What In the World Is "Desktop Marketing"?

I hear the question, "what in the world is desktop marketing?" pretty often. It's an interesting concept and especially appropriate in today's uncertain financial world. In simple terms, desktop marketing is advertising and promotion for small businesses. Large corporations have their own marketing departments which may include graphic designers, copywriters, traffic managers, and consultants. Larger businesses without an internal marketing department may outsource this work to a marketing or advertising agency, who then provides the copy, design, management, etc.

Small businesses need advertising and promotion, such as flyers, brochures, postcards, direct mail campaigns, really any piece of collateral that describes the business, why it's different from the competition, and what products and services are on offer. But here's the difference: small business owners may not have a budget that allows for big firm projects and retainers. And small business owners may not even have the time, expertise, or even desire to create their own advertising collateral. This is where a desktop marketer comes in.

Desktop marketing occurs, well, from the consultant's desk, where he or she assesses the client's needs, comes up with a solution, designs it, writes it, and manages the project. Since desktop marketing is pretty much a home-based business, the overhead is extremely low and there are no multiple salaries to pay. In other words, the desktop marketing consultant is a small business for a small business.

Those of us who have desktop marketing as a business line simply fill a need where vital advertising and marketing may be out of reach. We gain new clients through direct mail, networking, even "cold visiting" small businesses in our neighborhoods. Many of us were copywriters before we went into the marketing part. I was an instructional designer for many years, creating training content for large companies. In this role, I learned about graphic design, how copy, color, shapes, graphics, and logos should interact with each other without being garish or distracting, and how to create a message that gets straight to the point. Regardless of how a desktop marketer gets there, you can be sure that you're dealing with a person who understands what you need to succeed.

What are the benefits to the small business? First of all, the small business gains access to marketing and promotion at a price that fits the budget. The business, in turn, will probably make the marketing expense up pretty quickly with a well-placed ad, a well-written brochure, or a direct mail campaign. Finally, the small business creates a relationship with a consultant - without paying expensive retainer fees. When the project is finished, it's finished. When the business rolls out a new product or service or needs to expand to other collateral areas, the desktop marketer is there for another project.

Desktop marketing is large company advertising for a small business budget. What could be better than that?

Visit Blue Notebook Communications to see examples of desktop marketing products.