• Section: Money Guide - Category: Home Business
• Written by Andrew Cass

Whether you are marketing on-line or off-line, your potential customers are scared, scarred, and skeptical these days; meaning they are overwhelmed. Consumers are becoming resistant to sales messages.

In the mid 80's, a store could run a "20% off" sale and people would flock in. Then the big stores got into the discounting mentality. Now it is common to see "70% off" sales - especially in jewelry. The consumer is not too long a fool. These promotions do not produce the wanted response anymore.

Repeated, high powered sales events create a downward spiral. Eventually you cannot offer a big enough deal to get the public excited. Case in point: The 'big three' car makers played this game for three years. By January 2006 they found themselves in deep financial trouble. They had borrowed customers from the future by offering a bigger, better sale every couple months. They are all in trouble now financially as a result.

Successful businesses, now and in the

future, will be practicing "soft marketing." To make sales today, marketing efforts have to come in under the consumer's sales-pitch radar. Many of the big companies have known this for some time because of their on-going marketing analysis. You can take advantage of their research for free.

So here's how soft marketing works:

Let's take Coca-Cola for example: Coke, for decades was famous for their flashy, high-powered TV ads. You've seen them. Today you seldom see such ads. Have they cut back on their marketing expenditure? No. In fact, they are now spending more using soft marketing techniques. Most people do not even realize they are being advertised to.

This is the beauty and power of soft marketing. Here are two ways Coke is using a soft marketing approach to build profits and market share:

1. You may have seen Coke products displayed on TV shows and movies. "American Idol" is a popular TV show, with about 35 million viewers. The three judges are a big part of the success of the show. In front of each judge is a tall Coke cup conveniently showing the label.

The American Idol judges are, in effect, recommending Coke to their viewers without actually saying so. Coke pays A LOT of money for this and sells A LOT of product based on this type of "soft" endorsement.

2. Coke brings new loyal customers in the "back door" using nostalgia products. Coke collectibles are a huge market today. And once caught up in the hobby of Coke collectibles, a person and the whole family become avid Coke drinkers. And Coke is being advertised to everyone who enters that home.

Get it?

Coke's soft marketing techniques have made them almost bullet-proof in the soft drink market. They have built an image of being the most popular soda. Since it is human nature to want to be on the winning team, swarms of new customers are joining the group every day.

Here are three powerful soft marketing tactics you can start using right away to explode your home business empire:

1. Become known as an expert. Credibility and trust are the two most important ways to succeed in any business. Write and submit articles and press releases. If you cannot write, hire someone to do it for you. There are several good writing service web sites on the internet. They are very inexpensive as well.

Example: This very newsletter issue you are reading right now will be converted to an article and distributed to over 100 top article directories across the internet next week.

Also, you may want to join a "Private Label Rights" content site. They provide already written articles that you can put your name on as your own and customize to your liking. This is pure gold for on-line or off-line marketing.

2. Give away a free report or a free course on the topic of your product or service. This is a huge favorite in the direct marketing and internet marketing world these days because it simply works. I'm a huge fan of this approach and I almost never market without it.

Your local newspaper may even give you some free editorial space if your report is of intere

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