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7 No Cost Tips to Market Your BusinessMarketing a business can be fun, exciting and creative. It can also be very frustrating and expensive if one doesn't know what outcome they are looking for or how to evaluate cost effective methods of marketing. Over the years people have come to know me for my unique ability to develop low cost and no cost strategies to market and promote a business, product or service. Strategies that have realized incredible returns. Some of my successes have included: - Before my last book was published I pre-sold over $8,000 in books - Over 250 people registered for a recent seminar in less than 2 weeks and the cost to promote was under $25 - One company used my strategies for a career expo and made over $180,000 in consulting fees - One speaker sold over $23,000 in product sales back of the room at a two hour seminar with strategies outlined in my program I don't share this to impress anyone, rather to impress upon you when using the right strategies for your market, you can realize some incredible results. People have also come to know me as someone who is a stickler when it comes to putting systems in place. My marketing successes are a direct result of the systems I have implemented. With a bit of forethought, planning and desire, you can successfully market your business in a very effective manner. Below are seven proven strategies sure to increase visibility, leads and sales. Business cards are often one of the most underutilized tools in one's marketing. Use the front and back of your business card to gain full benefit. Depending on your market you can put some very valuable information on the back such as a sports schedule, emergency numbers, or special dates people want to remember. Keep some in your wallet, your automobile, on your desk, and some at home. Be sure to carry them with you wherever you go and be willing to hand them out as opportunity presents itself. Creatively distribute your card. When you eat out you can leave one with the tip. If you borrow a library book, use one as a book mark. Hand them to clerks in stores who may know other people who could use your product or service. When someone gives you their business card be sure to enter their information in your database. Send them a short note or email within 48 hours of meeting them to keep your name fresh in their mind. 2. Send a picture A great way to keep your name fresh in a customer's mind is to send them a picture of when they purchased a product or service from you. Put a picture of a buyer's auto purchase in a beautiful calendar. Likely, the proud owner of the vehicle will display the calendar for the next 365 days. For specialty gift shops, when a customer makes a substantial purchase, have a picture taken with the shop owner. Frame the picture and send it to the customer. Chances are very good the picture will be displayed proudly for friends and family to see. A dentist who specializes in smile makeovers can easily arrange to have a professional makeup artist and photographer capture the patient's beautiful new smile. No doubt the patient will be more than happy to show others their new look. 3. Associations Associations particular to your market are a great resource for marketing. There are associations specific to virtually any industry, job type or business. A quick web search will likely show you how much is available. A major opportunity within many organizations is the chance to network. Additionally, to make presentations. Along with presentations come publications. Often, when you do a presentation, you will get a mention in the association newsletter, their Ezine and/or on their website. In many cases, when an organization has a newsletter or Ezine, they welcome the presenter writing a press announcement for them. It saves them time and often assures you have a better chance of the information making it into the publication. They may also welcome you writing an article for their publication or website. This lends itself to pre-presentation visibility. Additionally, you will position yourself as an expert and increase credibility. Most organizations have the following opportunities that can help you to gain visibility and do some very effective marketing: -Newsletters In many cases you will need to be a member of the association to take advantage of the multiple marketing opportunities. In other cases membership is not necessary. 4. Committee Involvement Committee involvement is a great way to give back to the association or community while building visibility for you and your business. In some cases, you may even want to get involved in a committee where you have little experience or knowledge. This will give you an opportunity to stretch yourself and meet and network with individuals you may not have otherwise had the chance to meet. 5. Contests and drawings Contests are a favorite for many businesses such as restaurants or those that have high foot traffic. Contests are a great way to build your database quickly. You are generating very hot leads when you have a contest with people who have already frequented your place of business. The key though is to do back -end marketing. Far too many businesses hold contests, get lots of names and do nothing with them. In this case, it is a complete waste of time to hold a contest. You can advertise a contest to gain new foot traffic in your place of business. Trade show booths are a great place to hold a contest. Pre-show marketing helps to generate traffic at your booth. Invite people to stop by booth # _____ (whatever your booth is) to enter to win. Creative contests can also generate free publicity. 6. Cross-promoting Join with other companies who have products or services that compliment yours and promote each other. Let's say you have a massage business. You could partner with a candle company to sell their candles to your massage clients. They can give out coupons for your massage business. Or the candle company can partner with a gift basket company. Cross-promoting is only limited by your imagination. This can considerably cut down the cost of business promotion and allow each business to use promotion techniques that might be too expensive to implement alone. 7. Bonuses Secure special offers from various businesses who want to share a similar market as you. When a customer buys a minimum amount they receive a bonus packet with the various offers from the other vendors. This is a win/win all the way around. The other vendors gain visibility, you have something extra to offer you customers and the customers get incredible value for their purchase. Be aware of who you cross-promote and joint venture with. You want someone who will be equally committed to a campaign. Other articles by this author »
About Kathleen Gage
Kathleen Gage is a business advisor specializing in marketing and promotions for small and home based businesses. She is a keynote speaker and the author of -101 Ways to Get Your Foot in the Door - and - 101 No Cost and Low Cost Tips to Market and Promote a Product, Service or Business. To access her FREE report, Learn How One Salt Lake City Consultant made Over $100,000 from One Idea, visit www.streetsmartsmarketing.com. Related
And here is another random article you might be interested in... Your Organisation Skills Can Save Your LifeHi! When your life is working well it's an opportune time to reflect on what you've been doing to make it that way. What have you pro-actively done? The same applies for when it spirals out of control â€" what have been the main contributing factors? Have you ignored the signs and kept going hoping the situation sorts itself out rather than pro-actively making changes? The most important person in the whole wide world is you. Yet how much time, effort and money do you invest in you? How much time, effort and money do you invest in your health? I'm asking you these questions because of an incident that affected me last week. The Accident My husband is in the building industry and unfortunately he was involved in an industrial accident. He badly cut his right thigh muscles close to his bone on sheetmetal roofing that was sticking out on the site. He was rushed to hospital and was operated on that day, ending up with over 100 plus stitches to his leg. When I was able to see him that night he looked unbelievably well. You would never have guessed the trauma he had been through a few hours earlier. He was hardly in any pain. He had been given medication but only low doses. The next day he came home! His leg was heavily bandaged and he had a Velcro splint to keep it straight. He could even walk with the aid of crutches. The only tablets he took were the antibiotics to prevent infection, anti-inflammatories to reduce the swelling and some Panadol. On day four after the operation he discontinued all medication and has continued to take supplements suggested by our naturopath. How could he have bounced back so quickly? It's because he is proactive with his health. He eats healthily (most of the time), exercises regularly and sees our naturopath to ensure his body is functioning internally. In fact, I rang the naturopath to find out what Tama needed to take after his operation to boost his immune system and speed up the healing process. He doesn't make excuses about not having time to look after himself...and it's times like this when he's thankful he has made the effort. His body can withstand the trauma and has a strong base to restore him back to his normal healthy state. It will be a few weeks before he is (hopefully) back to normal with full use of his leg. We'll make sure he is fighting fit with ongoing physiotherapy and he'll also have a modified fitness program to keep himself in good shape. In fact, I'm also planning to have him go to a health retreat so he can detoxify and remove as much chemical from his body caused from the anaesthetic and pills he was given. This will also help him lose any excess weight he's likely to put on due to having limited mobility. Before the accident and after the accident, time, money and effort has to be invested in his health otherwise he will suffer the consequences. The Manager A few weeks ago one of my clients felt a tingling in his finger. Being a workaholic he didn't have time to pay too much attention to it. After all he had meetings booked all day and they were more important than a tingle in his finger. He was about to leave home, then collapsed. Luckily for him, there was another family member in the house and they called the ambulance. John had suffered a stroke. The warning signs were there all along. He smoked, was 15kg overweight, his diet was poor and exercise was spasmodic. He worked long hours and was under enormous pressure in his role. Much of the pressure was due to John's organisational skills. He was a poor delegator and had difficulty saying 'no'. Planning was something he did if he had the time (which meant he never did). Up until the time of his stroke, John had been making progress through being coached, however he wasn't making enough consistent effort, particularly around his health. He was a disaster waiting to happen and it did happen. John is 43. Fortunately John has survived, but what a way to have a 'wake up ' call. He's definitely paying attention now and making himself the no. 1 priority in his life. He's had four weeks off and is slowly easing himself back into work with reduced hours and a whole new outlook on the meaning of life. We've looked at the options open to him to ensure he stays well. This includes holistic medicine combined with diet, exercise and relaxation. 5 Ways to Get Organised and Stay Alive Learn how to get yourself organised so you make time for you. http://www.office-organiser.com.au/Products/ Find a holistic practitioner who offers a range of health tests and can provide proactive on-going treatment and advice. You will require supplements because hardly anyone eats a 100% organic, fully balanced diet and lives in a non-toxic and stress free environment. If you don't know where to go feel free to contact me lorraine@office-organiser.com.au I'll be able to point you in the right direction. Avoid people and places that do not support what you are trying to achieve, ie. there's a lady who attends my gym every day to stay in shape and keep her weight under control yet she works in a bakery! Once you know what to do and how to do it, then do it. Once you know what to do, how to do it, then do it and if it works...then keep doing it! The Final Word Being fit and healthy is not an option. Just because you are standing and breathing doesn't mean you are well. You can do our Work/Life Assessment to see what parts of your life are working and where you need to focus more attention. You'll most likely discover the area of health will be an area where you definitely require a change. Wellness is about being pro-active with your health and not waiting until you are sick or something happens to you. No matter how busy you are, you surely can't be too busy to die? Have a great week Lorraine Pirihi Other articles by this author »
About Lorraine Pirihi
Lorraine Pirihi is Australia's Personal Productivity Specialist and Leading Life Coach. Her business The Office Organiser specialises in showing small business owners and managers, how to get organised at work so they can have a life! Lorraine is also a dynamic speaker and has produced many products including "How to Survive and Thrive at Work!" To subscribe to her free ezine visit www.office-organiser.com.au Related
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