How to affordably market a business

Recently I read an article where 9 entrepreneurs were asked: if they could change one thing that happened with their company in 2014 what would it be and why.  One of the entrepreneurs Carlo Cisco  said in part...

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"It's easy to assume that you won't need to allocate a ton to marketing and branding until you're already taking off.  This assumption is so wrong.  Invest big in creating the right brand direction at the beginning, and make sure you have ample funds to market your solution/story."


Time and again I've seen businesses focus on getting brand new equipment, office furniture and the like.  More of their time and money goes into their office space then into their marketing.  Then they wonder why the clients aren't coming in.  How can they if they don't know you exist.

In my opinion when I started my first business almost 30 years ago it was easier.  There were specific ways for you to market your business and if people were looking for you and you were there, it was gold.

Today however there are more and more places for your ideal customers to find you and before you know it they get confused as to who can serve them the best.

You already know about the four big guys:

1) Facebook:  If you were trying to ignore Facebook thinking it was a place where people just hang out for fun think again.  Many businesses are on Facebook connecting with their customers.  Plain and simple you need to have a presence there.  

2) Google+:  I know you might be thinking it's not worth it but I can tell you from personal experience that when you are active on Google+ you will be rewarded in search engine rankings.

3) LinkedIn:  Every business needs to have a LinkedIn profile.  While we are mentioning LinkedIn go look at your profile image.  Does it look professional or can you tell it was taken with a poor quality cell phone camera?  Your image matters.  People will judge your business by your profile image.  Worse yet, some don't have any profile image at all.  The other day someone asked to connect with me.  I had no idea who they were and they had no image, just that grey blank space.  Did I connect with them?  No.

4) Twitter:  Once again this can be a powerful tool to make connections.  What I like most about Twitter is that it's sending out your message in bite size pieces.  You can learn a lot in 140 characters.

The good news is that there are tools like HootSuite that can help you schedule your messages on these sites which saves you time.

What seems to happen however is that businesses spend so much time on these sites that they forget there's a world out there that they aren't tapping into. 

Just image if every time they searched for your product and service your business kept popping up.

Can that happen if you are marketing on a budget?  

The answer is yes!  

The problem?  It's going to take some time and effort.  You are going to have to make time every single day to kick your marketing into high gear.

There are missed opportunities that could be bringing in more customers.

In today's world you need to get creative.  When you do this you will find you are in places that will have your ideal clients taking notice.

When I thought about marketing and doing so on a budget I realized there were untapped ways of doing things.  

People are so hyped up on "the big 4" that they forgot there were other places to market their business for free or low cost.

Whether my clients are just starting or looking to grow their business one of their questions is: "How can I market my business on a budget?"

That's why I put together this book that's available on Kindle.

These are actionable ways you can use to gain more exposure for your business. 

Even if you found just one place to advertise wouldn't that be worth the crazy price of $.99.

You can't even get a cup of coffee for that price let alone a guide on where to get your business more exposure.

To be quite truthful I couldn't offer this or any of my other books if I didn't believe they had real value.  You have to believe in what you have to offer and I know that there's going to be a least one golden nugget you find if not more:)

What marketing methods have you used to grow your business? Leave your thoughts and comments.

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Be Savvy and Successful!
Toni Nelson -Visual, Video and Content Marketing, Business Coach