• Survey
  • Book Becky to speak
  • The book: Small Town Rules
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Marketing tips

By Jeanne Cole

From the Welcome Business USA January newsletter:

Q: We do not have a huge marketing and advertising budget, but we do have some money and I think it is time we tried something new. But what? I was wondering if you might have thoughts.
A: A trap many entrepreneurs fall into, myself included on occasion, is turning to the tried and true too often. While the tried and true is comfortable, it also typically yields predictable results.So if you want your business to grow, you need to mix things up sometimes. New marketing tricks can create new results. Here are a few of my favorite, inexpensive strategies:
Networking: I can hear you now – “Yes, we know we are supposed to network more!” I hear ya. Networking is sometimes easier said than done. First of all, it takes time, and secondly, it is not always easy. Yet even so, it is true that some of your best prospects will come from networking at chamber events and so forth.
So here are three tips for making networking easier:

  1. Act like the host. Rather than waiting around for something to happen, turn the event inside out by pretending (in your mind) to be the host. How would you act? Yep – friendly, confident, chatty, and positive.
  2. Play around with your nametag: Put your nametag on upside down. Write “World’s Greatest Salesman!” above your name. Silly things like these spark conversations.
  3. Practice your elevator pitch. The essence of a networking event is that we are asked what it is we do. Having a short, interesting, intriguing answer is one of the most powerful of marketing tools. As they say, you only have one chance to make a good first impression.

for additional question and answer information:
http://welcomebiz.imagz.com/newsletter

[small biz] [rural] [marketing]

February 20, 2006 Filed Under: rural

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Comments

  1. Bill says

    February 20, 2006 at 9:13 pm

    Okie,

    Hello. I read through your blog and wanted to take a quick moment to share with you a new concept we’ve created called Fast Pitch! Online… Fast Pitch! basically bridges the gap between tools like LinkedIn and more traditional networking events (i.e. chamber of commerce) by creating live human interaction via a web-conference style event.

    In short, our web-cast events usually involve 10 professionals “pitching” their business to one another. An online business profile is created by each person prior to signing up… and is used during the event to create a nice visual during the call. Events are usually ‘city centric’ however, we are beginning to create events based on a variety of vertical markets (i.e. technology, women only, etc…).

    I am reaching out to experts like yourself. If you are ever interested in hearing more about what we are doing, or would like a demo, please do not hesitate to call me.

    Regards,

    Bill

    Bill Jula
    CEO / Founder
    Fast Pitch!
    http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com
    941-730-1793

    “No Nonsense Networking”

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Shop Local

Buy local buttonReady to set up a shop local campaign in your small town? You'll need a guide who understands how we're different and what really works: Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns.

Best of Small Biz Survival

What is holding us back? Why does every project take so long in small towns?

How any business can be part of downtown events by going mobile

Concert-goers talking and enjoying the evening in downtown Webster City, Iowa.

Why do people say there’s nothing to do here then not come to our concerts?

Retailers: Fill all empty space, floor to ceiling

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2021 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in