Total Available Market: How to Build a Fortune 500 Enterprise from Scratch (F500 Handbook)

Updated: March 23, 2010

Here are seven tools that a business of any size can use to address a larger portion of its target market:

  1. Ad networks: There are literally hundreds of ad networks that can help a business reach a more expansive target audience. These networks come in many shapes and sizes and offer advertisers different pricing models (CPM, CPC, CPA, etc.), different forms of ad creative (display, text, video, etc.), and different targeting options (contextual, geographic, target profile, etc.). Most importantly, some of these networks offer every business the opportunity to test small campaigns before buying into large, production level agreements. You can see a list of the top ad networks here: Comscore Top 25 Ad Networks.
  2. Paid search: Paid search is one of the easiest, most effective ways to expand a business' market reach. Tools such as Google AdWords and Microsoft's Search Advertising allow businesses to reach broad geographic locations, including international markets. Through keyword suggestion tools, paid search can also provide small businesses with insight into adjacent markets by recommending new keywords that buyers may be using to look for your products or services.
  3. Outsourced telemarketing: Telemarketing services have never been easier to leverage when it comes to reaching a new segment of the market. Businesses can now engage with third-party telemarketers in efficient and cost-effective ways. Whether it's month-to-month contracts, pay-for- performance pricing, or easy set up and training, any size business can now test a telemarketing service with relative ease. Companies like LiveOps are making call center technology and a virtual telemarketing workforce available to everyone.
  4. Online demand channels: There are a range of Web sites that will now promote and sell your product for you. Some, like Alibaba, provide reach into international markets, while others, like eBay Business, provide incremental reach on top of your traditional sales and marketing channels.
  5. Efficient ecommerce: There have been a lot of quiet innovations in the world of ecommerce recently. Some F500 companies are encumbered by complex, legacy ecommerce operations, but small businesses can capitalize on these innovations with relative ease. To see a great example of some of these innovations at work, check out Glyde which has taken frictionless commerce to new levels.
  6. Translation services: Many businesses see a lack of language skills as a major obstacle to entering new, international markets. While this is an area where small businesses should exercise caution (the quality of translation services varies), there are a number of online and offline services available. For example, many professional translators use the Microsoft Translator as backup, while vendors like New Global provide easy-to-consume, personalized translation services.
  7. Web conferencing/telepresence: Online conferencing solutions now provide small businesses with the geographic reach that used to be the exclusive domain of Fortune 500 travel budgets and sales forces. Citrix, WebEx, and Adobe all provide low-cost, enterprise-class options for conducting online meetings with prospects, partners and remote employees.