Didn’t go to Stanford for your MBA? Well, now you can. Top notch universities in the US and abroad, business schools, museums, public broadcasting stations and state education organizations are all part of YouTube EDU, Academic Earth, MIT Open Course Ware and iTunes U which offer free downloads of educational podcasts or videos. These presentations cover a range of topics from VoIP security forums to language courses. iTunes U is the most popular platform for these free downloads. iTunes U’s popularity is most likely attributed to its promotion of free and mobile learning. Although released in 2007, not many users are maximizing its true potential. iTunes U has the prospective of creating a more empowered business person.

How it works:

iTunes U is accessed through iTunes and is found at the top of the menu bar. The podcasts can be downloaded individually or you can subscribe for automatic downloads as they become available. This second feature is used primarily for an on-going series podcast which operates like an on-going course.

How to Use it:

iTunes U’s direct relationship with iTunes means podcasts can be watched or listened to through a computer or can be taken anywhere with an iPod or an iPhone. iTunes U can be accessed from mobile devices through their cellular networks and via Wi-Fi. When accessing iTunes U from a computer, you can even send the podcast to your employees to ensure they are also up-to-date with current technologies or business concepts.

Whether your company is trying to break into a new industry, revamp your company logo or stay current with trends, there is probably a lecture for it.

Here is an exaggerated hypothetical situation illustrating how to utilize iTunes U to improve your business:

A small business owner is deciding between a social media focused online marketing campaign or a direct mail campaign. From listening to some iTunes U lectures, he decides that an online marketing campaign would be best and could be part of a larger search engine optimization effort. This savvy businessman decides to learn more about online marketing strategies before hiring anyone. After several lectures, he hires an experienced graphic design firm familiar with techniques referenced in the podcasts. He managed to do all of this free research on his iPod while on his daily subway commute to work each day.

As with the hypothetical example above, listening to these lectures may not illicit the necessary skills to do the project yourself, but will create a more knowledgeable entrepreneur. This knowledge creates a more confident negotiator and may eliminate the need to outsource more basic projects. Whether trying to learn Spanish to attract new clients or learn about social networking sites, with over 200,000 free educational files available through iTunes U alone, not taking advantage of this educational opportunity is too expensive of a mistake to make.

One of the reasons that I started my business, MarketGarden, was to help Green Businesses, those that offer green/sustainable products or services, market themselves. Often times these start-ups or smaller companies can not afford a variety of agencies – a marketing firm, pr firm, web developer, and advertising agency – to do so. I wanted to offer all of those services in a more efficient, cost effective way. In order to be true to my mission, I needed to find better ways to market – greener ways, more cost effective ways. Over the last year, I have realized that this balance is not just for Green businesses, but all businesses.

There has been a shift toward global agreement that we must to take more responsibility for the health of our planet and reduce our Carbon Foot Print, but balancing that with building a business and in a difficult economic climate can be overwhelming. That said all of these challenges require a more creative strategy that can benefit from the newest marketing tools. Market smarter (have a good strategy) and have your tactics work harder (lower cost, targeted and more impactful.)

Market Your Business – Use Green Marketing Methods – Reduce Costs, this marketing Trifecta is possible and effective. Here are some tips for you to use to reach your goals.

Direct Mail

• Use a more targeted mailing list. This reduces your list size and increases response rates. You can use the postage savings on more effective creative, possibly variable printing.
• Make sure to purge and update your lists
• Reduce waste by mailing smaller pieces – driving recipients to your web site for more information. This will also reduce postage costs.

Printing - Use green printers such as Greenprinter.com and Printingforless.com that offer green printing solutions and operate their business with a reduced Carbon Foot Print.

Electronic Collateral – Limit your use of printed materials, but emailing brochures and presentations, rather than printing them. This is a huge cost savings. Many retailers offer online catalogs rather than mailing them out.

Invoicing and other communications – Try using email for invoices and statements, once again saving on postage and printing. You can always offer mailed and emailed versions, and let your customers choose.

Websites

• Have your website do more of your “heavy lifting” by posting communication items such as –brochures, annual reports and newsletters, on your site where they can be viewed or downloaded as needed. FTP large documents or information, rather than overnighting them. You can send emails out with links back to your site for more information.
• Spread the word through blogs and social networking sites
• Post videos on your site or YouTube to tell your story show a demonstration of your product or service or provide tutorials.

Need inspiration? There are some great publications and websites out there that showcase unique and effective green marketing campaigns. One my favorites is USPS’s publication Deliver Magazine, http://www.delivermagazine.com/. The site offers white papers, podcasts and case studies as well as a subscription to the publication.

To find vendors to help you with your marketing campaigns, visit Resource Nation’s online business center.

Here’s the last 3 components that you need to ensure that your follow-up marketing strategies are as effective and efficient as possible for you.

Follow up needs to be automated

Try to automate your follow-up marketing as much as you can.  All of us are busy and the more we can systematize our marketing, the easier and quicker we can start reaping the rewards.

Luckily there is an abundance of tools and people you can use to simplify and automate your follow-up activities - from autoresponders to full contact management systems to Virtual Assistants.

An example of automating your follow-up marketing would be a shopping cart program that sends out automatic emails in a series after someone purchases your product, or a company that formats and sends out your ezine, or a VA who produces and sends out electronic greeting and thank you cards for you.

Follow up needs reliable data

To take advantage of many of the ways to follow up with your prospects and clients, you need to have a system in place that captures information about people and keeps track of interactions and communications you have with everyone.

Use software such as Aweber and 1Shopping Cart to gather and store information like client’s birthdays, business anniversary dates, purchasing information, emails that were sent, and so on.

Follow up needs to have varied delivery methods

Keep your follow-up marketing interesting and keep people intrigued by using different methods of delivery.  Incorporate email, telephone, direct mail, audio and so on, to provide variety in how you connect with people and grab their attention.

By varying the way you communicate and follow up with people, you’re showing that you are creative and interested in talking to them in different ways.  It shows commitment on your part and an understanding that freshness and variety is key in making any business relationship strong.

Take a look at how you are implementing your follow-up marketing tactics - are you using all 8 components (as outlined in the last 3 blog postings)?  If not, take some time today to see how you can make your follow-up marketing run as quickly, easily and profitably as possible.