10 WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS ON A LIMITED BUDGET

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Major League Marketing on a Minor League Budget

The Big Budget Question?

Studies indicate that the average entrepreneur invest $70k into their companies in order to get off the ground. For many small business owners investing that amount of money into their company upfront simply isn’t possible.

Realistically, what could a business do if it had a limited income to spend on marketing?

Step 1a: Pick your target

Focus on a Niche AudienceYour products/services might appeal to a large group of people, but that presents a problem when it comes to trying to market your business. The more potential customers you want to reach, the more time and/or money it’s going to cost to do so.

Step 1b: Pick a Segment

Who’s Your Best Client?Not only will picking a segment of your core audience lower your marketing costs, it also makes sense in terms of messaging, promotion and sales.

Step 2: Pick Your Outlet(s)

The most important part about choosing where to market your business is to go where your customers are.

If you’re a fashion startup focused on connecting with 20-something women, Pinterest is probably a great way to reach that audience.

However, if you’re trying to reach teenage male gamers, spending time on Pinterest probably won’t be the best way to reach that demographic.The example above illustrates how fans of the

movie Scarface can be marketing to in various mediums and forms of media.

Step 3: Focus on Engagement

You might not have a lot to offer in terms of giveaways or discounts to lure in new customers, but one thing you can offer is good content that’s relevant to your audience.

Step 4: Build a Website

A good website will reward your business. A bad site will bury your business. Like many things in life, in the world of websites, you ultimately get out what you put into it. Spending time creating excellent content is a inexpensive way to attract customers to your website (SEO, Search, Keywords).

A starter website is can be set up for next to nothing.

Step 5: Launch Inbound Marketing

Attract Leads to your Website with Compelling Content…

Inbound Marketing is defined as a marketing strategy where businesses implement tactics to “get found” online. Instead of disrupting your audience when their not in the mood, you ensure they find your offer when they’re ready to buy. Net result provides a lower cost per customer acquisition and significantly higher ROI.

Each of these tactics can be facilitated by you!

Step 6: Teach a Lesson

A lot of people hate public speaking. However, there are many organizations looking for qualified, subject-matter experts who can present to their groups.

You don’t have to be a pro to make a big impact at an event, as long as the information you share is helpful to the audience. And the upside — the more you do it the easier it gets. Plus, it positions you as a credible authority in your field.

Step 7: Become a Guest Author

And the one thing all of these blogs want is more content.• If you write guest blog posts on

other blogs not only will you get traffic and more branding, but you’ll also get links which will help your SEO efforts.

• If you are looking to find places to guest blog you can check out My Blog Guest or you can manually hit up popular blogs in your field.

An easy way to get your company out there is to write guest blog posts on other blogs. From TechCrunch to Huffington Post, there are thousands of popular blogs on the Internet.

Step 8: Promote Case Studies

Get them to talk about your product or service, how they used it, and the results they got.

• Case studies can help build credibility for your company, and get you new customers.

• One company that is notoriously known for creating case studies is Conversion Rate Experts, and through them they have been able to lock in a handful of customers.

If you already have happy customers, why not get a case study from them?

Step 9: Leverage YouTube

 Blendtec has done this for years and it’s been effective. They don’t just claim that their blenders are powerful, but they also show you

by blending things like bricks, iPhone, and other cool devices.

Not only do videos now appear in search results, but you also can use them to show how good your products actually are.

Brands that use YouTube for Marketing

Step 10: Give it Away

Don’t be afraid to give someone a free trial or a sample. In today’s economy, people are more comfortable purchasing something they have been able to experience first.

If someone has the opportunity to experience your product or service, chances are they will want to purchase more.

Graph above illustrates how Freemium works. In this model users are given access to a basic account for free which will help them test the waters. Once their hooked, they have the ability to go Pro with a paid subscription.

The Big Picture

It does not matter how great a business is, if nobody knows it exists. Marketing doesn’t have to cost a ton of money… it just requires creativity.

Try all or several of these tips for your business and measure your progress along the way.

The graph above illustrates how prospects flow through your marketing pipeline.

Need Help?

If you need a hand implementing any of these 10 tips into your marketing mix, we can help you build your brand.

Visit us at TheAspireCompany.com