It’s summer time here in Oregon finally. Like most Oregonians I crave the sun and when it finally arrives I just want to be at the river. Forget work, networking, writing etc. Just enjoy summer. Nice fantasy. I own a business however, and my business needs to run during the summer regardless of the sun. Recently I attended a really fun networking group and we met at a lovely park at a picnic table. In fact there is another one planned for next month. If you are in Portland maybe you can join us.  What a great solution to wanting to be outside and still focus on marketing.  Marketing is one of those things that has to be done consistently in order to keep the money coming in. Rain or shine you need to toe the line! So look for creative, outdoorsy ways to do  marketing. Here are two things I have been doing that has helped. I have been taking my lap top outside where I can still tap into the internet and enjoy the shade of the trees. I have been waking up earlier and starting work at 6:00. This means that by 4:00 I can go to the outdoor pool to do my lap swim. Not the same as the river but it feels great!

This past week I received three e-mail promotions from Vista Print. Before clicking delete, something grabbed my eye. They said “free postcards, free business cards, free rubber stamps.” I thought, hmm there might be a catch, but I decided to check it out. No catch. I just got my 100 free postcards in the mail along with a rubber address stamp and 100 address labels. All a paid was $9.95 for postage. Of course while online placing the order, they tried to get me to buy heaps of other stuff; more postcards, pens, etc. I managed to say no to all of it and just got my order. Here is my two-sided postcard (click each thumbnail to see a full-size photo). They are glossy and lovely and I just went on and ordered 100 more.

This is an awesome marketing strategy. Marketing is all about giving. Giving value to your potential customers gains you new customers, breeds goodwill and lets people have an experience of working with you. I am not here to promote Visa Print because I know nothing about what they are. I am happy with the products though and will likely buy more.

So in the season of giving, what do you give away to your customers or potential customers? Can you see how this is a good marketing strategy.

Another great article on the Art of Giving is featured my my free newsletter this week. Sign-up now and I will send it to you immediately.

Welcome to my very first blog posting. As a small business owner I have been aware of blogging for quite awhile and thought, “cool, I’ll do this eventually.” Its important to let you all know that I grew up in the generation where TVs were a new thing and I wrote all my college papers on a small portable typewriter using white-out for editing. But the computer internet world has been amazing for someone like me who thrives on communication. I love it. This doesn’t mean that I understand it. I barely get it conceptually but I can can follow directions sort of. Eventually became overdue as I felt I was being left in the dust.
Small business is all about relationships and bogging is all about relating, sharing, and trading information. So I decided to walk my own talk and a few months ago I made a commitment in my mastermind group to get my blog site up by the end of August. I am just about getting in under the wire. I would love to hear from all of you about your own business goals and how you keep yourself on track.