How to Choose Your Marketing Methods
Considering OFFLINE marketing methods?
Direct Mails
Postcards
Conference Calls
Teleseminars
Radio
Newspaper and Magazine ads
Television
Press Releases
etc…
Or, considering ONLINE marketing methods?
Article marketing
Video marketing
Online Press Releases
Blogging
Forum marketing
Ezine advertising
Social Networking
Website marketing
Pay-Per-Click marketing
etc…
As you can see, there are literally dozens and dozens of effective marketing strategies that can be used and implemented to help you get your message out and build your business.
But, with so many marketing methods to choose from, you’re probably asking yourself,
“How the heck do I choose which ones to use?”
It’s a great question, and one that I’ve also encountered when I got started. Do phrases like ‘information overload’ and ‘lack of focus’ sound familiar to you?
Well, that’s exactly how I felt. When I got started, I was fortunate enough to be able to locate great training programs that showed me all these options to choose from and I literally dabbled in every single one of them to see how things worked and which ones would give me results. In a way, it was good to understand the different options out there because I can see the potentials in each and every one of them. But spreading myself too thin and trying to do everything mediocre did not bring in the results I wanted.
So, from personal experience, my suggestion for you is to choose one to three marketing methods and get really good at them, and then and only then look into other options to diversify your marketing.
Here is a list of things I suggest you consider in choosing the marketing method(s) you want to focus on:
1) Identify your personal marketing budget.
Basically, figuring out and deciding on how much money you can and are willing to spend on your marketing every month. If you decide that your budget is less than $100 per month, I highly suggest you focus on ONLINE marketing methods because OFFLINE methods generally cost more across the board. I would say a healthy OFFLINE marketing budget to be no less than $300 per moth.
2) Identify how much TIME you have each week to commit to your marketing efforts.
This is another ‘budget’ that you need to figure out and decide. If you have a full-time job and are building your business on a part-time basis, you certainly have less time to build your business compared to someone who’s doing it full-time. You’d also want to make sure you consider setting your ‘personal’ or ‘fun’ time that you may want to spend with your family, friends, on hobbies, rest/relaxing, etc.
I’m a big proponent of work/life balance (I would even go so far as to say I create my business around my life instead of settling for a life around my business). Getting away from business and renewing yourself will also actually make you more productive and creative.
3) Identify your strengths, abilities and passions.
Ask yourself these simple questions:
“What am I good at?”
“What do people around me tell me I’m good at?”
“What do I enjoy doing?”
“How do I best communicate my message with others?”
“What would you consider doing even if it didn’t pay you anything?”
4) Identify which marketing method(s) you feel will BEST attract and get in front of the niche target market?
You should think about who your prospects are, the niche area you are in, which method(s) may be most likely to target/reach them effectively, etc.
5) Consider the amount of leverage you want to work with.
Different methods have varying degrees of leverage built in e.g. content creation (video, articles, etc.) can be done once and can potentially work for you 24/7, 365 for many years to come versus social networking which can be time consuming and requires consistent effort on your part.
6) Consider the marketing trends and the amount of competing marketers using that method.
It’s always good to keep the trends in mind because you want to be identifying where the best results are achieved (and hence the trend). Another thing to consider is saturation. Is everybody trying to market using the same methods? Can you realistically stand a chance to stand out from the crowd using the same marketing methods?
So there you have it. My two cents on what to consider when choosing your marketing methods.
Hiro Kaneko is a former accountant / tax consultant who left his 15 year corporate career for good to run his online marketing business teaching people how to make money online.
To learn more about Hiro, visit WhoIsHiroKaneko.com
Author: Hiro Kaneko
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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