So you've started a new business and you want to tell the world how great your product/service/program is. But where do you begin? Chances are that if you have a start up, you probably don't have tons of extra money lying around to market what you are offering. So are there ways to market that don't cost a fortune? Actually there are.
The Internet provides you several avenues to promote your business that are low cost or totally free. I work with others who are just starting their businesses and advise them how to draw their niche market to their web sites or bricks-and-mortar enterprises. I generally teach them these free methods first because they not only have an immediate impact, but have a residual effect as well. So how do I market a start up business? Here are the top five free (or nearly free) marketing methods (in no particular order) that my clients employ.
The Top 5 Marketing Methods
1. Email marketing - Every business needs a list. You need a list of customers, potential customers, or supporters so that you can share information about your business. This is absolutely critical with an Internet-based business, but also important for an offline company. The goal of an email campaign is to drive awareness, increase loyalty, strengthen your brand, and offer value to those that are interested in you and your product.
You can do this for free to send newsletters, coupons, and company information or (with the help of a very low-cost auto-responder) you can automate, track, and test your email campaigns. Auto-responders are an extremely effective tool in reaching your customers and driving potential niche traffic to wherever you desire.
2. Article marketing - You might not think of yourself as a writer or want to spend time posting articles to online directories, but this free method is surprisingly one of the most valuable traffic-generating activities that you can employ. Articles written with keyword-dense copy can rank you on the first page of Google organically (meaning free) while your competitors are paying big bucks for the same placement.
If you have a business that you are passionate about, then writing How To or informational articles about your market niche should come naturally with a little practice. If considering this makes you break out in a cold sweat thinking of High School English, then you could always outsource these to others at a very small cost.
3. Video marketing - Everything positive mentioned about article marketing (see #2) can be repeated for video marketing, except that video ranks even higher organically in the search engines than written copy. And if you don't want to appear on camera you can do plenty of video styles with only pictures and voice-overs. It's way easier than it sounds; and also totally free to make (with a cheap camera and the software that comes on your PC or Mac) and easy to submit to multiple directories.
4. Social Media - This is becoming one of the top methods to drive loyalty, awareness, and provide value to your customers or potential customers. Facebook allows you to create a page that people can become a "fan" of, and Twitter allows those interested to "follow" you and your company; and these are only two of the dozens of popular web sites available to you. Don't underestimate the power of these free social media sites. Nothing drives interest and passion like word-of-mouth, and this is where today's social community resides.
5. Blogs - This is another under-utilized method that is free, easy, and very effective for adding value and driving brand awareness within your niche. Your blog can be nothing more than your day-to-day thoughts about the business, your customer, and the market in general. Blogs are a great way for your niche to interact with you as well by posting comments and leaving questions.
The great thing about these techniques is that they all work together in a synergistic manner to accomplish your goals. You can cross-promote your blog or your new article on your Facebook page; or send out a link to your new video that provides important information to your target market in your newsletter. The possibilities are endless. And all of these methods will grow your start up business from humble beginnings to where you want to be.
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