Looking through my logs, I see that several people have visited here lately looking for free Duct Tape Marketing books. Since the offer I posted about back in June is no longer available, I thought I would conduct a giveaway of my own.

Earlier this month we launched “The Business Builder” our monthly newsletter. Those readers who had previously downloaded the 7 Steps to Small Business Marketing Success should have received their copy already. To promote the newsletter, we will be giving away copies of Duct Tape Marketing – The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide.

The plan is to give away 4 copies to members of our newsletter mailing list on October 8, 2008. I reserve the right to sweeten the pot between now and the deadline <g>.

If you are already receiving our newsletter, there is nothing more for you to do, you’re in.

To enter, visit our web site and sign up for our free report and newsletter.

PS – if you missed our first newsletter, you can find it on the newsletter archive page.

One of the challenges facing small business owners who blog is coming up with things to write about. Here are 5 tips that I share with my customers to help them come up with ideas for their blog posts:

1. Answer your customers’ and prospects’ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – If lots of people are asking, there are probably many more who have the same question but are not asking. Another variation is to answer the questions you wish your prospects were asking before they purchase your goods and services.
2. Explain how national and local news events affect your specific target audience. Today the news is filled with stories about the financial market. How does this affect your target customers in the markets you serve?
3. Teach others what you learn – have you attended a seminar or read a good business book recently? Share what you have learned with your readers.
4. Expand on another blogger’s post. You do read other blogger’s in your industry, don’t you? Join the conversation. Agree, disagree, add your point of view.
5. Store you personal tips & tricks on your blog – everyday we spend time figuring out how something works or how to do something more effectively. I use my blog to store this type of information because 1) a blog is easily searched so I can find my notes in 3 months when I run into the problem again and 2) someone else can probably benefit (or show me a better way) from my notes.

What are your favorite sources for blog topics?

I see a lot of marketing advice about how to “make my small business look big”. Before you go about making your small business look big, ask yourself if that is what you really want. Or, more importantly, is that what your customers really want.

I would bet that in most cases, your prospects don’t want a big company, they want a specialized one. One that specializes in helping people like them solve the types of problems they are facing.

Companies that focus on looking big tend to have a lot of “we” marketing – we can do everything, we have the greatest equipment, and (my personal favorite), we have over a 100 years combined experience.

Customer focused marketing sounds more like “you” marketing. Do you have this problem? Here is how life will look for you after we work together. Here is how we have helped others like you.

Big can also have negative connotations. This is why it is so important to have your ideal customer defined before you make these other tactical decisions. Does big mean better customer service or worse? Does big imply expensive or cheap? Does big imply fast or slow? It all depends on the point of view of your ideal customer.

Using your marketing budget to look big can be a great way to burn cash. Most small business owners would do better by focusing their marketing budget on communicating how they serve the needs of a narrowly defined group who will appreciate what they do.