I often write on this website and blog that Las Vegas businesses often try to market to the masses, which is a huge marketing error for any business or company in Las Vegas. To run truly successful marketing campaigns that are targeted and well planned, you should identify your target market.

Even with your target market in mind when running a marketing campaign, another successful marketing strategy and tactic that many Las Vegas businesses use is targeting zip codes. Targeting a zip code will enable you to reach a specific demographic in the Las Vegas valley or a group of potential customers close to the area where you do business.

By considering targeting a specific zip code, you can plan a mailing, door-to-door marketing, flyer, print, newspaper or internet marketing campaign and target zip code/s of your choice.

Resources to find Las Vegas zip codes and Las Vegas demographics:

• Zip Code Lookup – Yahoo! Small Business
• Las Vegas Zip Code Map – Henderson Zip Code Map – greatlasvegashomes.com
• Las Vegas Zip Code Map with detailed views – act4u.com
• Las Vegas, Nevada ZIP Code Map – hellovegas.com
• Free Las Vegas Demographics Report Available For Area Business Owners And Operators – lasvegasnevada.gov
• Las Vegas, NV – Neighborhoods & Demographics – neightborhoodlink.com

As a marketing professional in Las Vegas, I am often asked the same two questions. Do I really need a business plan?  What details should I include in my business plan? Here are some answers to the questions:

Do I really need a business plan?

For most Las Vegas businesses the answer to this question would be yes. The majority of new businesses and ones that require investment by way of a loan or a business partner, a business plan is an absolute must. Potential investors will want to see, for example, your growth projections before they commit to invest in your business.

Types of businesses that do not require a business plan:

• A business that is happy to stay as is and has no plans to expand
• A business that never has the need to take out a bank loan
• A business that is a one man shop, self-sufficient, without the need of outside help.

It is one thing being aware of your need for a business plan, problem is most people have no idea of how to go about creating one.

The business plan will show its readers all the plans and growth of your business and how you are going to reach these gaols. You need to have a solid strategy in place before even attempting to write your business plan. You should know the direction you are going to take, the investments you are going to make in hiring staff, and equipment. You need to have business goals and an idea of when each goal is going to be met.

In the majority of cases a business plan is used to attract people to invest into your idea and your business. It is your sales copy in effect and therefore must be a professional, well laid out and solid business plan, people will take you seriously and invest.

On the other hand if it is rushed, badly written and weak, you are not likely to receive the financial backing you’re looking for.

What should be included in my business plan?

Readers of your business plan will not only want to know about the business itself, they’ll also want to know about you and your experience. Be sure to give them a brief summary of your history and what you have achieved career wise. Jot down all of your ideas and really sell the positive side of your experience and character to them. The fact that you’re hard working and that you work well under pressure. You love a challenge and can work well as part of a team and on your own.

Describe the current market place that your business is in, your competition and the opportunities for growth in that market.

List out financial figures including operating costs, projected earnings, growth forecasts and any financial history the business might have had already.

Show in your business plan that you are flexible, that you have a plan B if plan A does not come to light.

Sell them your ideas by telling them why you’re setting up the business in the first place for example, and where you dream it will be in five years time. Lastly, be sure to include a mission statement.

Blog marketing has become a powerful way to get more people to know what a business offers and why they should should use the product or service that is being offered. Blogs are no long just online journals. Large and small businesses alike are using blogs as marketing tools to expand their research and generate new business.

What Is A Blog Anyway?

The word “blog” is actually a shortened form of the the phrase “web log.” When blogs first appeared with regularity back in the 1990′s, they were used almost exclusively as “online diaries” where people would simply write down their daily activities, personal opinions, thoughts, goals, and dreams. It took a few years for businesses to recognize the potential that blogs had to connect with prospects and customers. Blogs can be a part of a website or stand alone.

How Blog Marketing Can Help Businesses?

1. Be An Expert. A blog allows a business owner to communicate with individuals on a personal basis. Blogs are generally not static. Instead, they tend to be updated regularly and are less formal in nature. Blogs let business owners cover a variety of subjects and issues related to the niche the business is in. This will increase the credibility of both the business and the owner, and demonstrate the knowledge and expertise associated with that niche. Blogs also allow owners to go over additional information that just can’t be covered via other forms of advertisement methods such as commercials, display ads, telemarketing, and direct mail.

2. Increase Exposure. Most blogs generate a RSS feed that third party websites and individuals can use to instantly get updates whenever the blog has a new post published on it. “RSS” stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is what lets a site to subscribe to a blog and receive the new posts as they occur. What this means for the business owner is a dramatic increase in exposure. Every time the blog gets new posts, the posts are immediately distributed to all of the RSS feed subscribers. So hundreds, even thousands of people outside of the blog will be reached.

3. Increase in Traffic Generation. Because blogs tend to be highly focused on a specific topic, they tend to rank well in search engines like Google and Bing. The higher the blogs rank, the more people will find them in their search for information. Getting a blog to the first page of Google can result in an explosion of highly targeted traffic. Businesses thrive on theses type of prospects.

Blog Marketing for Businesses

Although blogs have become very simple to create and maintain, most business owners still prefer to use the services of an internet marketing consultant to help them establish a professional-looking and effective blog. These internet marketing firms can also create keyword-rich content related to the niche the business is in, as well as managing the time and effort to publish those posts at specified time intervals.

Today’s business owners are quite aware of the marketing power provided by the efficient use of blogs. Besides being a way to generate new customers, it also gives owners the ability to interact with past customers and develop long-term relationships with them.

Nothing about running a business in Las Vegas is easy. Everything has to be done with hard work, purpose and good strategy.

Most promotional materials including brochures end up in the trash. Most Las Vegas businesses spend their time writing everything about their company in their brochure instead of focusing on their services and products and its benefits to potential clients. That’s why most readers would’t read beyond the cover page of the brochure and instead toss it in their trash can. A common mistake that businesses often commit is an often costly mistake. Remember, the headline and cover pages should be given equal attention to the inside pages.

So, is a good headline on the cover enough? How would you know that your brochure is really able to incite readers to respond to it? Just ask yourself, your customers, prospects and acquaintances. Ask if your company’s brochure incites potential cusotmers to contact, you and if it looks professional. If your brochure looks like it was printed from a bad printer, your prospects will not have confidence in you. In addition, determine if your brochure answers the questions that potential clients want answered… how with you help them solve their problems with your business offerings? Include information about your company but do not focus too much on it. Just tell the potential clients what they need to know about you.

Does your brochure incite a call-to-action? This means encouraging them to call, stop by your office, e-mail you or request more informationu. Also, find out if you are able to give your reader a reason to keep the brochure (vs. trashing it) even if they are not interested in your products and services right now. How can you accomplish this? You can put useful faces or resources in the back of the brochure if you know that most of your customers would want it. In addition, ask yourself whether your readers are able to easily find your contact information. Ensure that you put your phone number, email address and web site address in easy-to-find  and noticable places. A potenital reader would not waste their time searching through the entire brochure to find your contact information. They will not make that call if they get frustrated which is a big loss for your Las Vegas business.

Happy New Year to all Las Vegas businesses and here’s to your continued success in 2010!

A new year is also a great time to step back from your Las Vegas business and assess all of your current online and offline marketing materials. Have you added products and services? Is it time to refresh your brochure, business cards or logos? Is your website up to date?

This is a great time to readjust things that might not have worked for your business in 2009. Consider polishing your corporate identity and developing new marketing materials. Consider advertising online to promote your website. Consider building partnerships with companies that offer complimentary products and services.

This is a good time to commit yourself to getting out into the Las Vegas community and meeting other business professionals in Las Vegas. You’ll have the time to hear about other companies and businesses and perhaps learn from what they are doing and what has worked for them. It’s also an opportunity to promote your own businesses products and services.

Any way you look at it, you should take the time this week to write down 10 new marketing and business goals and execute one each month of the new year! 2010 should become your year to grow!

Individual blogs for many Las Vegas businesses have become a necessity in this social media generation. In the day and of MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter businesses are expected to keep up on the trend. Consumers enjoy being able to quickly and conveniently access their favorite companies news updates in one spot. A blog is a great way to inform your consumers of everything happening with your company; upcoming events, current promotions, new items, product reviews, and customer reviews.

If your company has a small budget do not get discouraged, creating a free blog for your company’s website is simple and can be the best way to go even! If you host your own website you can contact your host provider to see if they offer free simple integration with any blogging platforms. If you do not then don’t you worry, there are still many more options for you to look at! You can have your blog hosted by a specialized provider and link it to your company’s website. Some of the free blogging companies include; Blogger, MySpace, OnSugar, Microsoft Live Spaces, Weebly, Webnode, and Yola.

The main downfall of choosing a free blogging option is that by default you will not get your own dedicated domain, instead you will get a sub domain of which ever company you choose to host your blog with (i.e. your website would be http://www.myblog.weebly.com). This can be changed with most blog hosting companies by purchasing your own dedicated domain. Also be aware that with some free blogs you may be limited on your options for advertisement this could even affect your ability to link to you our ecommerce website. All of the blog platforms that are previously listed do not limit your ability to link to outside websites or advertise on your own blog, but if you do choose to go with another blogging platform be sure to read all Terms & Conditions carefully.

You can benefit quite a bit from using a free blogging platform; the obvious one is that you will not have to expand your budget to keep up with the new social media frenzy. The others are savers on your time and IT needs. The free blogging platforms include free templates, and simple to use integration with necessary add-ons. A free blog for your Las Vegas Business is the perfect way to reach a new level of customers and media attention!

For professional Las Vegas blog design, blog marketing and blog content creation services, visit perkolate.com.

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