Page 29 - 101 Ways to Market Your Business

101 WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS

by virtually every airline around the world. The basic
principle of this system is that the more you fly with one
particular company (and its associated partner airlines) the
more free flights and other bonuses you will receive.

Why can’t this principle be used by any small business
from a coffee shop to a car wash? Reward your customers
for being loyal. By doing this you are acknowledging that
your customers have a choice and they have chosen you.

The loyalty program is discussed in more detail later in
this book and there are many other ideas used by big
business that can easily be adapted and used by smaller
businesses for a fraction of the cost.

Forget about the ‘small business syndrome’ and use the
ideas that big corporations have proven to work; then reap
the rewards of their investment. All of the ideas in this
book are used by major corporations.

What is market research and do you
need it?

Most people in business either ignore market research as
something that only big companies can afford or, alterna-
tively, they class it as one of those terms that people throw
around without really understanding what it means.

Market research is one of the most powerful marketing
tools for any business. Market research is basically asking
either potential customers or existing customers (sometimes
both) a few simple questions. The answers to these ques-
tions are then used to formulate the future of your business.
Market research is a lot cheaper than going broke because
of a bad decision.

For example, imagine that you run a bakery and you
are thinking about adding a takeaway food outlet to the
front of the factory. There are two ways that you can go

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