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Book Description

Harness the power of marketing and watch your business grow

Having your own business isn't the same as having customers, and one is useless without the other. Whether your business is a resale store or a high-tech consulting firm, a law office or a home cleaning service, in today's competitive environment, strategic marketing is essential.

If you want your small business to grow, you need a marketing strategy that works. But how do you get people to notice your business without spending a fortune? Packed with savvy tips for low-cost, high-impact campaigns, this friendly guide is your road map to launching a great marketing campaign and taking advantage of the newest technologies and avenues for outreach.

  • Using social media as a marketing tool

  • Communicating with customers

  • Financing a marketing campaign

  • The companion CD includes tools and templates to give you a jump-start on putting your new skills to work

If you're looking to give your small business' marketing plan an edge over the competition, Small Business Marketing Kit For Dummies has you covered.

CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of the e-book file, but are available for download after purchase.

Table of Contents

  1. Cover
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Title Page
  4. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. What You’re Not to Read
    3. Foolish Assumptions
    4. How This Book Is Organized
    5. Icons Used in This Book
    6. Where to Go from Here
  5. Part I: Getting Your Marketing Bearings
    1. Chapter 1: Framing the Marketing Process
      1. Seeing the Big Picture
      2. Jump-Starting Your Marketing Program
      3. How Small Business Marketing Is Different
      4. Making Marketing Your Key to Success
    2. Chapter 2: All about Customers
      1. Anatomy of a Customer
      2. Determining Which Customers Buy What
      3. Forms
    3. Chapter 3: Seeing Your Product through Your Customers' Eyes
      1. Getting to Know Your Product
      2. Illogical, Irrational, and Real Reasons People Buy What You Sell
      3. Buying Decisions: Rarely about Price, Always about Value
      4. The Care and Feeding of a Product Line
      5. Forms
    4. Chapter 4: Sizing Up Competitors and Staking Out Market Share
      1. Playing the Competitive Field
      2. Winning Your Share of the Market
      3. Calculating Your Market Share
      4. Increasing Your Market Share
      5. Forms
    5. Chapter 5: Setting Your Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Budgets
      1. Where Are You Going, Anyway?
      2. Defining Goals and Objectives Simply
      3. Budgeting to Reach Your Goals
      4. Forms
  6. Part II: Laying the Foundation for Marketing Success
    1. Chapter 6: Taking Stock of Your Business Image
      1. Making First Impressions
      2. Auditing the Impressions Your Business Makes
      3. Forms
    2. Chapter 7: Forging Your Brand
      1. What Brands Are and Do
      2. Building a Powerful Brand
      3. Your Market Position: The Birthplace of Your Brand
      4. Conveying Your Position and Brand through Taglines
      5. Balancing Personal and Business Brands
      6. Maintaining and Protecting Your Brand
      7. Forms
    3. Chapter 8: Creating Marketing Communications That Work
      1. Starting with Good Objectives
      2. Developing Effective Marketing Communications
      3. Making Media Selections
      4. The Making of a Mass Media Schedule
      5. Evaluating Your Efforts
      6. Forms
    4. Chapter 9: Hiring Help When You Need It
      1. Reaching Out to Marketing Pros
      2. Choosing and Working with an Agency
      3. Hiring Help for Website Creation
      4. Forms
  7. Part III: Marketing in a Screen-Connected World
    1. Chapter 10: Establishing an Online Presence
      1. Pulling People to Your Business Online
      2. Setting Your Goals for Online Visibility
      3. Claiming Your Online Identity
      4. Establishing Your Online Home Base
      5. Building Your Site
      6. Advertising Online
      7. Forms
    2. Chapter 11: Getting Interactive with Social Media
      1. Benefiting from Social Media Activity
      2. Getting Started in Four Necessary Steps
      3. Diving into Social Media
      4. Announcing Your Social Media Debut
      5. Keeping Your Social Media Efforts Active and Engaging
      6. Keeping an Eye on How You’re Doing
      7. Forms
    3. Chapter 12: Packaging Your Message for Blogs and Other Online Channels
      1. Joining the 200-Million Blog Contingent
      2. Launching a Blog
      3. Cross-Promoting Off-line and Online Content
      4. Forms
  8. Part IV: Getting the Word Out with Ads, Mailers, Promotions, and Publicity
    1. Chapter 13: Creating and Placing Print and Outdoor Ads
      1. Writing and Designing Your Ads
      2. Making Sense of Print Media Rates
      3. Placing Newspaper Ads
      4. Placing Magazine Ads
      5. Considering Yellow Pages, Directories, and Their Digital Alternatives
      6. Using Billboards and Out-of-Home Ads
    2. Chapter 14: Broadcasting Your Message on Radio, TV, and Online
      1. A Guide to Buying Airtime
      2. Broadcast Ad Guidelines
      3. Producing Radio Ads
      4. Producing TV Ads
      5. Considering Infomercials
      6. Logging In to Webinars
      7. Forms
    3. Chapter 15: Snail-Mailing and E-Mailing Your Customers Directly
      1. Using One-to-One Marketing
      2. Direct Sales: Do-It-Yourself Distribution
      3. Marketing with Direct Mailers
      4. Putting Surface Direct Mail to Work
      5. E-mail Marketing
      6. Forms
    4. Chapter 16: Brochures, Promotions, Trade Shows, and More
      1. Publishing Brochures
      2. Making the Most of Newsletters
      3. Finding Marketing Opportunities throughout Your Business
      4. Choosing and Using Trade Shows
      5. Building Sales through Promotions
      6. Forms
    5. Chapter 17: Public Relations and Publicity
      1. The Relationship between Public Relations and Publicity
      2. Becoming a News Source
      3. Spreading Your News
      4. Crisis Communications: Dealing with Bad News
      5. Forms
  9. Part V: Winning and Keeping Customers
    1. Chapter 18: Making Impressions through Networking and Presentations
      1. Building a Far-Reaching Network
      2. Making Introductions
      3. Polishing Your Presentation
      4. Forms
    2. Chapter 19: Making the Sale
      1. Turning Prospects into Customers
      2. Navigating the Sale Process
    3. Chapter 20: Enhancing Customer Service and Developing Loyalty
      1. What Customers Want
      2. The Fundamentals of Customer Service
      3. Dealing with Concerns and Complaints
      4. Making Loyal Customers for Life
      5. Forms
  10. Part VI: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 21: Ten Questions to Answer before Choosing a Business Name
      1. What Kind of Name Do You Want?
      2. Is the Name You Want Available?
      3. Is It Easy to Spell?
      4. Is It Easy to Say?
      5. Is It Original in Your Market Area?
      6. Is It Unconventional?
      7. Does It Work in Markets Far and Wide?
      8. Is It Memorable?
      9. Can You Live and Grow with This Name?
      10. Are You Ready to Commit to the Name?
    2. Chapter 22: Ten Ways to Attract People to Your Business Online
      1. Commit to Becoming Findable Online
      2. Set a Goal for Your Online Activity
      3. Decide on Your Online Identity
      4. Establish Your Online Introduction
      5. Stake an Online Home Base
      6. Build an Online Media Center
      7. Get Active Across Social Media
      8. Develop a Content-Sharing Program
      9. Monitor Your Online Reputation
      10. Get and Stay Active Online
    3. Chapter 23: Ten Steps to a Great Marketing Plan
      1. Step 1: State Your Business Purpose
      2. Step 2: Analyze Your Market Situation
      3. Step 3: Set Goals and Objectives
      4. Step 4: Define Your Market
      5. Step 5: Advance Your Position, Brand, and Creative Strategy
      6. Step 6: Set Your Marketing Strategies
      7. Step 7: Outline Your Tactics
      8. Step 8: Establish Your Budget
      9. Step 9: Blueprint Your Action Plan
      10. Step 10: Think Long Term
      11. One Final Step: Use Your Plan
    4. Appendix: About the CD
      1. System Requirements
      2. Using the CD
      3. What You’ll Find on the CD
      4. Troubleshooting
      5. Customer Care
  11. Cheat Sheet
  12. Download CD/DVD Content
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