Cheap Ways to Advertise Your Business

The secret of running a successful business is promoting it the right way. Whatever you are aiming for; opening a new business; expanding your old one or just attracting more clientele, the trick is to advertise it in the right manner. 

Many people believe that good marketing demands a lot of money, but the actual truth is that it just needs a little money and a lot of creativity. Here we will try and list a couple good ways that you can promote your business and save money in the process!

Internet

The best way to promote just about anything nowadays is through internet. There are many ways to advertise your business this ways. For instance if you don’t have one, it could be handy to make a website. It doesn’t cost much and there is a high chance that you already know somebody who is willing to do it for free. 

Other things, like social media, Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn etc… are just a great way of promoting yourself and what you do. Also, don’t forget about e-mail marketing. It’s flexible and has a high impact. You use it to send newsletter, announce any new products, deals or discounts you’re organizing.

Newspaper and Magazines

Although people tend to think that this is a dying business since the internet was introduced, it’s actually far from the truth. The newspaper industry is still blooming and there are tons of people who get information only from the paper. 

The key is to try and get published somewhere that is connected with your line of business, otherwise you will miss your target audience. Try and contact the Editor of your local paper or send a letter to the Editorial section.

Networking

Probably one of the first things you need to learn when you are starting a business. Perhaps it sound easy and perhaps it doesn’t sound that important, but you would be amazed to learn how much this can affect your work. 

It’s not just about knowing enough people, it’s about getting to know even more people who can benefit you. A good idea is to write down or make a scheme of the people you know and to divide them in categories (friends and family, acquaintances…) The key here is not to take advantage of those people but to make a network of people who will try and help you in your line of work knowing you would return the favor.

Human Resources

This is something to keep in mind. It doesn’t matter how good of a business you are leading, or how good of a promotion you are doing, if you don’t know the proper way to communicate with your customers. 

The goal is to keep the old ones and attract new ones. You need to make them feel special and unique and to try and meet their every need. Have you heard of the expression ‘The customer is always right’? Keep that in mind. It’s not always easy to please everybody, but it’s essential if you want to run a successful business.

Event

A smart thing to do once in a while is to organize some kind of an event. Something like a one week discount or some special sales and similar. It’s good to make some promotion materials or even promotional gifts to treat your customers with care. 

It’s always a good idea to attract them with a concept of free samples or just small tokens of appreciation. Those kinds of things don’t cost much and it makes you seem like you really care for your clientele.

A creative mind, a couple of good ideas, little money and you are good to go. These are all promotional techniques you can use to advertise your business but still maintain at a low cost option. These examples show you that just with a little wit you can accomplish a lot. 

You don’t need big marketing campaigns or billboards; all you need is to be innovative and creative. Also, the key is to be kind, persistent and to never give up. You never know who you will meet on your ladder to success, so it’s better to choose your methods wisely!

6 Cheap and Creative Ways to Effectively Advertise Your Business

In today's digital age, business owners must reconsider their marketing strategies to ensure that they are effectively targeting the best market for their products and services. Technology has created a variety of different ways that businesses can reach out to potential customers, but this variety of different choices can often obscure the choices that will truly yield results and a return on investment. Thus, consider the following inexpensive and innovative ways you can spread the word about your company, all of which you can try without fear of losing a great deal of money.

Blog Online

Establishing an online blog in your line of business is a great way to position yourself as an expert while promoting your company. Add a blog to your website or join Bloggit.com or Blogger.com to start a separate blog. Discuss problems addressed by your goods or services, and readers will remember your company when a need arises. The key with blogging is to not advertise your product. Yes, you can talk a bit about your products, but you usually want to talk about general topics within your industry. By doing this, you will get a greater number of followers, which increases your ranking in search engines and introduces your website to a greater number of people.

Be Interviewed

Offer interviews on relevant subjects to local radios, newspapers, and Internet communications. For example, if you sell gardening tools, offer an interview in February or March about spring planting. Listeners and readers will appreciate the free advice and consider you an expert when they need additional gardening help. If you are unable to find local opportunities for offering interviews, you might want to consider starting up your own podcast or starting a YouTube channel that contains videos that address relevant topics and issues.

Write Articles

Offer op ed pieces to community newspapers or magazines, or submit an article to the trade publication associated with your company's industry. In marketing your knowledge and skills, others will appreciate your expertise and contact you with future business needs, such as a financial adviser for someone who is planning for retirement. Also, consider writing articles for other blogs, since this might give you valuable links back to your website and blog.

Give Donations

When possible, donate equipment, expertise, or services to individuals or programs who can benefit. Contribute to special holiday collections for the needy. Participate in volunteer programs. Sponsor children's educational initiatives. Giving back to the community will not only make you feel good, but it can also help others consider your business in a favorable light.

Demonstrate Skills

If you have a skill that others might value, whether or not it is company-related, share it with the public. Libraries, schools, and certain social service organizations appreciate those who are willing to share their knowledge and experience to help others. For example, if you own a restaurant, you may want to teach a nutrition class or workshop at a high school or college, or perhaps to a group of low-income residents at a housing development. They will recognize you as someone who cares and be likely to do business with you in the future when possible.

Join Organizations

Become a member of the chamber of commerce and other civic groups. Network with members to learn more about their services and how your business might complement their enterprises. Ask them, where should I advertise my business? Networking is often the best way to get new customers and valuable referrals, and it is completely free and relatively easy in most cases.

The above methods can help your business get noticed. Start growing your company innovatively.

5 Things That Are Important For Your Company To Invest In

One of the challenges of running a company is determining where to invest money and resources. It is not always clear that a particular investment will have a worthwhile return. Similarly, some individuals underestimate the value of different parts of a business. Every company should take the time to invest in five specific areas that will contribute to long-term success.

Employees

The employees of company determine the success of the business in a very direct way. It is important to invest in workers before, during and after employment. Talent management means spending the resources to find the right workers. Employees should receive training regularly to keep up with new procedures and systems. Retaining talent also means investing in retirement plans or other incentives.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure refers to the basic systems that a business needs to produce goods or perform services. It is important to invest in infrastructure so that there are no barriers stopping employees from meeting business goals. This might mean maintaining a strong information technology infrastructure or a cloud-based service. It might also mean investing in the aesthetics and comfort of a storefront or larger product inventories.

Internet Marketing and Advertising

The reality is that every modern business needs to invest in Internet marketing and advertising. Services like OrangeSoda provide search engine optimization (SEO) that increases the visibility of a company online. An OrangeSoda Facebook business page creates a branded marketing channel that will attract new customers or create sales leads through social media. Effective Internet market has a high return on investment.

Customer Intelligence

Every successful business invests in some form of customer intelligence. Customer intelligence is the collection and aggregation of different pieces of data about consumers who have interacted with the business. This can be gathered through outbound surveys, online tracking or even direct written feedback. This allows a company to stop working in the dark and to start responding to quantifiable customer needs. This will improve loyalty and satisfaction when implemented correctly.

Expertise

There will always come a time when a business does not have the experience or expertise to continue growing successfully or to handle certain problems. These are situations when it is important to invest in outside expertise from consultants or other experienced professionals. Investing in outside experts will help to guide a business through some of the more difficult periods without making common mistakes.
It is important to measure the results of each investment over a period of months or years. A particular strategy might require adjustment in order to work for a specific company. Alternately, an area that has seen successful returns might benefit from additional investment.