by Shirley George Frazier on May 7, 2013
The Small Business Administration recently updated their website so their events calendar page is easier to navigate and share.
Upcoming in-person and online workshops feature marketing, social media, start-up, and financial topics.
This is one of my all-time favorite places to check for monthly local events for updates on home-based business laws and other specialties delivered by individuals in fields I would normally not meet.
Late last year I attended a “How to Set Up Your Trade Show Booth” workshop found on the SBA’s events calendar and also learned more about franchises on a different day. I not only gathered invaluable information but was also able to create my own content based on both subjects for my clients. That’s a double asset that you can also achieve through these free and low-cost events.
Click this link to see the calendar. You’ll see boxes at the top to filter your events’ search by zip code, travel miles, and dates.
One more advantage to attending events is that you’ll meet others who are pursuing business goals. That makes this opportunity a triple asset.
by Shirley George Frazier on April 3, 2013
Do you know that many print publications display their editorial calendars online?
This feature is mainly for advertisers who want their ads placed in specific issues, but reading what magazines are planning can be a marketing coup for you.
An editorial calendar details the information, articles, stories, and columns that will appear in each magazine issue. I explain this opportunity in my book, Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business, encouraging you to take full advantage of this schedule as part of your own planning.
Here’s an example of how to turn these magazine calendars into your free promotion machine.
Gift Shop Magazine is a popular publication for retail store owners. Its website includes an editorial calendar. Anyone who wants to promote their products or services to that industry will:
1. Print a copy of the calendar.
2. Review it for opportunities to send releases to the editorial staff via Email and/or sample products via postal mail before an editorial deadline date.
When I saw Gift Shop Magazine’s calendar earlier this year, it included editorial deadline dates, but the current calendar does not. If this is true for the publications you want to contact, call the magazine and ask an advertising staff member for the dates.
This marketing opportunity has helped me receive publicity in many publications. I do exactly what’s outlined above (in the two-step process), placing editorial deadlines on my calendar, and contacting the magazine’s editor with a news story specific to a forthcoming issue.
Is this a marketing idea you’ll add to your calendar?
