Working out the best way to promote your small business on a limited budget can be overwhelming, but promoting your business is essential if you want to get to the good stuff; delivering a product or service that changes lives and gives you financial freedom.
The more people use your services the easier it will be to promote, as you will have word of mouth, a glowing reputation, confidence, a stronger product through refining what works, better customer knowledge and testimonials. Plus, you will be able to help more people!
Global markets, social media, and free online platforms mean you can find ways to promote small business for little to no cost at all. The key is finding what works. With so many choices out there, what are the best ways to advertise your business?
Here we reveal five powerful small business marketing techniques that will get you attracting clients with little or no money down.
1. Build A Good Online Presence
A lot of people avoid the step of creating a proper online presence, they might feel it’s too much work, they don’t have the skills, or word of mouth is enough.
If you are serious about making your small business successful you are going to need a website and have it properly connected to professional social media business pages and profiles. The website should act as the hub for all of the content you share across your social media – everything apart from curated third party content.
You need to prove you’re committed and get a website and good social media presence built. It’s a great learning curve and something you can hold yourself accountable to.
Your website will also be a point of contact, a platform to explain your packages or products, as well as a place to load testimonials, photographs and videos. It will lay your service out neatly, and it looks great too as part of your email signature and profile pages.
It’s also a place to offer free information. Creating a link to an E-book, tips sheet, effective steps or digital product builds you a warm database of names and email addresses you can send product information, newsletters and share material that will be of interest to them.
Testimonials are so important so be sure to ask for them. You’ll need their permission to provide their full name and photo or, if possible, a video you can post of their glowing review.
Your website is able to cater to a number of different senses so be sure to have it set up to be visually appealing, create a sense or feeling appropriate to your theme and not be distracting with noise or clutter. Having high-quality sound if you run videos is essential.
Lastly, your website is a great way to measure your success. You can get feedback on number of users, where they are coming from, and how long they stay on your site.
In addition to your website you should make sure you are hanging out on the social media platforms your target customers are hanging out in.
Just like real-life interactions, make sure you stay connected with your followers on social media. This means taking the time to plan out how often you will share valuable information, and what type of information you want to share.
At a minimum, when starting out you want to post to your platforms at least once per day. Give, give, then give some more valuable information, then ask for the sale by talking about the service you offer.
2. Blog
Your blog will be the foundation of your small business marketing work. A bit like the hook at the end of a line, leading to your boat. Let’s say the website is your boat and the blog is the hook. You can’t just expect fish to leap into your boat, they need to be interested, and hungry, so put your offer out in their territory. 
If you don’t feel confident getting your thoughts down in words, don’t force it, instead, video yourself. Use that charisma and personality to get your message across. You will find it just as effective, if not more. Get creative and find a hook that works for you and your desired customer. If you like variety, do both and mix and match. You will find that the way you like to share your information will also be the way your customer most enjoys receiving it.
Not only will your blogs or vlogs be good at attracting leads and building a network, they also continue to nurture your database as it grows, feeding your potential customers with free information and entertainment. This also helps them get to know you and trust who you are, as well as what you deliver. The more hours they spend getting to know you, the more likely they will be to buy your product or service.
Be sure to regularly post content that is relevant to your business or that will connect with your desired audience. It’s free advertising, builds positive word of mouth referrals, and is easy for people to share.
Once you get confident in your content delivery you can also guest blog on other sites, you’ll be doing them a favour, they are constantly looking for content. It’s great for you too, you’ll be exposed to a new ocean of fish. Just be sure to pick the sites that you like and feel are high quality, getting your message out there won’t help if it’s not your target market.
For guest blogs you can include a short note about who you are and what your business is to give yourself even more credit and authority.
3. Network
You might have heard me say this a few times, it’s still true. Your network is your net worth, so build this!
Local business events are everywhere, some of them carry a niche, such as Business In Heels, which is designed for females. You can also become a member of a business association or check out meetup.com.au for what’s on in your area.
If you feel uncomfortable networking that’s a sure sign you need to do it more. Step put of your comfort zone! Maybe the starting point for you is just to get comfortable talking to people and building rapport.
Be sure to have a desired outcome before you arrive. If things aren’t going perfectly, study others who are doing well and use their example to improve. Remember, it’s all learning.
Follow up any new connections immediately after with an appropriate social media message or email. Take action!
4. Speak Out!
Offering a free class is a great way to show you’re an authority in your field, offer people fantastic bonus information, create trust and connection– you are a real person! If you don’t have a free venue you can use and are strongly against paying for a venue then you can run a webinar, but your networking chances greatly improve at a live event.
If you are worried about costs, get together with a few other business owners and do a collaborative information day. Just note you might want to reduce these session times to 40 – 45 mins each.
This is like delivering a blog in person. It’s also a great way to test your weak points and know where you need to do some work, it might be product knowledge, communication, technology, time management. Your rough points will show up and that’s okay because you are new at this and still learning. This is the fastest way to break through to a better, stronger, more flexible business model.
You are best to look at 1.5- 2 hours with 10-20 minutes devoted to the end for sales, another 10 minutes for questions, and 5-10 minutes to complete a feedback form. The feedback form can also be used to gather information for those who would like to hear more information about your product or service.
Expect that some people will want to hang around afterwards for a chat or ask questions one on one. So be sure you have ample time for this. If the venue is unavailable after your timeslot, have a spot picked to go for drinks or even a meal close by.
When you get confident on your delivery, offer to speak at events. They might be for volunteer organisations, libraries, conferences relevant to your industry, or local business groups. Just as with guest blogging, they will be grateful to have you there to boost their content, give some variety and attract visitors, while you get the benefit of having a venue, contacts, and publicity. It also looks great of your business profile.
5. Sponsor A Contest Or Event
If you really want to make your mark, you can do this on your own, but if you are looking for a budget option it’s worthwhile getting together with some businesses in your niche market to create a contest where your own products are prizes.
The added bonus of cooperative collaboration is that the database you gather will go to all members, it’s one of the few times the spoils don’t have to be split. Your customers will also get more information about businesses they are interested in and the prize pool grows by having multiple contributors.
The contest would then be marketed by all parties, giving a wider scope and more potential entries.
If it’s suitable to your niche you might like to sponsor an event that is already in action. Look to your schools, lions club, amateur sporting facilities, theatre clubs, and community services for an event that fits your business.
If your contest is a physical one with a venue, like a running race, you also increase your networking potential and score some great ‘official’ photos for website and social media posting as well as content for blogs or interviews.
These five ways to promote small business all require you to be present, and taking action! So set a goal, make a plan, then get out there and be troublesome!
Kindest regards,
Matt Catling
