Marketing in Houston?

What are same methods of reaching the small business owners & professionals of Houston, TX. The services that I am interested to promoting is webbased (hosting). The parent company is VIPPowerNet.com; looking for ideas from the consumer. Let me know of ideas, any possible sponsorship to events, any upcoming events, any suggestions or ideas. Thanks!

Join your local Chamber of Commerce, and attend its events. There are many around the Houston area. Members generally like to do business with other members, and you will meet lots of small business owners there.

Speak to local business groups about Web-related topics (e.g., How to get a Web site up and running, how to promote your Web site, etc.). You can not make your talk a commercial for your business, but by being the expert at the front of the room, lots of people who need help will contact you. You can find a list of upcoming events in the Houston Chronicle each Sunday. Contact some of those groups and offer your services.

Look for publicity opportunities. Start with local media, then branch out to regional, national and international.

Host a free seminar for small businesses who want to learn about the Web. You can do it yourself, but you will probably see better results if you get someone else to sponsor it. The hard part of doing a seminar, even a free one, is getting behinds in the chairs. A sponsor with a PR person and/or a mailing list or newsletter can help with that. Sponsors might include community colleges, business organizations or places such as the SBA.

Create a network of professionals who can supply related services. If your focus is hosting, hook up with one or more designers/coders, SEO experts, and others to provide one-stop shopping for clients. It makes life easier for your customers, and you all benefit from the marketing efforts of the others in your network.

Search is becoming more localized. Optimize your site for "Houston Web hosting" and related terms.

Of course, Web hosting clients can be anywhere, so don't limit yourself to targeting a local market. In fact, by targeting a local market for Web hosting services you may get clients who are not tech-savvy (they think their host has to be local) or even technophobic. These customers may require a lot more hand-holding than others making you less profitable.

Hope this is helpful--good luck!

Cathy Stucker
http://www.IdeaLady.com/

Write the Chamber of Commerce of the city you wish to target.

Well Television is one way to go,
KPXB Channel 49 - 281-820-4900 - "I"Independent Television/PAX and KTBU Channel 55 The Tube - 713-864-1999, are the two stations I would air TV Commericals on.
KPXB 49 and KTBU 55 air alot (well most of the time) family friendly programming, those other networks CBS,NBC, FOX, WB- I would never advertise on due to NON-Family friendly/Violent content aired during the primetime/family hour.