As I stated on my blog yesterday, in life, we have rubber balls and glass balls that we juggle. Those that are rubber, we can drop when we need to and pick them right back up when it's time. The glass ones, on the other hand, are those that are precious and we need to make sure that we keep them in the air.

The newsletter was one of the rubber balls that got dropped in the past few months, and I'll be perfectly honest with you...the glass ball (my children) had some pretty valuable lessons for me in doing so!

But, we're in a new year and 2007 is already looking up and we're just 6 weeks into it!

Here's to a prosperous 2007!

Until next time...

Wear It Proudly

You’ve probably seen someone drive by with a big magnet on the side of their car that tells the world to check out www.somewebsite.com.  Perhaps you’ve seen someone wearing a shirt with their favorite website on it. What’s stopping you from doing the same thing? Are you ready to tell the world (even the people in your day to day life) about your business? Hopefully, the answer is “yes”!

Options for Your Car

• Bumper stickers
• Magnets
• License plate holders
• Window decals
• Business card holders

Something to think about…
Keep in mind that if you do decide to advertise on your car, you may get phone calls or emails from someone that you cut off on the Boulevard.  But if you’re an ace driver, you shouldn’t have to deal with that too often.

Also remember that Saturn’s are made of plastic, so the magnet won’t work if that’s the ride that you’re sporting.  A bumper sticker or window decal might be a better option for you.

Options for Clothing
Think about what you wear or what you’ve seen others wear.  If you can wear it, you can put your logo on it!  You can find dog t-shirts (seriously), baby and kids clothes, hoodies and even boxer shorts with your business logo.

Marketing Fashion Don’t!
Make sure that you have a professional looking logo before plastering it all over everything that you wear!  If your logo needs sprucing up, then contact a graphic designer that can ensure that your logo is at its best and properly formatted for embroidery or printing.  The last thing you want is someone judging you on what your logo looks like.

How Can I Best Benefit From This Type of Marketing?
Honestly?  Get it out of your hands and into someone else’s.  You can sponsor an event and give the items away as prizes where appropriate.

If you sponsor a contest, or charity event, donate a logo item, when it is appropriate.   If you’re at an event with business owners, offer mugs.  If you’re targeting pet-lovers, raffle off a dog t-shirt or a food or water bowl.

Give them something that will benefit your business in the long run. Of course, you can always offer a gift certificate for your business in addition to the logo item if the event is expecting a larger gift.
Give them something that they can use!  We all know that pens go unnoticed.  While we all need them, unless it’s one of those super cool pens, it just goes in the pen holder and we don’t really know who it’s from. 

You can pick up many of the items above fairly inexpensively at places such as Café Press, Webdecal.com, or at your local printer.  The bottom line is you and others can be a walking billboard.  There are many items out there that don’t cost an arm and a leg and will help you to better promote your business. 

The Real Meaning of Advertisements...continued

Advanced Design - The advertising agency doesn't understand it.

It's Here At Last - Rush job. Nobody knew it was coming.

Field Tested - Manufacturer lacks test equipment.

High Accuracy - Unit on which all parts fit.

Futuristic - No other reason why it looks the way it does.

To be continued...

Valentine's Special...just $12.95!!!

Offer Valid through February 28, 2007

To view past issues of Marketing
Made Simple, visit http://www.valleyva.net/Marketing-Made-Simple/

MMS is edited by:	Graphics By:

Have you thought about what would happen to your business if something happened to you tomorrow?

Maybe it's time to think about it!

Q: Are there inexpensive ways to market my business?

A: Are there ever! And you've come to the right place to find them!

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Signature line -- How many emails do you send and how many online forums do you belong to? Use that valuable space!
• Affiliate program -- If you have a product or service offer an affiliate program and have other people market your products for you! (Look for more on this in the February 19th issue).
• Press Releases -- If you don't know about the power of press releases then check out this article submitted by one of our readers
• Article Marketing -- Stand out as an expert with article marketing! For more infomarmation, sign up for my free eCourse here.

The list goes on and on...and of course, you can get 97 more ideas from Making Dollars Out of Cents: 101 Tips for the Frugal Marketer!

Happy Marketing!