You do not need to spend so much promoting your business. There are different creative and fun ways to advertise your business for less and these are believed to be effective.
Instructions
1. Of course, word-of-mouth is the best way to promote your business. Friends and past customers recommend your business to their family, friends and colleagues. Word-of-mouth works because the information is based on previous positive experiences. Make sure to deliver excellent service to your clients at all times.
Online, Yelp and Yahoo! Local help in promoting your business as well. Users check out customers' reviews about businesses and services before buying a product or using the service a business is offering.
2. Join social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. If you are trying to promote goods, you can take photos of your products and post it on Radar.net and Flickr. Participate in forums so you can introduce and promote your business. Start building your network on these sites.
Twitter and Radar.net are both real time social networking. It's a fun way to let people know what you are offering at this very minute. If you have a cupcake store, you can Tweet what flavor/s you have today. If your popular flavor is not available today, you can Tweet that too so you would not waste your customers' time and gas. You can also Tweet an alternative flavor. On Radar.net, you can take photos of cupcakes that are available today and send it to Radar from your mobile or computer. Let people know what you are offering right now.
Another way to promote your business is to blog about your product/s or services. You can sign up with one of the free blog sites out there. Examples are Blogger.com and Wordpress.com. Both offer free platform, domain name and hosting. There are 2 sites that offer free platform but you pay for your own domain name and hosting. These are Wordpress.org and MovableType.com. Once you have your own blog site, start blogging about your business and link your site to other websites that are related to the type of business you are in. Actively participate in forums or respond to comments that people leave on your site. You can at the same time earn money on the side while you blog about your business by placing Google ads. Sign up with Google AdSense if you want to try. You can also check out Chitika and Bidvertizer. You may also earn money while blogging your business through affiliate marketing. With affiliate marketing, you earn commission by linking to products or services that are related to your business. For example, if you have a
cupcake shop, you might want to link to baking ingredients and tools websites or even wedding, birthday, or parties and other events websites. Linkshare.com and cj.com are a few examples of Affiliate Marketing sites.
3. Have a website for your business. This is another great way to promote your business. Is it not when you hear about a new product, you always ask "What's their website?". This is because people want to see photos of the product/s and read more information about the business as well as find out their price information. Same with having your own blog site, you can link to other sites that are related to your business.
If you do not know anything about building a website or do not have the money to pay someone to build a site for you, godaddy.com or typepad.com are 2 examples of websites where you can easily build your own website by using their templates.
You can also add a Yelp badge to your website after signing up for a Business Owner account with Yelp. Check out step #1 again to find out how Yelp can help you advertise your business.
4. Use your car to promote your business. Place stickers and magnets showing your business' name, phone number or website to promote your business. Ask your family and friends to help you by placing stickers or magnets on their vehicles especially those who drive daily on busy highways.
You see this marketing strategy a lot on busy streets and highways.
5. Giving out flyers and coupons is another inexpensive and effective way to promote your business. Distribute flyers like leaving flyers on the door if you have a cleaning service. Place flyers on cars' windshield if you are a mechanic and you offer to fix any type of car problem. To encourage potential customers to try out your service or product, you can offer discounts on their first visit.
You can also hand out coupons to promote your business. For example, you have a coffee shop, and your next door neighbor is a salon or a dental clinic where clients usually wait, you can ask the owner if you can leave coupons for their customers who are waiting. The receptionist can then hand it out to their customers who are in the waiting area.
If you have a website, don't forget to put your website address on the flyers.
6. Go to Trade Fairs and Social Events to promote your business. You can get your own booth at Trade Fairs and show off your product/s. Make sure you have your business cards with you and a guest book where they can write their information. You can also place a bowl on a table where people can drop their business cards. You can offer prizes to encourage people to leave their business card. You might wonder why you need their business cards. This is a good way to follow up with them and ask them if they are interested. It is also a good way to track how many people visited your booth, what type of customers are interested in your product/s or service/s.
Usually, renting a booth costs a lot. If the price of the booth rental is not within your budget, you might want to look for someone you can share a booth with, depending on the size of the booth and how much space you need.
Participate in Social Events. This is a fun way to promote your business, meet potential customers and business owners, and learn more
about the type of business you are in. Again, don't forget to take your business cards with you.
7. Get featured on newspaper or magazine articles. Contact a writer and ask if your product/s or service/s can be featured in one of his/her articles. One example is a group I featured in one of my articles. This group was trying to promote their song and video just in time for the Manny Pacquiao fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. They received a call from HBO the day after the article was published. Media exposure works great! Check out the article in the Resources section found at the bottom of this article.
You may also call or visit radio stations and ask them if they could mention your business. For example, if you own a doughnut shop, provide them with free doughnuts and coffee. In return they will thank you and mention your business on air for the delicious doughnuts. If you know the station will be airing off site, ask them if you can provide free doughnuts and coffee. This way, you get more exposure.
