The Ordinary Special of the month!


Which marketing tool is suitable for my business? dilemma for a small guy like me...here is the answer!!

When the economy is in its worst situation as it is now, people have less money to spend, confidence is low, more worries for future, orders are rare and small, profit margin is less, and as the saying goes, we should spend more for marketing on such situation! However the real questions today for all the small business owners like me is that whether we should spend at all on marketing on such situation? why not just save it for now. Will it be a smart move and a value for my money? what if it could not generate enough business to cover by cost. Is it worth a try at the 1st place?

These are the real hard questions every business owners have in theirs mind now, but the answers are very difficult to find for free. You have to try and find yourself by paying for the lesson! But do not worry! fortunately, the help is here. The materials i have used here is gathered from real experience, time and efforts, a lots of traveling and a real money being spent on it, a lot of money! therefore, hope this is useful to you all..

a. Participation in shows/fairs/exhibitions - This is the real deal and needs a lot of preparation, time and also a lot of money! At least 3-6 months advance preparation is necessary, from booking the space, sending samples, making new catalog, updating products and prices details, hotels and travels, visa & documents, constructing & dismantling the booth and also clearing the samples! And trust me it is not easy! However, the hardest part is not even this. It is very important that you must find/select the right show for yr products and in order to do that you should visit that show prior to actually taking part on the show. Also choose the local show that is nearer from your base or at least in the same country as you are located. Even most important than that is the prime location of your booth, if the location of your booth is NOT on the right way, it is almost useless. And the scary part now days is that, it is becoming a kind of playing field for big boys with huge, colorful and vastly decorated booth with a lots of variety products! And in between them you are like an old/ugly bicycle in front of a Mercedes Benz car fighting for the same customers! Therefore, without a prime location booth and a distinct and clear but new and unique line of quality products, you have already lost the battle even before it is started. In conclusion, all these points are to be well considered before you take part any shows/exhibitions, so, your hard earned money is not wasted in vain for nothing!

b. TV/cable commercial- If your company can afford to advertise on TV/cable, thence you are definitely not the small guy like we are! There is nothing important here for you, so, move on...

c. Newspaper/magazine - This method of advertisement also does not come cheap! In order to have more exposure you have buy the big/colorful page continuously for at least 6 months to a year time and that can cost you a lot of money! Small ads here and there inside the pages also is no use as this will disappear inside these pages itself. So,  if you have enough budget and potential market for such ads, make sure you have good facility and skilled staff in placed already to handle the inquiries and delivery of the goods as well as to follow up the after sale services. It will be definitely too late to think about it after the ads is already on the air and running. The most important point that we all seems to always forgot is the basic rule,  such ads are effective only to those businesses that run and serve that particular area, means the local community! Now obviously you already know whether this type of ads is suitable for your business or not, right ?

d. B2B/online ads- The internet is the tool of the day and might be very helpful if you can find the right market, however, this is a million dollars question! it is also very tricky one. The problem with it is that all seems/looks the same and it is also everywhere! Customers are flooded in with so many choices and offers that one can not in any sense see the different between the genuine and the fake one. The field is muddy, complicated and also mixed up. Therefore, it is not an easy task to find the right place/market for your products to advertise on the internet. You have to spend a lot of time/energy/efforts and money to stand out from the crowd and it might takes years before you start to get the return. And for a small guy like us we have neither the money nor the time for the wait...! Nevertheless, one thing is clear though, you have to advertise ONLY for the service/products in the area where you are actually located in and have the right facility and management to handle it. For the international market, make sure your product is with very competitive price and very light too, otherwise, shipping cost will kill your business off even before than you have time to realize it!

e. Google/Yahoo/search engine/PPC- This type of ads is only for the people who are more than familiar with basic internet. Those so called experts who promises almost anything for your money are also no use. There are quite a lot of steps that you have to fulfilled in order to get high on search engine and it also takes time. Only those with proper knowledge/qualification and determined one will be successful. PPC (pay per click) ads provided by Google/yahoo/looksmart is easy and cost effective, but to get  only the right customer to click the ads is also not easy! And most importantly such ads are only good for retailer/wholesaler who are serving on their own area or may be within the country! this is definitely not a go for wholesaler/exporter as the order qty is usually very small thus, shipping will be as costly as ever.

Hope these comments will help find you the right marketing tool for your small business and be able to ride out this hard economic situation. The most important mantra of the day is survival and if by any means it was helpful to you and your business, it will be a worthwhile, well spent hour for me, and if you really do feel like expressing a word or two about the article and eventually to me, (i had to pay a lot of money and time/energy/efforts for this lesson!) please do drop me a line at info@the-ordinary.com and it will be appreciated for sure, thank you!

Written and posted by TIM I GURUNG/ 10 MAR 2009 IN HK!