• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

PlanningShop

Plan. Start. Grow.

  • Our Products
  • Instructors
  • Entrepreneurs
  • BizGear
  • Rhonda’s Blog
  • About PlanningShop
  • Search
  •  
  • Our Products
  • Instructors
  • Entrepreneurs
  • BizGear
  • Rhonda’s Blog
  • About PlanningShop
  • Search
  •  

7 Small Business Marketing Tricks for Busy People

September 18, 2015 //  by Rhonda Abrams

As a small business owner you have a lot on your plate — creating your product or delivering your service, managing your money, motivating your employees, ensuring operations run smoothly.

Phew! How do you find time to actually attract customers? For an overwhelmed small business owner, how do you manage to take care of one of your most critical business tasks: marketing?

Each year, I talk to thousands of entrepreneurs around the country. The one question  I get the most: “How do I attract more customers?” Marketing is always top of mind, but often the lowest task on the to-do list.

The truth is you will have to invest some time into marketing. But think of it as just that — an investment. But how can you increase the return-on-investment? How can you get the most marketing bang with the least amount of time?

There’s no magic bullet, of course. But if you’re thoughtful, these seven marketing tactics can save you time and bring in customers.

1. Put your marketing on auto-pilot.

Email is still an extremely effective method of keeping your name in front of prospects and customers. Whether it’s a newsletter, announcement of special discounts, free content, regular communication into an in-box works. Fortunately, you can set up and schedule a whole series of such communications using services like Constant Contact, Vertical Response, MailChimp or others. You can easily set up a series to automatically go to every new prospect or customer who registers to receive communication from you. To entice prospects to provide you with their names and email addresses, offer them something of value in exchange. Once you have the addresses, auto-responders trigger so your series begins to go to their in-boxes.

2. Schedule a few hours for social media.

Your customers expect to see you on social media but that doesn’t mean you should be dealing with it all day long. Spend an hour every two weeks to plan what you will post for those weeks. Choose pics and write your brief posts. Use a tool like Hootsuite or TweetDeck to schedule your posts in advance. During the week, check in occasionally and respond to comments.

3. Focus your social media efforts.

Do you really need to be on absolutely every social media site? No. Stick to the social media sites that work best for you. If you have highly visual content — you run a restaurant or food company, a doggy day care or an art studio — Facebook and Instagram might work best for you. A company that sells creative items? Then Etsy or Pinterest might be the right choice. Are you running a B2B (business-to-business) company?  LinkedIn might be your best bet.

4. Join a local organization and go regularly. 

Nothing beats the effectiveness of face-to-face marketing. Yes, this takes time away from the office or shop. But it’s a great way to get new customers and generate referrals. If you schedule this, it becomes a regular part of your month.

5. Look for a strategic partnership.

You don’t have to do everything alone. A strategic partnership is a relationship with another company for promotion, distribution, product development, or add-on sales. A strong strategic partner that’s already serving your target market can give you a real edge in reaching that market. For example, if you run a yoga studio, you could work on a marketing campaign with a local spa.

6. List your company online.

This is a no-brainer. Make sure prospects can find you online when they’re looking for a business like yours. Spend a few minutes listing your company’s location, hours, photos and other business information on Google, Yahoo, Bing and Yelp.

7. Get help.

If you don’t have time to put some of these marketing strategies into place or to maintain them, hire someone who can.

Whatever you do, make sure you make marketing a priority. A bit of time now will reap rewards for months to come. The hardest part is just getting started.


Copyright, Rhonda Abrams, 2015

This article originally ran in USA Today on September 18, 2015

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Category: Solution Center, USA TodayTag: email newsletter, entrepreneur, marketing, networking, online marketing, rhonda abrams, small business, small business marketing, social media, strategic partnership, USA Today

Previous Post: « Small Business Depends on Silicon Valley
Next Post: My Canon MAXIFY Contest Finalist Picks Canon Small Business Contest»

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Instagram @rhondaabrams

Instagram post 2198146702152836266_1452679072 National Cocoa Day on a cool, rainy Friday? Perfect~
.
.
#nationalcocoaday #fridayfeeling #smallbiz #weekendvibes
Instagram post 2196117372595922618_1452679072 Enjoying the holidays at the office!
.
.
#smallbiz #holiday #entrepreneurlife #harborlife #smallbizguru
Instagram post 2195382591704439680_1452679072 Enjoy the ride, small business owners! .
.
#smallbiz #mondaymotivation #entrepreneurlife
Instagram post 2193099979921798447_1452679072 As we settle into the holiday season, take a moment this busy weekend to enjoy sights & sounds around you. Here's to managing that stress! .
.
#smallbusinessowner #holidays #holidayseason #weekendvibes
Instagram post 2192514564753639208_1452679072 #thursdaythoughts #smallbiz #thoughts #entrepreneurlife #dontlookback #smallbizguru
Instagram post 2191648846350001711_1452679072 How to make holiday stress work FOR you, in my latest @usatoday column! Link in profile.
.
.
#smallbiz #entrepreneur #holiday #stress #tips #smallbizguru
Instagram post 2190930739848451220_1452679072 This Giving Tuesday, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge what small business gives year-round. $$ to their communities, jobs, responsible environmental practices. Way to go, smallbiz!
.
.
Now, get out there and support your favorite cause~ ❤️
.
.
#smallbiz #givingtuesday #giveback #allyearlong #smallbusinesslife #entrepreneurlife
Instagram post 2188638231477008373_1452679072 #smallbusinesssaturday #shopsmall #smallbizsat
Instagram post 2186617825995788325_1452679072 This Saturday is Small Business Saturday! Where will YOU Shop Small?
.
.
#smallbusinesssaturday #smallbizsat #shopsmall #shoplocal
My Tweets
  • Instagram post 2198146702152836266_1452679072 National Cocoa Day on a cool, rainy Friday? Perfect~
.
.
#nationalcocoaday #fridayfeeling #smallbiz #weekendvibes
    Instagram post 2196117372595922618_1452679072 Enjoying the holidays at the office!
.
.
#smallbiz #holiday #entrepreneurlife #harborlife #smallbizguru
    Instagram post 2195382591704439680_1452679072 Enjoy the ride, small business owners! .
.
#smallbiz #mondaymotivation #entrepreneurlife
    Instagram post 2193099979921798447_1452679072 As we settle into the holiday season, take a moment this busy weekend to enjoy sights & sounds around you. Here's to managing that stress! .
.
#smallbusinessowner #holidays #holidayseason #weekendvibes
    Instagram post 2192514564753639208_1452679072 #thursdaythoughts #smallbiz #thoughts #entrepreneurlife #dontlookback #smallbizguru
    Instagram post 2191648846350001711_1452679072 How to make holiday stress work FOR you, in my latest @usatoday column! Link in profile.
.
.
#smallbiz #entrepreneur #holiday #stress #tips #smallbizguru
    Instagram post 2190930739848451220_1452679072 This Giving Tuesday, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge what small business gives year-round. $$ to their communities, jobs, responsible environmental practices. Way to go, smallbiz!
.
.
Now, get out there and support your favorite cause~ ❤️
.
.
#smallbiz #givingtuesday #giveback #allyearlong #smallbusinesslife #entrepreneurlife
  • Footer

    Our Products
    Instructor Central

    Privacy Policy
    Contact Us

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

    Copyright © 2019 PlanningShop · All Rights Reserved · Site design by paulinaart

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. ACCEPT Read More
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

    Necessary Always Enabled

    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

    Non-necessary

    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.