How to Choose a Small Business Marketing Guide

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I run a small offline business which in recent months has enjoyed a very nice upswing in business thanks to the internet. This was no accident – I’ve been working hard on my marketing for about a year. Much of this effort was spent learning how to market my business online.

During this process of getting it right, I’ve bought some garbage courses and information. But, within the piles of garbage I’ve also bought some real gems that without I’d not be enjoying my recent surge in sales and new customers.

As I look back about what’s were good purchases for learning marketing and which were not useful at all, I’ve come up with the following criteria to look for when choosing a business marketing guide or system.

3 Criteria When Choosing a Small Business Marketing System:

1. Don’t buy a small business marketing system that promises to teach you everything about marketing. What you’ll often get is a lot of fluff and little substance. You’ll probably know most of the information already in the massive “all-in-one” marketing kits.

No marketing author can tell you about print advertising, SEO, social media, referrals, viral marketing, e-mail marketing, direct marketing, TV ads, etc. Each of these topics on their own are self-contained guides or systems.

Instead, know exactly what you wish to learn about or improve, and buy a business marketing guide that caters to your need specifically.

2. Don’t buy from someone who doesn’t have real-life marketing experience. You preferably want to buy from someone who actually runs a small business and does their own marketing.

There are hundreds of people who write about marketing and sell “marketing systems” but have never done it for real.

3. Be prepared to do the work yourself – or at least do some of it so you get a hands-on education so you can properly hire people to implement the marketing activities taught. If you’re not prepared to roll up your sleeves and take action, no business marketing system will work for you.

In my view the best type of business marketing guide to buy is one that teaches you how to hone your online marketing. Focusing my marketing activities on the Internet has by far worked the best for me during the last 6 to 12 months.

Using Social Network Affiliate Advertising to Find New Affiliates

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Can you really use social network affiliate advertising to bring in new affiliates? Most people want to find motivated people to join their affiliate. The whole point of locating those who are looking for a potential business plan is to help them raise their income while raising your own. Thus, where you find your potential affiliates actually does matter.

The most motivated people to join your affiliate team are going to be those who feel as though they have a connection with you and can trust you. The relationship that you can develop with potential affiliates through social network affiliate advertising can be very powerful. Because it’s not that hard to find interested individuals in business, marketing, and your marketing niche you can develop a following of fans that not only relies on your opinions but also values your contributions.

Because social network affiliate marketing is based on the idea that social networks are interactive rather than sales platforms you want to go about this with integrity. Think about how you might not like to be sold to every time you open up your page. Think about the kinds of things that would interest you when you open up your page. Using a social network involves a bit of human psychology and understanding. You don’t have to hold a degree, of course, but being able to understand basic human nature is helpful. Users want to feel as though there is more to the relationship than just a marketing plan. This isn’t hard if you put your focus on people before profits. That’s how the profits are made.

Keeping your focus on people who are interacting with you (or vice versa) will help guide you toward more potential affiliates. The more you are able to connect with your potential affiliates the more that you will find it easy to transition them from “potential” to “actual.” With so many marketers hitting the sales and hype angle so hard, those who slow down and focus on the people end up building trust in a short period of time. Anyone who has looked online for a business of any sort is much more likely to feel comfortable when there is someone to talk to and connect with before joining anything. It’s just natural.

As you progress through the social network affiliate marketing plan you’ll find that you’ll be able to increase your efforts ten fold to find more fans, find more potential affiliates, and transition more to actual affiliates. Many marketers that have been doing this kind of social marketing for more than a few months state that they have a new affiliate interest almost daily. This is why it has become such an important method and such a popular idea.

Using connection and people skills to build an affiliate business does not need to be deceitful or manipulative in any way. You’re just logging on to interact with people, let them get to know you, and then offer them a chance to join the marketing business. It’s really that simple.