How To Market Your Company — From Customized Umbrellas To Twitter

In this day and age, one has to be both Internet savvy and creative when creating marketing strategies for a business. Thinking outside the box is an absolute must, as is having a strong web presence. Below are some of the steps every business owner should take if he or she is going to run a successful company.

1. Give out interesting promotional items that people will need. Everyone needs things like pen and notepads, of course, but every company hands them out. Skip them and hand out something memorable, that will make people remember how great your company is when they use it. Try customized umbrellas bearing the company logo and/or slogan. Umbrellas are something everyone needs and uses, not to mention the kind of universal accessory that everyone checks out when they see. It can be something as subtle as a small version of the logo on one of the umbrella's panels, or you could go bold and make it take up the entire surface. Other possibilities are coffee mugs or wine glasses, a computer mousepad and sunglasses.

2. Utilize the Internet as much as you can. The Internet is an extremely useful and important platform when it comes to marketing. If you're not on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, FourSquare and Yelp, you need to be ASAP. These are the most popular social networking sites out there. Facebook, with around 600 million unique users, is more or less supreme social networking overlord. It's especially useful if your company holds a lot of events, because you can make events and invite all your friends and fans. Plus, whenever someone you're connected to interacts with the company's page, it will show up in their newsfeed, where all their friends will see it.

Twitter has nearly 200 million users, and is great if you want to post short messages, links or photos (of, for instance, those customized umbrellas you'll be handing out). Because you're limited to 140 characters per tweet, this site will keep you from getting too long-winded, a vice that simply doesn't translate well on the Internet. People want their information and news in short, snappy bursts, and Twitter is the perfect way to do it. MySpace, about 70 million users deep, is the way to go for businesses that are more entertainment oriented. The site is now used mostly by musicians and other entertainers, as well as venues. You can create a calendar to put right up on the page, listing all the events the company will be having.

As for FourSquare and Yelp, you should definitely make sure your company is signed up on them. People will be able to "check in" on FourSquare when they visit your business, and write reviews about it on Yelp (they'll be raving about those customized umbrellas and mousepads, no doubt). These sites are best if you have any kind of store or shop, restaurant, anyplace that people visit on a regular basis. Many people link their FourSquare and Yelp activity to their Twitters and Facebook, as well, spreading the word about your company even more.

Now that you have an idea about how to market your company in interesting and relevant ways, what are you waiting for? Get on those promotional umbrellas and social networking accounts!