Introduction.

The holiday season is here. For those who do not have physical storefronts, the options for marketing and advertising are limited.

Collective Marketing's mission is to provide the means for non-traditional small businesses to pool together their financial resources for the purpose of raising brand awareness in a collective manner thus making the cost more affordable for the group as a whole.

There is strength in numbers. What a group can realize is more viable than the work of a single individual. A goal can potentially be reached faster and progressed further. A cooperative effort can provide a better value for your modest funds.

I am a designer with an extensive marketing background. I am also avid crafter, sewing and beading anything that piques my interest. I have sold online in the usual venues and participated in shows. Word of mouth about my work has also proven effective in generating income.

But what has always been challenging is the ability to market myself effectively with limited funds available. In my marketing experience, the opportunity to create affordable promotions is best achieved when a group can come together to work on the same goal. In the past, I've brought together businesses for this purpose such as the event I initiated a few years ago, working with other businesses in my trade to host a design-oriented "open house" tour in the valley. It was an effective marketing endeavor. And it validated my belief that given a specific promotion, the same dollar amount that one business can spend carries less weight than a collective group's effort for the same identical advertising.

Collective Marketing is about making your dollars stretch as members of a cooperative group. The premise behind the concept is based on two simple approaches to managing your membership funds. First is to utilize traditional but modest advertising as a springboard for increasing awareness for our businesses which shall have presence in the online community including this blog and a related Facebook page. Second is to affordable participate as a group in shows, fairs, and other events by establishing a collective booth in each of these events and manned by members in rotation.

What does this mean in actual application? Find out more under Collective Marketing's guidelines below.

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