Top 10 No – Or Low-Cost Ways To Promote Your Business

Do you have an unlimited marketing budget to promote your business?

Yeh, didn’t think so.

Need some marketing solutions you can implement today on a shoestring budget?

Here’s the top 10 no – or low-cost, high-impact strategies to advertise and promote your small business.

 1. Know Your “WHO”. Who are your best customers now? Which type(s) of customers bring in the most to the bottom line? Be as specific as possible. For example, in my coffee and smoothie business the decision maker for corporate catering is the director of human resources, usually a middle-aged woman. It’s important to be specific because the messaging to this niche would be different than if I were reaching out to someone having a small backyard party at their house. After you’ve defined your who, you need to plan your attack of “WHERE” – Where can you find them? Do they hang out on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest? Do they attend in-person local networking meetings? Do they search for your product or service online? When is the best time to reach them – ex: are they in the beginning of their buying cycle or do they have their credit card out ready to buy? Knowing the answers to this question will help you “be something to someone” instead of “everything to everyone”. Which one do you think will have more money in the bank?

2. Get Found Online. Set up a listing for your business in search engine local directories. Google and Bing both offer a free listing for local businesses. To get listed on Google, go to Google My Business. To get listed on Bing, go to Bing Places for Business. I’d also suggest being listed on Yelp – your customers/clients will check you out there and it can also give you an added SEO boost. There are hundreds on online local directories, so it can be a bit overwhelming. My suggestion is to get a free report from Yext to see how your business shows up – or doesn’t – across the web. You can then either go to those sites individually to add/fix your listings with each directory, or you can use one of the many pay-for-service solutions. The benefit of paying: You have a single location to enter all of your data to make it consistent and available on multiple online directories that your customers might search to find what you sell.

3. Be Social. Set up a business profile/page on LinkedIn, Facebook, GooglePlus and Twitter. Make sure your business profile includes a great description and cover image, keywords and a link to your website. Post unique content daily and engage with your followers. Join and participate in groups and/or conversations that revolve around the type of products or services you offer. Provide helpful information without being spammy or constantly promoting what you sell. Be a go-giver and it will pay you back many times over. While being social is a “no cost” marketing strategy, it’s probably the biggest time waster for you. Using tools like Hootsuite can help you more effectively manage all of your social networks in one place, but still takes time. Consider outsourcing your social media activities to a company like Small Biz Marketing Specialist (yes that was a selfless plug). Just please don’t spend your whole day on Facebook . . . you’ve got a business to run!

4. Write an article – or create a video – that demonstrates your expertise in your field. Content marketing is where it’s at! Providing helpful “how to” tips and tricks that save people time, effort, money, etc will pay off handsomely for you. Each week I post a “Marketing in Two Minutes Or Less” video with a helpful marketing tip small business owners can take and implement right away. The posting of that content helps build my SEO to get me found online, but it also helps position me as an expert and helpful resource to my “who” (see #1). You can post your content on your website/blog and/or on social media. You can also reach out to local newspapers, magazines and websites in your area and/or niche – many accept submissions from guest posts. Be sure your name, business name, phone number, and a reference to your product or service is included at the end of the article.

5. Network with others. Get out of your business and go talk face-to-face with others. There are many opportunities to do this such as your Chamber of Commerce, BNI and/or MeetUp Groups. I highly recommend getting involved with Alignable, a free online social network where small business owners meet, increase word of mouth marketing, and generate referrals. You can post your own promotions, share other’s promotions, ask questions, and get connected with the “right people”, not just “more people”. Connect with me once you’ve got your profile setup.

6. Sample, sample sample. Get people to sample your product or service. It breaks down the barrier of “no”. In my coffee and smoothie business, we ALWAYS had someone sampling. Someone who had never tasted our products is probably hesitant to just come in and buy a $5 smoothie. They’re thinking “What if I don’t like it? I’ll just go to the place I always do . . . ” When we gave them a taste of it they LOVED IT and would buy it. Everyone loves to get something for free and a sample is free. One pitcher of smoothie mix cost me about $5, from which we could serve about 100 samples, and of that about 60 would immediately buy, plus many would come back later saying “I tasted your sample and just had to come back and get one”. That meant for a $5 pitcher of smoothie mix I got $300 in sales. Do you think I kept replicating that? Spend $5 to make $300 each time? Heck yeh! Do the same in your business.

7. Give a demonstration. Similar to sampling, if your product or service is appropriate, give a demonstration. See how this steam iron kiosk uses the power of demonstration to get more business. Show, or teach others how to use your products or services. If you’re a carpet cleaner, demonstrate how your services get the carpets so much more cleaner than someone trying to do it themselves. If you sell a teeth whitening solution, show the before and after. Whatever it is you do, demonstrate how it solves a problem.

8. Ask for referrals. Ask your current customers to leave you reviews and refer others. Make it part of your sales process. In my coffee and smoothie business, when someone books a catering job with us, before we even go out to do the job, we tell them that we want them to be “so happy they could do the hula” and if they are we’ll ask them to give us a review and tell others. This pre-positions it in their minds that 1) we’re going to do a great job because we want a review/referral and 2) once we complete the job they’re not “surprised” or “pressured” to give a review/referral because they knew we were going to ask.

9. Send out email. A regular email newsletter and/or promotional offers to customers and prospects is a great way to keep your business front of mind. Just don’t be too salesy nor send too often. Be sure to ask for permission to send email. How do you get permission? Give something away that people will want to get more information about. It could be a free e-book or a free tip-sheet on how to do something related to your business. For example a health coach could offer a free tip sheet with “10 Easy Ways To Lose Weight Without Going On A Diet.” An accountant could offer an ebook on “Tax Saving Strategies the IRS Doesn’t Want You To Know About”. Set up autoresponders once someone has joined your list so there’s a process in place to stay in touch, educate them, and move them further into your sales funnel.

10. Get on the telephone and talk to people. “You mean I have to talk to people, Stacey?” YES! Pick up the dang phone and talk to your prospects and your customers. It’s one of the most powerful ways your small business can compete and stand out against the big boys. It’s disturbing how many businesses you call and either get an automated answering service, where you get lost in all of the options and/or end up in voicemail because no one picks up the phone. I have an online store that sells authentic Hawaiian clothing and gift items. So many people will tell us “I can’t believe I’m talking to a real person.” These people become our ambassadors, buying again, leaving rave reviews and telling others. I have small business owners who reach out to me everyday because they’re struggling with marketing. I don’t send an email of “here’s how I can help….” I get on the phone and have a CONVERSATION with them. I listen, ask questions, and offer solutions – whether it’s something they can do themselves, resources of others who can help and/or a solution I can provide. Bottom line? People like to do business with people. Read that again! It may be the biggest game-changer for you out of all of these tips.

These are top 10 no – or low-cost ways you can promote your business. Many you can put into action right away. Which one(s) resonated with you most? Share in the comments below.

About Stacey Riska

Stacey Riska, aka “Small Business Stacey” is a serial entrepreneur who is passionate about saving small business and rebuilding Main Street. She helps small and local business owners become a #SmallBizMarketingWiz by teaching them marketing strategies that get MORE: MORE leads, MORE customers/clients, MORE sales, and MORE money. Stacey is the founder of Small Biz Marketing Specialist, THE go-to place for marketing tips, techniques and strategies that get results. Stacey is also the creator of the Daily Deals for Massive Profits Training Program, an online video training program that teaches small and local business owners how to use daily deal sites like Groupon to skyrocket their business growth and get massive profits. In this program she teaches from experience, as it was the key strategy that transformed her coffee and smoothie business from being $500K in debt to a 7-figure profitable business. When not saving the small business world, she enjoys sipping red wine, eating chocolate (who doesn’t!) and spending time with her amazing husband.