Herman School of Business
If It Is Not Free It Is Not For Me...
This needs to be your new marketing mantra for awhile. Spending marketing money today is like pouring gas on your money and lighting it on fire. You can’t spend money on marketing yourself out of trouble when there are no customers coming from any marketing.
How then, do you still advertise your business?
There are many ways to market yourself, and your business, and even your customers without spending a dime. Let’s start with just you as the owner. Write a short story about how or why you started your enterprise, what it has meant to you and how it has shaped your life. Then put in the story how you have changed your personal habits to keep your dream alive. The media is looking for personal stories today of how owners are coping with the economy. Get out there now with your story and the publicity is free.
You can gain attention by doing something very much out of the ordinary and pre-announce it to the media. I once owned a gas station and announced that for two hours I was going to sell gas for less than one dollar, something that hadn’t happened in years. I calculated the time it took to pump a tank of gas by the number of pumps we had and knew at most I would lose three hundred dollars on my gas costs. There were two TV stations there and several radio stations conducting interviews at my location. It made the newspaper as well. Now, while this was not entirely free it was actually profitable because we hooked several oil changes on “special” from those in line.
Why not find your most loyal customer, or you most famous customer, or your oldest customer and alert the media to how they are sticking with you because they love you, or that a certain set of customers refuses to let the economy keep them away…and sneak in the story what you are doing to reward that single customer or that group of customers so the media angle focuses on them…but your business gets recognized.
The Internet…what a treasure of opportunity exists on the Internet. Far more than I can speak to intelligently, but as a writer I sent information to 300 Bloggers and was featured on many sites after that because Bloggers need subject matter every day. Now, as a Speaker I sit nightly and send free emails to meeting planners who are coming to our local convention center in the next three years with events. I posted my Demo DVD on YouTube for all to see…for free.
The best way to market is to make your product or service too valuable to pass up. While I may be worth five thousand dollars per speech, I have dropped my price at times to five hundred dollars simply to stay busy or to get exposure before a certain group or organization. I don’t lose money…I just don’t make as much.
- Posted: 22 January 2009
- Comments: 1
- Category: Running a business
Depending on your industry, Craigslist can also be an invaluable tool. The company I work for began advertising our products (construction equipment rental/sales) about 6 months ago and started getting leads immediately. You can post loads of text and 4 pictures in a free Ad that stays for 45 days. Craigslist is city specific and many people use that site when they need to buy something.
Written by William Heese on 22 January 2009