How To Start Internet Business

You can create more traffic for you and your business without spending any additional money on marketing. With guerilla marketing, it is more about out-smarting the competition than it is about out-spending the competition. Boundless opportunities and countless positive effects on your business await you when you take advantage of the guerilla- marketing concept.

Guerilla Marketing is defined as unconventional marketing designed for low budgets and maximum impact. Guerilla marketing gets you and your company in front of future customers in the places that they frequent. Customers today are bombarded with traditional advertising and have become resistant and unaffected by it. Meaning: it is time to change the way you market.

Guerilla marketing works when complimentary businesses agree to come together and take a cooperative approach to marketing their businesses. There are synergies between companies who serve a similar customer base. Identifying these synergies and getting to know one anothers business are the first steps towards creating a lasting guerilla marketing relationship.

The possibilities are as vast as your imagination. Here are four guerilla- marketing techniques that you can use to generate more traffic next week:

1. Thank-You Take-A-Way Packets

A thank-you take-a-way packet enhances your sale, helps validate the customers purchase, and provides a valuable service to your customers while simultaneously thanks them for being your customer.

The key to the take-a-way packet is to have something that is high quality and feels like a thank-you gift. It should, by no means, represent a selling piece.

The thank-you take-a-way packet will vary depending on your type of business. For a high-end retail location we suggest using a small folder about the size of a half sheet of paper. On the outside of the folder should be an effective and professional design with the words Thank You. Inside the folder should contain all the relevant paperwork associated with their purchase as well as all necessary information to make sure that their after purchase experience is pleasant and well informed. This information should go on one side of the folder only.

The other side of the folder is where you will put your pieces of value. Pieces of value can include anything that your customer will enjoy receiving. Successful examples include, a free appetizer at a local restaurant, free dry cleaning, a small book on a topic relevant to their purchase, or a small ad-specialty item from a complimentary business. The pieces of value will differ depending on the type of business that you are in. Use your imagination and have fun with it.

These thank-you packets work because every company that is represented in your packet will reciprocate by including your piece of value in their packet. Therefore, you are quadrupling your exposure to customers from complimentary businesses in exchange for giving your customers something that they perceive as a gift.

2. Website Co-Branding

When you have a strong guerilla partner network, you can use a similar approach with your website. The group of businesses can link their websites together in a way that provides value first. Providing value first means that the link needs to be positioned in a way that is more than an advertisement.

A good cooperative link on a website is more than just an advertisement. It must be something that would interest a customer. Examples include interesting tips, suggestions, or examples of how the customer can enhance their experience. For example, having an interior designer and a realtor provide design tips could add value and augment the experience of buying a new home.

3. Lunch and Learns

Whether you are a financial planner, a realtor, or a fitness expert, you have valuable information that people would love to hear about. When you provide value first and you provide value without expectation of something in return, a return is exactly what you will get.

Office buildings love food -- especially free food. The lunch-and-learn program is a guerilla marketing strategy that has been proven successful. The lunch and learn program is an educational lunch program for an office that would be sponsored by you or your company. The office personnel would gather and eat lunch while listening to your talk on something both valuable and interesting. Do not try to sell them anything; this should be treated as an opportunity to share valuable information that they can use.

The best contact to set up these lunches is the office manager. Most times the office will provide the lunch and you will provide the talk. If they do not provide lunch, you will be able to negotiate for a local restaurant to provide the lunch for free in exchange for some signage on the lunch table and their information in your packet that will accompany your presentation.

Topics will naturally vary depending on your profession. If you are a financial planner you can give a talk on 10 things you can do now to guarantee financial security, investing tips for the non-investor, or anything else that is both creative and interesting. After the mini seminar, ask If anyone would like to hear more about (topic), just drop your business card in the basket at the front. You can also have a mini- book prepared on the subject and offer to send it free to anyone who is interested. You will leave with an established reputation in the field as well as a small stack of qualified leads with whom you have already established rapport and credibility.

4. Be A Guest Columnist In A Newsletter

There are networking organization newsletters, non-profit newsletters, and internal company newsletters. These newsletters are always looking for guest columnists that will provide a relevant and an interesting article.

This technique is similar to the concept of the lunch and learns. Seek out these newsletters and offer to write a column. When they run your column, you will provide valuable and interesting information. By doing so you will be getting your name out into the community as an expert in your field. By having a brief bio at the end of the column, the readers who have an interest will have the information necessary to contact you for further information. You may even direct them to your website to download a small mini-book on the topic where you will capture their information for proper follow up.

The different types of guerilla marketing are endless and are only limited by your imagination and willingness to get out in front of people. Guerilla Marketing is incredibly effective because the rapport that the partner business has already established with their customer is transferred to you and your company. When you successfully implement guerilla marketing into your marketing plan, then your cost per lead will be significantly reduced while the quality of your traffic will dramatically increase.

Tom Richard conducts seminars on sales and customer service topics nationwide. Tom is also the author of Smart Salespeople Don't Advertise: 10 Ways to Outsmart Your Competition With Guerilla Marketing, and publishes a free weekly ezine on selling skills titled Sales Muscle. To subscribe to this free weekly ezine go to http://www.tomrichard.com/subscribe Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Richard