Small Business Marketing: Stand Out from the Loud

Easy-to-Implement Small Business Marketing Tips

Effective small business marketing is all about standing out from the crowd, but as our maverick marketer points out in this week’s episode, some TV ad execs think they can do that simply by jacking up the volume on commercials. The reality is those commercials don’t stand out from the crowd, they merely alienate it.

A squeeze page, also known as an opt-in page, is one small business marketing tool you can use to build an email database full of people who’ve expressed interest in your products or services. Our small business marketing guru talks about the pros and cons of using a squeeze page.

You’ll also learn about a video search Web tool and a simple, inexpensive way to make a big first impression on new customers. Just click on the video logo below.

There’s always a new report coming out on something or other, but I thought you’d relate to this one. TV commercials are annoyingly loud (due to technology that deliberately maximizes the volume as loud as possible without distortion), according to a report based on interviews and a year-long study. The aim is for them to jump out at you, but most people switch over to another channel or mute the sound, so the strategy seems to have backfired! Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Our question this week is all about squeeze pages, opt-in pages, whatever you like to call them. Should you reveal the price of your product or service on the squeeze page? Or should you tease the visitor? How long should a squeeze page be? Or should you even use one?

With the proliferation of online video, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find what you need. For search we have Google, and now there’s a search tool for video. I’ll reveal it in the episode — check it out, it’s great.

My wife and I stayed at a Homewood Suites hotel in Colorado recently, and it was a great experience. Surprisingly, it was something ridiculously simple that made us happy. You can learn from this marketing lesson, I’ll show you how in the episode.

As usual, let me know your opinion about the topics covered in the show to help your small business this week — leave your comment below, it’s really easy to do, no registration required.

You

’

ll find lots more

tips and resources from Andrew Lock in our Small Business In-Depth series,

.

Andrew Lock is a self-described maverick marketer and the creator and host of Help! My Business Sucks, a free, weekly Web TV show full of practical small business marketing tips, advice and resources to help small businesses “get more done and have more fun.”