AWC Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

New post on: More Business

Regardless of your approach, advertising is costly, and small business owners are especially vulnerable when it comes to developing a business advertising strategy. It’s a unique double standard because without a business advertising strategy, small businesses won’t generate the type of customer traffic necessary to succeed.

The key to an effective ad strategy is balancing the costs with a creative approach. Low-cost advertising options are available; you just have to know where to start looking and how to implement a plan that will generate results. Here are some simple tips to help you strengthen your small business advertising strategy without breaking the bank:

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New post on: What Works for Business

For the first time, more small businesses are now advertising online than are advertising through traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, radio and cable TV, according to The Kelsey Group, a media research and consulting firm.

Results of Kelsey Group’s latest Local Commerce Monitor study, conducted with research partner ConStat Inc., are stunning. Of the small and medium size businesses surveyed, 77 percent now say they are using digital or online outlets to market their businesses while 69 percent are using traditional media.

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New post on: Entrepreneur

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted,” Philadelphia department store magnate John Wanamaker was famously quoted as saying. “The trouble is I don’t know which half.”

Wanamaker’s dilemma remains the bane of advertisers today–especially small-business owners on shoestring budgets. Unlike big-name advertisers like Pepsi, Nike, Apple and Ford, small-businesses can’t afford to throw millions of dollars at Super Bowl commercials or glossy magazine ads. Whether your ad budget is $5,000 or $50,000, you’ve got to make every dollar count.

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New post on: OPEN Small Business

So, maybe you’ve heard, advertising doesn’t work anymore. Or, at least that’s what many business owners have come to believe. While it’s true there are some very attractive new ways to create awareness about your business, few things afford the total control that advertising does.

If you are having a sale, launching a new product, or just want to promote a service offering, you can target your audience and pinpoint the exact date with advertising. Turning the tap on at a specific time is a little tougher to do with other forms of lead generation such as PR or referrals.

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To succeed, entrepreneurs must develop a base of satisfied customers. Advertising programs are the key to attracting customers and this article explains some advertising basics that will get you started.

Wondering how to start advertising a business? Before you start advertising, be sure you understand the fundamentals of advertising.

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How much does billboard advertising cost? Are the costs of billboard advertising worth the money? Using billboards to advertise your products and services might be a smart move, and billboard prices might be less than you think.

Billboard advertising can be an effective and cost-efficient way for entrepreneurs to spread the word about their products and services. The Outdoor Advertising Association of America estimates that U.S. businesses spent more than $5.5 billion on outdoor advertising in 2003 and is anticipating a healthy increase in 2004. No matter how you slice it, billboard advertising is on the rise in America.

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Some companies are doing well during these tough economic times. That’s why I sat down with David Durick of gotoBilling, www.gotobilling.com, to find out the secret to their success (and how marketing has played a role in their significant growth over the past year).

What do you do at gotoBilling.com and how long have you been with the company? I’ve been with the company for three years now. My official title is Director of Operations, but I do a little bit of everything.

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Over the 4th of July, I was walking around an affluent neighborhood and about every block or so, there were children selling lemonade.

Lemonade Stand 1.
At the first stand, the kids were yelling from a bench about their lemonade and how much it cost. They were so loud that people were running to get away from them!

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With nearly $18 million in annual revenue and 31 employees, ShoppersChoice.com, a Baton Rouge company that operates a handful of e-commerce sites, is substantial — but it’s no Wal-Mart. Yet for just $2,500 to $3,500 a week, commercials for BBQGuys.com, its online store for grills, run alongside ads for Wal-Mart on the Food Network and a few other channels.

Mike Hackley, founder and CEO of ShoppersChoice.com, launched his low-budget campaign using Google TV Ads, which lets businesses buy advertising time on national cable channels and the satellite service Dish Network. Google TV Ads essentially works like AdWords, except that instead of bidding on search terms, you bid on airtime.

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These days many entrepreneurs are struggling to find enough customers just to keep the doors open. While survival is the key right now, be careful not to set the stage for a business model that won’t be sustainable when the good times return.

Understanding who our target market is and what they want from us as customers, are the keys to developing a brand that customers will remain loyal to over time. It help to create what marketing folks like to call our product positioning. A strong market position can help protect sales over the long-term, even during economic downturns.

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