A lot of us small business owners are so busy getting the next marketing tactic up and running that we don’t even think to ask ourselves if it’s working.

That’s why it’s smart marketing to set up some tracking mechanisms at the same time you are implementing the marketing tactic.

Below are 3 methods for keeping tabs on how well your marketing is actually working:

1)    Web site links.

Include web site links in your ezine so your subscribers can respond to special offers or promotions. You can track of how many people are interested enough to click on the link, and you should also be able to measure sales as a direct result of that promotion or offer (with your shopping cart program).

2)    Build in tracking mechanisms to a specific activity.

For example, if you are doing a teleseminar and you are inviting the attendees to visit your web site to sign up for it, create a special page on your web site to drive them to. Then use some kind of free website analytics program like Google Analytics to see how many people visited that page and signed up.

3)    You can also create specific web pages for a campaign and track the hits you get from a campaign. You can look at the links that people come in to your site from (referring URLs) - these can be very useful in creating online relationships. Call the people that are linking to your website - they may be interested in purchasing your services or hiring you for a workshop or event.

With these tracking methods, you will be able to determine what percentage of the total pieces distributed or people reached, responded to your marketing offer and how many took the action requested (i.e. downloaded your free-giveaway, subscribed to your newsletter or ezine, purchased your product, and so on).

Then you’re in a good position to make smart decisions about which marketing tactics you should continue to use, which ones need some “tweaking”, and which ones you should stop doing.

Your free-giveaway needs to be something that your target group finds valuable and has need of.

The product (ebook, CD, etc.) you are giving away for free needs to be something similar to your other products and services (if you have any yet) that you will be trying to sell to these people later on.

Everybody starts to get a bit panicky and anxious when they think about coming up with content for their free-giveaway.  But the truth is that if you take a look around your office, you’ll see you have lots of information that you can pull together or put into a different format that would make a great free-giveaway.

• bundle together articles you’ve written
• combine blog posts you’ve written
• provide a song clip or art sample of your work
• copy of audio of a speech you’ve given
• offer free chapters of a book you’re writing
• transcribe audio or video of a speech
• audio of a teleseminar you gave
• use existing handouts and PowerPoint slides
• transcribe a teleseminar you’ve given
• bundle tips and checklists together
• a video of a speech you’ve given

You can use the content from above to create all kinds of different free-giveaways:

• a checklist
• a quick-start guide that helps people get started in the area of expertise you specialize in
• lessons on how to do something
• offer a free consultation
• 3 months free to a membership group you have
• self-evaluation test or online assessment
• offer an introductory/quick-start session
• list of top ten tips & tricks
• steps to creating something
• free software
• links to free products
• free membership to a forum you run

Take some time today to jot down some ideas about what you know your prospects and clients need on information on and start writing….or better yet, just re-package/re-format something that you’ve already done!

Offering something of value for free is a very important step in marketing. It is a way of introducing yourself to prospective clients in a non-intrusive, friendly manner. People are naturally more cautious and skeptical these days so you need to make it as easy as possible for them to get to know you at their pace - which will be different for each person.

As well, offering a free-giveaway is one of the fastest and most reliable ways to build a list of prospective clients and customers.  In order to do this, you must ask for the person’s name and email address. When people have indicated an interest in finding out more about you by asking for your “sampler”, then you can offer it in exchange for their name and email address.

The easiest way to get a prospect’s contact information is to have an opt-in box on your website.  When you use this in conjunction with an autoresponder/list management system such as Aweber, people’s name and email addresses are captured automatically and put into a list so you can contact them further via email.

In this day and age of Internet selling and buying, the majority of people are comfortable with giving you this information. Once you have this data you will now be able to continue to develop the relationship with these prospects and move them through the other steps in your marketing process.

If you don’t have an opt-in box but you do have a website, the best thing to do is get one created and set up.  It doesn’t cost much as it’s pretty easy to do and many Virtual Assistants can do it for you.

However, don’t worry if you haven’t got your website up and running yet, you can still collect names.  You’ll just have to do it manually and then input them into some kind of spreadsheet (Excel) or a database program like Microsoft Outlook or ACT.

There are many ways to use your free-giveaway and leverage it.  But first you need to have a free product to entice people onto your list, and into a marketing relationship with you.

I encourage you to spend some time today thinking about what you already have of value and how you can repackage it into a valuable free-giveaway that your target group wants and needs.

Part of marketing is measuring how well each marketing tactic is working - on an individual level and as a contributor to your overall success (or not).

Some simple methods for measuring that you can start implementing right away are:

1)  Ask your prospects and clients how they heard about your business, product or service - when they are making a purchase or getting some information.

This is not an exact science because people often don’t recall exactly how they heard about you, especially if they have been exposed to several of your marketing activities.

2)  Do a survey.

You can send your clients a satisfaction survey after they make a purchase and include a tracking question in the survey.

3) Track you website statistics.

To find out how many people are visiting your website, be sure to have a statistics program in place and know how to read it. I like Google Analytics, but there are many good ones out there that are free, including www.webstats.com.

4)  Use unique codes.

If you are creating flyers or coupons promoting a particular product, service or offer, include a unique code and require clients to enter that code on your web site in order to qualify for the special bonus or discount.

When you take the time to look at how well your marketing is working, you increase the chances for your success.  You can toss out what isn’t working and expand on what is working.

If you need help with your marketing, check out Resource Nation’s online marketing business service center.

Marketing consists of longer-term, big marketing strategies and also small, quick tactics.  Marketing should be done daily - but no-one said it has to take hours every day!

Maybe you’re having a “blah” day and don’t feel like doing much?  Pick a handful of these fast and easy marketing tactics, do them and then go read your fiction novel!

• check out competitor’s websites and see what kinds of products and services they’re offering their clients
• send a response to a client’s question that was sent in via website, blog, email, phone message, etc.
• send out an email to your list just to say hi and give them a couple valuable tips or some interesting, helpful links
• check out different groups on Facebook and Yahoo Groups that you might join
• call or send an email to a customer who has just purchased something from your website.  Say thank you and ask them if they need any questions answered or anything clarified
• if you’re offering a teleseminar, give enough advance notice and send reminder emails providing the pertinent details
• check out a company’s website that you are interested in possibly doing a joint venture with
• put a link on your Facebook profile to your new ebook
• send out a press release talking about the teleclass that you’re going to be giving
• send a friendly reminder email to remind people that your special promotion is ending today
• call a new client to find out if they have any questions on their recent purchase
• send an article, with a note, to a client you know is interested in the topic
• order a thank you gift, on the web or by phone, to be sent to someone who just referred a client to you
• submit an article you’ve written to an article directory website
• send a handwritten note to someone you met recently - and make a note in your calendar to follow up with them in one month
• write up something for your blog and post it
• record a podcast of an article you just wrote and submit to podcast directories

If you are need to expand your marketing activities and don’t have the time, visit Resource Nation’s online marketing business service center.

Many new small businesses get confused about what marketing steps they need to take first.

I believe that there are 3 essential components that you need in your marketing framework:

1. a website
2. free giveaway and opt-in box
3. marketing tactics based on your core marketing strength

Let’s look at each of these in more depth:

The first component you absolutely need in your marketing framework is a website.  I’m sure you’ve heard this again and again, and are probably sick of hearing about it….but that’s because it is so important!

A website is crucial for building credibility, trust, a relationship with prospects and clients, and also as the key means for building your list.  This leads us into the second component you need in your marketing framework.

The second component is a free giveaway and an opt-in box.  These go hand-in-hand - you need to have an opt-in box on each page of your website that gives people access to a free giveaway in exchange for their name and email address.  This is the way you start capturing names and build a list of prospects that you can communicate with on a regular basis and build a relationship with them.

A free giveaway is a piece of valuable information that your prospective clients would find useful.  There are many different formats you can provide your free giveaway in:  a report, audio lesson, tips & tricks, a checklist, an audio recording and so on.

The third component that you need in your marketing framework is tactics built around your core marketing strength. There are 3 main areas that most marketing tactics fall under:  writing, speaking and networking.

All of us are usually stronger in one of these areas, we enjoy one area more, or it comes easier and we can therefore do it quicker.

Once you figure out that, you will start to add marketing tactics that are built around that core strength of yours, and then grow from there.

So if you’re just starting out or you are not achieving the results that you want, take a look at your marketing framework.  Make sure you have these 3 components working smoothly and rest assured you’ve got a solid marketing base from which to go forward.

Do you naturally gravitate towards marketing tactics that involve writing?  If so, take advantage of this core marketing strength in marketing your small business.

When you enjoy doing something and are good at it, then you can do it quicker, easier and with more enjoyment.  Doesn’t that sound great - especially when it comes to marketing?

Below I’ve outlined the most common (and effective) beginner and advanced marketing strategies that you can use if writing is your core marketing strength.

Beginner marketing tactics for writing include:

• write articles and submit to online submission sites
• write articles and post to your website
• have a blog
• write an ezine
• write press releases and news releases
• create autoresponders and email campaigns

Advanced marketing tactics for writing:

• write articles for industry and association publications (print and online)
• write ebooks
• write a book for publication
• write info products
• do guest blog posts
  • I do Resource Nation
• offer articles to strategic alliance partners and affiliates
• write a column for a newspaper or magazine or an online site
• write a newsletter
• write and send out direct marketing pieces

Have I left anything out?  Please let me know (then I can start using it too!).

I define core marketing strength as being tactics that you enjoy doing, are good at and what you naturally gravitate towards.

For example, my core marketing strength is writing.  I love writing, I can do it pretty quickly and easily and I have lots of ideas of things I can write about (around my business services and products).

I enjoy speaking and I’ve done lots of it, but it causes me some angst and it’s not something I absolutely thrive on doing.

Networking (especially in-person) is definitely not something I really like, am comfortable with or really want to do!  I’ll do it, I have done it - especially in my corporate life, but it isn’t something I get hopped up about doing!  I’m much better one-on-one with people.

So guess what?  I’ve built my marketing framework around writing. I chose marketing tactics that involved writing - like submitting articles, having a blog, doing guest blogs, writing ebooks and so on.

Once that got going and was humming along consistently, I started adding some marketing tactics that include networking and speaking.

But the key thing is that I built my marketing framework around something I enjoyed, could do fast and with not tons of effort.  This ensured that I took action with my marketing right away and that I enjoyed it.  We all know that we will do something we enjoy, but procrastinate endlessly if it’s something we feel not that great at, don’t enjoy or it seems too difficult.

Once you figure out what your core marketing strength is, you can build a marketing framework that encompasses 3 or 4 tactics based on your strength.  From there you can add additional strategies from your core area and/or add some from the other two areas.

Marketing can be fun - so help make it enjoyable by choosing marketing tactics that you actually like doing!

I would love to hear what your core marketing strength is and which marketing tactics you’re using based on that strength.

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.

There are 8 components that will help you make the most of your follow-up marketing strategies and ensure they are as effective as possible.  Here are 3 more of the components you need to pay attention to.

Follow up needs to be consistent

Not only does follow up need to be frequent, it needs to be consistent.

As with any marketing strategy you choose to do, if you do not do it on a regular basis and do it haphazardly, then that’s what you’ll get in return - haphazard results.

Remember that marketing (including follow up) is about building a relationship and if people hear from you a couple times and then not for a few months, they’re not going to get a warm, fuzzy feeling about you.  Consistently following up shows people that you value them, are reliable and committed to providing a service to them.

Follow up needs to build momentum

Frequency and consistency with follow-up marketing allows for momentum to occur.  I define momentum in marketing as each strategy and communication builds on each other and are linked together.

For example, you might start your second email by saying, “8 days ago I sent you an email…”   Or after they’ve purchased a product or downloaded an ebook, send them a handful of emails that highlight something specific about the product or in the report that can help them.

Referencing the previous communication links what you’re saying with what you’ve already said, and reminds your prospect that you care enough to continue the conversation.

Follow up needs to be organized

To ensure that your follow-up marketing is consistent, you need to organize it by putting it in your calendar and on your to-do list.

When you carve out time in your daily and weekly schedule for follow-up activities, then you go a long way towards actually doing them!  How many of us get things done that we haven’t made time for?  Not very many of us I’ll bet!

So put a half-hour aside each Friday to write some thank you notes, and schedule an hour each Monday to write your weekly ezine, and an hour every second Wednesday to write a new email message to send to your list.