How can I market on a shoestring?
FSB recommends some cheap ways to get the word out, but we want to hear about your methods! Tell us what works and what doesn't.
From Dan Burke, President, Burke's Direct Mail, Omaha NE Mr. Dennis – Direct Mail Marketing is an excellent low-cost method of marketing. Plus, it is much more trackable than other forms or marketing such as print ads, radio, tv, etc. Find a good direct mail service provider that can also provide a quality list for you based on your potential client base and they will create an ongoing, consistent direct mail campaign that gets results. Good Luck!
From Dale Sturdevant (Marketing Manager Samscreen Incorporated), Conklin, NY There are so many ways to market on a shoestring it is unbelievable. I am a firm believer in Guerilla Marketing. If you get a chance, buy the book, as there will be a lot more solutions than I can ever give you. However, a few suggestions would be to write up press releases for everything that you might consider newsworthy; whether that be a new website launch, a new employee hire, etc. Also, if you have the opportunity to contribute to a newspaper by providing commentary, or by simply writing a letter to the editor, seize that opportunity! You might also want to provide free services, as a way to entice more clientele to come through the door (notice I did not say free goods). In your case a free seminar series may be seen as a community service and at the same time allow you to market some of your goods thru usage in the seminar. Just a few ideas.
From Geoff Walker, Gladwyne,Pa. Once you have identified your target audience…an inexpensive way is to go to "infousa.com" and go thru the building of a prospect list with whatever criteria you want…distance from your office…sales…# employees etc.
Once you have completed the simple process, you can purchase as many names as you would like to test via personal letters and phone calls…for as little as $.03 -.050 per name.
this would allow you to mount a very simple campaign in addition to the networking that you should be doing in your own community.
Geoff Walker
From Mushtaq Maxwell, Hobe Sound FL. www.caribbeanbusinessdigest.com Not only are Chambers of Commerce important but also non-business groups as well: charity organizations, Toastmasters, youth organizations etc. Also, perhaps you could volunteer to teach classes at a local community college or partner up with another local business to have a health fair. For the most part you would only have to invest time.
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If your customers start their buying process on a search engine, the smartest thing you can do is optimize your website for very local search terms.
Consider precisely how your targeted customer segments would go about finding your site – what would they type into a search engine (e.g., health safety columbus georgia).
Then, you can simply optimize your site so that it performs well on organic search results (not the advertising results).
All of this can be done for the cost of a good book on search marketing – maybe $20.
We have some good ideas for other tools as well as more advice on search marketing (all free!) at our site – feed growth!.
Best of luck to you.