Home
>
Small Business
>
Are You Using a Chess or Checkers Small Business Marketing Strategy?

Are You Using a Chess or Checkers Small Business Marketing Strategy?

Until the day I learned to play chess I loved playing checkers. Both games require a strategy that maximizes a player's ability to capture her opponents pieces without first losing her own. Checkers was fun. But the complexities of chess lead to more satisfying victories and defeats.

Chess is a more complicated game than checkers as there are more variables. Therefore, much more thought and concentration is required to win a game of chess than is required to win a game of checkers.

Like chess, marketing your business is a complicated endeavor. A successful chess player anticipates future moves and will position his pieces in such a way that each piece helps add strength to other pieces already in place.

A successful marketing strategy is no different than a winning chess strategy. Every move you make must reinforce previous and future moves. Instead of rooks, bishops and queens the moves made in the game of marketing are made with advertisements, web sites, marketing messages, brochures and so on.

As a small business owner you don't risk losing pieces to your opponent you risk losing business to your competitors.

Great chess players have a strategy that helps them win with consistency. Here's a marketing strategy you can use to consistently win new business.

Focus Your Marketing

Target your market with a marketing message that speaks directly to the population you serve. A marketing message is a phrase or sentence that clearly demonstrates who you help and the problems you solve.

Develop and use your marketing message as often as you can. Doing so will help get your business get noticed by those most likely to buy from you. Use your marketing message in your marketing materials, your website and any and everywhere your business comes in contact with potential clients.

Effective use of a marketing message can be a small business owner's best friend. A good one will work hard for you to generate new business and will never ask for anything in return.

Inspire Action

Once you've used your marketing message to grab hold of your prospects' attention, be it at your website, after reading one of your ads or an article you've written, be sure you clearly instruct them to take the action you want. It doesn't matter what the action is as long as it requires them to provide you their contact information so you may continue marketing to them.

Offer something useful and free in exchange for their information. Give away free recipes if you're a caterer or tips on designing bouquets if you're a florist. Just be certain to give clear directions about what should be done next to move your sales process along.

Build a Relationship

After you've successfully culled from your prospects' their contact information it is now time for you to develop a relationship with them. The nature of the relationship you develop should be one that makes it clear that you know your prospect is out there, that you understand your prospects' problems and that you can help solve your prospects' problems.

Common methods for developing relationships with prospects are distributing articles, publishing an ezine and conducting surveys. Be sure to include your marketing message with every article, ezine or survey.

Over time you will become the obvious solution to your clients' problems when they decide to take action to solve what concerns them.

Move Your Marketing forward

Using each of the above methods will help you position your business much like a champion chess player positions his pieces. In the end victory and more sales will be yours.

The author, Jeremy Cohen, helps small business owners and professional service providers attract more clients, grow their business and be more successful with his marketing strategy and web site enhancement service and his marketing guides. Get his free marketing strategy guide : Jumpstart Marketing: More Profits, Clients and Success at: http://www.bettermarketingresults.com/

same day cleaning service Des Plaines ..

In The News:

New Android banking trojan Sturnus steals credentials, reads encrypted messages and controls devices.

Denmark's 3D-printed student village proves automation builds 36 apartments faster than traditional methods. Skovsporet project shows housing future.

Discover Android's new Sound Notifications feature that alerts you to smoke alarms, doorbells, and baby cries even when wearing headphones.

New SantaStealer malware reportedly threatens holiday shoppers with password theft. This Christmas-themed info-stealer targets browsers and crypto wallets.

The Christmas season brings a surge in Netflix phishing scams targeting shoppers with fake emails. Stacey P received convincing scam but verified account first.

San Francisco Giants invite Jamie Grohsong to throw ceremonial first pitch at Oracle Park after he learned to play baseball with a bionic hand following an injury.

FBI warns cybercriminals are stealing family photos from social media to create fake proof of life images in virtual kidnapping scams targeting victims.

Instagram's new 'Your Algorithm' tool lets you control your Reels feed in real time. The app now gives you power to customize what videos you see.

Major Marquis fintech breach exposes 400,000-plus Americans' data through unpatched SonicWall vulnerability, with Texas hardest hit at 354,000 affected.

Free up iPhone storage fast by clearing large photos and videos from Messages app. Simple steps for iOS users to delete attachments without losing chats.

Scammers are flooding inboxes with fake tracking alerts that mimic real carriers, exploiting the holiday rush to steal logins and personal data.

The Fox News AI Newsletter brings you the latest news on AI technology advancements and the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Texas family reunites with missing 11-year-old cat Grayson after 103 days using Petco Love Lost's AI photo matching technology and community help.

Tired of AI customer service loops? These insider tricks help you escape "frustration AI" and get real human help when you need it most for urgent issues.

Unlock richer audio from your streaming apps with simple tweaks to volume normalization, equalizer settings, and quality preferences for cleaner sound.

Scammers are sending fake Facebook settlement payout emails that mimic legitimate notices from the privacy settlement administrator to deceive users.

Holiday shopping scams surge as fake refund emails target distracted consumers during Black Friday and holiday seasons, costing Americans billions annually.

The AI-powered IRMO M1 exoskeleton features four modes, including turbo, eco, training and rest for hiking, running, cycling and sports with eight-hour battery life.

OpenAI announced upgrades for its ChatGPT Images platform on Tuesday, saying the program can now make more precise edits and produce images more quickly.

Chrome for Android now turns web articles into AI-powered podcast conversations. Get hands-free browsing with Google Gemini's natural audio summaries.

LastPass faces $1.6 million fine from U.K. regulators after 2022 data breach exposed 1.6 million users. Password manager failed proper security controls.

Petco disclosed a data breach exposing customer Social Security numbers, financial account details, and driver's license information due to a software error.

Baseball teams can now analyze complete swing mechanics in normal training environments using Theia's markerless AI system that processes standard high-speed footage.

Smart home hacking fears overblown? Expert reveals real cybersecurity risks and simple protection tips to keep your connected devices safe from hackers.

MIT develops needle-free glucose monitor using light technology. Revolutionary device could replace painful finger pricks for diabetes management.