So if you find that a few more expenses will help you out this year, why not make an investment in your marketing and get a head start on 2010?

Looking at your bottom line this December? You should be. And you may want to think about contacting your CPA or Accountant to review your P&L to see if maybe more business expenses will help reduce your tax burden for 2009.

 

Fresh Marketing Ideas So if you find that a few more expenses will help you out this year, why not make an investment in your marketing and get a head start on 2010? If you're currently using business cards to market yourself through networking, door-to-door sales, direct mail, etc., now is the perfect time to take a fresh look at your current card and ensure all of your information is current and that the card itself is designed in such a way as to spark a comment, compliment or full-blown conversation. Starting fresh with something as simple as your business card design is a great way to start 2010 with renewed energy. Maybe your business card is great as it is, how about reordering on a new paper stock? If you've been stuck on matte paper, try a coated. If your card is too thin, call us! If you're using coated stock without the sleek added finish of UV coating, try it (especially if your card uses deep rich colors).

Stretch Your Brand Speaking of color, have you been utilizing your brand colors to their fullest this year? If your color scheme is say... purple and white, why not throw in some bright yellow to add punch, or some soft but bold pink to scream femininity? If your colors are black and yellow, try inverting them on some of your marketing pieces. You'll be surprised how much freshness you can add to your brand identity with just some minor changes, and not sacrifice brand identity or brand loyalty!

Spice Up Your Marketing Other ways to spice up your marketing efforts for 2010: add a blog to your website, add a Facebook or Twitter account to your online marketing, start a monthly or quarterly newsletter or email correspondence with clients and prospects, design and print postcards or brochures to have on hand for events, stuffers, mailings, and other marketing opportunities, optimize your website for search engines, and of course, contact Inspired 2 to set up an appointment for reviewing your marketing plan!

Make Informed Marketing Decisions One note about updating your website copy or freshening up the design: first you should review your visitor statistics. Why? Because looking at where your visitors come from, and what they do on your site can tell you tons about how effective your website is at converting visitors to leads. You can also tell how many people come back to your website and how many people come for the first time, and how long they stay. If you are hosted by Inspired 2 Design, your statistics are available monthly, just call us to add this service. If you're not hosted with I2D, check with your website host to see about getting access to your statistics, and ask them to explain what they mean. Once you have your stats, it's time to review the site's architecture, colors, page layout, information and linking structure. Call Inspired 2 Design to schedule a website review meeting and get 2010 off to a fresh new start with a more effective internet marketing strategy.