Effective marketing is the lifeline of any business. And because choosing a vendor or buying a product is often an emotional decision for prospective clients, gaining their trust is paramount in building their confidence in you. One of the best ways to instill good feelings about your company is through a comprehensive communications plan.

Although technology has significantly impacted how businesses reach their target audience, people still have their preferred ways of communicating, which is not always via a computer. Some people prefer phone or in-person contact and others prefer a more tangible form of communication such as print letters and newsletters, postcards, and brochures.

The first step in creating a comprehensive marketing plan is creating a budget. Many business owners think they can’t always afford marketing when the fact is they can never afford not to. So even if the marketing budget is miniscule, here are a few components that are a must, even for a one-person operation:

• A professionally designed logo that will be used on all of your marketing pieces to give the plan consistency and help build your brand.
• Business cards and stationary. Both should be printed on high-quality paper with a font style that’s easy to read and representative of the nature of your business. These pieces should also feature your professionally designed logo.
• A Web site and professional e-mail address. A simple 5-page site can be built from a template in a matter of a few hours with nominal cost. An e-mail address is usually a part of these low-cost plans.

Once you have the basics covered, there are a number of other low-cost and even free ways to reach your target audience such as:

• Word of mouth. Join a business leads exchange group. Most cities have at least a few that meet on a regular basis.
• Write articles and press releases in your area of expertise and post them to the many ezine and press release Web sites. Many of these sites don’t charge, and it’s an effective way to get your name up top in the search engines.
• Find free speaking opportunities. Offer to conduct a seminar and have plenty of marketing materials to hand out afterwards. You may even want to offer a limited-time only special discount to program attendees.
• Create a blog and comment on other blogs.
• Determine which of the standard social media sites would work best for your business. Sometimes it’s better to not have a presence on one if it’s not really practical for your particular business and it’s not something you won’t keep up. And you don’t want to damage your credibility by not keeping current on your posts.

Reaching a broad range of prospects and gaining the trust that translates into sales is often only a matter of unrelenting diligence. Make sure these tips are a part of your basic communications strategy and also have future marketing plans based on an increasing budget.

In this month’s issue of the Corporate Communicator, Ken Hilderhoff, president of Premier Marketing Resources, parent company of The Newsletter Factory, shares his expertise in this Q&A on maintaining and gaining business momentum during a troubled economy.

CC: Many companies consider marketing as a “nonessential” during uncertain economic times. Why is this a mistake?

KH: Marketing is more essential in a poor economy than during the good times if you plan to maintain or increase sales. It is an opportune time to take market share from the competition that is not advertising or marketing their products and services.

CC: What are the most cost-effective ways to market today?

KH: Focus, focus, and focus. It is imperative that you re-evaluate your core competency to determine how to achieve the greatest return on investment. Strategically narrow your market focus and determine where you have enjoyed the greatest success and examine the market to determine what market segments are still growing in the downturn, i.e. health care. It is important to measure your efforts and results to manage the process with the greatest success.

CC: What are some tips to help ensure continued sales in a down economy?

KH: First, pay attention to your existing customers. Customer retention is paramount. Second, develop a systematic selling process that is designed to bring in clients based on your reassessment of the marketplace and your strengths. Make calls to qualified prospects — potential clients that are most likely to pay for your services based upon their profile and need. Be persistent with follow-up and present the best “value proposition” that is centered on achieving their objectives.

CC: What are some ways to keep your current clients happy?

KH: Maintain service and quality! Equally important is staying in contact with them. Let them know that they are important.

CC: How can you expand business with your current clients in this type of economy?

KH: If you don’t have all of their business, go after the other guy’s share. Determine what other products and services that they need that you can provide. First ask for it — then get creative. Consider offering a package for all of their business.

By making marketing efforts one of your business’s top priorities during this volatile time, you’ll not only solidify your current position in the marketplace, you’ll also lay the foundation for expansive growth once the economy improves.

There seems to be a whole lexicon of routinely misused words and phrases out there, and most of us have been guilty of integrating one or two in our  writing from time to time. These commonly confused expressions can have that fingernails-on-chalkboard effect, so arm yourself with this quick list to reduce the likelihood of being an unknowing offender.

• Affect/Effect – Affect is a verb and effect is a noun. “The bad meal affected Flossie’s opinion of the restaurant.”  “The rain had a damaging effect on the girl’s paper dolls.”
• Stationary/Stationery – A stationary bike stays in place. Stationery is something you write on.
• Phase/Faze – “The silly phase the boy was going through didn’t seem to faze his mother.”
• Regardless/Irregardless – Regardless is a word; irregardless is not.
• Everyday/Every Day  “The everyday towels are used every day.”
• Literally/Figuratively – Literally means actually and is often confused with figuratively. Figuratively refers to metaphorically or imaginatively. People often say literally when they really mean figuratively, such as “I was literally in the dog house last night.”
• Discrete/Discreet – discrete means separate or detached and discreet refers to secretive.
• Allusion/Illusion – Allusion is an indirect reference; illusion is a false impression. “The student’s allusion to William Wordsworth was understood by his classmates.”  “A mirage is merely an illusion.”
  

On to Further Clarifications

The above subhead is representative of two particularly troublesome terms. Onto and on to, along with further and farther, have many wordsmiths reaching for the dictionary over and over.

• Onto means to be aware of something – such as “I’m onto what you are doing.” On to should be used in a sentence such as “Let’s move on to the next commonly misused word.”
• And the next commonly misused word is further – which means to a greater degree. Farther is used in reference to distance.
• Into and in to are often problematic. Into should be used when referring to a change of some sort such as “I’m changing into someone who doesn’t misuse words and phrases.” In to should be used in a sentence such as “She came in to the office to see me today.”
• Convince him of something and persuade her to do something.
• I could not care less and not I could care less.
• Supposed to; suppose to is incorrect.
• I’ll try to call you later, and not I’ll try and call you later.
• Oblivious of what is going on – not oblivious to.
  

Keep this quick reference of worrisome words and phrases close by for your next writing assignment, and take a moment to add a few that may be especially tricky for you.

The Associated Press provides consistency in the world of business communications by establishing a universal set of rules for writers. And in writing newsletters and other business communications, it seems there are always a few words and rules that are frequently problematic. The following are the AP rules for some of the most commonly used business words and phrases:

1. Web site is two words with a capital W in Web.
2. webmaster is one word and lower case.
3. Internet always has a capital I.
4. Months — capitalize in all instances and spell out when using alone or with a year only. When using a specific date abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. When providing a year and month only, do not separate with a comma — April 2008 was exceptionally warm. Month day and year, use commas — March 17, 1984, was the date of the event.
5. Online is one word with no hyphen.
6. Co-workers is hyphenated.
7. Percent should be spelled out.
8. Time — 9 a.m. until noon and not 12 noon. 12 a.m. is midnight and not 12 midnight.
9. Age — use hyphens for ages expressed as adjectives before a noun or as substitutes for a noun — the 35-year-old woman was appointed to the committee.
10. Spell out numbers one through nine.
11. Health care is two words.
12. Caregiver is one word.
13. Boardroom is one word.
14. Titles — capitalize only when utilizing a formal title such as former President George W. Bush.
15. Nonprofit is not hyphenated.
16. Businessmen is one word.
17. Decision-maker is hyphenated.
18. Countrywide is one word with no hyphen.
19. Multicultural is one word with no hyphen.
20. Regions — capitalize when referring to regions such as the East. When referring to compass directions use lowercase, as in heading west on the highway.

The AP Style Guide adds new entries frequently. In addition to having a hard copy of the guide handy, consider purchasing a subscription to the AP Stylebook Online. Along with having a more comprehensive resource easily accessible, you’ll also receive updates to the guide via e-mail.