Now is the time to start planning your promotional calendar for 2012.

Use these “Holidays” as special sales promotions in the upcoming year.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

January

New Years Day
College Football
New Year’s Resolutions
Martin Luther King
Super Bowl
Back to School – 2nd Semester
Bank Holiday (UK)

February

Ground Hog Day
Mardi Gras
President’s Day
Valentine’s Day
Daytona 500
February Sweeps for Television
Black History Month

March

St. Patrick’s Day
Passover
Easter
First Day of Spring
March Madness
Academy Awards
Spring Break with the Family!
End Q1

April

Baseball Opening Day
Good Friday
April Fool’s Day
Tax Day
Earth Day
Master’s (Golf)
Prom

May

Cinco de Mayo
Mother’s Day
Graduation
Victoria Day (Canada)
Memorial Day
Spring Bank Holiday (UK)
Kentucky Derby
Season Finales for Television
Teacher Appreciation Week
National Small Business Week

June

Father’s Day
NBA Playoffs
NHL Playoffs
Flag Day
Graduation / School’s Out
First Day of Summer
Time to Take a Vacation!
U.S. Open (Golf)
Wimbledon (Tennis)
End Q2

July

Independence Day
Canada Day
Summer Fun

August

Back to School
Tax-Free Sales Events
End of Summer
College Football

September

Labor Day
NFL Opens
First Day of Fall
End Q3

October

Columbus Day
World Series
Thanksgiving Day (Canada)
Red Ribbon Week
National Boss Day
National Book Month
Halloween

November

Election Day
Veteran’s Day
Thanksgiving Day
Black Friday (Busiest Shopping Day)
November Sweeps for Television
NBA
NHL
Global Entrepreneurship Week

December

First Day of Winter
Christmas
Boxing Day
Happy Holidays
College Football
New Year Resolutions
New Years Eve
End Q4
End of Year

If you need any help getting more ideas together, let me know!

As a small business owner, if you do not take advantage of the Internet, then you are missing a huge opportunity to promoting your products and services. Using online local Internet marketing tactics can transform your small business marketing into BIG business marketing.

Nearly 50% of businesses have taken that first essential step to getting online: building a web site. That’s great but, unfortunately, just having that small piece of real estate on the web isn’t enough. It’s a start, so let’s build on that by reviewing some basic things to do with the web site first. The appearance and the content of your web site should be simple and valuable. Whoever visits your site should find it attractive and should be able to clearly understand your company’s benefits. Try having enough information on the site to answer the most frequent questions that your prospective customer might have. Even more, have information on the site that explains what they SHOULD know, but don’t know to ask about. Again, just putting up a site on the Internet isn’t going to be enough to bring more business, but make sure it is done right.

The key to using your web site to drive more traffic to your business, with phone calls, online purchases, or in-store visits, is capture the attention of people searching for your goods and services online. The number of people using search engines, such as Google, to find local businesses like yours is skyrocketing. Recent studies show that many more people are searching the web for local products and services than picking up the “handy” yellow page book. Google and its rivals have figured that out and they are investing heavily to designing their search engines to cater to that audience. Therefore, you need to do THREE THINGS right now to benefit from that trend.

1) First, construct your web site to conform with what the search engines want to show their users. Specifically, find out what the online searchers are typing into the search box and write your web site’s content to accommodate. That is often referred to in the Internet marketing community as on-page search engine optimization (or SEO).

2) Second, promote your web site in as many places as possible (online and offline). “As many places as possible” includes, but is not limited to, these activities: finding web pages online where a link to your web site can be placed; adding your business information to online local directories; adding your business information to social media sites; creating content in the form of articles, videos, images, reports, etc. and posting it on a variety of online content sharing web sites; and others! With a little creativity, you will find that there are more opportunities to reference your business and link back to your web site than you’ll ever be able to do.

3) Third, manage your reputation online. If you do nothing else, you should be monitoring what people online are saying about you, your business, your competitors, your suppliers, and even your customers (if you’re B2B). Many tools exist to monitor these conversations.

If you want to attract more customers, then take advantage of the Internet by making it easy for people to find your business when they are looking for it. Nowadays, people are using the Internet as their primary source for researching local businesses. If you understand that and implement these three steps, you will be in a great position to attract that audience. If not, your competitors will.

If you are a small business owner that understands the value of the Internet as described in this article, then you’re ready to take action.

Click this link to find out more about affordable local online marketing.

Article Source: ezinearticles.com/

For small business, advertising is the key to drawing in customers. There are several different ways to go about it. Using only one form of advertising is not always effective. Using multiple types of advertising venues reaches a broader audience, and therefore, more potential customers.

Demographics

Knowing some demographics about clientele is helpful in discovering what types of advertising will reach the. There are several ways to find out preference and background on present customers.

Conduct surveys with cards at cashiers counter or send them out with the mail on delivery orders. There are several online programs that can calculate demographics of those visiting a business’ website. These statistics can be used to streamline marketing and advertising strategies.

A business can cater marketing strategies towards its clients. If most of them are married adults without children, for example, a buy-one-get- one free coupon online might be successful. A local radio spot might also be efficient. Radio stations know their demographics, so, statistics can be mated to certain stations and commercial air times.

Format

Where and how a customer conducts business is key to reaching them in marketing strategies. If they rarely go online, the best pay-per-click advertising campaign is not going to reach them. If they never read the newspaper, classified ads will not help. Using both methods of advertising, however, will reach both clientele.

Methods

The type of online advertising used affects how a potential customer discovers a business, especially a small local one. If a business does not have a website it will be difficult for people to find them online. These businesses must use advertising online though social media websites or piggyback off of other websites such as the local Chamber of Commerce or a review site. Small businesses that are offline may also need to cater to an audience that is offline. Strategies might include flyer distribution, newspaper advertising, radio and television campaigns, direct mail and outdoor billboards.

Cost

The least expensive advertising with the greatest return on investment is always the best strategy. Some forms of local advertising cost very little. For example, writing a company blog is one way to advertise online at a cost of paying a professional or doing it in-house. Running coupons and flyers costs little and the method of distribution could also be low. However, if no one pays attention the cost won’t matter. If spending $3,000 on advertising online or through a radio campaign brings in $6,000 in customer sales, it is probably worth the investment.

About the Author

Author writes about a variety of topics. If you would like to learn more about local advertising, visit http://www.local-advertising.com/.

Everybody loves a bargain, and that is why discount coupons are so popular. Indeed, just the perception that some product or service is a bargain can drive sales. Think of grocery stores that offer buy one, get one free coupons as an example. If roasts are $5.50 a pound, but there is a BOGO offer, the net price is really $2.75 per pound. Now, if that is roughly equivalent to the sale price that they sometimes offer, it really isn’t that great of a value. However, I would hazard a guess that the BOGO coupon sells more of those chuck roasts because the bargain perception is there.

Discount coupons for many types of services and products can be offered. They can be an integral part of a marketing campaign, and lend that bargain perception that drives traffic and sales to a business. Certainly they cannot build customer loyalty, but they are wonderful for generating awareness of a business, helping a business to be more competitive against large or chain stores, and extending market reach of a small business. Once they come through the door, it is the merchant’s job to WOW them and keep them coming back.

Local search marketing sites offer community building networks, local support structures, and the go green initiative all wrapped up in one neat package. These sites give businesses the opportunity to increase sales while helping to improve the community and maximize their advertising dollars. The sites allow each business to advertise and they will do significant internet marketing on behalf of the community as a whole and the integral pieces of it by promoting the business to thousands of individual buyers and other businesses who are interested in local marketing.

Businesses can design a discount coupons program that gets attention from the community. Another plus in our tech savvy world is that discount coupons can be printed or delivered by text message to potential buyers right on their cell phones. Coupons can be great tools to find out what local buyer’s hot buttons are. Create a few different offers and see which is the most popular, and then leverage that knowledge for the next campaign.

Because local community sites are visited for news and events, they are frequented more often than an individual business’s site would be. Take advantage of that by offering a great discount coupon to get new customers in the door, and then dazzle them with your service or product to keep them coming back for life!

Denise Gabbard is a professional writer with a keen interest in online marketing of all types, including discount coupons programs that can extend your local reach around the world.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Denise_Gabbard

Effective local marketing is necessary to expand a business and increase profits. Business owners do not have to spend a ton of money to lead a successful advertising campaign. Internet presence, social media, and print media are all tools that do not cost a lot. With a few easy techniques, local businesses can easily reach hundreds of customers.

The first step is to create a website. The Internet is a very powerful marketing tool and its benefits should not be underestimated. Well-designed websites with high search engine rankings can reach thousands of people. Establishing a presence on the Internet is essential for any company to succeed in today’s technology driven world. Local business marketing should always include targeting potential customers through the Internet. Creating a website is easier and faster than most people think. The key to designing a website that will attract visitors is making it user-friendly. Include essential elements such as services or products offered, pricing, and contact information. A website should be well organized, and people must be able to find what they need easily. Hire a search engine optimization expert, so that customers can easily find it when searching for relevant keywords.

Another aspect of the Internet that can be very useful is social media. In recent years, social media websites have become very popular. Millions of people use them every day. Creating an account is easy and can provide many benefits. It is a great way to get exposure, advertise, and communicate with clients. The page should be updated often with any news or specials, and the comment option should be enabled, so that users can leave valuable feedback.

Print media can also be a successful marketing tool. Contacting local media can put the spotlight on a new or existing business and attract more customers who might not have known about it before. Press releases are another way to reach out to local residents. Another way to take advantage of media outlets is putting an advertisement in newspapers and magazines. Include any details that might get a reader’s attention such as discounts or specials.

The Internet is arguably the best way to promote a business. The number of people that can be reached through social media and a well-designed website is limitless. Contacting small media outlets is a great way to target local residents. Take advantage of local marketing tools that are readily available, create specials, and always remain professional to gain and keep a loyal following for many years to come.

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information about local business marketing, please visit http://www.local-marketing.com/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_T_Jones

7 Steps to Small Business Marketing Success from John Jantsch on Vimeo.

Please visit John’s website at www.ducttapemarketing.com/

1. When a customer buys give them a chance to spend more money right away. They will never be hotter than they are at the time of purchase so give them every chance to spend as much as they want with you.

2. Make it easy for others to tell their friends about you. Give discounts, coupons, free trials, and more. One hairstylist I know offers a $25 discount per hair cut when you refer someone to his business. Get 4 friends to visit and the next cut and color is on him. He tracks the referrals on fancy 3×5 cards

Too simple you say?

Well he went from nothing to several dozen clients a week doing little more than this.

My point is make it easy for your champion customers to do battle for you and give them all the tools they need to do so.

3. Focus on the total customer experience. Remember that you will be judged on everything you do and send to your customers.

You can view the entire post here:

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Recently, I’ve been doing productivity assessments with people who are struggling in their businesses, to help them learn to leverage their time to create more, do less and spend their valuable hours focusing only on what they love to do.

Every person I talked to had a unique message, talent or gift to offer the world. They each knew that they were destined to help others make big changes, but they weren’t moving forward with their mission. I asked each of them, “What is holding you back?”

One client explained, “I have to generate some sales so I can afford the help I need with running my business before I can focus on doing the stuff I’m really good at.” Others told me they couldn’t work on getting their message out to the world until they could figure out their shopping cart or update their website.

I said it to them and I’ll say it to you: what a load of horse poop.

The simple fact is that people have a hard time trusting in their talents. That is what is holding them back – not their shopping cart account.

A client once told me, “You have to be your own first customer.” What she meant was that you have to buy into what you are selling FIRST before you can expect anyone else to follow suit. The kick-start to your success is not about figuring out how to send autoresponders; it’s about truly committing to your purpose. As soon as you do, your newfound confidence will convince others to believe in you as well.

In my ongoing effort to eradicate self-doubt, here are five suggestions on how to finally stop sabotaging your self and start fulfilling your mission!

* You have a calling and it’s because someone out there needs exactly what only you can provide. You know it’s what you were put on earth to do, so just go ahead and do it.

* Knowing how to update your website isn’t going to help you fulfill your purpose unless, of course, you are supposed to be a web designer, in which case, “Full speed ahead!”

* “Doing it yourself” doesn’t really save you money. Your time and effort are valuable; take them into account when setting your budgets.

* Leverage your time. Let someone else handle the website updates while you focus on promoting your purpose. Writing an ebook or conducting a teleseminar is way more productive than spending a day figuring out how to change font color in WordPress.

* There are tons of smart, enterprising gurus out there selling entrepreneur secrets and marketing systems that really work. Pick one you like, try it out and be sure to give it your all. Unless you implement the entire plan, you’ll never know whether it works.

A bonus tip: get help. Whether you enlist the talent of our super skilled team or hire someone else, you will find that once your time is free to focus on your gifts, you will be more inspired, productive and successful than ever.

You may say you can’t afford to hire anyone. I say that you can’t afford not to. The thing is, you can either sit on your ideas until you figure it out, or you can outsource the detail work to start making money and impacting lives today. (Hint: choose option two.)

About the Author

Laurie Cantus, CEO and Founder of Go2Girls, has a passion for helping small business owners implement their big ideas. Her kick-ass team of Virtual Assistants work with online business owners who are ready to grow their business , who want to eliminate the frustration of having to do it all and only want to focus on the parts of their business they enjoy and that make them money. Laurie can be reached via her website: http://www.yourgotogirls.com.

Since we have clearly identified a target demographic & demand for what she is offering we can identify her problem as a marketing failure. I explained to her that in marketing there are 2 general types of failures.

Failures of Reach The Problem: Enough people don’t know about your product. The Solution: Increase the amount of people who know about your product. Easier said than done right? I could write a book and many people have, about how to increase reach. I would start with the free ways of increasing reach – Do some strategic friend requesting into increase your social media influence – Trade email lists with a strategic partner – Do some networking, get out more! – Do some research to identify some strategic partners that can act as distribution arms of your business – Post some Craigslist ads Then move onto paid reach methods – Talk to an SEO consultant to get yourself higher in the search engine rankings – Purchase an email list – Set up a pay per click advertising on one of the major search engines, Facebook ads or online ad networks – Consider doing some media buying (online banner ads, print media, radio, TV, newspaper, magazine) You may have heard the mostly true maxim that whatever problem you have in business, you can solve it with more sales. I will cautiously paraphrase this maxim by saying, whatever problem you have in marketing, you can solve it be increasing reach, provided you are savvy enough marketer (or hire one, LIKE ME!) to only market in highest possible ROI generating way. Failures of Conversion The Problem: People who do know about your product aren’t buying it. The Solution: If you are having a problem of conversion then you need to take an introspective look at several things. – Ad copy; is your ad copy creative, articulate, and concise? You may want to consider hiring an ad copy writer – Value proposition; is your product an excellent value for the people looking for it? – Need; This is business 101… The product or service you sell should either solve a problem people have or satisfy a real need. If it doesn’t you will have to market twice as hard (and smart!) to cram it down your customers throats – Competition; Do you have a competitor out there offering a better value or with massive branding presence? – Targeting to wide; Sometimes entrepreneurs are lured into competing in big markets by 1% projections (If I can only obtain 1% market share I’ll do a zillion a year in sales!), this kind of login rarely leads to a sustainable business model. I’d recommend ‘micro niche targeting’, more info on this later. – Feedback; are you asking your customers what they think of you & your offering? – 3rd Party credibility; do you have good, legitimate testimonials along with a good reputation on the net if people Google search you? If you think you are facing a failure of conversion it’s probably a good idea to read some marketing books, follow some blogs, take a course or hire a marketing consultant.

Now sometimes marketing failures are a combination of both factors, so you may have work to do in both areas, but in most it’s one more than another.

In Connie’s case, she has great marketing materials prepared, a nice website, is really passionate about what she does & has a great product ready for consumption by large yet clear defined demographic. I think her biggest issue is with reach, she explained to me that her email, phone invite & social media circle of influence is no more than 200 people. I explained to her that in my previous business of nightlife event marketing, our digital marketing list (email, social media contacts, text marketing recipients, etc) was between 20000 – 40000 & we would only get 800-1200 heads inside a nightclub (3%-5% conversion rate). My suggestion was to increase the amount of people that hear about what she does. The strategy we use to accomplish this will be the topic of another blog.

One thing to be aware of is that different business models can have significantly different ratios on their conversion & reach rates. For example, a clothing retailer hopes to sell as close as possible to 100% of the people that walk in their doors, whereas on the other side of the spectrum an internet marketer sends an email blast to a million people about some product and a 2% conversion rate would be phenomenal. So you want to think about your business a little before you diagnose your marketing failure. The marketing team at my marketing firm, Essence of Design(www.denvermarketingfirm.com), is always happy to provide a free consultation.

About the Author

THE INVENTOR OF THE MOST CLEVER COCKTAIL TOAST EVER, AMONG OTHER THINGS…

Entrepreneur, Raconteur, Host of epic parties, Student of success, Marketer, Break dancer, An experiencer of some epic failures & successes

As usual, you’ll find plenty of great marketing ideas using “Holidays” aka “Awareness Days or Observances” for November from the folks at Brownielocks.com:

http://brownielocks.com/NOVEMBER2010.html