Friday, February 6, 2015

VENDORS: Marketing on a Budget

If you're just starting out or have been hit by the recent economy, you may need to find ways to market your business on a shoestring budget.



"And remember, just because a marketing tactic may be inexpensive to execute doesn't mean that it's not effective. In fact, some of the most effective forms of marketing are the least expensive."  Marty Marsh



Here are some Marketing ideas of my own as well as some Marty suggests to help you when in a financial crunch ...

1)  Business Cards. Always have business cards on hand.  Hand them out to everyone.  You never know who you meet that may refer you ....  even friends and family.  BUT be sure not to get the freebie cards with the printer's ad on the back.  It makes yo look cheap!



2)  Build a website with a Blog. It is important that the blog be included on your site not an outside service like Blogger.  Websites are cheap these days and most have simple to use templates.  A few pages about your company should do it.  Keep the blog updated so your audience sees new fresh constant content.



3)  Use Social Media to brand your business. Create a Business page on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.  Post every day!  Sometimes this can get tedious but you can connect accounts or use social dashboards to enter your post once and it appears on several social media outlets.

      Here is an easy to use template to stay on top of your daily posting ....

                   Weekly Marketing Template

   

      Join local groups and groups in your business category.  It is important to like other people's posts just as much as you post your own content.



4)  Find Partners to work with that are not in direct competition.  Finding a project to work on together can compliment both businesses.



5)  Write an eBook.  You can easily write a PDF ebook as a giveaway for potential brides and post it on your website.



6)  Build Relationships through Networking.  Attending our OC Brides events regularly gives you the most exposure and allows you to build relationships with other wedding professionals.  And since we invite brides it allows you to talk to brides about your business in a relaxed atmosphere.



7)  Referrals. Ask for referrals and offer incentives.  You can easily give away an eBook or even a Starbucks card to past clients that refer you to new clients.



8)  Newsletters. Create a Bi-weekly newsletter to keep your potential clients up to date with things like current trends and DIY projects.  Be respectful and don't bombard them with emails though!



I found Marty's ideas inspiring and I hope you did too.  Here's to Marketing on a Shoestring Budget!

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