads, no time on social media…because Groupon does it all for them, in their ongoing email campaigns. The money spent on discounting tickets to customers through Groupon well outweighs the benefits of spending thousands in print; and, they have managed to skip out on their own direct social media presence. Wow! A magic potion for their business. Fascinating!
As so many of my readers are entrepreneurs, and with all the options available now, I want to know what works for businesses and what doesn’t. And, now that we’ve all had time to dabble in social media, any fav locations for your unique product or service?
If you are a local business, is there a marketing tool that you can’t live without? (local newspaper, flyers, a Facebook group?) Are you an online business? What is your secret potion? What specific marketing mediums work for you?
Yes, I want to know your secrets.
Well, you know I love email for getting a message in front of someone. Twitter is fun and I’ve actually gotten business that way. Almost all of my business comes through referrals but the marketing serves to keep me top of mind for those referrers.
Yes, Linda! You are the one person that I had pinned with the email newsletter! However, it is interesting to know that your business relies upon word of mouth!! Thanks for commenting!!
My best marketing tool … my blog. It brings me thousands of dollars of revenue each year either by introducing me to new clients or providing new clients with a way to get to know me better, get insight on my expertise. I’d follow that up with Twitter and, now that I have a newly renovated website, I’m hoping that’s going to become another secret sauce. Great post. Love the story about the boat tour operator.
Thanks, Mary Jane. Not too many people giving up their secret weapons. And, it is indeed thanks to you that I have progressed with my own blog and twitter. You are leading by example! I am grateful.