Marketing and promotion are the only way your product or business will get the attention it deserves. Bulldozer Marketing is loud and clear and will get the results you need.

In Part I of Marketing Bulldozer – Top Five Ways to Beat the Competition, I went over the basics to get you started on your path to success. Now I'm going to give you the top five tools and resources that top companies and entertainers use to get on top and stay there.

1. Meet the press. You will need the press on your side to get your product the attention it deserves. To do that, you will need to write a compelling press release. If you feel you can't do that, Google my name, Jaci Rae, and look up the various press releases. I will also put them on IdeaMarketers.com for reference. Look at my articles section and you'll find them.

Once you have a kick-it press release, go to PrWeb.com and sign up for an account. You can send out a press release for $0, but I suggest a $10 to $40 investment on press releases you want to be noticed. The best days to send out a press release are Tuesday – Thursday. Check out what's going on in the media so you can tie in your press release with the headlines. While your press release is an advertisement, you don't want it to be completely written like an advertisement. It's a fine line you need to walk.

A great resource to get the names, addresses and phone numbers of the people you need to contact in both television and print is the Bull Dog Reporter. However, that might be more than you can afford. If you are on a tight budget, Google top newspapers. Go to their websites and find the contact information.

Don't randomly send out your press release. You need to target your release to the specific beat reporter. Sending your music press release to a sports reporter or your computer release to the wedding reporter won't do you any good.

2. Do public appearances. Nothing will garner more sales or attention than personal contact and word of mouth. Go to your local mall and ask if they will allow you to do a public demonstration in exchange for what you have to offer. If they won't, ask what the costs are and then go to local businesses to offer them a piece of the action in advertising if they donate money.

There are many other avenues to spread the news: Local supermarkets, libraries, coffee shops, etc. Music can be sung, books can be read, products can be demonstrated and services can be spoken about and validated if you have recommendations from those people who have successfully used your service.

This will help compel those who are listening to want to invest money in you and your talent. People are more likely to buy when they have a personal experience with the product or person. Make sure to invite the media to your event and advertise it to the hilt to ensure a bigger turnout.

Put up flyers, and call up your local cable company and find out how much it costs to advertise. Commercials at the local or regional level during prime time will only cost you $30 a spot (approx.). That's for advertising on VH1, MTV and many other very high profile shows.

Go to a college that has an excellent audio/visual department. Many students will only ask for the price of the film as long as they can keep a copy for their final exam. If you have a larger budget, many professional services will do an entire commercial for $7,000. A great company is Event Management Services. Ask for Marsha Friedman who is the President.

3. Use the web to its full advantage. Set up shop on the World Wide Web if you haven’t already done so. Websites do not guarantee money, but they are an additional source of advertising for you. Join web rings. While I had seen many of my competitors use this on their websites, I never joined one. One day I made a decision to do just that and my Christmas website went from being unseen to the top five for my search string of Christmas with love and other terms. The results showed up in one week.

If you don't know how to create a website, you can go to your local college as I stated prior. There are also many websites like webmonkeys that have quite a bit of information to help get you started. Don't waste money on people who promise you top ten ranking at this point.

4. Donate your time and services sincerely to charitable events. Eventually you'll be able to donate your item or services and get valuable advertising without cost in exchange. Charities that I can personally recommend are the Special Olympics, Make-A-Wish and Saint Jude's Hospital. Many other charities I have worked with are just as wonderful. They need the help and you do too. Why not help someone else and in exchange, you may be able to help your business.

5. One of the most important tips is to strategically align yourself with other successful entrepreneurs. I can't stress the value of networking. It's probably one of the most important things you can do. Make sure you are an asset to them and not a liability. By that I mean, be of value. Be sincere and don't just take away information without offering something in return. To find where the movers and shakers in your industry chill out, read the newspaper and check out the web for conventions and meetings. Alternatively, call up and ask your competition if there is a local association they belong to for others like themselves, and join the club and attend the meetings.

It's very important that you are in the trenches so you can gauge where your market is going and stay on the pulse of things as well as be able to hand out your card and let them know your product is out there. While hooking up with these people, be sure to ask them if they know anyone who might be interested in distributing your product or helping you learn more about the industry. Be sure to offer something in exchange.

The strategies I have written about in these two articles, if used religiously and with all your heart and effort, will garner you great results and help make you a leader in your industry. Good luck and get right to your Bulldozer Marketing plan!

Jaci Rae’s grit and determination brought her from a poor childhood to a successful singer and author who tours around the world. She is the recipient of the "Female Vocalist of the Year" award at the Golden Music Awards in Nashville, TN as well as a #1 Best selling author.

Jaci is on the dating team of Savvymiss.com, the relationship expert for lovingyou.com and is a relationship advisor for loveisgreat.com and singlescafe.net. For more information, go to http://www.winningromance.com Jaci Rae is also a co-host for the show Concert's in the Sky with media mogul Jesse Dylan.

She is the author of The Indie Guide to Music, Marketing and Money, as well as Winning Points With The Woman In Your Life One Touchdown At A Time (Simon and Schuster), Shop for a Day with Jaci Rae and Collista's Search for the True Meaning of Christmas. Jaci spends her spare time working on her music, writing and hanging out with family and friends. For more information, go to www.christmaswithlove.com www.shopforaday.com www.winningromance.com or www.jacirae.com

About.com Dating Guide lists Jaci's book, Winning Points With The Woman In Your Life One Touchdown At A Time in the top six of all time dating / relationship books.
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