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The SitePoint Tribune #470                     Copyright (c) 2009
November 5, 2009                                   PLEASE FORWARD
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News, Rants and Case Studies for Web Design Professionals
by Brendon Sinclair

Read the HTML version of this newsletter, with graphics, at: 
http://www.sitepoint.com/newsletter/viewissue.php?id=2&issue=470

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INTRODUCTION  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I'm thrilled to be a guest author for this issue of the Tribune,
which will focus on how to market your business on a budget. 

Being self-employed for a long time, I know that one of the most
powerful traits business owners share is passion. Most of us
started our businesses because, as well as being good at it, we
truly love what we do. There may be no better reason to start a
business! 

Of course, passion is no guarantee that your venture is easy to
manage, market, and grow, unfortunately. In fact, many
entrepreneurs struggle with the sales and marketing part of
business ownership. It can be increasingly challenging when you
have an unclear sense of how to spend a limited budget to gain
the biggest impact from your marketing activities. 

That's why this issue will outline how you can apply "skinny
marketing" techniques, and includes some specific activities you
may want to consider.  

Then, we'll look at a SitePoint Forum member's recent call for
feedback on his plan for attracting customers. He aims to visit
local companies in order to find clients for his new business.  

And we'll wrap up with my recommendation of a great (and easy)
way to find new opportunities for promoting your business. 

Enjoy!

Alyssa Gregory
tribune@sitepoint.com [1]



[1] <mailto:tribune@sitepoint.com>


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IN THIS ISSUE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 - Introduction
 - Preparing for the Skinny
 - Skinny Marketing: Low Cost, Big Bang!
 - From the Forums: Is the cold call trawl the right path for me?
 - Tips and Tricks
 - Latest Tutorials
 - Hot Discussions
 - New Blogs


PREPARING FOR THE SKINNY   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We all want to spend as little as necessary on marketing. This
is regardless of whether your business is thriving, or if you're
just beginning to see an upturn in the economy reflected in your
bottom line. Many times we think that in order to achieve a big
return, we need to invest big, but this is simply false.

Shortly, I'll explain how you can maximize your marketing
dollars effectively. Before jumping in and starting your budget
marketing campaign though, there are some tasks you need to do
first. You may already have these covered, but there's no harm
in a refresher.

1. Know your business: Take time to prepare a business plan [1],
unique selling proposition [2], SWOT analysis [3], and competitor
analysis [4]. 

1. Identify your target audience: As well as pinpointing who
you're targeting [5], make sure you are zeroing in on a narrow,
identifiable focus.  

1. Create a budget: Work out a marketing budget that reflects
what you're willing to spend -- regardless of how minimal it is
-- on a monthly basis.  

1. Develop a marketing strategy: Prepare a strategy [6] that
uses the data gained from the above tasks to support your
business/marketing goals and activities.  

Now that you have all the planning out of the way, are you ready
to start working? You can take action immediately by working on
some of the skinny marketing activities listed below,
integrating them into your marketing strategy.



[1] <\>
[2] <\>
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[5] <\>
[6] <\>


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SKINNY MARKETING: LOW COST, BIG BANG! - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Skinny marketing (or budget marketing) is a set of activities
that, when taken as a whole, give your business the strongest
marketing impact for the least amount of investment. The idea is
that a targeted marketing campaign that's well-planned and
executed can be relatively quick and inexpensive.  

My favorite skinny marketing activities revolve around the power
of word-of-mouth marketing. Assuming you're doing great work and
have happy clients willing to share their experiences, you can
easily use word of mouth to promote yourself by: 

 - asking for testimonials from your clients to use on your web
site and physical marketing materials

 - giving your existing clients an incentive to refer new
business your way

 - attending industry meetings and conferences that your
existing clients attend so they can introduce you to new
prospects

Aside from word of mouth, there are many ways to implement
skinny marketing. Here are a few more of my preferred low-cost
(or free) suggestions: 

 - Invest time on 2 to 3 social media outlets, establishing and
forming relationships

 - Write press releases and submit them to online distribution
services

 - Volunteer for a local charity or organization

 - Put in some time publicly supporting colleagues in the
virtual world

 - Start a business blog and commit to it

 - Write articles, reports, or other free information that's
useful to your client and/or colleagues

 - Attend live networking events, including conferences, trade
shows, tweetups [1], and informal gatherings

You'll notice that most of these activities rarely result in
instant success -- very few marketing activities actually do. In
general, these tasks take time and commitment to bring about a
change for your business. That's one crucial factor of skinny
marketing -- it's a marathon, rather than a sprint. The more
time you dedicate to your skinny marketing campaign, and the
more committed you are to your chosen activities, the more
successful you'll be over time.



[1] <http://www.wordspy.com/words/tweetup.asp>


FROM THE FORUMS  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

IS THE COLD CALL TRAWL THE RIGHT PATH FOR ME?

On the SitePoint Forums, joemazz, a new web design business
owner says [1], "My plan is to go out into the field, walk into
these businesses, smile, introduce myself, talk about web
design, and hopefully land some contracts. Is this basically the
best way to go about this?" 

Although live cold calls can be time-consuming and exhausting,
there's tremendous value to be gained from initiating personal
contact when marketing and promoting your business. And I
applaud joemazz for taking his marketing offline, which is more
and more unusual in today's online business world. 

There can be a number of limitations with this method, however.
These include where you live, the type of businesses you're
targeting, how you present yourself, the time of day/level of
busyness, and so on. 

One way to maximize your in-person marketing is to precede it
with an introduction, either with a personalized letter or a
phone call. This allows you to give the business owner a
heads-up and unpressured time to consider what you have to
offer, which may make them more receptive when you're
face-to-face.  

You may also have increased success if you follow your live
visit with another call, mailing, or email to touch base. Most
people need three, four, or more "touches" in order to develop
the trust they need to make a decision in your favor; being
moderately persistent may help you accomplish this. 

As the forum thread went on to explain, joemazz had some success
with his face-to-face approach, although I suspect he'll move
onto other methods in the future as his business continues to
grow. This reiterates the fact that marketing is about trial and
error in finding what works best for you ... and about having the
determination needed to see those activities through.  

Congrats on the quick success, joemazz! 



[1] <http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=639424&amp;highlight=joemazz>


SPONSOR'S MESSAGE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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TIPS AND TRICKS  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Have you heard of HARO? Help a Reporter Out [1] is a
publicity-lead mailing list created by Peter Shankman [2]. Once
you sign up, you'll receive daily emails listing the sources
journalists and various media outlets are looking for to support
their stories. The requests cover just about every industry and
professional, and all you need to do is respond directly when
you find an appropriate opportunity. It's a great way to gain
attention, generate targeted exposure, identify yourself as an
expert, and promote your business ... for free! 



[1] <http://www.helpareporter.com/>
[2] <http://shankman.com/>


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That's all from me for now -- hope you enjoy this week's
Tribune.

Alyssa Gregory
tribune@sitepoint.com [1]
Guest Writer, SitePoint Tribune



[1] <mailto:tribune@sitepoint.com>


LATEST TUTORIALS  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Easy Way To Install PHP on Windows
by Louis Simoneau

The new Web Platform Installer from Microsoft makes setting up
PHP and PHP-based applications on Windows a breeze. Louis walks
us through what's available with this new tool and shows us how
simple it is to start off with WordPress or Drupal on Windows
with IIS.

http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/php-windows-web-platform-installer


Overcome Your Caching Conundrums
by Zach Johnson

Ever updated a web site's markup and CSS only to have it render
incorrectly when you load it in your browser? Perhaps you've had
to tell a co-worker or client that they needed to refresh the
site or empty their browser cache to view your updated site
correctly? In this article, Zach shows us a few methods to avoid
these headaches and turn the browser cache from a foe into an
ally.

http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/overcome-cache-conundrums


The Foolproof Form Design Formula
by Jina Bolton

The first step to creating a top-notch form is to plan ahead:
      conduct research, look for inspiration, and draft
wireframes. In this
      excerpt from our brand new release, Fancy Form
      Design, Jina Bolton shares her tips for building a solid
      foundation for elegant and functional forms.

http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/foolproof-form-design-formula


ColdFusion 9 at Your Service: Image Manipulation with AIR
by Kai Koenig

One of the exciting new features in ColdFusion 9 is the addition
      of a web service layer wrapping several aspects of
ColdFusion's
      functionality. Kai shows us how to access those services
from an AIR app
      to manipulate images online.

http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/image-manipulation-coldfusion-9-air


HOT DISCUSSIONS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

dofollow blog, 2 win situation?
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=644490>

biggest challange when writing
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=645117>

New Link Building methods ?
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=644553>

Writing effective home page content
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=644455>

How do you get more Followers & Fans
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=641200>


NEW BLOGS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Web Tech Blog: TECHNICALLY SPEAKING

Installing PHP on Windows Just Got Easier
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/05/php-windows-web-platform-installer/

GazoPa Lets You Sketch Your Search
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/02/gazopa-lets-you-sketch-your-search/


Web Design Blog: PIXEL PERFECT

Adobe Shortcut App  (2 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/05/adobe-shortcut-app/

Elements of Design: Type  (1 comment)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/04/elements-of-design-type/

Rock On: UK Stamps To Feature Album Cover Designs  (2 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/03/rock-on-uk-stamps-to-feature-album-cover-designs/

20 Merry Icon Sets For Christmas  (4 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/02/icon-sets-for-christmas/

Photoshop Tip: Locking Transparent Pixels  (12 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/02/photoshop-tip-locking-transparent-pixels/


Web Pro Business Blog: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

Wearing the Other Shoe: Understanding How Your Clients Think   (1
comment)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/04/understanding-how-your-clients-think/

Is Cold Calling a Dead Marketing Method?  (9 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/03/is-cold-calling-dead/

13 Must-Read Business Blogs  (10 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/02/13-must-read-business-blogs/

Why You Need A Business Continuity Plan  (2 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/10/30/why-you-need-a-continuity-plan/


Search Engine Marketing Blog: KEY WORDS - SEARCH ENGINE THEORY

Are Competitors Hijacking Your Trademarks in AdWords?  (6
comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/10/29/competitors-hijack-trademark-keywords/


News & Trends Blog: INDUSTRY NEWS FOR WEB PROFESSIONALS

The New W3C Website Goes Live ... With Invalid CSS!  (19
comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/04/new-w3c-website-invalid/

Apple Bites Windows 7  (62 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/03/apple-bites-windows-7/

LA City Council Choose Google Docs Over Microsoft Office  (13
comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/11/02/la-city-council-choose-google-docs/


Podcast Blog: THE SITEPOINT PODCAST

SitePoint Podcast #34: Sorry About the Slashes  (4 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/10/30/podcast-34-sorry-about-the-slashes/




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HELP YOUR FRIENDS OUT - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

People you care about can take charge of their Website by
effectively using the information and resources available on the
Internet. Help them learn how - forward them a copy
of this week's SitePoint Tribune.


ADDRESSES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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