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Doing a lot for a little

Written by: Keith Thirgood

Article Overview: You can do a lot of marketing for a little investment, if you’re ready to do most of the work yourself.

Doing a lot for a little

You can do a lot for a little, if you’re ready to do most of the work yourself. (If not, one ad can eat up your entire budget.) Low and no cost tactics include networking, talks, joining groups, writing, telemarketing and newsletters. You’re not going to be able to reach many prospects with a thousand dollar budget, nor will you be able to repeat a paid message very often. Without reach and frequency, most marketing efforts are doomed.

Before you even think about an awareness campaign, determine who your ideal prospects are. Without understanding to whom you’re talking, you won’t know what to say.

Once you know your ideal target, you can begin.

First off, do you “look the part” of a supplier of your type of service/product, at the price you want to charge? If you don’t have an effective business name and image, you might invest your cash in getting your image up to at least par with your competition.

If you do have a good image, does your website live up to this image? Does it effectively market your product/service, or is it simply a bland wasteland of words? If it needs upgrading, invest your funds here. No matter how impressive you are in person, when your prospects check out your site all your other good marketing will fly out the window if the site lets them down.

Do you have a good brochure? Yes, even with the Internet, there are lots of uses for a good brochure. (You can’t take your website to a networking event.) Does it market your benefits and live up to your image, or should you invest in bringing it up to grade, or beyond?

Without a decent image, and marketing materials that live up to that image, the next steps will be frustrating. However, if all of the above is in top shape, we can examine your choices

The number one, low cost marketing tool is networking. There are dozens of networking opportunities in every marketplace. Join at least three networking groups that meet regularly. Join your industry association, you may get sub-contract work and discover strategic alliances. Join the association your target market belongs to. (Don’t join and try pitching for business, you’ll be labeled a pest. Try to be helpful. Volunteer for committees, join in and help. You’ll be noticed if you do.) And join your local Chamber of Commerce or Board of Trade. You’ll meet many influential people at their functions. Once you get better know in these groups, make sure you ask for referrals.

What are friends for? Personal and business friends can help spread the word about your service/product. Make sure that you can explain the value of what you provide in fifteen words or less. This is quite an art. Ideally, get it down to eight words or less. We explain our service by saying, “We help business get more business”. Six words that hit the mark with our audience.

I know most of you don’t want to think about doing your own telemarketing, however, when you have no marketing budget; it’s the cheapest tool available. Call in as high up the ladder as you can. It’s much easier to be passed down than to claw your way up.

What’s small, cheap and powerful? Your business card! Give it to everyone you meet. Okay, some people are going to toss it. But, many will not. One day someone will call and say, “I came across your business card while cleaning out my wallet, you are just what I was looking for.” Your card must effectively carry your image and value; otherwise, it will certainly be tossed.

Contact local service clubs (Rotary, Optimists, Lions, etc.) and offer yourself as a speaker. It doesn’t mater if you’re a business consultant or have a small chocolate shop. You know things about your specialty that your audience does not. You’re an expert. Create an interesting talk and you’ll have scores of captive prospects at your disposal. Warning, don’t make your talk a sales pitch. If you deliver an interesting talk, your audiences will want to know more about you and your business.

Trade publications (in both your and your prospects’ industries), local newspapers and magazines are often looking for articles. Contact the various venues and ask for their submissions guidelines and get writing.

Write letters to the editor. If you have something to say or announce, write a press release and send it to newspapers, magazines, radio and industry journals. Cut out interesting articles, copy them and send them to your prospects and clients.

Create an electronic newsletter that will be of interest and value to your prospects. Share your knowledge with your subscribers. This way you keep top of mind. Don’t make this a self-congratulatory sales rag; give the reader value.

If you sell services, contact your competitors and near competitors. Offer yourself as a resource for when they get overloaded.

As you’ve seen, there are many inexpensive ways to raise awareness of your business. To get a lot out of little, you’ve got some decisions to make and lots of work to do.

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Article Tags: business cards, image, marketing, networking, prospects, volunteering



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