Definition: An unconventional way of performing marketing activities on a very low budget

Guerrilla marketing is quite different from traditional marketing efforts. Guerrilla marketing means going after the conventional goals of profits, sales and growth but doing it by using unconventional means, such as expanding offerings during gloomy economic days to inspire customers to increase the size of each purchase.

Instead of asking that you invest money, guerrilla marketing suggests you invest time, energy, imagination and knowledge instead. It puts profits, not sales, as the main yardstick. It urges that you grow geometrically by enlarging the size of each transaction, having more transactions per year with each customer, and tapping the enormous referral power of current customers. And, it does it through one of the most powerful marketing weapons around--the telephone.

The telephone is a remarkably effective follow-up weapon. Don't use the phone to follow up all your mailings to customers, but research has proved that it will always boost your sales and profits. Sure, telephone follow-up is a tough task. But it works. Anyhow, no one ever said that guerrilla marketing is a piece of cake.

E-mail ranks up there with the telephone, possibly even out outranking it. It's inexpensive. It's fast. It lets you prove that you really care. It helps strengthen your relationship.

Lean upon your website as well. Instead of telling your whole story with other marketing, use that other marketing to direct people to your site. Then, use the site to give a lot of information and advance the sale to consummation. A key to online success is creating a brief and enticing e-mail that directs readers to a website that give enough information for a person to make an intelligent purchase decision.

Guerrilla marketing preaches fervent follow-up, cooperation instead of competition, "you" marketing rather than "me" marketing, dialogues instead of monologues, counting relationships instead of counting sales, and aiming at individuals instead of groups.

All guerrillas realize that the process of marketing is very much akin to the process of agriculture. Their marketing plans are the seeds they plant. Their marketing activities are the nourishment they give to each plant. Their profits are the harvest they reap. They know those profits don't come in a short time. But come they do if you start with a plan and commit to it.

Guerrillas know they must seek profits from their current customers. They worship at the shrine of customer follow-up. They are world-class experts at getting their customers to expand the size of their purchases. Because the cost of selling to a brand-new customer is six times higher than selling to an existing customer, guerrilla marketers turn their gaze from strangers to friends. This reduces the cost of marketing while reinforcing the customer relationship.

When your customers are confronted with their daily blizzard of junk mail and unwanted e-mail, your mailing piece won't be scrapped with the others and your e-mail won't be instantly deleted. After all, these folks know you, identify with you, trust you. So they'll be delighted to purchase--or at least check out--that new product or service you're offering. They'll always be inclined to buy from a company they've patronized.

Guerrillas are able to think of additional products and services that can establish new sources of profits to them. They're constantly on the alert for strategic alliances--fusing marketing efforts with others in order to market aggressively while reducing marketing investment.

The internet and your bookstore are teeming with a treasure trove of marketing tactics that can help you discover smart guerrilla marketing tactics. But learning about them is only half the battle. If you don't begin putting them into practice, you won't see the results these type of marketing efforts can have on your bottom line.