Here are a few smart ways to build a strong brand and consciously construct how people think of you and your company without having a corporate advertising budget:

Buy Advertising at 80 Percent Off

Advertising in your local radio or newspaper may not be too expensive for the small business. If an ad’s rate card rate is $1,000 a month, there is a very good chance you could get it down to $600, $400 or even as low as $200 with some shrewd negotiating.

It is important to realize that most newspapers struggle to get advertisers. When a newspaper goes to print, any unused ad space is money lost. Since it costs them the same amount of money to print the paper, they will often be happy to take your money, even if it’s far below what they would normally receive. Start by asking what their remnant rate is, the price for unused advertising space. You can often get an immediate 30 percent discount this way.

Then ask if they honor the 15 percent in-house advertising agency discount, which is the discount that ad agencies received which isn’t passed on to the client; in other words, by not using an ad agency, you can take the discount for yourself. Now you have already saved 45 percent. Then try asking for their bulk rate for three, six and twelve months. The goal is to try to get the twelve-month rate for a one or two-month test to determine if the medium works out for you. Using a combination of negotiation techniques, you can get as much as 80 percent off.

Small Businesses Need to Focus on Response First

A large business can afford to put their time and energy into just branding, rather than direct sales efforts. A small business, however, needs to focus their main attention on building sales today, and save branding for tomorrow. If you are spending money on advertising, your goal is responses. Those can be email sign-ups, telephone calls or sales, but branding just isn’t enough for a new small business. Aim for sales and reap the benefits of branding as a side benefit.

Use a Variety of Media

Research has shown that people who see an ad again and again through different media are a lot more likely to buy. Let’s say someone sees your banner ad on a relevant website. Then they see an article you wrote on an industry leader’s blog. Finally, when they are searching for information on a related topic, they see your Google AdWords ad. By now, you have built up so much credibility just by appearing multiple times in different media that people are likely to click just out of curiosity. If you are marketing a local business, try mixing local media such as radio, newspaper and perhaps even direct mail or postcards.

These are a few smart ways to build your brand effectively. Take care of your bottom line first by generating sales, while being conscious of your brand. Use a variety of media to target the same audience and never ever pay full rate card.

StumbleUpon is a social networking site that connects you directly to others who share the same interests, and can be a fantastic tool to drive traffic and grow your business. However, in order to gain the most benefit there are a few key strategies you can utilize.

#1 Identify Your Goals

Goals help you stay on track. They also help you know when a strategy is successful and when it needs to be fine-tuned or eliminated. So what do you want to accomplish with your StumbleUpon tactics? For example, “I want to increase website traffic by ten percent.”

#2 Create a Strong Brand

It’s important to make sure you are representing a cohesive brand personality or image whenever you communicate on StumbleUpon. Your profile is also a significant brand builder. Here are a few tips to strengthen your brand through your profile:

* Post a picture – Just like other social networking websites and even your website and blog, it is important to demonstrate that you are a real, live human being. It’s also a good way to share who you are.

* Choose topics strategically – Choose topics that are relevant to your business.

* Connect with like-minded Friends and Followers – Connect with your industry gurus and experts. You can also connect with your competition this way and upload other social networking contacts.

#3 Schedule Your Interactions

Most often when people join StumbleUpon and other social networking websites, they create a few key posts and then they forget about it. If you want to reach your goals, you’ll want to participate on a regular basis for it to be effective.

It is important to know that this is a task that you can outsource. You don’t have to spend your valuable time networking. If you are managing the task on your own, set aside a few minutes every day submitting sites to StumbleUpon, interacting and reviewing. Submit regular content that offers value and helps build your brand and awareness. You can make this step significantly easier by installing a StumbleUpon toolbar on your browser.

#4 Strategic Content

Of course you will want to submit some of your own content. However, you want to make sure the pages you submit are strategic. Don’t submit everything, but rather only content that you believe will help you reach your goals. Create content specifically for your StumbleUpon audience.

#5 Testing and Tracking

When you are creating your StumbleUpon goals, make sure you also create a way to test and track your results so that you will know if your efforts are successful.

#6 Integrate

Include StumbleUpon into your other marketing efforts. For example, add StumbleUpon buttons on your website content pages to motivate Stumbles and reviews.

#7 Advertise

Once you have a solid StumbleUpon system and are achieving the results you desire, take a look at StumbleUpon advertising. Like Facebook and other social networking advertising programs, it is highly targeted and may be more effective than other advertising programs.

StumbleUpon offers businesses the ability to build traffic, awareness, SEO and much more. Create your goals and a strategy to achieve them. Implement systems and tactics and then test for success.

Getting high conversion rates is often an incremental process. You start with a sales letter that converts at just 0.2 percent; then through incremental adjustments, experimentation and testing you gradually inch that up to 1- 2 percent, or even as high as 8 percent as some industry leaders claim. Here are a few strategies you can use to increase your conversion rate.

Experiment with Multimedia

There are a few forms of multimedia that have a very good shot of increasing your conversion.

First is the sales video. In general, having a video play automatically when visitors land on your page will increase conversions, provided the video is a good one. It should explain the problem clearly and explain why your product is unique in being able to help your visitor. The video could be you talking to the camera, or it could be a graphical demonstration or even an animation.

Another kind of multimedia that works very well is having a “salesperson” walk onto the screen and explain the benefits of the product. This is done through Flash. Generally, you will need to hire an outside firm to read the sales script and create the Flash animation, which could cost anywhere from $400 to $1,000.

Build a Newsletter

If you aren’t already building a newsletter, you are missing out on perhaps the easiest way to increase your conversion rate. Selling over time is far, far more effective than selling just once. Build a newsletter, provide real value to cultivate customer loyalty, and sell your products repeatedly over time.

Split Testing

You will want to split test just about everything on your website on an ongoing basis. Most importantly, however, is split testing everything that is above the fold. Anything above the fold, including the headline, the pictures by the headline, the layout, the banner, etc., all need to be tested. Test both your email capture page and your sales page. In fact, testing your email capture page often will have a larger influence on your bottom line than your sales pages. Test as much as you can, with getting enough traffic to get statistically significant data as your only barrier.

Brand Building

One often overlooked method of increasing conversions is building your brand. People would rather buy a book from Amazon.com than any other source online, even if the price is cheaper because of Amazon.com’s brand. People know that when they buy from Amazon, they will be taken care of the same can’t be said of some other online bookstores.

This principle applies in all kinds markets. Names of great websites, products and teachers spread through the grapevine in an industry. If someone’s already heard about your product, your conversion rate will be much, much higher. Don’t just look at conversions in terms of statistics. Building your name in an industry by speaking at conferences, doing joint venture deals, and just constantly being a figure in the industry can go a long way towards increasing your conversions.

These are a few powerful strategies for increasing your conversions. With proper testing and experimentation, your conversions can and will rise. Many of the most lucrative websites on the Internet required extensive testing before they became what they are today.

There are certain brands that are ingrained in every consumer’s mind: Coke, Colgate, Apple, Toyota, Pampers, etc. Every one of these brands was carefully designed with one thing in mind: to build a brand that lasts. Smaller, non-public companies can learn a lot from the branding techniques of larger corporations. Follow these guidelines to build a brand that really lasts:

Rule #1 – The Brand Is in the Consumer’s Mind

A lot of people think that the brand is in your logo, your slogan or your marketing materials, but that is not so. Your brand, your real brand, is in the mind of your consumers.

One great example is Kia, the car manufacturer. For most people, Kia in their minds is “the cheap, not very good car.” It doesn’t matter that Kia runs thousands of commercials every year “branding” their cars as adventurous, reliable, etc. Their real brand is still that, the cheap, probably not very good car.

The whole point of branding is to deliberately construct the associations your customers have when they think of you and your company.

Rule #2 – Be Known for One Thing

Don’t try to be a generic brand and number one in everything.

Let’s use the auto industry as an example again. The auto industry would be extremely difficult to get into. It would cost so much money at such a high risk to try and build a strong enough new brand to generate sales in the auto industry that just about no one does it. However, when Tesla Motors came along, they didn’t try to build a number one car. They didn’t try to compete with any of the large brands. Instead, they set out to do one thing: to create the best luxury or sports 100 percent electric car. Shortly after they launched, every Tesla dealership was backlogged with orders.

There are many examples of this. For example, “Miller Light” was a number one brand when they didn’t try to be a generic beer, just the number one light beer. The list goes on and on.

Rule #3 – Be Consistent with Your Brand

A brand that changes every year, or even every few years, is bound for obscurity. A brand whose logo conflicts with its message, or a brand whose color is inconsistent with the brand’s emotions, is also bound for obscurity. Your brand needs to be consistent throughout every part of your business. The logo, the typography, the tagline, the “feel” of the commercials, the corporate culture and so on, should all be streamlined to one coherent message.

Coca Cola is a great example of this. Their brand is that no matter where you are, it’s cool and fun to drink Coke. McDonald’s is a poor example of this. They have tried to position themselves as healthy by adding salads and running commercials, but everyone knows they are not. They try to position themselves as the place to take the family, but many parents now tell their kids not to eat at McDonald’s. McDonald’s has a confused brand, which has hurt their sales.

To create a brand that lasts, make sure you know what your message is. Make sure that one message is clear and concise. Then make sure all your advertising materials and everything else about your company matches up to that branding message.

Have you ever considered writing an e-book? In addition to being a wonderful business model, writing an e-book can really boost your business. There are really not too many other business models that offer automated profits. And you can earn money from your e-book for years to come. Additionally, writing an e-book is a fairly straightforward task. You can write an e-book this month and be raking in the profits next month.

If you’re not interested in selling your e-book, then consider these fantastic benefits you gain whether you sell it or give it away.

A Credibility and Authority Boost

We give authors our confidence. Writing and publishing an e-book will give you and your business a credibility boost. It essentially establishes you as an expert in your industry. When you write an e-book that helps your customers and prospects solve their problems, people consider you a credible authority on your subject. They’ll turn to you for advice and assistance. Additionally, credibility and authority are both buying triggers. You’ll earn customers when you write an e-book.

Branding, Exposure and Awareness

When you write an e-book, your business brand is enhanced. Since you are going to reach more people through publication, your exposure and awareness will also be increased. Branding, exposure and awareness all help you grow your business. Through your e-book marketing efforts, press and publicity and through word of mouth, it’s not unheard of to triple your audience. You just have to write an e-book.

More Opportunities

Through both the press you receive for your e-book and through increased credibility, awareness and exposure, you’re going to catch the eye of the public. Some of the people who read or learn about your e-book are going to be interested in working with you. You’ll receive new opportunities and through these opportunities you can grow your business.

For example, you may have an opportunity to be interviewed by your local newspaper. A fellow business owner may contact you through this press and offer you a partnership opportunity. There’s no telling what opportunities are in store for you when you write a book.

Finally, writing an e-book provides you with an entry into your sales funnel if you give it away for free. If you sell the e-book, then you have another product to market and profit from. There really is no downside to writing an e-book. They’re easy to create and even easier to distribute. All you need is a sales page and a download link. A little marketing and then you have yourself an amazing business-building tool.

Many people hesitate to write an e-book. They think it’s going to be a lot of work, or they’re afraid they’re not qualified to write an e-book. Writing an e-book is much like writing copy for your website. With a plan, passion for your topic, and the ability to write conversationally, you can write an e-book.