Have you ever wondered if you could think of a marketing idea that could propel your business to heaven? Like, Wendy’s 1980s commercial ‘Where’s the Beef?’, Coca-Cola’s ad that says it’s’ The Real Thing ‘and Nike sells tennis shoes by spreading the word’ Just Do Item’. How naive of those companies.

When people think of marketing, they tend to think of advertising that can be costly and ineffective image-based advertising. There are many ways to position yourself as an expert and build a personal connection to attract new clients, clients, and patients.

Effective marketing is not cheap; however, there are strategies that you can implement for little or no cost.

A basic inexpensive way to do market research is to get a poster and put up a photo of your ideal customer, then list your prospects’ fears and frustrations, then list your customer’s wishes and aspirations. Then focus on the emotional event that caused it and the irrational dream behind it, this is where the power and leverage are in solving the customer’s problem with your product.

Develop a customer persona profile that identifies where the customer gets information such as magazines, websites, and key people they follow on blogs. Find out which ‘watering holes / bars’ they frequent, live in the neighborhood, attended college, hobbies, favorite TV shows they watched, associations and churches they attend. Use websites and ask your target audience to collect this information.

Ideally, a small business owner should spend 35-50% of their time marketing their product. To avoid giving little importance to the marketing of your products. Write a 6-12 month marketing outreach event calendar. Identify marketing opportunities, what methods you will use, and when you will act. With a schedule worked out in advance, opportunities won’t sneak up on you while you’re busy paying attention to other aspects of your business.

If you have a marketing department to support your business, make sure it resembles the customers you serve. The power of hiring people from different cultures, products, and industries to come together and create products for your consumers is powerful. The depth of ideas, understandings, knowledge, creativity and the mix of cultures can provide the best solutions for your business to make more money is amazing.

Below is a list of 10 low-cost strategies that can help you improve your profits.

1- Join the Chamber of Commerce of your areas and participate in community service events. Get involved in your community by volunteering, donating, and / or sponsoring local events. It gives you the opportunity to network with other business owners and perhaps cross-promote with other locations. These monthly meetings let you know what’s going on financially in your area.

2- Social media– the ability to provide information about your products across the web.

• Share what you do and the merchants you love. Complete a new project, offer a new product and have a customer testimonial.

• Offer tips, advice, and information on your website. Show customers how to repair, modify, or improve your products. Provide advice on using the product. The more customers enjoy your products, the more likely they are to buy them. If you sell services, a question and answer column is a valuable addition to websites, as are “FAQ” pages that cover simple topics related to your services. A little free advice will encourage clients to come to you with thornier problems.

• Write about this on Twitter, website, Facebook, LinkedIn, or on an industry blog. Photos and videos help other people understand who you are, what you do, and how you can help them solve a problem.

• Include your website link in all company emails and other correspondence. Display your company or business web address prominently in your email signature. Do the same with the stationery.

3- Tell your story in 90 seconds.

• For. Develop an elevator pitch story to inform others about your business. Your story should contain the following elements.

1. Who you are

2. What do you do

3. Why are you different from your competitors?

4. Why should they care about your products or services (what’s in it for them)?

• Does your message create an emotional response from your target audience demographics? Tip: use plain English to create your message

Example: We help make your life easier (explain your product or service).

• Use customer testimonials to persuade them to buy from you. Ask satisfied customers and use them, make sure they are genuine and go into a little detail with real names.

4- Develop a simple marketing plan for your business

There are (4) secrets to marketing engagement, investment, communication, and consistency. It is difficult to maintain all (4) four without a basic plan.

• Make sure your plan describes how well the product or service meets customers’ needs or problems.

• Make sure your logo and marketing message use words that draw a picture of an experience using your product that creates a profit-making customer imagination (that makes them want to buy your product or service).

• It could consist of requesting business cards, attending networking opportunities, booking conferences, and sending out press releases about your product offerings.

• Create an email signature, with web links to your business website and a Twitter link. Also, include your business name, most current achievement, phone number and email address, and the tag line if your business has one.

5- Prepare a list of past clients and send them new information and promotional offers to reactivate some of them.

• Reward loyal customers with discounts. It will keep them coming back and help generate referrals. Good referrals from satisfied customers are often more effective than expensive advertising.

• Use social media to offer SMS (text message) marketing to provide existing customers with new information on discounted or clearance “must-haves”.

Improve customer service

Customer service is a form of advertising. You’re announcing that you care, it shows

Use your vehicle

Vehicle graphics are viewed by thousands of people every day. Turn your vehicle into a mobile billboard.

6- Offer free public seminars or workshops for the general public. to come and find out how you can solve a problem for them and show them how accessible and useful it is.

Golden Rule:

Your target customers need to hear your marketing messages at least 7 times to influence purchasing decisions. For example, you can create your message as a public service radio announcement to play for free on radio stations and small Internet radio stations.

Get a wheelie

Taking advantage of another company’s marketing can save your small business time and money.

Example: Locating near a Wal-Mart to be close to price-conscious consumers on a low budget.

7- Stimulate the customer’s senses

• Talk to your customers about how they feel about your product and the store experience, why they buy from you compared to other stores, they will be honest with you.

• Continually educate your customers on the benefits of buying your products from you.

• The more comfortable we keep our clients, the longer they will stay, the more memorable experience they will have, and the more they will spend or pass positive word of mouth.

Example:

Do you think the smell of freshly baked bread flows through the grocery store or does the music play by choice? (duh)

Retailers have been doing their best for years to stimulate shoppers and keep them browsing scented bathroom spray that works better than disinfectant.

8- Make yourself news

Get a mention of your company in the right media

1. For doing a good deed in the community or a fun bond with a sporting event

2. Develop a relationship with your industry trade publications (magazines) who are always looking for ‘free relevant content’, write and articles for them. It can help you appear as an ‘expert’ to others in your industry.

3. Network with local media. Newspaper and television reporters need reliable sources for articles; While it may not be “news”, it can add color to a story. For example, if you are a lawyer, you can explain how the new legislation will affect local viewers. Access as many reporter contact lists as possible.

9- Form a joint venture

• Forging an alliance with a small business group or a large company will give you the “best bang for your buck.” Reduce your costs to enter new markets and create new distribution opportunities.

• Make offers to other companies that serve people in your target markets to pay them for referrals or share their list with you.

• Support for fundraisers

1. Donating your products or services to select charity events is a great way to get your name out there in the community. Make sure your target market will be there and your brand will be well represented.

10- Under your nose

• Are your suppliers doing business with you? No, call them and everyone you do business with. If your product doesn’t currently meet your needs, you probably know someone who should be doing business with you. At a minimum, ask to display your business cards and flyers in your office. Wow, I forgot, take a moment and make sure the people in your immediate personal circle understand what you are selling.

Get out and walk

1. Look for the front windows of underused stores in high foot traffic areas. Reach out to the owner and offer to pay a small fee to advertise your business on their window or reverse it, and do something for a fellow business owner.

2. Scan the social networking sites of your friends Facebook, Pinterest, etc. Ask them to post an ad on the friends page about your business. Ask a friend if you can place an ad on your business website.

3. Attach flyers, catalogs or brochures to each order. Make it easy for customers to buy from you. Do not assume that a particular client knows all the services they provide.

It can take a lifetime to build a business reputation, but 20 seconds to tear it down with the wrong message in your marketing campaign or an employee negatively reflecting on your business. You, a small business owner, are the “gatekeeper” of the image of the business you are trying to build. Monitor all communications to the press about your business, you and someone else review all media and commercial coverage of your business image to make sure it is consistent with your business objective. The most important thing is that you are honest in all communications, dishonesty can turn into a nightmare.

Ultimately, marketing is about making the customer aware of your product and building a trusting relationship with the customer and hopefully growing with the customer’s needs as they expand.

Easy benefits in your pocket!