If you want to have consistent sales throughout the year while growing your business, you need to do some short term and long term marketing. Short term marketing usually make sales increase, but the increase only lasts a little while. Long term marketing keeps your sales steady and gives you that constant customer presence that you need to keep your doors open.
To market your brand and product consistently you must use short term and long term marketing strategies to keep consumers thinking about your brand all the time.
If you're not sure what constitutes short term and long term marketing, read on.
Short Term Marketing Strategies
Mentions: If you can get your product mentioned in a forum, newspaper article or on some kind of television news program, your Web site traffic and sales could soar for a week or so. These are the hardest type of marketing strategies to employ, because you don't have much control over the occurrences. Having someone on board to write good press releases to get you news coverage is your best bet.
Discounts: Direct mail campaigns that offer coupons or discounts for a limited time can generate immediate product interest. It's important to use these types of discounts in moderation because long-term sales can be affected by customers waiting for the next sale or coupon to come along. You can still use direct mail; just make the message more long-term, meaning you're using postcards and brochures to remind consumers about your product, or to introduce your new product.
PPC: Pay-per-click advertising online is an easy and fast way to garner product interest. Of course, it can also be the most expensive. And, when your budget is used up, your ads end. The good thing about PPC is that you can drive targeted traffic to your Web site, which can result in new customers who return to your Web site to buy your product after your paid ads have expired.
Long Term Marketing Strategies
SEO: Search Engine Optimization is one of the most time consuming, yet effective ways to market your product and your brand. SEO refers to optimizing your Web site for search engines. Most people research and buy products from the Web and they search by inputting keywords into Yahoo! or Google. By knowing your audience and what keywords they are likely to search for, you can fill your Web site up with those search words so that your Web page returns at the top of the search results.
The bad thing with SEO is that it is an ongoing process so you might not see results for months. You have to wait for Google and other search sites to “crawl” your site and index it into their search engine. There's really nothing you can do to speed up this process. You can submit your Web site to Google, but that won't make the crawling process any quicker.
Give out free info
If you give out free info in the form of blogs, newsletters and informative emails, you can keep your company's name in the front of your customers' minds. If you don't have a newsletter printing budget, you can create an e-newsletter that you post on your Web site or email to subscribers for free.
Another way to do this is to write free articles for local newspapers or magazines or to post your articles on forums and article-driven Web sites. By providing valuable, free info, you'll not only be regarded as an expert in your field by sharing your knowledge, but you'll build trust with your customers.
By incorporating some of these short term and long term marketing strategies year 'round, you'll ensure your sales are consistent and that you won't have any down times during the year.
Memory Short Term And Long Term
The prospect of getting your first mortgage, or even a second or third, can be daunting in any economy. Also, when the economy sours, the idea of taking out a large loan is even riskier. How can you manage your finances to ensure that the mortgage is always going to get paid? What happens if you miss payments? Good mortgage management, both in the short term and the long term, is always the best policy.
The first hurdle to overcome, of course, is getting the mortgage, and making sure you do not get a bigger loan than you can afford. Do not be tempted to take a larger loan out if you are not sure you can make the repayments. It is always better to err on the side of caution and restrict yourself to a loan you know you can repay.
Managing your Mortgage in the Short Term
Keeping control of your mortgage from day to day pretty much means managing your finances and getting your monthly mortgage payments made on time. Your mortgage is a loan for which your home is collateral, and for this reason, missing too many payments can mean serious problems, including the possibility of foreclosure.
The key is making sure you do not get a bigger mortgage than you can afford, no matter how tempting it may seem. Also, making as big a down-payment as possible helps to keep your monthly repayments low.
If you have already secured your mortgage, the time for making down-payments and calculating how much you can afford is over, and it is time to settle into the less exciting business of managing monthly mortgage repayments.
Assuming your finances are good, this is a simple matter. You make repayments on time, the amount of principal you owe gradually decreases, and eventually your mortgage is repaid. But sometimes making repayments is not easy. Sometimes it is impossible, and then what do you do?
The first step is simply to call your lender, as soon as you know there is a problem, and preferably before you miss a payment. Most lenders are willing to extend mortgage forbearance for minor problems such as one missed payment. This means the lender allows you to skip the payment, providing you agree to pay it at an agreed-upon time in the future (usually the date of your next scheduled payment).
For more serious problems, such as a long-term or permanent drop in finances ? your lender may still be willing to extend forbearance and help you work out a temporary solution, such as a short-term reduction in the amount you pay each month (to be made up at a later date).
You may also be eligible to make what is called a partial claim, where your lender works with HUD to help you obtain a loan that covers the repayments you missed. Providing you meet the eligibility criteria, this provides an interest-free loan that does not have to be paid back until you can afford to do so (however, a lien placed on your home until the loan is repaid).
Finally, do not forget that if your finances take a permanent turn for the worse, you've always got the option of refinancing. By lengthening the term of your mortgage, you can reduce the size of your monthly repayments to make them more manageable. The downside, of course, is that you're paying more interest and adding another five or ten or more years onto your mortgage, so it's something to consider carefully before making a decision.
When you find yourself in a position where a making mortgage payment becomes difficult, the most important thing to remember is that you must contact your lender immediately. Do not let one or two missed payments go by before making contact, do it right away, be honest about your problems, and your lender will be much more willing to help you work out a solution.
Long Term Mortgage Management
Managing your mortgage over the life of the loan is more about deciding whether to change the terms of your loan. You may, for example, decide to refinance your mortgage to reduce the terms of your loan, tap into some of the equity in your home, or take advantage of lower interest rates. You may even want to refinance to a mortgage with a longer term, perhaps to reduce the size of your mortgage repayments or simply because you would like to draw out some equity in the form of cash.
The question is, if you can do these things, should you? Most experts agree that it is better to pay off a loan as early as possible to reduce the amount of interest you pay, but at the same time, if you need money, the mortgage is often the best place to get it, especially if your mortgage interest rate is low compared to other loans you might be able to get.
Both Andrew Michaels & Jeremyfoster5 are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jeremyfoster5 has sinced written about articles on various topics from Finances, Family Travel and Online Marketing. Jeremy Foster is a freelance writer who writes about topics and pertaining to the mortgage industry such as.. Jeremyfoster5's top article generates over 5400 views. to your Favourites.
