Whether you sell to consumers or other businesses, you need to identify your potential customers and go after them. Skillful marketing, advertising and PR plans have made small businesses into Fortune companies. The industry is full of companies that can help small business owners market to their target audiences without breaking the bank.

General Overview

• Branding: You Are What Your Customers Perceive - What do your customers think when they think of your company? Building a brand makes your business stand out; learn the basics of building an effective brand.
• Build a Business Identity - Learn how to create a business identity - logo, stationery, packaging, web presence, etc. - that reinforces your image and your brand.

Marketing Your Product

• Identify and Develop Your Most Profitable Customers - Your best customers may not be your largest customers; profit margins matter. Learn how to analyze each customer in terms of profitability so you can improve operating margins.
• Know Your Market: Market Research - Learn how to determine if a good idea can become a great and profitable idea for your company.
• Simple, Effective, and Inexpensive Marketing - Advertising is important, but simple marketing techniques can complement any advertising campaign. Learn how to take simple steps to reach out and attract more customers.
• Pricing for Sales - Setting a price is easy; setting the right price involves weighing a number of internal and external factors. In this article, learn how to develop profitable pricing strategies for your business.
• Sell More Before Customers Leave the Store - Increase in-store sales by improving the customer experience and enhancing opportunities for cross-sales and add-on sales.
• Measuring Advertising Effectiveness - Most businesses need to advertise, but how do you determine whether advertising spending is cost-effective? Learn simple ways to measure the effectiveness of your advertising efforts.
• Small Business Innovation - Innovation is not limited to major corporations; small businesses and entrepreneurs are responsible for the bulk of product, service, and operations innovations. Learn a simple approach to creatively solving customer and your company's problems.
• Mass Market Advertising - In spite of the explosion of web marketing, traditional forms of advertising can still be incredibly effective. Learn how print, radio, and television advertising can still pay off for your business.

Planning Your Marketing Strategy

• Planning Your Overall Marketing Program - Marketing is much more than advertising; learn how to create an overall strategy and plan that generates tangible results and a great return on your marketing investment.
• Know Your Competition - Learn how to perform basic competitive analysis in order to stay one step ahead of your competition and to identify potential threats from new competitors.
• Gain a Competitive Edge: Create Customer Loyalty - Loyal customers form the basis of every successful business; learn about the different types of customer loyalty and how you can keep customers coming back for more.
• Know Your Customers: Customer Profiles - Who are your best customers? What characteristics do they share with potential customers? Do your marketing strategies effectively target the customers that can grow your business? Learn how to create a simple customer profile and use the results to increase revenues and market share.
• Know Your Market: Develop a Market Analysis - Great products and services still fail if no viable market exists. Learn how to perform a market analysis to decide whether to enter a market, expand territories, or offer new products and services.
• Grow Your Business: New Products and Services - Small businesses introduce the majority of product and service innovations, and innovation does not require expensive research and development; learn how to listen to your customers and adapt and evolve to their needs.
• Grow Your Business: New Markets - Growing a business does not always require expanding your product line; learn how to take current products and services and leverage that success into new territories, new locations, and new customer bases.

Public Relations

• Public Relations - An Overview - New tools have made getting free publicity easier than ever. Learn the basics, including different ways you can leverage public relations to grow your business.
• Create Your Own Public Relations Campaigns - You don't need to hire a public relations firm to get the word out; learn how to develop your own public relations campaigns.
• Write and Distribute Great Press Releases - Learn how to write, format, and create attention-grabbing press releases and how to distribute your press releases for maximum impact and exposure.
• Partner with the Media - The media needs you as much as you need them; learn how to establish a relationship with reporters and journalists, and enhance your public relations efforts in the process.
• PR Resources - This section features an extensive link list capturing nearly every publication, Internet site and organization that addresses public relations issues. Categories include: PR resources; associations; books; wire services/press release distribution services; media lists/directories; media lists/software and labels; software; clipping services; news/ information; Public Relations Society of America Awards; and others.

Advertising

• Create Effective Ads - Learn the basic components of an effective ad, including emotional and rational appeals and how to create a call to action.
• Build Market Awareness with Promotions - Promotions can be more than sales or one-time events. Learn the basics of building customer loyalty through sales, memberships, loyalty programs, and other promotional efforts.
• Maximize Return on Advertising Spending - Don't spend advertising dollars blindly. Learn how to evaluate your advertising, (and advertising spending) to make sure it is as effective and efficient as possible.

Marketing Communications

• Developing Successful Sales Brochures - A successful brochure builds market awareness, enhances your image, describes your products and services, and creates a call to action. Learn how to meet all these goals in this article.
• Successful Direct Mail Marketing - Direct mail has made a comeback in recent years; learn how to create an effective direct mail campaign that generates new customers and increased revenues.
• How to Write a Newsletter that Works - Newsletters not only inform and entertain; learn how, with the right focus, they can also serve as great advertising and promotional tools.
• Put Your Best Business Foot Forward: Powerful Presentation Skills - Learn how to overcome anxiety through preparation and thinking of your audience first, as well as basic tips for handling media interviews.
• Creating a Unified Marketing Plan - Reaching potential customers can require a blend of marketing activities; learn about three ways to generate new customers and build long-term loyalty.
• Make Your Website Work for You - A website is often the first impression a business makes on potential customers; learn simple ways to ensure your website works for you and for your customers.
• Permission-Based E-Mail Marketing - For any entrepreneur who loves the idea of e-mail marketing but cringes at the prospect of untangling a web of jargon and tech-talk, this section is tailor made for you. Look here for guidance on market research, mailing lists, HTML and text formats, e-letter design and construction, and effective copy writing. An e-mail marketing glossary and a comprehensive list of companies specializing in e-mail campaigns are particularly helpful.