If yours is a small business and you have big or even huge competitors, you may be laying awake at night wondering how can you possibly beat them. You can't out-advertise them, or out-promote them, and you probably won't be able beat to its prices. For example, think about a small business whose biggest competitor is Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Amazon.com or some other huge retailer. Is there any way to compete successfully against these Goliaths?

My answer is to use marketing judo.

As you may know judo was developed many hundreds of years ago as a means of self-defense. But did you know that much of judo is based on the concept of using the opponent's strengths against him? One example of this is when the attacker pushes against an opponent. The opponent simply steps aside and (usually with the aid of a foot), uses the opponent's own momentum to throw him forward.

The lesson for the smart marketer is to first analyze the competition's strengths and then develop strategies that will turn these strengths into points of attack.

I've had lots of good results from my advertising lately - well, I say advertising but what I really mean is, I've had lots of good results from my ARTICLES.

Writing so called 'press releases' is much more exciting than designing an advert. The results are better too, by far.

All I do is make it sound newsworthy and it seems to get used by the magazine(s) that I've sent the article to.

The thing is, most people think that their article would never be used - why would a publication be interested in me?. Well, they ARE interested in you, or rather, your story. You'd be surprised at how magazines and, especially, local newspapers are crying out for stories. A new business launch or a sudden improvement can well be newsworthy.

Even if it's not super exciting, it may well fill a space that the editor has and will be glad to see your article fill it. It will be of interest to somebody anyway.

Have you been searching for a new way to bring quality visitors to your website or affiliate program? If so you are about to discover something brand new and revolutionary when it comes to marketing your products and services over the internet.

One of the following 3 Free Marketing Tactics can even be used to bring in new customers to physical brick and mortar retail businesses. They can all help you to grow your online or local off line business or service but one of them is even more powerful than local opt-in email marketing.

Here they are - 3 Free, Simple and Easy Ways to Drive More Traffic to Your Website Fast!

1) Write and submit articles to online ezine article directories. In your resource box you get to place a link to your website. Your articles can start showing up on dozens of websites within a few days of you writing and submitting them.

Most of us are impatient; we want our advertising to spark an immediate sales increase. That's equivalent to giving a builder one week to construct a three-bedroom home without a blueprint. Think of the planning process as drawing a blueprint for your advertising campaign structure. First you design the framework, next you fill in the details, and finally you begin to build.

I. Design the Framework

What is the purpose of your advertising program?

Start by defining your company's long-range goals then map out how marketing can help you attain them. Next, zero in on possible advertising routes that are complementary to your marketing efforts, and be specific. Set measurable goals so you can evaluate the success of your advertising campaign. For example, do you want to increase overall sales by 20 percent this year? Do you want to boost sales to existing customers by 10 percent during each of the next three years? Do you want to appeal to younger or older buyers? Do you want to sell off old products to free resources for new ones?

Radio Commandment Number 8

Thou Shalt Use Radio To Build Strong Business Alliances.

When you advertise on radio you hope to reach many thousands of listeners. But there is one type of listener few retailers think about. It is this person that can be just as important and sometimes, more important than your intended market - Business associates, Buyers, manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors. People that you do business with on a day to day basis.

The benefits of influencing your secondary markets through radio advertising is important for several reasons.

1. It legitimizes your business, especially if you're the new kid on the block. 2. It opens doors to suppliers who may not have been interested in selling product to you. 3. It gives you the opportunity to invite your business associates to work out exclusive promotions. 4. You can create a co-op situation and share the cost of your radio advertising with a preferred supplier. In some cases you can get them to pitch in from 25% - 75%! 5. You can carry a bigger stick when you visit your bank manager.

In my last article, we left off at Radio Commandment number 4 Thou Shalt Pick The Right Music Bed.

If you're going to produce a radio spot that has the most bang for the buck, you have to make sure that every word "sits" comfortably on the music bed (background music). You can record the announcer first and try to match the music, but it's a lot smoother when you pick the right music from the get-go.

What I typically do is run a few different tracks as I read the spot over in my head. What I'm looking for is a music bed that flows and a matching cadence in the read.

I want to make sure that if I'm pitching a limited time colossal sale that the music is exciting with a strong beat and essential music "posts" (where certain words get pushed by a musical punch or stop).

When I find the sound that I'm looking for, I then begin to re-write the spot making sure that I take advantage of the various musical modulations, punches and "holes" (silence) where each key word is as impactful as possible.

In my last article "Local Advertising - The Biggest Mistakes" we took a look at the major media available for local advertisers to market their products. To follow up, I'd like to discuss the many uses of Radio. Sort of the 10 Commandments Of Radio Advertising. This will take up several pages, for sure, so I'll start by asking the most obvious radio questions.

Q: How do I know if radio will work for me & why should I use radio?

A: I usually have gotten these questions when a client is afraid & can't stomach the idea of paying for an Advertisement that they can't physically hold on to. In other words, they think that if they can't SEE their Ad, then no one else can. They seem to have a hard time believing that a disembodied radio voice can move people to buy their product.

Yes, it's probably true that most advertisers get their feet wet with print advertising. Your typical print advertiser will place an Ad in a local weekly or daily newspaper and bingo, the next day - traffic. The results can be quite immediate.

We're surrounded by advertisements that desperately compete for our attention. Everywhere we look, we find ourselves inevitably drawn to images of scantily clad attractive men and women that are supposed to somehow inspire us to purchase products they endorse. Sure, this attention-getting strategy is popular. But, is it effective?

Sex appeal can increase the effectiveness of an ad or commercial because it attracts the customer's attention. It's human nature to be curious about sex. A pair of long legs on a billboard is more likely to catch (and hold) a guy's attention than a puppy, regardless of how cute it may be. Even women are drawn to them, perhaps with the desire of having goddess-like legs.

However, misuse of sex appeal can be costly. Many campaigns deemed offensive have started brand boycotts that affect sales and damage brand reputation. Abercrombie & Fitch has been involved in several scandals, the latest from their most recent catalog entitled "XXX Wet, Hot Summer Fun."