Small Business Marketing Strategist Spills the Secrets to Successfully Growing a Small or Home-based Business in a Weak Economy

More and more people are flocking to launch a small or home-based business. However, most are not making any money. Learn what distinguishes the successful entrepreneurs from the not-so-successful.

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Small Business Marketing Strategist Spills the Secrets to Successfully Growing a Small or Home-based Business in a Weak Economy

Boston -- March 26, 2003 -- Tens of thousands of Americans are flocking to launch small or home-based businesses, but only a few are actually making money. The secrets to their success are micro-niche marketing tactics and leveraging relationships, according to Sharron Senter, a Boston-based small business marketing strategist and founder of http://www.sharronsenter.com.

Theres a tremendous amount of competition in the marketplace, particularly among small business owners," said Senter. With increased unemployment, the situation has only worsened. Ironically, the most successful small businesses are the ones spending the least because theyve found a micro-niche they can affordably target."

Im booking customers three weeks out," said Tammy Costa, founder of http://organizedconsultant.tripod.com, a home-based entrepreneur who assists people in taking back control of their time, space and activities. I never imaged Id be as much in demand as I am," said Costa. She claims one of her most successful marketing tactics costs her nothing. She regularly partners with local libraries to sponsor her Get Organized" workshop. On average 20 people attend, which fills my pipeline for several weeks. Plus, it costs me nothing and the library does all the marketing by contacting local newspapers and distributing fliers around town," said Costa.

Many small businesses are marketing too broadly. Instead, they need to find a micro-niche. Its not good enough to just find a niche, instead, to effectively reach prospects affordably you need to isolate your target audience even more, to what Senter calls, micro-nicheing. Lets say you sell a product that helps moms reduce their stress and youre currently targeting stay-at-home moms," said Senter. Perhaps now you need to target stay-at-home moms with two or more children. The latter will help you target your marketing efforts better, assuming theres more stress in a mothers life when she has more than one child."

If your small business is at a standstill, Senter suggests the following low-cost sales strategies.

-- Provide a price range. Try to sell something for as little as $20, even if your services start at $75 an hour or higher. The low price promotes impulse-buying. The idea is to get your prospects to sample your services and products. Whats more, this price looks great in a window and on flyers.

-- Offer a no-questions-asked, 30-day, money-back guarantee. Your goal is to remove the sales objection, What if I dont like it?" Some states have laws regarding mandatory purchase refunds. Visit your local attorney generals office for more information. If your state has a mandatory refund policy, you might as well make yourself look good and promote it as if you created it.

-- Write expert articles and post them to free Web sites looking for stories about your expertise. See www.articlecity.com, www.ideamarketers.com and www.authorconnection.com as examples.

The way to the revenue-train is to find your micro-niche and stop trying to be all things to all people, said Senter.

Christine Lauzon, founder of http://www.toodos.com, has had tremendous success niche-marketing her errand and concierge services to commercial real estate owners who are looking to reduce tenant turnover. I promote my onsite and virtual lobby concierge services as a cost-effective way to improve tenant retention," said Lauzon. By selecting a niche, it helps me choose targeted key words for my Web site, which improves my search engine ranking; it also costs me nothing," said Lauzon.

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Contact Information
Sharron Senter
Founder of sharronsenter.com
sharron@sharronsenter.com, http://www.sharronsenter.com
(978) 346-4086

ABOUT SHARRON SENTER
Sharron Senter is the founder of sharronsenter.com, a US-based, Merrimac, Mass. marketing firm that specializes in helping small and home-based businesses deploy affordable online and offline marketing strategies. Senter is best known for her free weekly emailed small business marketing tips, found at www.sharronsenter.com. Shes also the author of, Im Open; Now What? 25 Strategies to Attract Your First Customers." Her report retails for $12.95 and can be purchased at www.sharronsenter.com/fs.htm