Small Business Marketing for Dummies [Paperback]

Barbara Findlay Schenck (Author), Linda English (Author)

Book Description

Series: For Dummies (Computer/Tech) | Publication Date: April 15, 2001

Whether you run a single-person home office, a small firm, or even a local nonprofit, to succeed in today’s changing, hyper-competitive marketplace, you need to know everything you can about finding, winning and keeping customers—marketing in other words. The competitive lifeline of any business, large or small, marketing isn’t just about placing an ad in the local penny saver—it’s about establishing an ongoing dialogue between you and your customers that influences nearly every phase of your operation, from product development, pricing, packaging and distribution, to advertising, public relations, sales, and customer service.

Small Business Marketing For Dummies is your road map to successful marketing. Packed with savvy tips and easy-to-implement action steps, this street smart guide arms you with the ammunition you need to survive and thrive in the war for profits and market share. You get proven strategies that help you:

• Expand your customer base
• Earn your customers’ undying loyalty
• Get more repeat business and customer referrals
• Get the word out with low-cost, high-impact campaigns
• Generate publicity and word-of-mouth
• Stay one-step ahead of the competition

Find out why don’t have to have to have a million-dollar marketing budget to wage a solid-gold marketing campaign. Experts Barbara Findlay Schenck and Linda English walk you step-by-step through the entire marketing process, offering sage advice and guidance on:

• Developing a winning marketing strategy
• Defining your target market and customer profile
• Creating a killer marketing plan
• Establishing your position and brand
• Creating effective low-cost advertising campaigns
• Writing high-impact press releases and television and radio ads
• Marketing on the Internet—includes proven tips for how to build a website and generate online traffic
• Building customer loyalty with superior customer service

There are currently five million small businesses with fewer than 20 employees in America, and that number is expected to rise steadily over the next decade. Small Business Marketing For Dummies supplies you with the marketing know-how you need to stay out ahead of the pack.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Must-reads...This book is extremely comprehensive, easy to follow and filled with practical solutions for small-business owners." -- Jane Applegate, Entrepreneur.com, July 1, 2001

...The Bible, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights receive five stars...This book gets four stars..."Buy It!" -- Paul Tulenko for Scripps Howard News Service, July 9, 2001

Schenck writes with authority...Marketing issues are presented as real-world problems with real-world solutions.... -- BusinessWeek Online, June 28, 2001

From the Publisher

Praise for Small Business Marketing for Dummies

"Barbara Schenck's Small Business Marketing For Dummies threads the needle between sky-high strategy and ground-level tactics..."
--Gene Kincaid, Instructor, Department of Advertising, University of Texas at Austin

"Barbara’s effervescent, can-do spirit permeates this book, which is like a 4-year degree in marketing..."
--Bob Boylan, Executive Presentation Consultant and Author, President/Owner of Successful Presentations

"Go ahead, clear your shelf of all other marketing books. From now on you only need one and this is it!"
-- Robert L. Newhart II, CEO, Oregon Innovation Center

"It’s fun to read Barbara Schenck. But more than fun, it’s enlightening to read Barbara Schenck."
-- Dan Lufkin, Co-founder, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc.

"Business is war. The book gives entrepreneurs the ammunition they need to survive -- and thrive."
-- Riva Lesonsky, Entrepreneur Magazine

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (April 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764553097
• ISBN-13: 978-0764553097
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,764,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Barbara Findlay Schenck is the author of a number of top-selling business books and the advisor to a long list of businesses on marketing and growth issues. She's written online marketing and sales lessons for the Microsoft Small Business Relationship program and served as a marketing specialist for Business Breakthrough, a program presented by MSN and Visa. Currently, she's the marketing columnist for the MSN small business channel at www.businessonmain.com.

Please visit www.bizstrong.com for more information including links to book excerpts, marketing columns, and branding podcasts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take it from a dummy: This book works!, April 25, 2001

By 

George Engebretson (Honolulu, HI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Small Business Marketing for Dummies (Paperback)

As a card-carrying dummy, I opened "Small Business Marketing for Dummies" with high hopes. I wasn't disappointed: in great detail and in plain English, Barbara Findlay Schenck has produced an exhaustive, fact-packed, thoroughly enjoyable guide to marketing. While I've picked up a few tricks of the trade during my ten years in retail/distribution, both as a sole proprietor and in a partnership, Schenck's book shows me how much more I have to learn in this wide and fascinating arena. Besides serving as a powerful motivator, "Small Business Marketing for Dummies" is long on specifics: the hows and whys of reaching customers and bringing them back for more. The book's Internet chapters, for example, are chock full of Web sites and strategies completely new to me. Having read many other marketing resources over the years, I can say without equivocation that this one comes closest to being a bible of the genre. Even the most clueless among us can use the book as a kind of in-house consultant, an easy, expert guide through the labyrinth of marketing a small business.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for dummies!, November 16, 2001

By 

lifjoy "cliff_joyce" (Bend, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Small Business Marketing for Dummies (Paperback)

Don't let the title mislead you. Even if you already have a background in marketing, you'll love this book-- I did.

Barbara Schenck clearly explains the jargon, terminology, value, and implementation details of each facet of marketing, using real-world (and often humorous) examples. This book is so accessible to non-marketeers that our company has made Chapter 21 (Customer Service) required reading for each member of our team.

This book is empowering, informative, inspirational. If you're rethinking your marketing (and what business isn't constantly obsessed with satisfying their customers), then make this book your road map. As instructed by the simple exercises in each chapter, I took notes while making my way through the book. Then following the instructions in the final chapters, I was able to create a Marketing Plan in just a few hours. I found the process invigorating, and our clients can already feel our enthusiasm-- and we haven't even started implementing yet!

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The PEERLESS new "Bible" for small businesses!, June 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Small Business Marketing for Dummies (Paperback)

Barbara Findlay Schenck has FINALLY brought us what we've all, as small business owners and entrepreneurs been in need of, the consummate book of wisdom and guidance for marketing concerns A-Z. I had not a single question remaining in my mind when I closed the back cover. She's thought of it all. Absolutely invaluable information, in fact, perhaps priceless.Excellent investment.