Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla Marketing

Having just read Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson I thought I would write a brief synopsis of the book by way of recommendation. As you know, we have recently started our online unique baby gifts business, www.4little1s.com and needed to get to grips with the whole area of marketing. A number of people 'in the know' had mentioned Guerrilla marketing to me before but didn't understand what that meant.

The books covers a number of critical areas of marketing and is well laid out to the reader in nice bite size sections that can be dipped in and out of quite readily. I was a bit concerned when I bought the book that it would not be appropriate to me as a SME online trader without a vast marketing budget, entire departments of people to deal with Market and PR etc. How wrong I was…..!!! This book hits you square on and is an absolute gold mine.

It covers a number of areas from beginning to end all about marketing skills, tactics, approaches etc, some items I was completely unaware of, other items I had heard of but didn't know how to put into practice….until now that is. I could write for many pages on each item but to keep it short, I have listed the main sections and a brief comment about each.

Mini media
This covers the first starting block with a Marketing plan, calendar etc. Talks about business cards, flyers as well as a whole range of other obvious and not so obvious material. A good start and foundation to any marketing campaign.

Maxi media
Talks about some of the larger methods of advertising, direct mail (I found this particularly useful) Newspaper, magazines and TV commercials.

E Media
A good place to be aware of all the components that make up this section and tools that make it up, computers, bulleting boards, email, forums, chat rooms etc. Helpful info about the search engines and pay per click, being an online retailer a lot of this was not news to us but helpful none the less.

Info media
Talks about knowing your market (very sensible!) Lots of information / research ideas and areas to look into to get it.

Human media
Ultimately talks about you, the way you are and make sure you are aware of some of the more obvious items even if they are not practiced as much as they should be. Good information about being educated in engaging with your customer.

Non media
I found this section really interesting as it covers a number of areas I had not really thought about but are so obvious in terms of getting your name out there. The subliminal marketing item I found very interesting indeed and saw how it worked on me.

Company attributes
Very important section covering a whole host of traits, I thought the creditability section makes a very good point that all businesses must take note of or they will not go anywhere.

Company Attitudes
The 'Easy to do business with item' made me really think of how some of the companies I have dealt with over the last 20 years and how awkward and inflexible they really are. Suffice to say I don't do much business with them for that very reason. This common sense section re teaches you the things you probably already know but not sure how often it is consistently applied in practice. (it should be!)

Interestingly there were a number of strategies and approaches I already new about but
reading them in the book makes sure you are applying them. Guerrilla marketing will be very much a part of the marketing approach for 4little1s.com going forward

As always, if you would like to visit our baby gift website at www.4little1s.com you are more than welcome.