35 Powerful Ways to Get Noticed
If you want to make more money in business, become an expert, get famous, or many other things – the first thing you have to do is learn how to get noticed.
But in today’s increasingly crowded world, getting people to pay attention to you isn’t easy -- unless you’ve got a list of proven tactics to fall back on.
With that goal in mind, we’ve created the following collection of 35 power ways to get noticed.
Marketing Essentials Part 5: Behold the Business Card
So far in our Marketing Essentials series, we’ve explored how to discover your brand, creating a marketing message, and the importance of web presence, no matter what your business.
Now it’s time to focus our attention on the humble business card – one of the cheapest, most effective marketing essentials every business needs.
Have you ever stood in the checkout line of a store and noticed the rack of business cards waiting for your attention? Did any of them catch your eye?
Probably not. Stuck in a rack that holds sometimes up to 20 competitor cards, those little cardboard pieces didn’t engage you at all. You probably didn’t even notice the business name printed on even one of them. You very likely left them all there, paid for your items and walked out the store.
Your business card has a very important job. A business card is a low-cost multisensory marketing tools that convey your brand, your message and the personality of your company in one powerful shot.
Think about it – you can touch a business card and feel the quality the company stands for. You visually take in the colors and design to feel the emotional impact of the brand and message. And you read the information on the card.
Your business card is often the first impression and contact people have with your business. It tells people about your business, gives them a way to contact you, creates a memorable effect and allows people to pass on your card to others – that’s free marketing for you.
Read on to learn how to get the most from your business cards.
Marketing by Color: Don’t Try To Sell Blue Potatoes
The colors you use for your logo, your business card, your web design and even your storefront display influence consumers – sometimes very strongly.
For example, what colors do you associate with a spooky night? Most likely, you’ll choose black, shades of gray and maybe a little silver or even orange. Haunted evenings generally don’t come in vivid blues and fresh greens, after all.
Here’s another example: Think about Coca Cola. What color jumps to mind? Most people choose red, because Coca Cola has associated that color with their brand image. Their logo is red, their cans are red and everything about the soda giant seems to be red.
You would most likely wince if you tried to associate the color green and Coca Cola together.
Read more to find out how you can use the power of color psychology to your advantage.
How To Turn A Disadvantage Into A Competitive Edge
Every small business dreams of becoming a big business – but achieving size and influence can be a long time coming, especially in a market that is becoming more crowded by the week.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be “number one” to have your sales numbers experience a satisfying increase – you just have to get creative and discover how to frame a perceived disadvantage as a powerful competitive edge. Here are the stories of three companies who did just that, and enjoyed a larger market share as a result.
Marketing Essentials Part 4: Having a Website
Do you think your business doesn't need a website? Do you believe that people in your town don't care about the Internet? Do you feel that selling locally absolves you of web presence?
You might want to think again.
According to eMarketer.com and Techweb.com, nearly 400 million North American residents had Internet connection in 2007. By 2008, over 67% of Canadians and 70% of Americans were plugged into the Internet. In early 2008, 7.8 million Canadians were online every day, and 172 million Americans were online as well.
Not too shabby.
What are these people doing online? They're surfing the web, culling information on what they want and need, from music to online education to telephone numbers to store hours. They're being entertained, they're getting informed, they're making decisions…
…and they're shopping.
No matter what type of business you have, from local to international, from small to mega-corporation, from car mechanic to sports equipment store to handcrafting artisan, you need to be online. Ignoring the Internet's existence translates to neglecting your business.
Marketing Essentials Part 3: Creating the Perfect Message
Reaching consumers with your message is one of the top Marketing Essentials. If people don't hear what you're saying and see what you're showing them, why would they do business with you?
But what is your marketing message? What are you trying to get across to people? It's simple: You know their problem, you have the solution, and you are the best business to buy it from.
That's easier said than done, of course. It's difficult for many small business owners to figure out exactly how to market that they can solve problems. One of the most common mistakes is touting features or going on about being the best.
Everyone is the best these days. No one wants to hear it again. And yet, you need people to hear you, feel your message and believe it. How?
So, What Do You Do?
What do you do?
It's the most critical question you'll ever answer if you're a small business owner. You probably know the answer, too. You're a graphic designer, you sell baby toys or you own a bookkeeping service, for example.
But if you give that answer to people, you probably won't make them customers. Heck, they may not even understand you.
What you do has nothing to do with how you should market yourself. No one wants to know what you do, not really. People want to know what you can do for them. There's a difference.
A great message tells people how you can change their life. It lets your business shine. Your message needs to be out there, everywhere, making it easy for people to understand and love your company.
