The Heartbeat of Business is Marketing

Anyone that has been in business for any amount of time soon realizes that people must know

you exist in order to stay in business. You may have the best service, product, customer service,building and signs out front, but you need customers. Providing an excellent product or service is the easy part. The hard part is marketing. You see, marketing is the heartbeat of a business.

Unfortunately, marketing can be expensive, it’s a risk and there are no guarantees. Matter of fact, you can literally spend thousands on marketing your business or service. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that customers will come. Even if customers do come, will they buy? But that’s a whole different article. The bottom line, marketing is important for business success. Below are a

few tips to help market your business that may cost a small price or for free.

Website: Every business owner needs a website to be taken serious. I mean, who actually looks

at the yellow pages these days? Most people feel if you have a website it makes you credible. Also, instead of printing brochures and pamphlets you can direct people to your website. You can do that verbally, on your phone’s voicemail, business cards, and on any advertisements.

Google Adwords: Having a website is not enough. Just like having a building, if there is not a

way for people to know you exist, they will not find out. Google Adwords is an excellent way

through keywords, to have anyone in the world discover your business online. Keywords

describe your business and what you do. For example, keywords could be career, debt coach or wellness. A good webmaster should be able to set up the content and coding within the website for search engine optimization (SEO), which is really another name for "marketing."

Email Marketing: A weekly or monthly newsletter or tip is a great way to give informative

information and to market your business. The information should not be a hard sale, and it

promotes you in front of potential customers. Also, if others enjoy the content, they may forward your information for others to read. That will get you in front of a new audience as well.

Viral Marketing: If you are an expert at something, writing articles and content about your expertise is an excellent way to promote and your business. There are many places on the

Internet where you can submit your articles for free. The media and people searching to use

articles for their blogs, websites, magazines, and newsletters will go to these websites to get new content. The benefit, in order for people to use the articles, they must include your short bio and contact information.

Social Networking: If you do not like face-to-face networking, social networking is an

excellent way to connect, meet new people, and make new business contacts. There are probably

hundreds or even thousands of websites to use, and you do not have to be a technical genius to

get started.

Other excellent sources of "free" marketing, is being interviewed as a guest on live radio or television. Find a show you like and email the producer and introduce yourself as an awesome potential guest. Yes, marketing truly is the heartbeat of business. At least now, your heart can beat without you going broke.

Avery Stephens