Red Hot Marketing Resources

What can publicity do for your business? I’ve seen two entrepreneurs I know get exposure in the SF Chronicle for their businesses.

Shonna Hall of Majestic Day Spa..a client of ours, got a fabulous write-up about how teen facials can reduce teen acne. She’s a licensed esthetician (www.majesticdayspa.com) in Oakland. Her phone rang and rang and she filled 3 months of appointments.

Marty Kaliski of Marty’s Motors...a colleague, was featured in the business section of SF Chronicle. The article looked under the hood of his business and detailed every aspect. The article resulted in record sales in Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan. October sales were up 58% from last year, November sales were up 42% and people still come in mentioning that article. Marty’s Motors is an auto repair business, (www.martysmotors.com) in El Cerrito.

Action makes things happen. This first resource is perfect for new businesses and seasoned businesses!

The publicity bible: Guerilla Publicity by Jill Lublin
available in bookstores and www.guerrillapublicity.com

This book is highly readable and full of tactics on how to get thousands of dollars of publicity for free. I love the chapter on how to uncover your uniqueness and capitalize on it.

What’s great about newspaper/radio/TV publicity:
-puts you in front of hundreds to thousands of people
-helps you reach people that are not in your circle of contacts
-you can keep mentioning it in your other marketing indefinitely, like on your website, to boost your credibility
-cost is low

What’s challenging:
takes time
takes creativity
takes persistence

Infoguru Marketing Manual (eBook) by Robert Middleton at
www.actionplan.com

Robert is another local marketing celebrity and well-known by consultants and others who work for themselves. This book is ideal for those who sell their expertise and offers an overview of marketing techniques...from networking, articles, speaking to websites. Also, this book has techniques to help you get new clients in a few short weeks.

If you are a long-time reader of Web Strategies or read our latest report--you may know that Middleton’s information really helped Tod and I build up a great client roster and get lots of referrals. Like Jill Lublin, he teaches you how to get business to come to you, instead of chasing after it.

When you go to Robert’s website be sure to sign up for the newsletter. It’s been a constant source of marketing inspiration to me and thousands of others.

The One Page Business Plan by Jim Horan
www.onepagebusinessplan.com

The #1 thing you need to assure the success of your website is a marketing plan. I can just imagine 50% or more of my readers groaning as I say this...I say it often. However, there is an easy way to write a marketing plan. Jim Horan’s book walks you through making a business and marketing plan...and makes it simple and enjoyable.

Happy reading and marketing. May your marketing grow and bring you lots of referrals.