How to Market Your Small Business on a Budget
Use technology to your advantage
Using technology to help market your business does not have to be expensive. In fact, it can be quite reasonable considering the number of customers and potential customers you can reach with relatively little effort.
Here are two of the best ways to market effectively using technology:
Use a Customer Relationship Management System (CRM): There are many choices for CRM software, but the most popular and common are Microsoft Business Contact Manager and ACT!. These programs are affordable, easy to use, and allow you to automate many of your target marketing effort to reach specific customer niches.
Send a company EZine: This is an email newsletter that is sent to customers on a regular basis, usually monthly. EZines are not spam, because you only send them to people who have specifically given permission for you to send them email materials. In your EZine you can put articles, information, and expert advice on topics that are interesting and useful to your customers. This allows you to keep in touch with every customer in your CRM every month in a proactive but non-obtrusive way. A great resource for setting up a simple ezine (even if you lack computer expertise) is through a company such as Intellicontact. I have used them since early 2005 and absolutely love all the free features I get from them and starting at just 10 bucks a month is a sweet deal!
And remember old-fashioned networking and courtesy
There are some things that technology can never replace, and good old-fashioned networking coupled with courtesy is two important ones. There is simply no substitute for making personal connections, face to face, with others who are potential customers or who might provide you with referrals to potential customers.
Here are two of the best ways to put these traditional activities to work for you:
Send a handwritten thank you card: This is one of the most effective and yet underused tools in the world. Every time you have an appointment, take on a new client, receive a business referral, or something similar, stop and write a brief thank you note. It does not have to be long or fancy, and it can be written in just a few minutes so it is not a huge burden on your time. This kind of personalized, sincere gesture from you will do much to create lasting customer satisfaction.
Make a simple telephone call: It is so very easy to get caught up in email and other modern communication technologies that many of us forget how nice it can be to just make a simple telephone call to share information or ideas. The next time you need to let a customer know about a delivery date, product description, or something similar, take a few moments to pick up the phone and talk with the customer rather than sending an impersonal email.
Related Tags: home based business, marketing ideas, marketing for dummies, marketing ideas for free
Shonika Proctor is an entrepeneur, speaker and Author of 'Sell Your Mind Not Your Time', A Marketing How to Ebook that will teach you how to work to the 23rd power, not the 23rd hour! If you are a new start up business or uncomfortable with marketing (online or offline) be sure to visit her blog, http://www.simplyshonika.blogspot.com and check out her free articles, great resources and tips. While you are there, be sure to pick up your 33 Free Niche Infomarketing Ideas.
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