Marketing effectively isn’t all about the size of your budget; it’s about your audience. Even though you may be faced with a shoestring ( or even a nonexistent, one thing you do have is time. You most certainly can market your business on a shoestring, as long as you’re willing to put in the time and effort. let’s jump right into it.
Understand Your Audience
Regardless of your budget, understanding your audience is at the core of being able to market your business so that you attract the right audience.
Blog, Blog, Blog
Your blog is the base from which all action should take place. it doesn’t matter whether or not you pay for your blog; everything you do should be on your blog before you post it anywhere else.
Facebook Pages Are A Must
Set up a Pinterest Account
Pinterest is hot right now. if you can find a way to incorporate for each new blog post, you can promote yourself on Pinterest.
Set Up a Well-Made Linkedin.com Profile
Set-up your profile and fill it out completely. Seek to improve it at all times, cross-pollinate information from your blog to linkedin.com. Ask people to recommend you and endorse you. Do the same for others.
use Twitter.com Often
twitter is a social network in which you can post short 140 character updates often, throughout the day, without irritating others like you might by doing the same thing on Facebook. Use ot often to remind people about your blog.
Join Yahoo Groups
There are literally thousands of yahoo groups that you can join. Join groups that are comprised of your ideal audience members.
Use Craigslist to Post Ads
Using a verified email account you can post ads for your business. Choose the right category for your business. Posting between 4pm and 9pm is the best, according to Craigslist.
Make Smart Forum Comments
Find forums where your audience participates and make smart comments that show your knowledge about the topic, letting your signature line speak for itself.
Use Local Media to Get the Word Out
Most of the time local media can’t find enough stories. Be a story-send them a press release about your business and they’ll be glad to cover a local success story.
use Your Website
Your website is already in place, so use it to its full potential by ensuring that it properly represents your business in full.
Become the Expert
People like listening to experts, so become the go-to expert in your niche. before you know it more people will come to you and ask you more questions, which you can use for more blog posts, and to create new products.
Get Involved in Your Community
it will cost you time, and perhaps gas money, but the more involved you are with your local community, the more business you’ll get.
Write Guest Blog Posts
Find niche sites that speak to your audience and offer to write original blog posts for them on a regular basis. All you need in return is a link to your site in your bio.
Publish a Kindle Book
Kindle makes it simple to publish, compile and edit your old blog posts into an eBook for your audience. give it away free or sell it for 99 cents.
Ask Colleagues to review Your products/Services/Books
When you produce something new ask others to review it for you on their blogs and websites.
Have a Contest
use your blog, social media, and/or Youtube.com to pr to promote a contest with the prize being free product. get people to vote on the winner, which will encourage sharing among the participants.
“free” can be worth a lot these days. create a great report-such as an overview of your niche and give it away in exchange for email list sign-up.
Add Social Sharing to Your Website/Blog/Newsletter
Make it simple for other people to share your website, blog, or newsletter by adding social share buttons.
Do a regular Q&A on Your Blog
Utilize emails, questions found on forums, and other sources, create a weekly Q&A blog post. You can take just one question at a time and make an entire blog post built around it.
Repurpose Content into Video
Make Your Q&A posts into a video, or make any past “how to” blog into video. Sometimes people like to see things in other forms.
Host a Google+ Hangout on-Air
Do your Q&A on Google+ Hangout On Air. Doing a live event can be scary, but it can also be a great way to get new connections.
Answer Questions on Google+
Search for and answer questions within your niche by people on Google+
Answer Questions on Facebook.
When someone asks a question you can answer on Facebook.
Answer Questions on Twitter.
A lot of people will pose short questions on Twitter-be ready to answer them either in public or directly.
Use Quora to Build Your Business.
Quora is a free service where you choose at least five topics and then contribute to questions and answers that are relevant to the topic.
Join Relevant Forums.
Search for forums about your niche and join those where your audience participates. Then become the resident expert. You don’t have to write all your blog content, you can curate relevant content from others (as long as you link back to their content in full.
Interview Experts for a Podcast
You can use free services like skype to record interviews as a podcast. Post them on your site and iTunes.
Transcribe Expert Interviews into an eBook
Repurpose the expert interviews into an eBook. You can make individual eBooks, and then at the end of the year compile all into a larger volume.
Transcribe Expert Interviews into a Blog Post
Likewise, you can transcribe all interviews into blog posts. Some people would rather read then listen. Give your audience options for how they can get your information.
Host a Round Table with Experts on Google + Hangout On Air
Gather up experts and host a round table on popular topic. While you’re limited to the participants on the round table, the on Air part is unlimited.
Interview people via Skype One-on-One
Skype is a great way to record an interview both in video format and audio format, then later post that recording to Youtube.com, your site, or in some other format.
Do a Weekly Expert Roundup on your Blog
Do you know four or five experts? Sak them to participate in a weekly expert panel where everyone answers the same questions.
Participate in Weekly expert Roundups on Other People’s Blogs
Be the expert answering the questions for someone else’s weekly expert panel.
Check Your Email for Q&A inspiration
if you’re stuck for things to say on your blog, look no further than your email for questions from your clients. You can take one question and turn it into a blog post. Find groups of both your audience and direct competitors and join them on Linkedin.com. Do not self-promote, but be free and open with your answers and questions.
Create Your own group on Linkedin.com
Linkedin.com allows you to create your own groups, so create one in which you can pose and answer the questions you want to, as well as use to promote your blog.
Create Your Own Facebook Groups
On Facebook you can create many type of groups, both private and public. create both so that you can converse with your audience and colleagues.
Join groups on Facebook
Find groups on Facebook that are both networking and marketing worthy. Join them, and participate actively.
