Life Notes plus More is primarily about side hustles, home based businesses and motivation. However, to really help you in your endeavor, I realize I must include information on ways to attract prospects in order for you to build a strong customer base. Therefore the topic of how to find and keep customers will be an ongoing feature of this blog.
Advertising and promotion (marketing) are relationship building activities. Who would you like to build relationships with? Asked another way, who is your target market? This is the first question you must answer after you determine what your product or service is, and the answer is not “everybody”. Answering this question, as narrowly as possible, will help you get the best value for the dollars you will have to spend in marketing.
You should set aside a specific block of time in your business to devote just to marketing. In the beginning it would be wise to spend up to 50% of your time working on developing ways to attract potential customers.
Of course you must have a marketing budget. You can buy reasonable priced ads on Facebook, but they do cost. Samples cost. Business cards, flyers and signs cost, mail cost, media cost, etc.
As you settle on what marketing method you will use, always track your results carefully. The information you collect will save you time and money in the future.
Following is my special occasions/event listing, which is broken down quarterly, to help you form themes around your marketing program(s).
1st Quarter: January — New Year, MLK Birthday, Super Bowl, Start of tax season, Goal setting
February — Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Black History Month, Chinese New Year, Tax season
March — Salute to Women’s Month, Easter (check date), St. Patrick’s Day, March winds, Spring begins, Tax season
2nd Quarter: April — Secretary’s Day, Poetry Month, Financial Literacy Month, Baseball, April showers, Cherry Blossoms, Easter (check date), Earth Day
May — Mother’s Day, Cinco De Mayo, Graduations, Memorial Day, Vacations
June — Weddings, Father’s Day, Summer begins, Graduations
3rd Quarter: July — Independence Day, Start of business holiday season (stock up), Vacations
August — Vacations start and end, Schools start
September — Labor Day, Grandparents Day, Football, Rosh Hashanah (check date), Fall begins
4th Quarter: October — Harvest sales, Halloween, Columbus Day, Yom Kippur
November — Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Veteran’s Day, Elections
December — Winter begins, Christmas, Kwanzaa
Don’t forget birthdays, housewarmings, retirements, etc.
Marketing is an important subject that we will continue to address. If you are involved in a business or an organization, share your favorite marketing strategy with my readers by commenting below
If you find this information helpful click like and/or leave a comment. This will help me determine what future blog posts will be most helpful. Thanks.
Life Notes Plus More 