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Technology is changing at such a dramatic rate that many business owners are being left behind. Left with antiquated methods of marketing their business that simply do not work any more. These methods used to work but with new generations growing up with PC’s, Macs, iPads, and smartphones many traditional methods of generating new business are no longer getting any attention.

When was the last time you used a phone directory to look up a phone number? Unless you’re over 50 statistics show that it was probably a very long time ago or never. You can fast forward through TV commercials. Newspapers and magazines are losing their circulation figures and their editors are having to invent new ways such as free DVD offers to attract readers. More and more people have joined the “do not call” list. Print ads are increasingly expensive and ineffective for local businesses. Email open rates have plummeted to less than 20% now due to the proliferation of spam.

Business owners are confused with all the changes that have happened with the emergence of the internet, iPads, smartphones etc. and what it means to their businesses. They realize that they need to change the way they promote their business but many are at a loss as to how to do it. They were told to “build a website and the customers will come” but that is not necessarily true, especially if the website is built for looks and not for function. QR codes, Mobile technology and Location based services are all on the horizon promising newer and better ways to market products and services. What is a business owner to do?

Decide who you are your customers:

What characteristics do your customers share? Young, middle aged, or old? Do they embrace technology or not? Where do they live? Where do they work? What do they do in their spare time? By knowing more about your customers you’ll know which type of marketing will reach them and others like them.

Create a Blog as Your Central Marketing Hub

Blogs are a great way to communicate who you are and what you do. Add valuable content, and answer questions. Be seen as the expert, ‘the go to person’. The great advantage of a blog is providing a place to direct potential customers from all your other marketing activities.

Mobile marketing trends is deemed one of the more popular forms of marketing. For one, mobile gadgets, such as cellular phones, have become the target of many marketers. Next, that is a basic form of marketing, is through a moving fashion, take for example — moving billboards or technology road shows. The phrase has also been known as “a means of using interactive wireless media to provide clients with time and location sensitive, personalized information that promotes goods, services and ideas, thereby producing value for all stakeholders.”

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has recently defined the phrase as a group of procedures that ” enables organizations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network.” There are lots of businesses, big or small, that go mobile. The process is one way of promoting or selling businesses via MMS or SMS. A lot of people have attested and stood witness to the technique’s usefulness. Over time, many shops and stores have been successful through the help of marketing through mobile.

Mobile marketing by way of SMS and MMS

Marketing on mobile or cellular phones is incredibly preferred throughout certain parts in Europe and Asia in the early 2000s. The surge of SMS or Short Message Service started that time when it had been a widespread practice to get cellular phone numbers and send out both needed and unwelcome message content material to the phone users. In the last several years up to this latest date, SMS is viewed by many as a genuine promoting method within many of the different parts of the world. Mobile marketing trends via SMS is nothing like any email sent through the public internet. With the SMS methods, there are carriers that safeguard their own systems and install methods and best practices for the mobile media industry, which includes mobile advertising. This type of marketing has rapidly expanded to other huge continents, like Europe and Asia, as a new channel for the marketer to access their customers.

In terms of MMS or Multimedia Message Service, one of the most common mobile marketing developments, the way of marketing includes images and videos, text and audios, in the form of a timed slideshow. This type of mobile content is merely disseminated via MMS. Promotions are done by endorsing products and services through the utilization of MMS that are then sent through images, text, audio, and video to a targeted market. Bonding with buyers has not been this uncomplicated. Within these times, there have been several marketing tips and processes that have expanded and changed in many countries and have become popular methods as well.

The first step in establishing your unconventional marketing success is to determine your “Unique Selling Points” (USP). This is what makes your small business special or different from everyone one else.

It answers the question of, “Why should I do business with you over all your competitors?”

It’s OK if you don’t know what your USP is right now. I will help you determine what your USP will be. But for now I want you to fully understand how powerful a USP can be and that you must have one.

If you think your USP is “I have better prices than everyone else,” or “I have 20 years experience,” or “I am an honest ethical person,” that is what all your competitors are saying so it does not make you unique, it makes you the same.

Let’s determine what your USP is. OK?

What makes you DIFFERENT from all your competitors? List them here. Remember lower price, years of experience, or you’re a great ethical person are no good because that is what everyone is saying. What about your location, your employees, your hours of operation, or the way you do things, etc.

Let me give you a few examples so you get the idea and then you can create your own.

Here is an example of an USP:

“Turn-Key Marketing Systems for Small Business Owners with Limited Time, Money, and Computer Skills”

Here’s one for a hair salon:

“The Exact Hair Color You Want Or Your Money Back!”

Here’s one for a pizza shop:

“Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivered To Your Doorstep In Less Than 30-Minutes, Or It’s FREE”

Another for an insurance agent:

“The Exact Complete Coverage You Need With The Most Responsive Customer Service Ever”

How about for an auto repair shop:

“The Same Honest and Friendly Service As A Dealer Without The High Cost”

Here’s one for a TV repair shop:

“Guaranteed to FIX Your TV in 48 Hours or It Costs You Nothing”

Why is having a good USP so important?

Because if you do NOT give people the criteria for what makes you different, what makes you special, what makes you better, then they will think you are the same as all your competitors and then they have no other option but to just compare you based on price. And when you start lowering your price to compete this directly comes off your PROFITS and then you start lowering your quality and it’s a downward spiral from there.