How To Promote Your Business At Low Cost

#Business

A lot of businesses, especially online businesses and new start-ups, have little to no budget for marketing themselves and so don’t bother.

Yet there are many ways to promote your business at low cost or even free.  Use some or all of the following five tips and ideas and you’ll soon notice an upturn in how well your business is known and, crucially, in your profit margin!

1. Get your business card and business stationery printed now
Any business worth its salt has its own stationery and business cards. It tells your prospective customers and suppliers that you are a professional and serious about what you do. You don’t have to spend a fortune on design and printing either. Keep it simple and you can get cheap business cards printed from a lot of places, the same goes for cheap stationery. 

Note that just because it doesn’t cost a lot doesn’t mean it will look cheap either – there are lots of cheap printing companies around and you can bet they have their own business cards and stationery!

2. Spread your business cards around
It’s no use your low cost business cards sitting in your desk drawer. Hand them out to friends and relatives, ask your suppliers to distribute them or display them, get them put up in your local area in shops, hairdressers, the Post Office…wherever you think you need to be visible.

3. Get online
Sounds obvious but a little investment in a website detailing who you are and what you do opens up a world of marketing opportunities that are free! Now there is a cost involved here but it doesn’t have to be hundreds or thousands. As long as your site is clean, packed full of useful content (which will come from you so costs only your time) and easy to read that’s all you need to get started.

4. Once online, tell people!
 There are so many free ways to promote your business online it’s hard to know where to start but try these:

 i. Submit your website to as many free directories as you can, starting with dmoz.org
ii. Write an ‘expert’ article (or several!) on your product or service and submit it to free article sites like EzineArticles.com (you can also send them to non-competing magazines)

 iii. Join forums and social networking sites that relate to your business and get involved on them
iv. Add your website to review sites and bookmark it on sites like digg.com and Delicious with relevant tags

 There are many more ways you can promote your business online for no cost at all. Look into them.

 5.Network, network, network
Many business use networking as a key factor in their marketing plan. It helps to develop a strong feeling of trust between those involved and play a big part in raising the profile and takings of a company. suppliers and businesses can be seen as networked businesses, and will tend to source the business and their suppliers through their existing relationships and those of the companies they work closely with. 

However, networked businesses tend to be open, random, and supportive, whereas those relying on hierarchical, traditional managed approaches are closed, selective, and controlling.

I wish you the best in your business!