In our last blog, we took a look at a SmallFuel.com article by Mason Hipp outlining a list of advertising ideas for small business owners. In it, he explains that you don’t have to spend a big budget to get results. Instead, putting your efforts towards targeting members of your community personally will do the trick. There, of course, a number of ways to do that.
Write an article for a newspaper or magazine. Taking out an ad in a newspaper is generally very costly. But if you are able to write an article that is relevant to your industry and submit it for publication, you will end up getting yourself more space in a newspaper than your ad would have given you.
MeloTel President, John Meloche found this to be the case this past holiday season when he had his online shopping article printed in The National Post. (Perhaps we’ve already mentioned that a time or two.) Of course, reminds Hipp, it’s important that your article is of value to your customers, and not just a simple advertisement.
Host a networking event at your business. Last blog, we mentioned that it pays dividends to attend community events. But why not throw one yourself? As Hipp writes, “Hosting an event is a quick way to introduce your company to 50 or more people without paying a dime.” So why not get started on those invitations today?
Start a blog and use the power of social media. Now where have we heard this piece of advice before? In fact, it seems nearly impossible to look up any list of advertising advice and not read that business owners should write blogs and post regularly on social networking websites.
If you haven’t set up a Facebook and Twitter account yet, you are quite simply not up with the times. But don’t take our word for it. Just ask the millions and millions of users of these sites who visit them each and every day. Each site profile is free to set up and easy to manage. And, of course, they are great ways of making new connections quickly.
Partner with another business. Why not combine your resources with like-minded individuals? And although Hipp recommends that you partner up with those who share your same target market, they don’t necessarily have to even be part of your industry.
The “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” mentality also costs you nothing, and is bound to send more customers your way. As Hipp points out, this strategy allows you to “split marketing costs, and give referrals back and forth.” You see? You don’t have to spend Super Bowl-sized bucks to boost your business!