SmallBusinessNewz

They say it's not what you know, but who you know, in getting ahead in life. For marketing, a combination of the two helps the most.

"No use in pitching a bum to buy a Rolls Royce," said Lifespy in its look at marketing. Finding useful market statistics and establishing a database of clients should be a fixture in the marketing efforts you make.

Assembling the client database will happen naturally as a part of your development of a customer relationship management resource. Options abound for this valuable process, from firms like Salesforce.com, Microsoft, SugarCRM, Goldmine, and others. The common denominator: keep and organize client details.

SmallBusiness.com published a useful list of items related to understanding and doing market research. The Small Business Administration provides an overview of this too.

Lifespy also suggested the virtues of a carefully-chosen partner or two that can help one's local reputation. Working with a school or other public organization attaches the business to the message of whatever campaign the group has in the works.

Within the context of that civic-minded effort, the small business pro should have ample opportunity to add a few names to a list of contacts. After all, both have a common interest - the success of the beneficiary of the business's generosity - and that should serve as a lead to future conversations.

Online advertising offers ways of getting the message in front of the right audience. Google and others have moved toward behavioral targeting, as well as geographic and site-based ad placements. The economy of these products makes them worth a look for small business professionals.