Marketing for your small business can be part art/part science. But however you would describe it, it is the key to both getting new customers and keeping the ones you already have. Want to learn more about marketing creatively. We’ve collected a bunch of resource we hope will help. Please let us know what you think below.

Tips & Trends

Does it make a difference where your product is made? It could, especially in a world of outsourcing where customers value domestic brands that employ local workforces. Here’s a story on a marketing edge being exploited by U.S.-based brands who are finding manufacturers closer to home for some of their products. How can your product’s story be marketed to enhance your brand. Bloomberg Businessweek

Is your marketing copy magnetic? Communicating with prospects and customers via the copy on your Website can create a strong first impression of your brand, so the content you place on your Website is very important. If you want to be sure what you say will grab readers, hold them and keep them coming back for more, follow these simple tips and take your Web content to the next level in just 30 minutes. Digital Marketing Now

109 ways to get press for your small business. The best marketing costs nothing but the time to put it into action. It’s that way with media coverage, still some of the best free marketing there is for a small business. But, of course, there’s a lot more to gaining media interest in your product, service or company than just calling up and asking that a story be written about you. Consider these suggestions when trying to court interest in your brand. Copyblogger

Marketing Overview

The true power of marketing…and what we can learn from it. In the wake of the nuclear disaster in Japan, it’s amazing to consider what the real data tells us about the relative safety of various forms of power in use today. Real data versus our perceptions should tell us something about why consumers really make the decisions they do. Still think presenting just the facts will convince people your product is best? Take another look at the graph in this post. Seth Godin’s Blog

Why sometimes the best marketing is customer relations. Building strong relationships with customers can be the best marketing in a small business owners arsenal. That’s because these connections are tough for competitors to severe even with expensive advertising and marketing campaigns. Also, with some clients and customers, that one-on-one relationship will always trump a less personal marketing campaign aimed their way. So don’t discount the power of these relationships in keeping customers loyal. Bloomberg Businessweek

Adding the oomph factor. So if, as we saw in an earlier post, customers and clients don’t necessarily make their choices based strictly on an objective basics, how do you go about differentiate. Of course, customer service is fine once you’ve got them, but how do you go about convincing prospects or potential customers to go with you in the first place. Well, it’s all about brand…and about adding that extra oomph. One of a Kind Preneur

Tech & Techniques

Direct digital marketing for your business. Direct digital marketing is evolving beyond the e-mail address, the mobile phone number and the Web browser cookie. Today, you can use trackable data to identify your most influential customers within the new context of social media to “light the fuse to the powder keg.” What does the future hold for direct digital marketing and how can you best prepare your business for what lies ahead? The Lunch Pail

How to market (and sell) from your business blog. Of course, your business blog can and should be a marketing tool for your blog as well, but striking a balance between the free content you provide to keep visitors coming back and the marketing or sales copy that makes your visitors aware of the products and services you offer can be a difficult one, especially if you are new to using your blog as a marketing tool. Wake Up Cloud.com

Communications & Resources

Crafting messages to meet clients’ needs. What are your client’s communications preferences, and have you made the necessary effort to communicate in the method they feel comfortable? Whether using texting, telephone, face-to-face or e-mail communications, your marketing, customer service and sales communications must fit the preferences of those you trying to reach? How do your customers want to hear from you? The Sales Blog

10 steps to killer copy. We’ve noted earlier the importance of great copy for your Website or other marketing and sales materials including newsletters, e-mail etc. But how exactly can you be sure you are creating the right content and more importantly content your current and future customers will respond to? Well, among the first steps is to sit down with your sales team and ask them what’s worked and then to go to your customers and ask them too.