The goal for the month is to find as many new customers as possible with $50 or less. This is actually a pretty good goal, because it’s much better to spread your advertising budget over the year in small ways than to spend it all at once in some massive advertising campaign. Smaller, more frequent advertising is actually more effective. Many people need to see your advertising over and over again before they buy from you. There are lots of reasons for this:
- They were going to call you when they saw your first ad but lost track of your contact information.
- They get more comfortable that you’re part of the community if they’ve seen your advertising around for awhile (especially if they see your advertising in different places.)
- They may not have an immediate need for your product or service, but may remember you later when they see a second or third ad.
Here are some things you can do with that tiny budget that can have a huge impact:
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- Put a big bowl out on your counter next to your register (or on your table at a trade show or fair) and offer a drawing for a free gift. Keep these contacts in a database and send them a thank you card for entering the drawing even if they don’t win. (More about this later)
- Join local associations and other groups. Go to their functions; take lots of business cards, and network. (See diagram)
- Participate in forums, chat rooms, blogs and web sites about your topic of expertise. Help others with your knowledge of your topic, and include a link back to your web site in your signature line. Also, set up your email program to automatically include a link to your website in your email signature.
- Ask for referrals – have an incentive program for your current customers to refer their friends. Make sure you thank them personally and give them some gift or premium for referring a friend.
- Place a flyer in the Pony Express Flyer service for one week. (About $50.) Or split the cost of a flyer with another business.
- Place a small ad - a business-card or classified ad in the Tooele Transcript Bulletin. Classified ads can run for as little as $7 per insertion, small business card sized ads as little as $14 per insertion.
- Speak to school and community groups about your topic. Volunteer with school, 4H, scouts and other organizations as a guest speaker. Make sure your discussion is non-commercial, (it’s in very poor taste to do any direct selling!) but people who participate in your discussion will come find you later if they’re interested in your topic.
- Try selling on eBay, Etsy Shop, or other online stores and auction sites. These might bring your extra sales and might also drive more traffic to your own web site. You’ll find customers that otherwise might not have ever found you. Be sure to keep emails addresses of people you sell to online (ask for their permission to send them emails about specials and future promotions.)
- Link everything together. Put your web address and email on your business cards, link your website to other related links, ask other associated companies to link to you. The more “linked” your website is, the more traffic you get and the better ranking you get on search engines.
- Check your listings on www.bigbook.com; www.local.yahoo.com; www.dexonline.com; and other websites. Review your listings, make sure they’re correct. See if anyone has reviewed your business! If you have a listing in the phone book, you’re probably listed. If you’re not there, list your business using their free or low cost options.
Pick any three of the above ten (or do all ten!) and you can stay within your $50 budget. Cut out this article, pin it to your wall, and do a different three next month. Check the results – keep doing what works well, quit doing what doesn’t work, and share your ideas with the rest of us! We’d love to hear from you.
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