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Resources / Small Business Marketing Checklist

While we would recommend a full marketing plan for every business, we know that time is a luxury that small business owners don't have. So, this is a checklist of some easy ways to improve your marketing fast. We also offer a Small Business Growth Checklist and both lists are available for download.

Click on each of the items below to learn more about each key on the checklist.

1. Have A Clean And Professional Web Site with Easy To Find Contact Information

Your website is a basic marketing tool, like your business card. It is a building block for almost all of your future marketing. Virtually all businesses would benefit from having a website.

Just a few years ago spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars for a website was quite common. Now there are at least a few ways to get website done for virtually nothing. And these are professional websites not cheap imitators. Don't have the time to do it yourself or need a consultation, that is what Allegra is here for. Give us a call.

Websites need to be updated and refreshed constantly. If your website is five years old, it looks out of date. If your website is 10 years old, chances are it looks as quaint and dated as those 1960s black-and-white sitcoms.

2. Email Address with Professional Domain

If your business e-mail address is from Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, Comcast, or AT&T etc. you are advertising their business every time you send an e-mail. Instead, use your own domain for e-mail and promote your own business.

3. Answer Your Phone in a Professional Manner

Here's a chance to give every call or a free commercial. This will also help use them into the conversation with you if you give if you reinforce the name of your business and the name of the person who answered the phone.

4. Use an Estimating System with Consistent Pricing

This could be as simple as a menu or a computer spreadsheet or could be as complex as an industry-standard pricing program. While it is easier to price products and services, you must be able to teach somebody else in your business how to give an estimate.

5. Ability to Get Easy Access to Customer Account History

When you use customer relationship management (CRM) software, you have instant access to all your customer contacts, including notes and history with each name.

There are many options available on the market today. Salesforce, Coaches Console - even Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird are good places to start.

Having a CRM in place will save you time, and build your credibility by giving you access to your customer records. You can avoid asking the same questions over and over, because once you have it, you have it whenever!

6. Ability to Email or Print a Professional Invoice and Estimate

Whether you decide to make estimates and invoices in Quickbooks, Excel, or the other available platforms, make sure you have a consistent style and format.

Make these files a staple in your customer folder so you don't misplace a quote, or lose track of an invoice. Professional invoices and estimates can be downloaded in Excel for free!

7. Join Chamber of Commerce

Most items on this list are free, but not this one. Look to spend about $300 for a small business membership to your local chamber of commerce.

Chamber membership gives your business credibility, visibility, and standing in the community. Membership gives you the opportunity to market your business, but remember it's just like high school, you get out of it what you put into it.

Experts say the search engines like Google respect in link from a community Chamber of Commerce. So that is another benefit.

8. Register with Online Sites - Yahoo, Google, and Yelp

No matter what your business is, or what your business does, it can't do or be anything without people knowing about it. Register your business website with the major search engines - Google and Yahoo!

It might also do your business well by registering at Yelp. This service allows patrons to review your business and recommend you and your services to others.

9. Claim and Update Google Local Info

Virtually every small business has a default presents on Google local. More likely than not, some of the information listed there is incorrect. If you don't claim it you can't change it and update it. It's free and easy to do.

10. Quote and Follow-up in Under Two Hours

Two hours is not a set standard. It's just a number pulled out of a hat. If your competitors provide a quote in two days, get there in one. If the if they do it next day, get the quote for customer the same day. if they do a quote in an hour do it right on the phone.

11. Use Your Logo on Marketing Materials

This is about branding. Branding enhances the product experience. If if weren't for branding, Walmart brand T-shirts would outsell Hollister to high school girls and "cola" would be just as popular as Coke.

If you cannot brand and differentiate yourself and your company, all you have to offer the market is the lowest price. Can you afford to hold that market position?

12. Use a "Signature" on All Email

You would not send a letter in the mail with just your first name on it. No company name no address no phone number so why do you do it on e-mail.

Modern e-mail programs make it simple and automatic to put all your contact information on every e-mail you send out including your company tagline or slogan other important information and your logo.