It’s a fact. As a small business owner I have received many different postcard and direct mail promotions from both Google, Google affiliates and Yahoo! to advertise with them. Why are these large online advertising channels using offline direct mail? At first glance this appears to be a strange conflict of interests.

But this is not an article about direct mail. I will elaborate in a moment.

So why does Google, the single largest online advertising channel in the world, use an offline advertising channel like direct mail? The answer is simple really. And it ties back to some very basic marketing fundamentals.

Marketing Campaigns

In an earlier article on Market Research, KNOW BEFORE YOU GO TO SAVE THOUSANDS IN MARKETING $$$, I gave a definition of marketing from About.com “…the process of interesting potential customers and clients in your products and/or services. The key word in this marketing definition is “process”; marketing involves researching, promoting, selling, and distributing your products or services.”

Further, Merriam-Webster defines a campaign as, “a connected series of operations designed to bring about a particular result ”.

So when we look at what a marketing campaign is, it becomes clear that it is series of connected, planned steps designed to get a specific marketing message out to the world or, at least, to a specific target audience.

By definition, using only one channel would NOT achieve the desired result. To campaign effectively, one must use a number of channels. Hence Google and Yahoo!, being very large online advertising channels, use direct mail as one of the channels to reach their target audiences. In this case, small business owners and marketers like me… or you.

So let us take a look at marketing campaigns, why you want to build marketing campaigns (rather than just individual promotion channels) and some simple steps to create a unified campaign that beats the sales drum for your business. More on Google & Yahoo! Use Direct Mail – Shouldn’t You?

Repeat sales and/or word-of-mouth are vital to any company planning to stay in business for any length of time. Analyze the income of any successful business and you will discover that either repeat sales, or referrals, or both have played a major role. When one has an established relationship, selling becomes much easier. Referrals are an extension of this: because of an established relationship with one customer, another referred customer feels more confident about giving you their money.

But how does knowing this help you? How do you harness the power of repeat sales and word-of-mouth? More on Why Newsletters Guarantee Future Sales and Income And What Must Be Included

Web and email marketing are certainly vital in today's market. But one should be very cautious of stopping direct mail campaigns, or even worse, fail to employ direct mail at all. More on It's Official, Wall Street Journal Reports Small Businesses Lose Income After Cancelling Direct Mail Programs

Many years of being on sales lines has taught me a few things about increasing income and sales. Some really obvious, but nevertheless vital, actions are neglected in many businesses. These obvious steps to increasing sales too often fall by the wayside — they get forgotten in the day to day flurry and only by inspecting the area carefully do you find that yes, once again, these income-making, “obvious” steps have to be drummed back in. More on Six Tips To Boost Sales And Income

See our great new print store  More on Announcing the new RESPONSE! Targeted Marketing Print Store…

When flyers and ads talk about free offers there is often times a catch. “Buy $100 of this and we will give you a free teddy bear” or “Free shipping when you purchase $100 of merchandise”. These offers are sometimes useful and sometimes not. It all depends if you want to buy a $100 of what they are offering and if you need a free teddy bear. Sometimes you go for it and regret it later. My wife still has a free teddy bear in the closet she doesn’t know how to get rid of.

But in this newsletter you will get FREE marketing tips. Things you can do right now to promote your business that are… well, they’re free. More on 10 FREE (and Inexpensive) Methods to Kick Off Marketing Your Business This New Year

What is the secret weapon of companies who continue to expand despite "the bad economy"?

It seems like reports of the bad economy are being talked about everywhere. Unemployment have risen and sales in many industries are reportedly down.

At the same time many of the small businesses we deal with remain unaffected and continue to increase their income and sales, forging ahead and conquering new territory - apparently unscathed by the worrisome news. Is it luck? What is their secret weapon for gaining ground, while others appear to be struggling for survival? More on Prepare for Battle!

Use the leading email marketing service to connect with your customers

RESPONSE! Targeted Marketing has teamed up with Constant Contact®, the leading email marketing service for small businesses, to bring you a new and exciting way to stay in touch with your most important audience, your customers. With Constant Contact, email marketing is easy, affordable, and effective. More on RESPONSE! Targeted Marketing Partners with Constant Contact to Help You Grow Your Business with Email Marketing!

A few months ago I received a cool pen with my company name and address on it from a pen company. They offered me a great deal on my first order of pens—and provided a sample of what the pen was like. It was nifty and it got my attention. At the time I wondered about the value of having branded pens to give to clients and whether it was a worthwhile investment. More on The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Sale

A few weeks ago my wife was working late at the office when a client called. She needed to raise her income and sales, and in a hurry. “What”, she asked, “do I do about getting the income and sales up to a more viable level urgently?”

She asked the right question. Claire gave her the basic plan to increase her statistics. “You won’t see the results in the first couple of weeks,” Claire warned. “You have to stick to this plan religiously and you will see the results in a month or two.”

So the client crossed her fingers, charged her credit card and implemented the plan.

More on 6 Steps To Increase Sales and Income Within 6 Weeks