Brittni Schroeder Coaching
HOW TO MARKET
YOUR BUSINESS WITHOUT
SPENDING MONEY
Often as an entrepreneur and a new business owner you may begin with a small budget. Perhaps your amazing idea takes a lot more time and money than you first realized. Investing in your business is one of the best things you can do. If you are willing to invest your time, you can learn how to market your business without spending money.
Money can help your business grow faster. You can reach a larger audience quicker by spending money on ads, promotions, and marketing. However, there is no better way to grow your audience organically than putting yourself out there when building your brand. Learning to be intentional with your time and targeting your ideal clients is something you can do for free. Try to be original and different to set yourself apart from your competition.
GIVEAWAY
The more you give the more you receive. Make it part of your practice (even when you start to make money) to give, give, and give some more. This strategy is one I have used for years and have seen a huge return. Clients/customers love getting things for free. Offer your clients something free on a regular basis. This can be a service or a free downloadable. You want your ideal clients to keep checking in. You goal is to become memorable. They might not use your service/product today but when they are ready, you want them to think of you.
Think of creative things you can give your audience. A downloadable printable, e-book, free guide, or course. No matter what you give, make sure it is valuable; this will help you build trust.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media can be a great way to communicate with your audience and build a strong brand. It can take a lot of time to manage the various platforms and our efforts to expand our reach are getting more challenging. But it’s free! It doesn’t cost to post and even if your reach isn’t what you want it to be, clients still love interacting with businesses this way.
There are so many social media platforms available. Choose 1-2 platforms that your ideal client uses and consistently show up. When you feel like you have a handle on those, add more platforms to your workflow. It is a numbers game—the more you post, the more likely your audience will see you.
Engage with your audience and start building relationships. Your audience will grow organically and relationships will develop. If you are investing time and don’t see a lot of growth, reevaluate and try a different platform. Social media can be a full-time job so make sure you create time boundaries to ensure you are working on other parts of your business as well. As your business starts to grow, consider outsourcing some of your social media.
BLOG
Starting a blog costs very little upfront and it is one of the best tools you can use for marketing. Creating a blog is a great way to position yourself as an expert, but also serve your clients with useful information. Providing useful information helps strengthen your brand. Your blog has potential for growth and opportunity. It can help create a community for your business.
Your blog can become a hub that your audience will visit and revisit to learn, get inspired, and connect. Your blog is managed by you and you have complete control over that space. When you are consistent about producing valuable content, it can be one of your most valuable marketing tools.
Pinterest is not only a place to get great ideas, but it is an awesome marketing tool. Next to Google, Pinterest is one of the best visual search engines available. Sharing your work through pins is a great way of marketing.
People use the search bar to find anything and everything. If they find what they are looking for they re-pin it to their own boards, which in turn gives you more exposure. When people discover one of your pins and click on it, it redirects them to your website to find more information.
Remember that Pinterest is a visual platform so use beautiful and appealing imagery and graphics to attract people. Be strategic with your keywords and participate in group boards. Consider using the TailwindApp to improve your reach and gain exposure.
NEWSLETTER LIST
If you don’t have an email or newsletter list, start one today! Email marketing is a great way to stay connected with people. With the ever-changing algorithms of social media, email has become a more reliable method of connecting with your audience.
Once you have started your newsletter list, be consistent and leverage that resource. You don’t have to send out an email just when you are trying to sell something. Use it to build a relationships and then when the time comes to sell, your audience will be more likely to purchase or invest.
Your newsletter doesn’t have to be long or complicated. Your goal is to create value while building trust. You can also send out your recent blog post, An inspiration quote or a life or business hack. Understand your audience and keep them in mind when you create your newsletters. Remember these people gave you their email. They want to hear from you!
VOLUNTEER
Seek opportunities to volunteer. Get involved in your community and serve with other like-minded individuals. Serving and helping non-profits or other organizations is great way to create relationships within your area. Look for organizations that are in sync with your values. Try to find causes that you are passionate about as to keep you motivated. When you make service and volunteering a part of your brand you will see the benefits.
FB GROUPS
Participate in Facebook Groups where your ideal clients reside. Be active by posting, commenting, and engaging with others. This is a great way to help others and also to talk about what you do. Make sure you are genuine and authentic and don’t come off pushy or salesy. Read the rules of the group before joining to ensure you know and abide by them.
NETWORKING EVENT
Become active in networking groups and events in your area. Some have annual fees to join, but several have no or little cost to participate. Go into networking with the mindset of helping others and building relationships. If you attend networking events with the purpose of finding clients, you may find yourself feeling disappointed. Set goals for yourself to build relationships and help others and referrals and business will surely follow.
CREATE TUTORIALS
A great way to market your brand is by creating tutorials. Teaching others tips, tricks, and secrets is an excellent way to serve your audience and help you get exposure. After creating tutorials, use appropriate keywords in your description. Think of tutorials that your ideal client may search for. Teaching and educating your ideal clients is a very effective way of marketing while building the “know, like, and trust factor.”
VIDEO
Video is proving to be one of the best ways to market your brand today. If you are a business that is putting off video because you hate yourself on video, you will want to work through that. Consumers are drawn to video and implementing it into your marketing cost very little.
COLLABORATE
Build relationships with others in your industry. Take the time to create relationships and support one another. Working on your business doesn’t always mean you have to be sitting behind your computer. Make it a priority to build and nurture relationships. Put others before yourself and always ask how you can help others first. Look for opportunities to collaborate by cross promoting and supporting one another. If you can find the right group of people you will find you have created a sales team for one another.
Despite what you might think, marketing your business doesn’t mean spending a ton of money. If you are willing to put in the time and energy into developing relationships in different channels, your business and brand will grow organically. If you are committed, you can learn how to market your business without spending money.
