In the planning phase when you were making decisions about what money was needed where you should have set aside a sum for marketing and advertising. This is the money that will serve as your marketing budget. This sum will govern how you will market your product or service. If you have a large budge, it goes without saying that you will probably want to consider hiring a marketing consultant or even a marketing firm to take on your account. But if you do not have that much money in your marketing budget, which is a dilemma that many small businesses face, then you have no other option other than to take on the responsibility of marketing and advertising your product or service yourself. This means that you have very little room for error. If you have a tiny budget, you must spend your money very wisely and be sure that what you spend reaches the customers that you need to reach.
Here are a few suggestions for marketing and advertising on a shoestring budget.
Presenting yourself in a professional manner is the key to any advertising strategy.
Use a mixture of strategies to get the best results. You can test the market without breaking your budget. For example, instead of paying for an expensive website with the concurrent costs for web design and layout, there are options that allow you to rent a professional looking website for as long as you want or need. This will submit your site to major search engines, and provide you with a low cost alternative to expensive web site hosting. See http://www.NetPageNow.com for more information.
Create your own press releases, if you have the writing skills. If you lack the ability consider hiring a freelance writer to do your copy, at a fraction of the cost that you would incur if you hired a professional marketing consultant or a firm. There are some sites that allow you to post press releases without charging anything. Just do an Internet search with the words “press release submission” and whatever your business or industry. Many different places are seeking newsworthy press releases and if you take the time you can take advantage of that without spending too much money.
Do not skimp on your business cards. Although they may seem insignificant, business cards are an important business tool. You can use business cards at many different opportunities, from private interpersonal interaction, to business related activities. The business card is the first thing that people tend to see in association with your business.
Consider advertising in the local Yellow Pages. This is a low cost alternative to advertising in pricey industry magazines and publications, and the advertisement will be seen by a lot of different types of consumers and customers.
Mail or hand deliver flyers announcing your business, or ask for referrals through your business and personal network. You can also put low-cost advertisements in free community flyers and free community publications.
Create coupons for your products or services and advertise through coupon mailing services. Also consider doing promotional advertisements and allowing customers to sample your product or service by giving it away fro free or for a limited time only.
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