Marketingyour business.

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Marketing DoneWrong

Do you remember Tivo? Whatabout Zune? Joost?

Chances are (depending on yourage), at least one of the aboveproducts is lost on you–you’venever heard of it.

That’s because, in all three cases,the marketing of these otherwisegreat products was a completeflop.

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Zune's Demise

The Zune is just one ofmillions of products thatfailed primarily due to poormarketing efforts on behalf ofthe business.

Here are some tips and tricksto properly getting yourproduct or service in front ofthe people who would beinterested, all on a small (orno) budget!

0 3 Establish anOnline Presence

Instead of paying thousands upon thousandsof dollars for a few inches of advertisingspace in a high-profile magazine, go digital.

Building websites isn’t a particularly difficulttask, and hosting and domain purchases canbe done for fairly minimal fees (usuallyaround $20 a month). If your product isentering the market today, a website is anefficient way to convey as much informationas you need on a tighter budget. They’re alsouseful in driving sales and garneringimmediate market feedback and leadgeneration metrics.

Without a website, where will potentialcustomers go to find more about you? Wherewill they find contact info, prices, or moreinfo about your product? They won't.

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Get Social Sites like Twitter, Facebook, SumbleUpon andthe like are platforms that allow you and yourbusiness to connect directly with consumers.

These platforms are also unique in that paidadvertising is built directly into the existingsystem. For a budget as small as $20 dollars,you can get your product in front ofthousands of people. Twitter advertisingallows you to target ads similarly (or evenmore specifically) than you could throughtraditional advertising platforms likenewspapers and magazines.

Ads can be targeted to different physicallocations, different genders, age groups andinterests.For a larger budget you cangenerate leads and clicks on your website,build and expand your audience and createbuzz around your product.

0 3 Email Marketing

While spam emails have inundated many aninbox, email marketing remains a very validform of keeping customers up-to-date onthe happenings of your business. Withsmartphones in nearly everyone’s pocketsand the ease of connecting emails to aphone, an email can function similarly to atext message, going right to the screen ofpotential customers.

Additionally, email marketing and gainingnewsletter subscribers are a great meansof running online contests or sweepstakes,particularly when used in conjunction withyour social marketing. A simple giveaway,such as giving a free product away pre-launch to one member who follows you onsocial media or subscribes to email mailinglists can drive signups at no cost to you atall.

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Get TraditionalThere’s a reason that classics areclassics. If your business or productis launching in the near future,consider a press release. Placementcould generate considerable buzzaround a product, particularly onethat solves an issue or caters to aneed that many people are awareof. Press releases do come at acost, of course, but for big releasesand lead generation, they can beworth it if your budget allows for it,particularly if they’re picked up andyou get placement or mentions in alocal paper.

0 3 Not There Yet?Not everyone is quite at the same level whenpreparing to market a product. While thispost has been mostly geared towards thosewith the products ready for launch, pre-launch and pre-production marketing can putyou ahead of the game.

If your product is still primarily in the “idea”or “funding” phases, crowdfunding sourceslike KickStarter can kill two birds with onestone, acting as a means of raising fundingfor production while simultaneously acting asfree marketing.

Kickstarter projects are fantastic for bothpromotion and fundraising, and are a greatoption for inventors who are still in theplanning and development phases of buildinga product.

thank youF O R M O R E O N B U S I N E S S &

E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P , C O N N E C T W I T HN O B L E N E W M A N B E L O W :

@NewmanNobleNobleNewman.comNobleNewman.net

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