As a small business owner, we know that we need to keep a good eye on our budgets. Over the recent few years businesses are pushing online traffic as their primary way of marketing their small business. While this is a great thing to do, many then forget about offline marketing via direct mail to their prospects and existing customers.

Direct mail has always had the highest response rate of any media used in the marketing mix and should not be ignored or discarded.
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Do you have a brick and mortar office location or retail location that you customers come in to? Then you could be pre-selling your customers on your products and services before they actually even meet with you.

Your first impressions are critical in any business. Just like your first image of how you dress, your office should have the same image when a client comes in your door. A clean and professional look and feel will really make a difference in your customer’s eyes.
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Businesses close up shop every day. There are a dozen reasons that your competition might be closing their doors. Economic changes, bad business operations, bad location or just a lack of a marketing plan (not you though, right?!)

As hard as it is for these businesses and their owners, most of them will still want to make sure that their customers are taken care of after they close their doors. This makes a great opportunity for you to not only get a new list of potential clients but make sure that those people are taken care of once the old business is long gone.
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You are an expert in your industry or field of business aren’t you? Then you have a great opportunity to use that to educate the public about your industry and establish yourself as an expert in your industry.

Just like having your own free mini-seminars, becoming an in-house speaker is a great way to educate consumers, establish your credibility and help market your products and services.
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One very overlooked way that a small business owner can help to market their business is to volunteer in a community organization. As a volunteer with a local organization, you not only are helping out the community and making a difference for others in your community, but you also get to network with other business owners and prospects, building your relationships with them.

Community organizations are always looking for people to volunteer to help their organization. Many do look for donations for their fund raising events and such but many times, most of them really need people that would be willing to donate a few hours of their time to help with their events and causes.
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People generally wouldn’t even consider reading 90 minutes of sales copy but they will listen to it or better yet, watch it. If you send someone a 16 page sales letter, they may read it IF you’ve done an excellent job of writing it but most will just skim over the main points. A CD or DVD on the other hand, has a higher perceived value and is more likely to be watched.

With Video becoming so powerful both online and offline, you can take your sales presentation to a whole new level and make a lasting impression on your new prospective clients.
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How many times have you actually received a Thank You letter from someone that you bought something from? I’m betting, not very many times. Your existing client list is over 10 times more likely to spend more money with you than someone that never has purchased from you before.

Whether you send a gift certificate, a 2 for 1 special, a free gift or even just a simple Thank You letter appreciating them for choosing you over the other businesses they could have picked, these types of letters are always memorable and encourages your customers to return to you before looking elsewhere. It also helps them feel good about you and they will be more likely to refer you to their friends and business associates.
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