| by Rich Petersen,
University of North Iowa Area SBDC, Mason City, IA One of the most frequently asked questions of home-based entrepreneurs just starting out is "How do I market myself?" Marketing a home-based business is only slightly different from any other business—from the freelance writer working at home to the Fortune 500 company. All businesses-no matter what size—should have a well-developed marketing plan. It's the activities that go into the plan that will vary. For example, your average home-based business doesn't have the marketing budget of, say, Pepsi, so its marketing activities won't include Super Bowl commercials. While that example may seem a little outrageous, it does illustrate a point: to successfully market your home business, you may have to shun traditional marketing activities, such as advertising, in favor of activities that will give you more bang for the buck. Free or low-cost promotional activities you could consider include networking, public presentations, media interviews and press releases, and joining business associations. Whatever you do, there are a few key things you should remember as you develop your marketing plan. - Marketing must be done on a daily basis. For your efforts to create impact, you'll need to establish relationships with potential customers. Experts say you should plan on promoting yourself at least five times to the same person before expecting a response.
- Don't focus your efforts on your product or service. Instead, focus on the benefits of your product or service and how it can benefit potential customers.
- Sell solutions, not just services. No matter how creative, professional or skilled you are, a potential customer will only care about how your skills can answer his problems.
- Finally, be patient and persistent. Remember that marketing is about building relationships, and those relationships will take a great deal of time and repetition before they become good business relationships
> See also: Home Based Business and Marketing, Advertising & Sales |
