Maketing advice for small company?

[John R]

You didn't mention if you had a website.

1) Start or Review the existing site
2) Get your marketing presentation in text form for your site: 1 page, 3 or 4 paragraphs, 3 to 4 sentences each. Keep it simple, copy is important, but when starting emphasize your offering. Don't worry about graphics too much at this point.
3) Scan for key words and phrases that would attracted your target audience (do a brainstorming session on who your ideal customer is....use real names and positions from your existing customer set)
4. Make sure your site title, meta tags and key words match your text.
5. Add Google Analytics to your site (if it isn't already there)
6. Open a Google Adsense Account only up a few dollars in $10 to $100 will do to start. Create a very simple campaign with the Company's name, and URL and just a few key words. This will get the site indexed. Limit the geography close to your shop if appropriate. Think about using the alternative Map ad if appropriate (more expensive). At this point don't waste advertising dollars. Look at this as R&D for marketing. Advertising and big campaigns should follow your proof of concepts.
7. Do some posts on free Directories (Yahoo), Forums, Social networks and Digg (if you want and it is appropriate).
8. Put a classified for your area on Crag's list.
9. If you don't already have add Paypal and Google Check out. You can use the "buy now" function if you don't have a shopping cart and even if you do have one....
10. Products can be listed on Google's Froogle. Just do a few.

and on and on and on. Keep adding bells and whistles until you have the best marketing engine in your area for your industry.

This starter set will give you more information than most people can handle initially. (there are lots of other metrics which you use but as a one horse shop starting out remember you have get some work done and all input and no output is not good for the business or you). The initial information can give some nearly immediate insight into what people think of your offerings. Either confirming the conventional wisdom or pointing out new opportunities. Put the salesman's phone number and email on your site and posts. Then you will find out if you are a marketing manager or the salesman will a title (which is quite OK very common in small businesses). If you are the salesman, get an Open Source CRM or SFA package from SourceForge for free (if you or your company has the technical skills to download and install..not as easy as some would like you to believe..) or cheaply hosted if you are all alone from $9.95 a month. Start filling the system with prospects, set up campaigns and use bulk email on an opt in basis (keep the emails small to run your campaigns thru be very reasonable with your contact to the prospects. Remember, this is marketing not sales).

Very cheap, very easy to run, some assembly required. But, the starter set is scalable to play at a reasonably high level once you get it going. You are lucky...getting graphics help should not be hard for you. That is the biggest problem I have... good luck.