Archive for January, 2010

Advertising Possibilities For Las Vegas Small Business

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Most of the time, the biggest hurdle that most, if not all, small businesses, especially in Las Vegas, have is a limited marketing and advertising budget. Having a small business budget makes it difficult for your Las Vegas business to have the most glamorous marketing and advertising campaign. Advertising can be pretty expensive, especially when you have so many other things that can eat up your budget.

With a limited budget in mind, you should consider some less expensive and cost-effective forms of advertising your business including:

Website

Even with a small budget, you can get a small simple website up fairly inexpensively. Good news about a website is it can advertise your Las Vegas business 24/7.

Flyers

Create a simple flyer (you can do this yourself in Word) that you can hand to potential clients, as leave behinds in other businesses. Include an incentive or special offer to get better results. You can print a simple flyer on your own printer or have it printed in bulk at a copy center fairly cheaply.

Google AdWords

Advertise on google and come up on the first page as a “Sponsored Listing” and help deliver website traffic and leads for your business. Most times, you can find relatively cheap keywords to bid on and you can set your own monthly budget.

Sponsor Community Events

Donate services and/or time to local Las Vegas community events and be recognized as a supporter of your community. Often times you’ll receive a way to promote your business through a free ad, a press release or PR event. This can help give you an edge over your competitors as well!

Hang in There!

The key is not get frustrated because you only have a small budget to work with. Small businesses are often very imaginative, especially when it comes to stretching their money and making sure that each dime is put to good use.

Use Banner Ads To Increase Las Vegas Website Traffic

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

I’m sure you’ve visited many websites that have banner ads over many of its pages. Blinking, flashing, popping up and sometimes you will actually take notice, read the ad and perhaps click through to the website. People do in fact click on website banner ads. You should consider banner advertising to help promote your Las Vegas business and website.

Sponsored ads on websites that are complimentary to your website can be an invaluable way to promote awareness of your Las Vegas company’s products and services AND gain valuable traffic to your website to encourage more leads and sales for your products and services.

Sponsored website ads can be free, bought, traded, or sold. Really just depends where you look, how popular the website is your are advertising on and how much traffic it receives. Where you choose to advertise online also depends on your current marketing budget. To find potential advertising opportunities, you should research websites you feel your ad might be a good fit for. There’s usually an “Advertising” link on the footer of the website. Contact the webmaster or advertising department and ask about their rates.

The more sponsored ads you have in key website locations, the more likely a potential customer will find your website and look at what you have to offer. Making your website business available to the world and easy to find is the best way to increase the traffic to your website.

Remember to keep your banner ads simple, clear, eye-catching and write a clear call-to-action like:

  • Free Evaluation
  • 10% off
  • Free Shipping
  • 2 for 1
If you haven’t considered banner advertising before, the new year might just be the time to try it and see how effective it could be for your business!

Las Vegas Brochure Design Tips

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Las Vegas Brochure Design Tips

If you are in business in Las Vegas, you should probably have a brochure to promote your business that you can leave behind when you meet a potential client. Maybe you’re afraid you cannot write one yourself? This articles was written to help!

Brochures are basically a great way to help promote your Las Vegas and can be left after meeting a potential client, can be left in hotel and restaurant lobbies, handed out at networking events, trade shows, etc. So how can you create and write an effective, targeted brochure that will stay on someone’s desk and not end up in the shredder?

Define your products and services & your target market.

Take a few minutes to figure out exactly who your target market is. Gender, age, location, and specific issues that they face that you can help solve with your products and services. Tailor your brochure copy to most effectively communicate and help your target market.

For example, if you are a family law attorney and your clients are mainly women, late thirties, seeking child support, then your brochure copy should focus on this target market. The copy you write, the tone and the points you make in how you will help a potential client should focus around your target. The images used in the brochure, the headlines, the colors, etc. should all support the communication.

Keep your reader’s interest.

Write enticing cover copy and headlines for your brochure. Try not too stuff too much information on each panel of your brochure as you don’t want it too look overwhelming to read. A reader should be able to glance at headlines and sections of your brochure without becoming overwhelmed. Keep paragraphs brief and use bullet points to help compact the information you’re trying to communicate. Keep your paragraph headlines exciting! This will want to make readers read on!

Keep your brochure from ending up in the trash.

Utilize an area of your brochure that has helpful Q&A, resources or tips on information relevant to your business. In the example of the family law attorney above, perhaps include links to complimentary legal and government websites or direct readers to more information or resources they might find on your own company website.

The key is to think carefully about designing and writing your brochure so that you will keep your target market engaged, raise their interest, provide helpful information and ultimately get that reader to contact you for more information!

Perkolate Launches Frias Management Website

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Perkolate is proud to announce the launch of its latest website for Frias Transportation Management of Las Vegas at www.friastaxi.com.

About Frias Transportation Management

Frias Transportation Management is Nevada’s largest transportation company. Frias Holding Company includes five cab companies with a fleet of nearly 1000 cars and Las Vegas Limousines that serves Las Vegas and greater southern Nevada and surrounding southwestern states.

Enriching Your Las Vegas Marketing Mix is a Must

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

Las Vegas businesses, here’s the lowdown… advertisement is simply not marketing, it is only a PART of marketing. It’s like saying you want to have a rich market, but you don’t want to market to you client base. Forget about online marketing, web marketing, a sound corporate identity. You don’t need ‘em?

So wrong. Same is true for revenue generation… if done in your own bubble, none of these valuable strategies and tactics will get the results you’re looking for. For your Las Vegas professional services, where your relationship with your target Las Vegas audience evolves and solidifies based on their trust for you - it is all about layering your “marketing touch” in a way that builds trust solidly over time. You will scare potential clients with too much too soon!

You, as a Las Vegas business owner, have to know which strategies to use and when, based on clearly defined objectives. Each and every marketing strategy has a different and unique purpose. Here’s an overview to making sound choices.

Advertising your Las Vegas business means getting the word out to potential clients about your company through paid advertising which includes ads or commercials in the Las Vegas media, including potentially print, radio, television and internet. You should consider advertising to:

  • establish awareness for your company’s products and services
  • heighten interest in the marketplace
  • educate potential customers
  • influence perceptions customers may have about your business

With that said, advertising can be fairly costly, but if you do it correctly and with a marketing perspective in mind and a fair budget it can indeed be effective and produce results.

Public Relations or PR is getting the word about your business products and service through the press, including articles, interview and newsworthy stories. As a business, you should use Public Relations to:

  • build credibility and trust for your Las Vegas business
  • move up a level in the eyes of your target audience and clients
  • create a buzz
  • get free attention

Getting good publicity requires a What’s In It For Me (WIIFM) messaging, so you have to pass the “who cares about my Las Vegas business” test each and every time. If you release a PR new item, for example, with “My Las Vegas business is proud to announce the…,” you’re going to end up dead in the water! Good relationships building with the local press is essential.

To promote your business equals getting the word out through articles, blog articles and email newsletters that you write and that potential customers will VALUE. These types of communications give you publicity and allow you to get enough visibility to become a speaker, a sponsor, will allow you to join committees and help you promote to:

  • entice your target audience to consider your company’s products/service
  • invite your audience to an a real time or online event or seminar
  • introduce a new offer your business is promoting
  • meet a short-term objective like a monthly sales goal 
  • test new ideas about what your clients are looking for
  •  invite interaction with you and your company

Promotions are one of the most effective ways for professional businesses to build trust with customers in the vast marketplace. The options in your promotional tool kit is both vast and can be cost-effective. Get a basic plan of both online/offline promotional strategies and tactics in place you will be in pretty good shape.

As a professional business owner, you will have to make critical choices for each and every strategy you undertake…. online, offline, etc. Here are some rules of thumb to help guide you:

  • utilize the WIIFM factor always
  • unless you have the backing of a fat marketing budget, promotion and PR tend to be your wisest and smartest investments for ROI
  • online marketing and promotion is in general more cost-effective than print media
  • permission-based marketing is a always a must

If you want your business to build awareness, interest, and credibility, you really will need all three strategies: advertising, PR and promotions as par of your marketing mix.

Perkolate Launches Ford Law Firm Website

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Perkolate is proud to announce the launch of its latest website for Ford Law Firm website at www.fordfamilylaw.com.

About the Ford Law Firm

The Ford Law Firm is a specialty family law firm dedicated entirely to the practice of family law and domestic partnerships in Alameda County, the East Bay and Oakland, California. The firm’s lawyers are experts in all types of family law matters, including divorce, child custody, child support, spousal support, paternity, stepparent adoption and complex property division.

Ford Law Firm Social Media & Social Marketing

Perkolate also set up social media accounts for the Ford Law Firm at twitter and LinkedIn:

8 Cheap Ways to Promote Your Las Vegas Website

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

Ways to promote your Las Vegas website in a cost-effective manner.

So just what is the difference between promoting your Las Vegas website and a traditional brick and mortar store? It’s a common question asked by many new business owners and internet marketers. It turns out the principles are the same but the methods are a bit different. Let’s take a look at how they differ.

The primary goal of the promotion and awareness-building of both is to first create awareness of its existence. Secondly, you need to communicate to potential customers to know what exact products and services you offer and why it will make their life or running their business more easily. Next you want to show them how your products and services are better than any others others in the market. This is all to achieve your final goal of visiting your Las Vegas website or store. Making the sale is another lengthy topic all together.

If you have a sizable advertising budget, you can start by advertising in the New York Times or on NBC for a brick and mortar store or on Google or Yahoo sites if you’re on the internet. If you do not have a large budget, there are many cost-effective ways you can promote your Las Vegas website.

8 Cheap Ways to Promote Your Las Vegas Website

  1. Tell your friends and family all about your website. On average, a person has a couple of hundred family members and friends. Email them, stay in touch and let them know!
  2. Sign up for a leads service that will refer leads to your Las Vegas website. This will be a nominal expense in relation to the leads if you utilize the right service.
  3. Post your helpful articles and opinions on forum web sites. This helps add credibility to you as an expert in your field and will refer people back to your web site.
  4. Consider Search Engine Marketing (SEM). An paid advertising campaign on Google Adwords is another way to reach your potential clients. You can choose the exact phrases and words you want and set your own monthly budget.
  5. Create a flyer or simple tri-fold brochure that promotes your Las Vegas business and your web site.
  6. Place newspaper classifieds in local Las Vegas newspapers. You can generate a very cost effective campaign using weekly newspapers that are less expenisve and can reach your target market in Las Vegas and beyond.
  7. Write and publish helpful and insightful articles just like this one that showcase your expertise and knowledge and help direct clients back to your web site.
  8. Start your own Las Vegas blog on your website. Your own company blog allows you to add more pages of content to your website and more pages of rich content helps with SEO efforts.

For more ways to promote your website for free, consider doing a google search for “free ways to promote my website” and see what other helpful tips come up. It takes a little time to do the research, but the benefits can be very beneficial!

Here’s to a Bright New Year for Las Vegas Business!

Friday, January 1st, 2010

Happy New Year, everyone! Just wanted to wish every business and company in Las Vegas a bright and sunny forecast for business in 2010! In addition, a new year is a great time to polish up your corporate identity, update your website and find new ways to market your business. :)