If you have been visiting this blog for any length of time the majority of content revolves around small business. Like any business, if you want to survive you need to be doing some marketing whether you like it or not. This is where inexpensive marketing ideas come into play because one of the biggest expenses facing any business is advertising. In a majority of cases, the small business owner doesn’t have the resources or the budget to run extensive paid ad campaigns. While it is easy to place advertisements, if they don’t pay for themselves, you can quickly find yourself in financial trouble.

If you still want to continue with paid advertising, my advice would be to start small. Find out what works and then scale things up from there.

If you don’t go the paid route. The only other alternative is to focus on organic strategies. So it’s time to start thinking a little outside the box.

Hopefully, this post can give you some ideas for marketing your business. And the good news is that you don’t have to look too far when it comes to finding methods of advertising for your business.

Conventional Methods

The conventional process is to write some good flyers and distribute them around town. Or write up a press release and publish it, then let your local newspaper know about it.

This concept isn’t as mainstream but is a great place to start. And this is connecting with related businesses. Don’t think of another business as your competition, think about how you can help each other. You may have related products that complement each other. Partner up. Another idea is to offer to promote their products or offer discounts to their customers if they hand out your business cards or flyers.

Sponsorships

One good way to get more exposure for your small business is to sponsor local events. This can be as simple as donating some money to a local cause or providing shirts for one of the local kids’ sports teams.

Suppose sponsoring is not in your budget. Raising donations or funds for a local cause or project is a great way to get positive exposure for your local business.

Is there a local charity that is always in need of funds or supplies?

Or a local event looking for help advertising?

For those of you who live in a town that welcomes a lot of out-of-town visitors during the summer. Look for ways that not only promote your business but can help these visitors out. As an example, you could create a local map that shows places to visit, local restaurants, taxi services, and other helpful resources. Then at the bottom of this map or flyer, include your address, phone number, website, and any other pertinent information.

Events

Tradeshows and local fairs are a great way for a small business to connect with the local community. This is what we did, at Afex Marketing, to get DERMGLOVE from an idea to 60K/mo in gross revenue. So, rent a table or booth, and promote your products or services.

Even if you live in a small town chances are you have a County Fair at least once a year. Make a point of participating in the next one. Look at it as a way of allowing people to get to know you and your business. Don’t worry if you don’t come away making lots of money. The meet and greet aspect is so important for the long haul and shouldn’t be overlooked.

If your town doesn’t have any community events, start your own. Reach out to other local business owners and suggest starting one. They may be in a similar situation. Your backyard or neighborhood can be a treasure chest, you just need to know where to look.

Get into the habit of using your local community to assist you with advertising as much as possible. Just remember that this is a two-way street. If another business helps promote you then you should return the favour.

Most towns have Parades to celebrate holidays or local events. However, you may not want to go to the expense of having a float. There are other ways to participate. For example, have your business listed as a sponsor of the event or the actual float.

So, start now by searching out one local event and volunteering your time if you have to. The rewards you may reap could go far beyond just financial ones.

Business conferences

If you run a small business one way to get more exposure is by taking part in business-related activities in your area. You may be trading your time for dollars but you are given the chance to promote your business to a much wider audience. So, when you start looking for local business events you may be surprised to see just how many events are taking place. Of course, you don’t have to be active in all of them. Just select one or two.

A great place to start is by offering to speak at conferences or giving interviews. As an example, if you are a vet or dentist you could offer to talk about what you do and give out free advice to attendees. If you are an accountant you could give out some free tax advice. Or if you live in an area that has a college or university offer to give a free class or workshop about your business and how it can help those in your community. At the high school level ask to participate in a career day or donate some of the products you sell to a class in need.

Auctions and fundraisers

Many schools, nursing, and retirement homes often hold silent auctions or fundraisers. Give a prize away. Alongside this prize, I would be sure to attach a business card or some form of discount towards your products or services.

Trade Groups

One of the best places to start is by joining a local business group. Joining a group like this immediately puts you in contact with like-minded business owners such as yourself. The obvious choices are to attend a Chamber of Commerce meeting, a Better Business Bureau(BBB) meeting, or an equivalent. Each locale is different but you should get the point I’m making. But either way, you can learn from each other’s experiences. So, go out attend the meetings, and look for an opportunity to introduce your business to the other members.

As a last resort, if nothing is working, create a Meet Up group in your area. This is another way for small business owners to meet consistently and help each other get more exposure in your community. If your area doesn’t have any business groups, see if there is enough interest and form a brand new one. This will help get you into the spotlight in your community.

Signs and logos

Other ideas for marketing your small business include using signs and logos on your vehicle. This can help draw attention to your business and get more visitors to your store.

Earlier I mentioned flyers. They still work. If they didn’t, you wouldn’t see your mailbox being filled up with them each week. As with anything these days, you need to be creative. Nothing over the top, but come up with concepts that will make your flyer stand out from the masses.

Don’t forget to be your own walking billboard. You know your business the best, you know what you sell and how your products work. You are your own best advertising. When you are out and about town remember to smile and talk to people. When you are waiting in line at the coffee shop, grocery store, or bank start chatting to other customers. There is no need to be pushy just make yourself approachable. This can lead to people asking about your business.

Using the internet to grow your business

A lot of information that you come across online really focuses on how to grow and market your business using the internet. What is not covered is how to use the internet and its other resources.

Using the internet to promote your business may require a small shift in your mindset. Instead of thinking that the internet has a worldwide reach, which it does. You want to think of it as a way to get your products or services in front of your local community. Can you imagine what it would be like to have your messages directed at your local area? Think of the potential new business this could bring you.

Mailing List

This is something you should be doing anyway because of the leverage it brings. If you haven’t done so start suggesting to your customers that they sign up for your mailing list. This way when you have any special offers or events in the area you can send out your flyer or newsletter and have it either delivered by mail or electronically. This type of marketing is great because it’s free if you go the email route. Additionally, this type of brand marketing builds the know, like, and trust factors. This way when you come out with new products, run a special offer, or have something new to share you aren’t starting at ground zero with your customers. Is email marketing still an effective strategy?

Your offline, online newsletter

Have you thought about using the concept of an online newsletter to help promote your small business? If not, this is an idea that you want to take a closer look at.

A newsletter is a short magazine that provides your customers with helpful information. Of course, you want to promote your products within this newsletter, but it is more of a soft sell.

You want to provide your newsletter free of charge and have customers sign up to receive it. This can be done directly at the checkout counter. So, as they pay for their product you can suggest that they sign up for your Newsletter. If they do, simply add their name and email address to your database.

Let’s look at an example. Say you are a local vet, you can provide a monthly or bi-monthly newsletter that provides tips on pet care. These tips can be related to seasonal care information. Then at the end of the newsletter, you could suggest a product that would help with this. Or you may just want to add a reminder about the importance of using heartworm medications for your dog.

Other ideas for content for your newsletter include promoting local events and sharing customer’s birthdays or anniversaries. Again, with the vet example, you could get customers to send in their pet photos and you highlight one or two pets each month in your newsletter.

Include a calendar of local events, provide a list of places to see, and other related local information. It also never hurts to help promote or suggest other small businesses in your area. Or you might want to include a short review on a local restaurant you visited or where you got your haircut. Always be looking to cross-promote.

Promoting your newsletter and mailing list

The best way to deliver your newsletter or mailing list is by using a company that specializes in this. This method of marketing is often referred to as email marketing. In a majority of cases using an autoresponder is required. Not necessary, but it will eliminate a lot of stress and worry. All you need to do is sign up with the service of your choice and create a list of customers or subscribers for your newsletter. The beauty part of the autoresponder is that all the emails are prepopulated. You create the email once and when you are ready to send it to your client base, the autoresponder sends it out on a set schedule. Once all of this is set up, you just sit back and let the autoresponder do the work. Here are a few of the top service providers, Aweber, GetResponse, and Mailchimp.

Running a newsletter is a great way to stay connected to your customers. You can provide them with additional information, let them know about new specials or new products, and more. This
mailing list can easily become a good source of income if you manage it correctly.

The Power of Social Media

One thing that all small business owners should have is a social media account. You may want to have a Facebook page for your business, a Google+ page, a Twitter account, and possibly a LinkedIn account. You should base this on your target audience and what you can manage. Check out 4 tips for testing and measuring your social media content.

If you are not sure which one would be appropriate take a look at some similar businesses inside your niche and follow suit. A Facebook profile is a great place to start because once this is set up you can create a business page. There are a lot of advantages to doing this and once created you can highlight various aspects of your business. Check out, Ways you can strengthen your online presence.

local directories

Another way to use the internet to help you get more exposure for your business is to create a Google My Business (GMB) profile. You should view this profile as your new website. The first thing anyone does to find information is to type your name or your business into Google search.

What the directories do is they act the same way the traditional Yellow Pages did in the past. So, when people are out searching for local goods and services. You want your name, at least inside the top 10, if you want to benefit from local search. This is why it’s important to have your company listed.

Google Places is another way to get exposure for your business. You can set this up along with your Google+ account. There are certain guidelines you must follow to set up your Google Places listing. Check out the following link for more details.

https://support.google.com/business/?hl=en&rd=1#topic=4539639

Once you are set up online you can then create flyers or new business cards that link to your social media sites. This way your customers can connect with you at any time of the day and night.

After setting up your profiles it is important to start using them regularly. You can post about new products or special offers. But you should also try and get your customers to leave comments and reviews about your business. Check out How to get more reviews.

Using the power of social media can help you create a solid online profile that will serve your local business extremely well.

There you have it. You now have several ideas or additional ways to market your small business.