Humor

I got some great marketing tips for small business from my neighbor’s cat. I call her Kitty Cat.

Kitty Cat comes to visit us several times a day. The minute we unclick the lock on our patio door this red, grey and white striped cat jumps a six–foot fence and waits for us to open it.

It was several months ago I told my hubby, ”Where are the neighborhood cats?” We haven’t seen any for 3-4 years, yet there always was one or two drifting around our complex giving us that loving greeting that only a cat can give.

It must have been the ‘Law of Attraction” because within a week there were three cats sitting on our fence—all equally spread out on their turf avoiding contact with each other with their eyes on us as we ventured out in our patio.  Two of them were what we call “scaredy cats,” afraid to approach us, except for Kitty Cat.  In time only Kitty Cat continued to greet us several times a day as we entered our patio on the way to our garage.

Kitty Cat is waiting for some love as we approach her. We can’t resist petting her and watching her enjoy every moment.  However, we know there is only one thing on her mind right now—she wants to come in our house. She looks forlornly with her Kitty Cat eyes at the patio door. When we are inside and she is out looking in that is the most emotional time for us. She wants in and waits and waits for us to let her in

However, we know she has an owner and is well fed. Our rule is don’t feed her and don’t let her in the house or she may never leave. With our busy schedules we do not have time for pets so it is nice to have a friendly visiting cat to befriend without having to make a long time commitment.

You are probably wondering why I am going on and on about our adventures with Kitty Cat and what this has to do with marketing tips for small business? It is because Kitty Cat is the perfect Marketer. She does everything she can do to persuade us to let her in our house. She is relentless.  At least four times a day she is at our patio door looking in with her green loving eyes.

Even though Kitty Cat is relentless neither my husband nor I are annoyed by her. We look forward to her visits. Isn’t that the way we must be with our customers and prospects? We should be sending loving, caring and helpful messages with tips and ideas that can help them with their business. We should keep our name in front of them and let them know we care about their business. We want to help them. Yes, we want their business because we know we can help them in exchange for their purchase.

Remember those “scaredy cats?”  They gave up and stopped visiting us after Kitty took over with her loving personality. Don’t we want to be more like Kitty Cat in our marketing ventures with our prospects?  Whether it is a book, ebook, or other products and services you are selling you need the “Kitty Cat Marketing Approach.”

Kitty Cat gives us great marketing tips for a small business to use to attract clients and get noticed.

1. Keep your name in front of your prospect through newsletters and correspondence
that provide valuable ideas to help your prospects succeed in business.
2. Give loving, friendly, helpful messages at least twice a month.
3. Be committed and stay in contact with your leads.
4. Let them go when they ask.
5. Continue to build your list. (I am sure that we are not the only contacts in Kitty Cat’s
nine lives.)

In time your prospects may want to open your “patio door” and come in to hear more about your product or service and to buy from you. Be ready to let them in.

Those are the five marketing tips for small business that I got from Kitty Cat. Oh! There she is at the patio door looking in begging me to open the door. Shall I? What do you think?

© 2009 Joan Clout-Kruse

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Joan Clout-Kruse, international Writing and Marketing Coach, is the publisher of one of the top weekly Ezine reports for small biz owners covering writing, marketing and publishing on anything words to make money and boost your business.

Find more articles and reports at www.Words4Money.com/blog

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I just produced my first video clip and wanted to let you know. As you will see from the tips below telling friends and colleagues what you have is one of the best low-cost marketing methods to promote yourself and your products.

Video marketing is a great way to get your name out there. Web searchers are focusing more on video than anything else.  Every Internet surfing entrepreneur dreams of being on the first page of a Google web search.

Do you have a book to promote? An e-book to sell? A product or service that the world is waiting for? One of the fastest ways to promote your product is with a short 1-3 minute video on the video-sharing site YouTube, your web site, and other social media sites.

Creating a video is cheaper than you think.  Recently I created my first video with the help of friends and family. I didn’t know the first thing about creating a video but I know that it is one of the latest ways to get your name out there easily and inexpensively.

Here are some of the first steps to do to create your video:

1.  Identify the talents of your circle of friends and ask for help.

Some of your friends probably own video cameras. Ask them for help. Exchange services. Others may know web development and the many other services you need. It is always good to get help from people you know or referrals from your friends.

2.  Shoot your first video on a topic you know.

I did a one hour video on low-cost marketing tips. This is an educational product to inform and help my clients. This is a video that you can sell to your prospects as it gives them valuable information that will help them move ahead in their business.  Or you can offer it as a free item to promote your services and other products.

3. Shoot some humorous, attention-getting ‘outtakes’ at the same time.

In addition to shooting your one-hour educational video create a   couple of humorous, attention-getting outtakes. We did a couple of outtakes—1-3 minute clips that were totally out of character for me and funny.  The outtakes are the clips you put on the social media sites. Those are the videos that can grab your prospects attention and they will remember you if they are funny or unusual.

4.  Start watching popular videos on YouTube and other sites.

To get some ideas on what type of outtakes you should do begin watching the “Top 10” most popular videos on various social media sites. Learn what works and what people are watching.

5.  Produce your video.

Now that you have ideas for your own video prepare a script so that you know what you want to cover for your hour long program.  For the outtakes be open and do things spontaneously so that they will be fun to do and funny for the audience. Remember they are just a short clip of 1-3 minutes.  It’s time to get those circle of friends to help you produce your video.

6. Market your video with Viral Marketing.

Once you have created your video and your outtakes it’s time to upload the video to various video sharing sites such as YouTube, Yahoo Video, Google Video, plus social media sites like Facebook MySpace, Squidoo, and many others places on the Internet.  Again get your circle of friends with knowledge of Viral Marketing (marketing to social media outlets to increase brand awareness and motivate people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily with regards to video clips.).

7. Spread the word.

Once you have your video and outtakes ready it’s time to let your circle of friends know.  Word of mouth is still the most important way to publicize your products and services and the most inexpensive. Let people know where your videos are located on the Internet.

Now, don’t you think video marketing is a fantastic way to promote your business?  It’s a great way to stay in front of prospective clients.  And it is far more fun to send them to an attention-getting, humorous video clip, than handing them a business card or brochure.

If you want to see a serious marketer (me) lose it, check out my first video outtake with my friend Marc Isaac Potter, and thanks to Deb Murray for helping me put this video together. More importantly, I hope the video will get you to remember that low cost marketing tips and techniques is my business, just as you want your video clips to be memorable to your prospects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSrVbym9f1A&feature=channel_page

© 2008 Joan Clout-Kruse