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E-Marketing Articles
Make Your Small Business Look Big
Our business friendly culture, the
improvements in communications, and the abundance of Internet resources have all
combined to make it possible even for a garage-based one-man-show to look as
professional as the largest corporation. You should take advantage of all
available options to develop a professional image for your business.
Even if you are a sole proprietor you can operate under a trade name that
relates to your business. You do this by registering a Fictitious Name. This is
a relatively simple and straightforward procedure that can be done on-line in a
few minutes. The registration of fictitious names is administered by the
Department of State or by the County (depends on the state; call your county
clerk or your state government to find out what applies in your case). For
example, a Fictitious Name will allow a person named John Smith to operate under
a name such as Sunshine Landscaping, without the hassle of incorporating, adding
credibility and marketability to his business.
Once you have your business trade name, make it a point to get a logo. A logo is
the graphical representation of your business; it separates you from your
competitors and creates brand awareness. You don’t need to pay hundreds of
dollars to a professional designer. You can visit your local community college
and ask a graphic arts student to give it a shot. Also, you can find on-line
companies that can make a logo for as little as $25 (e.g. www.gotlogos.com). Or,
if you’re good with a computer, you can download some free click art, open the
Paint utility in your Windows program, throw in some text and color, and you can
create the logo yourself.
Then, it is time to register your own domain name, such as “sunshinelandscaping.com”.
The cost of registering a domain name has gone down significantly, to even less
than $15 / year. At those rates, anybody can afford it. For more information and
tips on domain names, go to http://www.accordmarketing.com/tid/archive/033003.html
Next, you must put up your own website. It doesn't need to be a big production.
A three page website, with a main page, a page describing your services, and a
contact page is enough. There are many free web hosting services that offer Page
Building utilities that can literally allow you to create a website in minutes.
They offer all sorts of free templates and web building tools to get you up and
running in no time.
If you want more flexibility in designing your website, get Microsoft FrontPage (http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/
). This is a simple yet powerful program to create professional looking websites
in a snap, with the advantage that its interface is intuitive to anybody who
uses other Microsoft programs like Word or Excel (and who doesn’t nowadays?).
Once your website is done, you need to find a host. You can find reliable hosts
for little more than $5.00 / month. Geocities (http://www.geocities.com
) has a beginners package that for $4.95 / month will give you enough space for
a medium size website with no advertising.
Next, you’ll have to print business cards. There is a great on-line service
that provides you with first quality, full color business cards for free (check
it out at http://www.qksrv.net/click-634431-4992835
). They have a user friendly interface that allows you to create your own
business card in seconds, choosing from a wide variety of attractive templates.
If you want more customization, like modifying the layout or uploading your
logo, you can do so for a small fee.
Finally, by all means, don’t forget to create a signature file for your e-mail
messages. If you use Outlook or Outlook Express, you can do it by going to Tools
Options Signatures. Your signature file should have your name, the name of your
company, a link to your website and a catchy tagline or slogan. Since most
people read their mail every day, this is an excellent opportunity to market
your business for free with every message your send.
Finally, a word of advice. All this will mean nothing if you don’t take care
of your customers. Never promise more than you can deliver, always keep your
word, and follow through with your customers until they are completely
satisfied.
Good luck!
Mario.
You can freely reprint this article. Just
include the following resource box at the end:
Mario Sanchez publishes The Internet Digest ( http://www.theinternetdigest.net
) a website and newsletter that gives you useful advice on web design and
Internet marketing, one free tip at a time
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