Inside Small Business

DIY Marketing: Stay Focused on Your Goal

Inside Small Business | June 5th, 2009

Angela LoSasso, Hewlett Packard’s Marketing Guide

Lots of small business owners are intimidated by the thought of marketing their businesses. The buzzwords and flash associated with “marketing” often make embarking on a do-it-yourself marketing effort seem daunting. But don’t let that fear distract you from the goal of educating your customers and potential customers about your business.

In your day-to-day business, you focus on what your customers need and how you can provide them with that. That is what your marketing should focus on, too. Too many marketing messages focus on the company rather than the customer. So as you craft your marketing strategy and materials, keep the customer top of mind.

Here are some great tips that will help you take that customer-driven attitude and translating it into marketing:

1. Don’t sell. Instead, educate — John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing explains how you can use marketing materials to educate your customers and build trust.
2. Encourage interaction — Small Business Trends Expert Ivana Taylor demonstrates how to create marketing materials that encourage the clients to interact with you.
3. Listen when they do interact — Chanpory Rith of LifeClever outlines how to make sure that your various materials, media and interactions show customers that you are listening when they talk.

Once you’ve mastered that high-level, customer-driven attitude about your marketing, you’re empowered to take the steps to market your business yourself. Here are useful posts on the tactical side of marketing.

- Free and low-cost tools to spread your marketing message – Angela LoSasso of HP offers a step-by-step walkthrough of ways you can share your customer-driven marketing message, from Twitter to professional-looking DIY templates for business cards, customer kits and more.
- Lessons Learned From Home-Grown Marketing Collateral — Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends is a marketing expert. But, everyone can learn from their mistakes. Here she shares some lessons she learned from a promotional booklet she made herself and how she improved it.
- Do’s and Don’ts of DIY design — Chanpory Rith of LifeClever encourages you to DIY … and offers some helpful Do’s and Don’ts.