I found a lot of really good information about marketing in a recent article, Build Buzz With a Business Blog, written by Susan Gunelius and published on Entrepreneur on the 25 June 2010, but I would like to expand on it a little.

Sales and marketing is extremely important to the success of our business, I feel though that an extremely important ingredient to ‘building buzz with a business blog’ might be added to take the concept that Susan has provided to the next level.

What is that important ingredient?

There are two actually that immediately spring to mind – focus and innovation!  We need to ‘create’ the buzz first, once we have the buzz we can build on it further:

• Establish yourself as an expert in a particular field.
• Provide confirmation to your readers that you know and understand the topic.
• Make the predominant focus of your blog the topics covered within that particular niche.
• Think outside the box – continue to learn new ideas and try to be creative in how you implement these ideas.  Don’t stay stagnant, continue to learn, move, shake and grow.

Do you think that the customer or reader will be interested in our sales pitches unless they see us as a trustworthy and reliable source?

Do you think that it will predominately be the new reader or the returning reader that will likely purchase the product or service?

Without focus and innovation I feel that it is unlikely that our readers will become intrigued by or stay interested in what we have to say in our blog and the information that we post there.

I would love to hear your thoughts on how to create or build ‘BUZZ’ with a business blog.

It probably wasn’t obvious to you as a reader up until now that this blog is destined to become a blog about niche marketing.

Through discussions with other business owners in the last few years I have come to know and understand just how important a niche is to growing ones business.  This comes on a number of different levels.

I have come to realize is that it is much harder to promote your business to ‘the world’, but much easier to promote yourself to a smaller, much more defined group of people.  In addition to this it gives you a really good opportunity to prove to them why you are a cut above the rest; what sets your business apart from all those other businesses in that field of expertise.

I myself have finally decided on a niche area for my parent company Proactive Admin Services, and are already starting to guide my business in that direction.  My niche area will be to provide administrative assistance to Speakers.  We have plenty to do… we will need to look at updating our website, training and development, marketing etc.

What we are hoping is that through Virtual Marketeers we will be able to help you with the following:

1. Provide information about niche ideas and marketing so people who stumble upon this site, who do not yet have a defined niche might realize what an important marketing tool this might be to their business… hopefully earlier rather than later;
2. We would also like to ‘connect’ you and your business with other readers that provide both the same and different services or products. Some… or maybe all of these products or services that are promoted will be innovative and some of them will hopefully really capture your attention; and
3. To provide the opportunity to other readers to endorse products or services which they have had a really positive experience with by providing a product review or comment.  Of course it will need to be obvious that you are completely separate from the business that you are reviewing, or providing the comment for.

Maybe you provide MYOB Training services, or  ‘Unusual’ Party Cakes, or online scrapbooking courses… whatever your niche, I encourage you to contact me via the Contact Us Page.

Publication of articles is at the moment a free service.

Please note, the content in your article will be screened for quality purposes.  Because of this may not be published.  The articles published will only be those of a professional standard.  They are subject to the publishers approval and are, amongst other things, to be free from blatant advertising and explicit materials.  In no way do I endorse these articles, I am simply offering them as an informational base for my readers.  If you wish for me to personally review a product please contact me by visiting the Contact Us page.

Oh, and by the way, if you wish to receive my free newsletter update, which will provide you with some tips, articles, offer coupons, great deals and tools then please do so now… the subscriber form is up the top and to the right of this blog post.

Feel free to check out the following articles on niche marketing if you would like to know and understand more about niche marketing:

What is Niche Marketing?

Virtual Assistant in Niche Areas

Maybe it’s just me that finds it to be quite stressful reading some (not all) newsletters and sales pages; or maybe you’ve had some similar experiences… I don’t know?

Both my personal and business experience tells me that [big breath] the “sign up right now, there is never going to be another offer like this, you are going to kick yourself if you do not buy it NOW” type of request that tenses up our shoulders and throws the butterflies around in our tummy are so not worth those feelings.

I have come to learn that when a person uses a sales pitch like this, there is a probability the person on the other end of the computer is trying to make you purchase with your emotions – on a whim!  This person really, really, really doesn’t want you to purchase with your brain, because there is a less likely chance of a sale right now.

With this tactic, these people might capture an instant sale with a good many of their customers, but I question how many customers will be repeat customers and whether there might be a bad taste left in the mouth if I was to knowingly push a sale onto a customer?

Got some thoughts on this?  I would love to hear your thoughts on how to best retain clients, and whether you would consider the “you must buy right now” sales pitch to be moral.

For my own benefit I tend to steer clear from sales people and business entrepreneurs who excessively pull heart strings in order to make their sale.

What type of newsletter / sales letter will I read?  I know for a fact that some of the newsletters I subscribe to are from business entrepreneurs who make a lot of money through their business.  Through reading their newsletters and sales pages I have decided that there is really no need to get a sale by scaring clients into making that next purchase.

I have come to the conclusion that the most important thing is to offer good quality product and services that clients would want to, choose to buy and that the sale built on trust is much superior to the sale built on fear.

A deadline can be a really positive thing.  There have been plenty of items that I have signed up for that had a deadline, but there was definitely good opportunity for me to go away, have a good think about it, then choose to come back and make the purchase on my own terms?

I have always been taught that if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.  I was taught to be cautious of get rich schemes and that as a general rule we need to work hard – at least to start with, in order to achieve and sustain success.  So when it comes to the topic of “Making Money Online”, I tend to look for advice that is in line with the much slower paced “You can make money online if you set your business up right ” mentality.

As a customer yourself (and possibly also business entrepreneur, sales person, or marketer) what are your thoughts when it comes to newsletters, sales letters and the like?

Maintaining a good reputation is so important in business; cause and effect.

In reading this article please have a think about whether those people added to your email marketing list have requested and confirmed their continued inclusion in your email marketing list.

If they did not have the opportunity to opt in to receive your emails, then the emails sent may be considered to be, and treated as spam email by the authorities.  I am talking actual authorities and whole police units set up for handling spam, and from what I have heard spam is not handled lightly by these authorities.

So that you and your business is not subject to these types of problems, you might like to now look at whether you have received the appropriate permissions from your readers prior to adding them to your list.  The absolute best way is by using an automated double opt in process through a reputable email communications web program, such as AWeber, iContact etc.

These programs sometimes offer feedback, prior to you even sending the email, as to whether the email content that you are about to send might be considered by readers to contain spam content, allowing for you to further edit it if need be.

An email communication web program will also, very importantly encourage you to make use of additional subscriber options, such as unsubscribe, change email address etc.  Providing the option to your readers to unsubscribe is, as I understand it just as important as making sure that your readers have provided their expressed permission to be added to your email list in the first place.

Wouldn’t you rather set up the process, so that you are encouraging membership from people who have developed a genuine interest in your topic, your content, and maybe also respect for your person…?  I know that I would prefer to have readers to my blog and newsletter who are loyal and actually want to be there and reading my content.

It is most definitely unethical to sign people up without their personal expressed permission, and it could possibly serve to ruin a business if a person was to choose to build their list in this way.  Although some make a living out of spam, how many emails do you think they actually have to send out, and to what lengths do they need to go to actually make money out of this illegal act?

Now, looking to the person who has been subscribed to this list without being asked… would this person choose to stay subscribed, or would they feel that their comfort zone has been breached… their space invaded somewhat?  Would this feeling cause for this person to unsubscribe anyway or to ignore the content of the email?  If this was to be the case, then what are you actually achieving by adding them to the subscriber list without their permission?

Would it be more likely to foster a long-lasting positive or a negative perception on your business if you were to send emails out without the persons expressed permission?  If it was to foster a negative perception, then just as positive news spreads amongst our peers, would their not be a likelihood of this negative news to also spread amongst peers?

If you decide you would like to forward a copy of your business newsletter or copy for a client to have a read through, then go for it; but I would suggest that you put a note to the top of this newsletter or copy to let them know how to subscribe if they are interesting in continuing to receive your newsletter, rather than subscribing and sending the newsletter to them without any prior contact.

So to wrap up, make sure that you receive permission from those you are adding to your email list, be careful about the content in these email, and make sure that you provide the option somewhere in these emails for your members to also unsubscribe.

Eric Holmlund provides straight forward and really useful information to those interested in understanding and expanding their online business.

The following articles about copywriting were written by Eric, for virtual marketers like yourselves, and I thought they may be of interest:

Introduction to Copywriting

How to Create a Sales Letter

Outsourcing Copywriting

I find the last topic, about outsourcing copywriting quite interesting.

I am aware that copywriting is one of those extremely important things – it can be the difference between customers staying and customers going somewhere else.

And although I do not provide copywriting services myself, I do know people who provide this service and are really good at what they do.  I know that there is quality, and well… less than quality.

Yes, I am sure that there are things in our lives that we can afford to scrimp and save on, I don’t believe that copywriting is one of those things.

Developing a niche area can be a really good marketing tool for not just Virtual Assistants, but for all business owners.  If you haven’t already, you might like to read the article ‘What is Niche Marketing?‘ where I covered why and when business owners should establish a niche area.

This article is especially focused towards Virtual Assistants.  It provides you with a comprehensive list of  ideas for niche areas:

• Affiliate Marketers (assistance to)
• Appraisers (assistance to)
• Architects (assistance to)
• Association Management
• Authors (assistance to)
• Bankruptcy (assistance to bankruptcy firms)
• Blog Design and Maintenance
• Bookkeeping
• Business Writing
• Churches
• Coaches
• Concierge
• Conference and Event Organization
• Confidentiality (a Virtual Assistant who places special emphasis on confidentiality)
• Construction Industry
• Copywriting
• Customer Surveys
• Dance Schools/Instructors
• Database Design and Maintenance
• Daycare/Childcare Centres
• Desktop Publishing
• Educational Industry
• Electrical Industry
• Engineering/Technical Support
• Entertainment Industry (eg. Musician, Singers, Actors etc)
• Environmental Industry (eg. associations, groups, environmental-focussed businesses etc)
• Executive Assistant (personal executive assistance)
• Financial Services
• Grant Writing
• Graphic Design
• Home Building Industry
• Human Resources
• Interior Designers (assistance to)
• Investigations Industry (eg. Private Investigators, Police etc)
• Keyword Research
• Manufacturing
• Marketing (internet specific and/or general)
• Massage Therapists (assistance to)
• Media Releases / Broadcasting
• Medical Industry
• Newsletter
• Non-Profit Organization (assistance to not-for-profit organizations)
• Legal Industry
• Pet Industry (Vet, Breeders, Pet Motels etc)
• Pharmaceutical Representatives (assistance to)
• Podcast Editing
• Project Management
• Proofreading and Editing
• Psychologist Industry
• Real Estate Industry
• Resume Writing
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Shopping Cart: support setting up online shopping cart stores
• Social Media Coordination
• Speakers (assistance to)
• Sports Industry
• Students (assistance to students, ie. typing of written work)
• Transcription, Analogue or Digital (medical, legal, conference, court reports, etc)
• Translation
• Travel Arrangements
• Video Editing and Development
• Virtual Reception (take messages and directing calls)
• Website Design and Management
• Work at Home Mums (assistance to Mompreneurs)

The above list is no where near exhaustive.  Maybe you, as a Virtual Assistant, have a special interest in a totally different and not listed specialty area?  Research, test the market, etc.  You won’t know until you look and try.

References and other Helpful Resources:

Developing a niche in the Virtual Assistance World, Virtual Assistant – The Blog About Our Industry.
Who Needs Secretarial Services and What Services Do They Need? business know-how 
Virtual Assistant Niche Services, VirtuAllin
Other Specialties ! Finding Your Niche! VAnetworking.com

Niche marketing can be pretty much summed up by your refining a specialty in your business.  It is usually, but not always, something that the person establishing the business/blog is good at, maybe has a love for.  It could be a hobby, it could be something you enjoy, or something that you are really good at, maybe you are a professional and have done a degree in this particular area.  The selection of niche areas possible is huge; larger than anyone can ever imagine.  Actually I am certain that their are currently niche areas that haven’t been recognised yet, especially in areas such as science and technology where knowledge and hardware are continually developing, changing and growing.

Some people starting out in business know exactly what their niche is going to be.  Some example might be an Business Accountant, or a Web Marketer, or Environmental Consultancy, or Association Management… the list goes on for miles and miles and miles!  Others will most certainly start out broader and then eventually they will refine the niche area for their business.

Why Establish a Niche Area?

Establishing a niche is a marketing tool for telling the world that you are a specialist in that particular field.

Have you ever heard the phrase ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’?  This old saying means that a person is competent in many things, but not necessarily a master of any.  Something I have learned about this saying since I have started working online is that being a ‘Jack of all trades’ is err, okay, but those good people who are considered to be ‘Jack of all trades’ won’t necessarily make as much money as a business entrepreneur that has a more specialized field.  The reason?  Jack of all trades, although in most cases are competent, aren’t seen as specialists in any particular field.  For this reason, they are often expected to work at a much lower rate.

To be absolutely honest I think it is a-okay to have developed a sound knowledge in a number of areas and also to work on skills in areas outside of your specialty area – actually this is essential to becoming and being a successful business entrepreneur.  Thing is, when you are marketing yourself through your blog, or your website, or even a promotional flyer who would someone be more likely to contact?  Someone that says ‘I do a bit of everything’, or someone that highlights ‘I am an IT Consultant’ or ‘I sell Fashion Shoes’ or ‘I am an Expert Blogger and make X amount of money blogging’ or ‘I am an experience herb gardener’…?  The more specific and refined the niche the better.  When you are choosing keep in mind that making your niche too specific might be a problem also, I think only a couple of people might be interested in ‘Using Oregano in Baked Beans’ for example.

I received a flier the other day from someone that Services Trees, it says:

• Excellence in all tree work
• Large and small trees removed
• Palms cleaned or removed
• Stump grinding
• Hedging/Garden clean up
• Level 5 Arborist
• Pensioner discount…

From the flyer I received I am able to establish exactly the services this business provides and whether I might be needing these services in the near future.  If I however received a flyer from an individual offering a handyman type skillset, then I would probably think them to be a backyard job, a person out to make a few extra $’s to cover their bills (no offence to all those great handymen out their – I do know that there are ones that are absolutely worth their weight in gold).  In general I would not expect to pay large amounts to hire a handyman, but because this tree service business provides a fancy flyer and a list of all the things that they are qualified in, plus a note to the bottom to say that their business is family owned, and has operated succesfully over 25 years; because of all these things – I expect for the price to be high, but the service and the results to be good.

I have found that there are sometimes exceptions to this rule.  Some examples would be Big W, Woolworths, Walmart, Harrods, Amazon etc.  These are the stores that sell many items, and these large stores would usually be put in the category of a Department Store.  The word ‘Department’ in this title is a dead giveaway – these stores also sell items under niche categories, or ‘Departments’ as they would call them – so you might purchase an item that was from the Entertainment Department, or Clothing Department, or Home & Garden Department, or Toys Department, or Health & Beauty Department, or Books Department, or Stationery Department… the list is long.  My point is, even though these larger stores sometimes do not boast a niche area for their business as a whole, most of the time that actual store, whether it be virtual or not, is broken down into many parts.  If you were to contact the store the lady at the front desk would say ‘I’ll put you through to the Toys Department,’ or whichever section you are inquiring about and if there is a sale on in the store, it would normally be in relation to a specific Department.

When Should We Establish a Niche Area?

Establishing a niche prior to developing a business plan, or starting a business is much more desirable than developing a niche later on down the track as it:

1. Allows for you to do the necessary research in that specialty area; and
2. Helps you to market your business better from the get-go;
3. Means you don’t need to spend additional money down the track when you decide to develop your niche area.  The additional money I speak of is in relation to your business name, logo (which then means you have to change all you stationery) and you might also spend funds on a targeted marketing campaign.

Some more articles about Niche Marketing:

Niche Profit Classroom, Yaro Starak, Entrepreneurs-Journey.com
Home Based Business – Niche Marketing Opportunities Made Simple, Leonard Bartholomew
Niche marketing: the business specialist, Robert Gerrish, Flying Solo
Is niche marketing restricting your blog? James Duthie, Online Marketing Banter

…and what are we about you might be asking right about now!

Virtual Marketeers is a blog (weblog) website aimed at those with an Internet or Home-Based Business with a focus on providing business and marketing information to business owners.  We also have a vision to provide to businesses a means where they can market their own goods or services in a very unique way.

Who is Rachel Reeves?

Virtual Marketers content is produced, or sourced by business entrepreneur, Rachel Reeves.  Rachel also owns a Virtual Assistance business, Proactive Admin Services where she, with over ten years experience, provides administrative support to her clients.

Rachel operates mainly from her home office.  She draws on her passion understanding of web and home-based business to bring to the table helpful information about business and outsources, and a unique way to market business goods and services.

Learn more about Rachel’s life and business journey by reading the next few articles which will be about her business life and career.

Watch this space…