166328 Resource 149176 155860 149257 1176736509673 1176763994283 Controlled Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses Using a Buddy System, Part 1

Buddy marketing can be cost-effective and successful marketing tool for owners looking to expand customer base

If you’ve ever listened to any songs written by Carole King, then you can probably hum a few lines from the song, “You’ve Got A Friend.” You might have never considered the lyrics as words of wisdom for the small business world, but when it comes to using a buddy marketing strategy, they are more than appropriate. Buddy marketing is a technique you can use to promote your business in a cost-effective way. It gives you the potential to save money and reach a whole new group of potential customers. All you need is a little creativity, and a friend. How does it work? Identify a buddy. Find a noncompeting business that compliments the services or products that your business offers. For example, if you produce gourmet pet foods, then teaming up with a photographer that specializes in pet portraits would be a perfect fit. Create a plan. Find out what promotional pieces you have that would compliment the marketing of your buddy business. If you have a brochure or newsletter already produced, you could add a business card or leaflet from your buddy, and create a more complete package. Share the costs. Figure out if you want to have equal representation in the mailings or promotions, and how that would translate to footing the bills. If you share the mailing costs, you’ll be saving hundreds or thousands of dollars. Share customers. You and your buddy can compile lists of your main customers and share them. You have the potential to expand your customers and reach new clientele. Using a buddy marketing approach is simple if you find the right partner, and it can drastically cut down on costs. By teaming up with a friend, you can open new doors and see the benefits in higher sales. In the next part of this series we’ll discuss additional ways to use your buddies and marketing partners. 10 application/xml false buddy marketing buddy system customer base expand customer base marketing strategies marketing tool small businesses strategies for small businesses successful marketing tool Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30; .NET CLR 1.1.4322) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 cmalmstrom false true false false true 189572 false false true false false false true 149176 blog blogsite/FreedomVoice/web