License your product

Licensing can be a very effective and low-cost growth strategy particularly if you have a branded or highly valued service product. Licensing will often allow you to get money upfront or royalties on the use or sale of your product. If you want to go the licensing route, look for logical partners but most importantly make sure you don’t weaken your offering by losing control.

Do you have a permission marketing website?

Is there anywhere on your website where you offer your visitors something in return for registration? No? You could be missing a little goldmine of contacts there…think about it…if you’re getting good traffic this is a great way for you to build a list of potential customers. Be innovative in what you offer: newsletters are getting a bit old-hat, but possibly something for FREE, a sample, some of your time or expertise, give it some thought…

Your position

Positioning in marketing is all about where people perceive your business in relation to your competitors. Where you position yourself will affect not only the success of your business, but your whole marketing strategy. There’s no point aiming to be the “thinking man/woman’s” product/service and then adopting a communication strategy that sounds as if you’re speaking to kids! It sounds obvious, but like all things, it’s worth testing. Image is extremely important here too. What does your image say about your position? What do your sales force (even if it’s just you) say about your position?