I have found the same situation with advertising. Advertising with a publication does not necessarily mean that it will translate into sales. The fact of the matter is that many businesses have formed the same conclusion, as they have shifted their advertising dollars to the internet, causing print media to be in chaos. But you can still get killed investing on many internet marketing tools, like PPC. All this requires knoledge or people who you can really trust.

I totally agree that you have to have the analytical tools to track results.

However, what works for the rest of the world does not necessarily work for us. We are a niche market. Key is getting our message to the correct people and not wasting money.

Our best marketing tool thus far is our current customers accumulated from 30 years of being in business. Our mailing list is golden.
I’m just trying to expand our current audience. I think that’s important in the long run.

I totally agree with what you say here. As a small business owner, you are faced with hearing all kinds of “advise” by so-called “experts”. But the truth is that although someone may excel in one type of marketing, that doesn’t mean that they understand YOUR business, your demographic; & their marketing techniques might not apply to your situation.

Most advise takes time or money to implement and that can be in short supply; and despite making an investment in either,there are no guarantees that it will provide you with the results you need.

There’s a lot of chatter out there these day. I try to take it all in with a grain of salt. I’m still discovering what needs to be done and I consider my husband, myself, our 30 years of experience and our intelligence to be our most valuable asset.

I communicate with many business people and all I can say is, this is an unusual time and business is still strange.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by ritubpant: Why Social Media Marketing Is Overrated http://bit.ly/6tiAWU...