10 Low Cost Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

I found these tips about simple ways to market your small business.

10 Creative Low Cost Marketing Tips

1. Display your cards or brochures at coffee shops, book stores, businesses of people
you know, membership stores like Costco and Sam’s Club, anywhere that will allow it;
all of these are free. Seek out ones locally that will allow you to do this and replenish
them frequently. You can also approach other business professionals that compliment
what you do and have a similar target market as you to swap marketing materials,
meaning you display or carry theirs and they yours.

2. Hold an Open House, Ribbon Cutting or some kind of an event to attract the
public or your specific target market to your business. You can partner with another
business to split the cost, you can bring in a charity to raise money for or have a client
appreciation night of some sort. Whatever you do, make sure you plan it well in
advance and publicize the event to the media and your database.

3. Networking is the cheapest form of advertising you can do – find organizations,
associations, chambers, groups and monthly meetings that have attendees and
members that fit your unique target market client or referral source and visit them first,
then join if you see the value. The key to networking is frequency. You need to go to the
organization’s events that you join each month for greater visibility, to be recognized
and ultimately to be the go-to person for your particular industry.

4. Put your sales message and/or logo on everything, your car, shirts, nametag,
building, invoices, envelopes, sales flyers, receipts, tags, etc. Simple name/logo
branding can be a huge asset for a small business (everyone will say “I’ve seen your stuff
somewhere”).

5. Invite trade for services for things you may need (bookkeeping help, CPA,
financial or attorney advice, marketing, advertising, promotions, signs, promo items,
printing, products, services, etc.). This will save you money and give you other avenues
to pursue for referrals as well.

6. Go in with other small businesses that compliment your business on advertising
opportunities, chamber inserts or in their newsletter, inserts in the local papers, direct
mail pieces, target mailing list purchases, door to door flyers, etc. (i.e.; housekeeping
business and carpet cleaning business). This will keep your costs lower for these items
and give you greater credibility by partnering with other professionals.

7. Make sure you are listed on all local area or national website directories
necessary that will target your message for you. Do the free ones for sure, but evaluate
them if they charge a fee.

8. Include links to other people’s websites on yours and ask to do the same for
added exposure. Have an “I recommend these businesses” page. Reciprocal links helps
both websites get higher up on the search engines.

9. Follow up, Follow up, Follow up with everyone you meet and ask them what their
business is all about and how could you work together to promote each other? You need
to develop a system for this so it gets done. Whether it’s add them to your mailing list
and mail to them once a month, add them to your email list if they opt-in and email
them weekly or calling them, stopping by or faxing them on a monthly basis to keep in
touch. Having a system or guideline written down that you can follow easily each month
is the key.

10. Never base your advertising decisions on what YOU do, take yourself out of the
picture and think like your customer and what they would generally do. Always ask
pertinent questions of any media before buying it such as “What is their circulation or
reach” and “How do they market themselves or how is their medium distributed”.
Research all your options first, figuring out which ones reach your target market the
best, then evaluate their cost per thousand.

The complete story can be found at this link (in .pdf format):

http://www.square2marketing.com/dl/S2_10_Low_Cost_Marketing.pdf

It was reprinted with permission from: Katrina Sawa, Solopreneur Marketing Coach and Founder of K. Sawa Marketing. Copyright 2002-2006 K. Sawa
Marketing.

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