Thursday 23 August 2012
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Marketing Basics for the Small
Business
By Laura Lake,
About.com Guide
The essence of
marketing is to understand your customers' needs and develop a plan that
surrounds those needs. Let's face it anyone that has a business has a desire to
grow their business. The most effective way to grow and expand your business is
by focusing on organic growth.
You can increase organic growth in four different
ways. They include:
·
Acquiring
more customers
·
Persuading
each customer to buy more products
·
Persuading
each customer to buy more expensive products or up selling each customer
·
Persuading
each customer to buy more profitable products
All four of these increase your revenue and profit.
Let me encourage you to focus on the first which is to acquire more customers.
Why? Because by acquiring more customers you increase your customer base and
your revenues then come from a larger base.
How can you use marketing to acquire more
customers?
·
Spend
time researching and create a strategic marketing plan.
·
Guide
your product development to reach out to customers you aren't currently
attracting.
·
Price
your products and services competitively.
·
Develop
your message and materials based on solution marketing.
The Importance of a Target Market in Small Business
When it comes to your customers keep in mind the
importance of target marketing. The reason this is important is that only a
proportion of the population is likely to purchase any products or service. By
taking time pitch your sales and marketing efforts to the correct niche market
you will be more productive and not waste your efforts or time.
It's important to consider your virtual
segmentation by selecting particular verticals to present your offerings to.
Those verticals will have the particular likelihood of purchasing your products
and services. Again, this saves you from wasting valuable time and money.
Small Business Marketing and Large Business
Marketing are Different
If you are like the majority of small business
owners your marketing budget is limited. The most effective way to market a
small business is to create a well rounded program that combines sales
activities with your marketing tactics. Your sales activities will not only
decrease your out-of-pocket marketing expense but it also adds the value of
interacting with your prospective customers and clients. This interaction will
provide you with research that is priceless.
Small businesses typically have a limited marketing
budget if any at all. Does that mean you can't run with the big dogs?
Absolutely not. It just means you have to think a little more creatively. How
about launching your marketing campaign by doing one of the following:
·
Call
your vendors or associates and ask them to participate with you in co-op
advertising.
·
Take
some time to send your existing customers' referrals and buying incentives.
·
Have
you thought about introducing yourself to the media? Free publicity has the
potential to boost your business. By doing this you position yourself as an
expert in your field.
·
Invite
people into your place of business by piggybacking onto an event. Is there a
concert coming to town, are you willing to sell those tickets? It could mean
free radio publicity. If that is not your cup of tea, how about a walkathon
that is taking place in your area, why not be a public outreach and distribute
their material?
When you do spend money on marketing, do not forget
to create a way to track those marketing efforts. You can do this by coding
your ads, using multiple toll-free telephone numbers, and asking prospects
where they heard about you. This enables you to notice when a marketing tactic stops
working. You can then quickly replace it with a better choice or method
Getting Started with Small Business Marketing
By being diligent in your
marketing and creating an easy strategy such as holding yourself accountable to
contact ten customers or potential customers daily five days a week you will
see your business grow at an exceptional rate. The great thing is it will not
take a large marketing budget to make it happen.Read more on www.marketing.about.com
Friday 17 August 2012
The town of Pongola is small town just 10 km from the Swaziland border in the foothills of the Lebombo Mountains. Rich in Anglo and Zulu Boer War history, Pongola is surrounded by 50 km² of sugarcane and subtropical fruit plantations. It is just 270 km from the southern gates of the Kruger Park and tourist attractions include local game farms and lodges, the Pongolapoort or Jozini Dam and a local 9-hole golf course.
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Pongola lies on the N2, wedged between the Swaziland border and the Phongolo River, meaning ‘the trough’ because of its long, deep pools with steep sides. This river plays an important role in the area, filling the pans with water in flood season and supporting a population of fish, crocodiles, hippos, aquatic birds and people. Where the Pongolo River passes through the Lebombo Mountains is Jozini dam, very popular as a Tiger fishing destination that borders with the Pongola Nature Reserve and Game Reserve, meaning you can view wildlife from a boat on the dam.
A main attraction in Pongola is the Pongola Game Reserve, a private farm through which the Pongola River runs. The area around Pongola is home today to 4 of the Big 5, just the lion is excluded from this list. One can participate in a local Rhino tracking programme on foot and there is also an Elephant tracking programme. Initially, both of these animals were on hunters’ hit lists so that what appeared to be an inexhaustible number of game dwindled fast.
In 1894 Paul Kruger, President of the old Transvaal Republic, declared the Pongola Game Reserve. Today, this has been re-proclaimed, at least in part, as the Pongola Bush Nature Reserve, which borders on the Pongola Game Reserve. The Pongola Bush Nature Reserve contains a valuable piece of mist belt, evergreen forest with fine examples of yellowwood trees and over 120 species of bird. The reserve can only be visited following an arrangement with the KwaZulu Natal Wildlife zone officer.
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