Unusual ways to market your business

Small business owners are constantly being confronted by the challenge of marketing their business. In a sea of competitors, it can be difficult or even seem impossible, to make your product or service stick out. Even when companies have a large amounts of marketing dollars ( a rarity for most small businesses), this can be a difficult feat. However, savvy small business owners understand that there are a variety of unique and fairly low costs ways to help market their business to the forefront of their industry. Using some creativity and planning, if you are a small business owner, you can utilize these ideas to successfully market your product or service. Here are some unusual ways to market your business-

• Make your business card more effective-On the reverse side of your business cards, print the names and phone numbers of three of your top customers who will give you great references. You can then give these cards to your prospects, and encourage them to contact your customers for references. Make sure that you get permission from your customers beforehand. Best of all this idea only costs a few cents per business card, for the costs of the additional printing.
• Use your customers to help you market-You can ask your customers to grade your report card. You do this by sending them a survey in the form of a report card, rather than sending a standard satisfaction survey. You will want to ask your customers to give you letter grades-A, B, C, etc. You should not be afraid to have your customers grade you.. They are already grading you, and telling others what they think. You can use the report card to find out what they're saying. Then you can use the report card to improve your business. Ultimately, you can use it to promote your business. If your customers give you straight A's, you should not be afraid to tell everyone! If your "grades" are less then satisfactory, you can change your product or service, and your marketing to reflect the improvements.
• Use your existing marketing tools more effectively-This idea makes better use of money you are already spending, and promotes your business, all at the same time. The key is to closely examine what you are already using to market with and then improve its effectiveness. For example:Your business envelopes probably consist of lots of white space. Why not turn that white space into a billboard? You can create a " teaser" statement, which is a one-line description of your business, or a special offer and imprint it on the outside of your envelope, right under your return address. Keep in mind that time-sensitive billboards, and curiosity-builders, are ideal for this purpose. One important note, however, is to keep the message clear of the upper right corner of the envelope, which is reserved for postage. Best of all with available technology, you can easily change your billboard whenever you so desire by running your envelopes through a laser printer. Be sure to take a close look at all of your existing marketing materials, to see how their effectiveness could be improved.
• Keep your customers up to date-As a small business owner you may be surprised to learn that many times, customers are surprised to discover that a business they have frequented for months or even years, offers products and services that they didn't know about, but would buy if given the opportunity. There are many ways you can introduce a new product or service, to both existing customers and prospects. Some of the easiest ways include: listing products and services on your fax cover sheets, your invoices, and postcards that you mail to your customers, or include with outgoing correspondence or packages.