Marketing Your Small Business On A Budget

If you own any kind of business, large or small, you know that advertising can eat a big chunk of your budget. But in such a tight economy the first budget to see cuts is usually marketing and advertising due to cash flow concerns.

In a tough economy it is more important than ever to be out there marketing your business. You know the old saying "out of sight, out of mind" well it's true. In a down economy when people have less money to spend and they aren't buying as frequently, you want to have your message out there in front of them. So when they do get ready to buy, you are top of mind with them. Also you want to have the right message out there so that they know when they are going to make that buying decision that your product or service is the best value for the money they are going to spend. Your business marketing should always be consistent, constant, creative and calculated.

We have put together some tips on how to market your business in a down economy.

1) Create a Compelling Elevator Pitch - Your sales pitch for your business should be precise, to the point, and compelling. You should be constantly marketing so that whenever someone comes up to you and asks "what do you do?", you have that 6 to 8 seconds to really capture their attention. You don't want to give them a long boring story that will not leave an impact. You want to say something compelling that's going to make them say "WOW! how do you do that?" Market every place you go such as community events, PTA, church events, etc..

2) Think Local, Not Too Big - Look at the community surrounding you, you don't have to do everything in a big way when it comes to marketing. So depending on what your product is there are lots of opportunities right there in your own community. For example you can sponsor a 5 k run, little league team, or give away accessories that have your business brand on them such as pens bookmarks, or t-shirts.

3) Collaborative Marketing - There might be other small businesses in your area that you can join forces with. This is one of the best things to do, look for non competitive and synergistic businesses, then cross promote each others businesses. This generates an arsenal of people now promoting your business.

4) Network - We need to remember how important networking is, there is nothing better than good old fashion networking. Networking takes a lot of time, patience, energy, and commitment but is a great way to gain exposure for your business. Get out there and shake hands and introduce yourself to people.

5) Give a Speech - There are a lot of organizations and groups that are looking for speakers. It doesn't mean you have to be a great motivational speaker but if you have good information to share to a group or organization you can volunteer to give that presentation. This will give you credibility and authority for your service and also help generate leads for your business.

6) Free Public Relations - Take advantage of free public relations tools online such as prweb.com and helpareporter.com. Submit to free press release and social bookmarking sites.

7) Customer Referrals - If you have satisfied customer that you have a great relationship with, ask them to refer you to their business colleagues, associates, family and friends.

8) Build Relationships - It's always easier to keep a customer than it is to go out and get a new customer. So you want to maintain your customer relationships and you can do that through email marketing, social media, and any other form of communication.

9) Offer Coupons - Coupons are a great way to expand your customer base because research shows that people are willing to go out of their way to try a new opportunity if they have a coupon for that. Also if you give something away or give a trial to let consumers know how good your product is, they will be more likely to buy.

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