| |
| |
|
Marketing Resource Center |
|
|
|
Marketing on the Cheap: Write? Right!!
We all know the value of writing articles for promoting your website or online store. However, writing articles to promote your old-fashioned, traditional brick and mortar business has been around forever. Contact your local newspapers, and chances are, depending on what business you are in, they may be interested in giving you your own column. Most small or medium-sized media markets will have at least one daily serving the communities and probably at least one weekly newspaper. Offer to supply a weekly or even a monthly column for free. They are always looking for editorial content and "free" is always attractive. Be careful about a daily commitment, this can get overly demanding in a hurry. It may be a little more difficult to approach the Los Angeles Times or the New York Times, but in major media markets there are any number of regional weeklies that can be approached. Other considerations may be regional or even national trade publications, Chamber of Commerce newsletter or other professional associations and organizations you may belong to. If you can't get the column for free, don't be afraid to pay for it. But make sure the layout is designed to look as much as possible like a regular story or editorial content. The paper will probably require that you put some sort of disclaimer on your column like the word "advertising", but this is not a big deal. Have a professional photo taken and include it in you articles whenever possible. Don't use your high school photo or one that is touched up to make you look totally different than you actually do. You are trying to build recognition and credibility. After your column has run for some time, you will be surprised how many people will easily recognize you. People like to do business with people they know. Okay, so now you have own column; make good use of it. Give it value. Do not make it a blatant advertisement and/or sales pitch. In fact, except in extremely rare occasions you probably don't want to sell anything directly in your column at all. You want to write real content, stories that are either of real value or entertaining. I had a friend once that owned a restaurant. He paid to have his own column in our local newspaper. He never once wrote a story about his own restaurant. Instead he wrote about his world travels, famous chefs, and the wonderful restaurants he had enjoyed. Another approach you may want to consider is a "How To" column. I once supplied a weekly column for an art gallery/picture-framing studio. We wrote a series of how to buy and frame your own artwork. Check you local newspaper and you will no doubt see examples. If you are writing the column for the newspaper and not paying for it, make sure you retain editorial control and copyright to the work. If you are paying for insertion, ask your ad representative or ad agency for samples. As you travel around, pick up the local newspapers in the area you are visiting and see what others are doing. If you don't have the time or the feel you are not capable of writhing your own column, check with an ad agency. You should be able to find one that provides this service. If you belong to a professional association, check with them and see if they supply "ghost" stories. I have worked with accountants, stockbrokers, lawyers and others using ghost stories. I will suggest that if you are not writing the story yourself, you may want avoid the by line that says "by" and use "furnished by" or "supplied by" or something of that nature. The last thing you want to do is get caught taking credit for writing something someone else wrote. If you pay a copywriter for original copy, this is not as likely to happen. But if you use ghost stories from an association, you are more then likely not going to have exclusivity. Someone in another publication may be running the same story. When you start this project, think long term. It takes a commitment. It will take some time to build readership. You are establishing yourself as an expert in your field to people that don't know you. This will not happen overnight. I mentioned retaining editorial control and copyright. After you have created a number of columns and/or stories, you may want to consider putting them all together in a book. Keep this in mind in the early stages. If you are working with a ghostwriter or ad agency, make sure they understand your intentions so proper preparations can be made and taken into consideration from the very beginning. If your traditional non-web based business does have a web site, and it should have, make sure you prepare your writings for distribution on the net as well. Once you start writing you can use the materials in any number of different ways. So?go write something! To learn more about writing to promote your business visit http://sbmag.org/writing No permission is needed to reproduce an unedited copy of this article as long the About The Author tag is left in tact and hot links included. We do request that we be informed of where it is posted so reciprocal links can be considered. Email floyd@sbmag.org. Floyd Snyder is the founder and former owner of Executive Advertising, Camera Ready Art and Strictly Business Magazine. Currently he is the owner of Strictly Business Magazine at http://www.sbmag.org, http://www.FrameHouseGallery.com, http://www.EducationResourcesNetwork.com/ and http://www.TraderAide.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
10 Awesome Ways To Attract More Orders 1. Create a free ebook directory on a specific topicat your web site. Make Your Prospects Say Yes! 6 Secrets to Stellar Sales PresentationsEvery sale is won or lost in the presentation. Regardless of product, industry, or market every sale has the same basic components: A prospect who wants a product, a product, and a sales person who will or will not help that customer buy. Five Tips for Trade Show Success on a Small Budget No matter how small your marketing budget, your business can afford to have a successful presence at trade shows without incurring big expenses. Here are five tips for exhibiting in trade shows inexpensively:1) Have a sales representative exhibit your line at a trade show. Inform vs. Excite excite v. 1 a: to call to activity b: to arouse to feeling 2 a: ENERGIZE b: to produce a magnetic field in 3: to increase the activity of 4: to raise to a higher energy level syn see PROVOKEA lot of marketing doesn't do the whole job. How Do You Know Your Clients Cant Pay More? "My clients can't afford higher rates."When more than 330 business owners and self-employedprofessionals checked off reasons why their income wasnot going through the roof, this statement was chosenmore often than any other. Adapting Blog Technologies To Corporate E-Newsletters Every January, trade publications put out a list of predictions for the coming year. They discuss products, services and trends that they think will change the way business is done, labeling these "disruptive technologies. Give It Away Now - The More You Share, the More You Sell! Give away your knowledge, and you'll make money. How does this work? Isn't this counter-intuitive? Let's think about this. Fax Marketing : Reaching a New Niche of Customers Traditional marketing and advertising assumes that all of your customers are traditional people. Even newer technologies like email assume that the best way to reach people is when they are at their computers. The Top 10 The Top Ten Signs That Your Marketing Message Needs a Facelift Is your marketing plan dull, flat, and downright boring? Is it lacking the zest and appeal which can penetrate the consciousness of your buyers? If so, you may be driving away folks who could easily buy your products or services. If so, these ten signs from The 90 Day Marketing Marathon Blunders from A to Z: B is for Boring will support you in raising your awareness of what drives folks away and tips on how you can create a message which will catch fire in the market place. The Information Publishers Secret Resource Guide To Blow Customers Away! Have you ever heard the saying, "Give and you shall receive"?Well, with information publishing, this saying is one of the most important you will ever hear. Let me explain:Whether you are providing your information product in a book, an e-book, a manual, or a video, if you want your customer to buy from you again, you must provide in your product value that he or she can directly apply to his/her life. How Testimonials Can Put You in the Spotlight If you need evidence that a testimonial or referral can help you, let me tell you a personal story:My friend Dave raved about his boss all the time. "She knows I'm still in school," he said, "so she always asks about my schedule. Wooing Women With Packaging In just one month three California vineyards have introduced new wine product lines specifically targeted to women. The product offerings are intriguing with names such as "White Lie" and "Mad Housewife" to the latest introduction "Working Girl White. Do You Know Where Your Email Address is Today? Having people go to your website is not always easy: remind them with a special business card.Whether you understand it nor not, the web is likely here to stay; those businesses that do not yet have a web presence, or at least email addresses, are likely to get left in the dust. Direct Mail Formats: How to Choose the Right One for Your Next Mailing Which pulls the best response, a postcard, a self-mailer or a letter? The answer, you'll be irritated to know, is clear. It depends. Customers Are Like Vampires No, customers aren't bloodsuckers (well, maybe a few are!) and they don't come out only at night. According to legend, vampires don't come in until they are invited. To All Internet Marketers - How To Get My Business? More and more people are realizing that the Internet offers great potential to set up a healthy business for pennies on the dollar. This is good news for internet marketers - but it also means that they need to lift their game. Developing a Contact List- Part Two In a previous installment, we spoke about how to come up with a list of persons you currently know. Although everyone on that list will not necessarily become your client, everyone can lead you to clients. First to Market Theory AGE OLD QUESTIONBusiness scholars throughout the planet keep asking the same question and have come to the conclusion that being first into the market place is preferable. Preferable to what? They say every product has a life cycle? What about milk? If that is true and many academia will classify products and services in order to make a point and simply lump them all together. What Is Better Than FREE? Oh come on! FREE is free. Zero, zip, nada, zilch. The Sweet Aroma of Highly Effective Marketing Highly effective marketing is accomplished when your marketing materials and marketing strategy work together to reliably move your prospects through your sales process.Have you ever caught a whiff of a tantalizing aroma wafting through the air as you walked down the street? With your senses suddenly alerted to something tasty nearby you notice the bakery on the corner.
|
| home | site map | Advertising Articles |
| © 2006 |
