5 Free Ways to Market your Business

Welcome to “5 Free ways to market your business,” a series on entrepreneurial success. In Part 1 we’re going to explore creating your own marketing materials and email newsletters as great ways to market your business absolutely free. These are tough times we live in and if you’re business could use a bump in “foot traffic,” then read on to find out how to make it happen!

5 Free Ways to Market your business: Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

In-house marketing materials – business cards, fliers, a website all these are great tools to use in the war on gaining new customers. However, what is a tool if you have to spend an arm and a leg for it?  Why not do-it-yourself? If you have a computer, printer, and the internet – then the world is your playground. Certain business card ordering websites like vistaprints.com has business card and flier templates free for download off of their website. They also carry them in various file formats so you can use the template with a number of different programs. Producing your own materials may not have the same high quality “finish” as outsourcing the project might have, but it can generate the same results. Beyond the obvious printing supplies, doing it yourself is 100% free! When you’re on a budget you’ve got to maximize every resource and minimize every cost.

Create an e-mail newsletter – Other than money, information makes the “world go round.” If you have valuable information that could save your customers money, help them better their lives, or satisfy a general need then you might be sitting on a gold mine of potential cash flow. Organize this information and send it to your e-mail contact list on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis. You just gave your customers, friends, and colleagues something useful and didn’t even have to lift a green back to do it! “How do I build my e-mail list?” you might ask. Have a local drawing for a cheap prize, free month of service, or trial product and ask for email entries only. Ask your friends to forward your mailings to their friends or colleagues – include your email address at the bottom so you can receive feedback. Collect business cards – most entrepreneurs use email on a regular basis and put their email address on their cards. Use it to start your email database. These are just a few ways you can collect e-mail addresses for little to no money down. If you’re on my e-mailing list you might have noticed the “Email marketing by Constant Contact” disclaimer at the bottom. This is a service I pay for to help me manage my e-mail campaigns. There are many services like this, some better than others. However, as an entrepreneur you don’t need to pay for a service from the start. Build your database up first and get into the routine of sending frequent mailings. Once you’re marketing budget gets a little bit looser then you’re ready to move on to paying for services. Keep things free until then.

Note: I’ve been collecting business cards for years. Last year when I marketed the first SBLS seminar I made cold calls using every business card in my possession. That was the basis for my e-mail database. Now I collect them online using my website as a tool, and you can too!

Warning: Spam is at an all time high in this day and age. Always make sure you make it easy for people who don’t want your newsletter to unsubscribe. It’s a part of the territory of sending e-mail, but one that keeps everyone happy.

Conversation Starter – Do you design your own marketing materials? What online resources do you use to get the job done? Share your resources in the comments section below.

5 Free Ways to Market your business: Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.