There is a steady influx of new social networking sites on the internet. Twitter is just like these sites. It’s a social media community that is based on the simple concept of “What are you doing?” or about updating the world regarding your life on a regular basis. You can share as many small and intimate details about your life as you want and change the information provided at any time. There is a limitation of 140 characters for each update (tweet) that you post, which means you need to get to the point in your messages.

The first thing is to get a Twitter account. Without it, you can’t start driving traffic. Twitter gives you the choice to sift through your electronic correspondence to discover if you have any colleagues/contacts or old friends who are already on Twitter, and there is positively no cost. As soon as you sign up, you can start using your account and get it ready by uploading a photo (of you or your company’s logo) and add a link to your website/blog on your profile. Unlike other social networking sites out there Twitter is only for ‘micro-blogging’, this means you can not save photo albums or the like on it. But, by using either mobile uploads or the normal way you do have the chance to share your favorite photos by adding them and using Twitter updates to share them with friends. With your Twitter account, you can now follow others as well. Following is just another way of saying you have subscribed to their updates. These updates will be shown on your own profile page. Below the profile photos there is a button that you can click on that will allow you to follow them. This helps you increase your online traffic greatly because when you decide to follow a person, they will be grateful and will more than likely follow you back.

The biggest thing you have to do to get quality traffic from Twitter is to keep your follower base growing. This can be done by external marketing of your Twitter account. You can use your website’s blog to advertise your Twitter page and ask your readers to join your follower list. Your sales endeavors will see much greater results as your following rises. Remember, you want your followers to be interested in what you have to offer, not simply anybody and everybody. This is the mistake many marketers make and end up having a cold list that doesn’t respond. Therefore, save your friends list specifically for actual customers who are serious about your product. Follow these steps and watch your traffic grow.

Would you like to know about article marketing? Please check out my blog Magic Article Rewriter!
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So you want to start a business on your own. You want to sell a product that you think is on par with others in the same category or maybe it’s better than the others. The only hitch is, that you don’t know how to market the product simply because you are starting your venture on a shoestring budget and therefore, you have very little or no money for marketing. In a case like this, how would you promote and advertise your product so that it builds equity in the market?

As a common practice, the marketing budget should be about 2% to 5% of the overall gross sales, but this is not the same for all markets and products. So the first thing you need to do when you start a business is to figure out what your marketing budget would be for the first six months.

You could use the following promotional activities to begin with – events, aggressive advertising, internet marketing, word of mouth, strategic partnerships, public relations and direct marketing. For a low budget start-up unit, the following marketing tools can be useful:

Newspaper write-ups – You can get articles that talk about your product in a broader perspective, published in a newspaper. For example, if you are selling a sauna belt, the article can be about the effects of sauna treatment for weight loss. The article can also have a word or two from a famous personality who religiously believes in the sauna treatment.

Direct marketing – Instead of going for expensive marketing techniques when you start a business, go for direct marketing. Keep your target audience limited and specific to reach them in the most effective and the cheapest way. For example, fliers inserted in newspapers and informative emails are two inexpensive direct marketing tools.

Word- of- mouth publicity – Get your friends and colleagues to spread the word about your product. This is the most effective and economical way to advertise. Get your friends and colleagues together for a small gathering and introduce your product to them. Keep in mind not to sell it too aggressively!

Internet marketing – Get people familiar with your product through internet write-ups and blogs. Most enterprises depend upon blogs to garner awareness for their products. This is again an extremely cheap and hassle free exercise. Similarly, market your product via social networking sites. Keep people intimated about new schemes, discounts, product enhancements and other new developments.

Make a website of your product – This is a relatively inexpensive option. Making a website of your product gives you a better chance to display your product and explain its features to millions of eyeballs everyday.

While all these could be effective marketing techniques that you can use when you start a business, you would eventually need to have a more consolidated and planned marketing strategy to promote your product and services. Therefore, keep putting aside a small part of your profits every month for your marketing budget. Use your marketing budget judiciously and keep a track of the results on each front. A marketing tactic that does not give you the desired numbers should be dropped.

All in all, make sure that every penny of your marketing budget is used to effectively project and promote your product. Follow a strategy that convinces your target audience to follow the lead and lets your business grow.

For more information and to learn how to work with Maryjean.

Starting a home business or any kind of business can be a difficult task.  Having little or no marketing budget can make it that much more difficult.  To find out more about starting a business without a marketing budget or other internet marketing strategies, contact Maryjean Howe.
Maryjean Howe is a professional internet marketer and business coach based out of Oceanside, CA. She works with people to help them start a business and continues to help them use training materials to effectively run a successful business. Maryjean has worked with people from all different backgrounds to help them start a business without any experience. For more information, contact Maryjean.
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While fostering a legal marketing habit can often be a solo activity, there’s no better inspiration than enlisting the help and support of other firm members. Whether it’s other attorneys or staff, their help, encouragement and ideas are imperative to business development success. Collaboration with others can make your marketing efforts even more powerful, allowing you to keep each other on track, spark new ideas and even join forces in joint marketing efforts and strategies. A true marketing culture can’t be implemented overnight, like anything else it takes hard work, dedication and focused efforts. That being said, here are a few of our best tips for getting other members of your firm to join in your legal marketing journey.

Be a passionate leader.

If you’re going to talk the talk, you must walk the walk. If you’re not committed to marketing and business development, others won’t be either. Be vocal about your plans, your speeches, your networking events, your successes… it will inspire other attorneys and staff to join in your efforts. Enthusiasm is contagious.

Provide training and resources.

For larger firms that can mean working with firm leadership to host a seminar or workshop to kick off a marketing initiative…but it can be even simpler. Share your knowledge. Have you found a great website or blog (like inblackandwhiteblog.com!) that imparts helpful tips? Send it to colleagues. Read a great marketing or business development book? Pass it around the office. Exposure to ideas and strategies can spark action.

Create a forum for results.

Set up a monthly marketing meeting or lunch, where those participating in business development activities can get together to report on their initiatives, share leads and be held accountable for their efforts. It will encourage members to keep on track and make others wonder what they’re missing out on.

Hire extroverts.

Make marketing and business development a part of your hiring practices. Ask potential members what their thoughts on legal marketing are and how they plan to implement them. Bring in lawyers who are extroverted, flexible and able to embrace change. The same goes for support staff or anyone else who can contribute to firm marketing efforts.

Create a plan.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Having plan is crucial to marketing and business development success. Work with other firm members to create an actual marketing plan… on every level. From individual plans to practice groups to an overall firm plan, it will help define what you plan to do and understand where you want to go.

Enlisting help and support in your journey may not be easy, what with billable hours and everyday excuses, but if you can get just a few outspoken and influential members on board it can reap serious rewards for all of you. Remember, marketing culture doesn’t just happen; it’s a process that requires time, effort and most of all FOCUS.

Paula Black has advised law firms around the globe on everything from powerful and innovative design to marketing strategy and business growth. She is an award-winning, Amazon-bestselling author and the force behind In Black & White, a blog dedicated to clear, straightforward advice and open discussion of legal marketing issues. For more information on Paula Black, her books and her company please visit paulablacklegalmarketing.com.

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