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Home Based Business Marketing -
Getting the Word Out
By: Charles Fuchs
Marketing your home based
business is vital to its
success. So one of the first
things you should do when
starting your home based
business is to develop a
marketing plan.
For your home based business
marketing plan, you need to know
what your business is really
about and what separates you
from the other guys in the same
type of business. When you have
an idea about this, you want to
develop an unique selling
proposition statement (USP).
This is different from an
advertising tagline, although
you may end up using it as one.
A USP, however, is usually a
one-sentence statement that sums
up who you are and what the
purpose and mission of your home
based business are.
After you develop your home
based business USP, you want to
think seriously about your
target market. Who are they?
Where do they live? How much
education do they have? What are
their buying habits? What’s
their gender? Asking questions
like these help you know your
customers inside and out, which
will be of tremendous benefit in
allowing you to talk to them in
their own language and in
understanding the best way to
get the message about your home
based business across to them.
Once you know these things, it’s
time to think about advertising.
You will, of course, want to
have business cards, letterhead
and envelopes for your home
based business. You may want to
hire a graphic designer to
develop a special logo just for
your home based business and
have it printed on all your
business and marketing
materials, from envelopes to
television commercials, if you
decide to run some to advertise
your home based business. A logo
is an excellent way to brand
your business so that the minute
people see it, they
automatically think of you. If
you don’t think this is true,
consider Nike. Without the
swoosh, Nike just wouldn’t be
Nike.
You will definitely want to have
a website for your home based
business, whether you’re doing
business online or off. Even if
you’re not marketing your
product or service to the online
community, a website gives your
home based business more
substance and credibility. Web
developers and writers can have
your website up and running in a
day, but it’s better to take
some time and plan the look and
feel you want your website to
have before going live with it.
Some other ways to market your
home based business offline that
are quite inexpensive are
flyers, circulars and posters.
You can make these types of
marketing materials on your own
computer, then post them around
town and leave them in places
where there are likely to be
people who want your product
and/or service. Marketing
materials like these are much
more effective than you might
think and are a great way to
reach an untapped market for
your home based business.
However, if you’re leaving
flyers in a business or office
be sure to get permission first.
You don’t want them to just get
chunked in the trash!
Other home based business
marketing materials that tend to
be a bit more costly are
brochures, radio commercials,
billboards and television
commercials. But they might not
be as expensive as you think,
especially if you’re focused on
a particular small area. For
brochures and billboards, you
will want to hire a good graphic
artist to create them, and
you’ll also need to buy media
placement for the billboards.
For commercials for your home
based business, both radio and
television, you’ll need a
copywriter to write a script
unless you plan on writing it
yourself. You’ll also need a
producer to record or shoot your
commercial. You’ll also have to
buy the media placement for it.
Many small local advertising
agencies in your area can do all
of this for you at a moderate
charge. Some agencies that are
just starting out themselves may
be willing to give you a
discount to help advertise their
own service. Just make sure
their agency has a reputation
for quality—like the one you’re
developing for your own home
based business!
Charles Fuchs
http://www.charlesfuchs.com
http://charlesfuchs.blogspot.com
I grant permission to publish
this article, electronically or
in print, as long as the bylines
are included, with a live link,
and the article is not changed
in any way.
About the Author
Copyright © 2006, Charles
Fuchs, President of Vision
Management Enterprise Inc., is
an established online marketer
who specializes in helping
people start their very own
Work at Home Based Business
Work at Home
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