Two Strategies For How to Market When you Have a Small Marketing Budget

I learned early on that getting in front of one client at a time would not build the business fast enough. It was imperative that I get in front of a lot of people quickly, but had little money to spend on marketing. I needed to “think outside the box” and find low-cost ways to get the public to know who I am and what I can do for them. Below are two things I did that worked for me.

1. Speaking in person to groups of potential clients/customers: I went to local libraries and reviewed their card file on local clubs and organizations and also looked in the yellow pages of area telephone books. I then contacted local clubs and professional organizations offering to be a speaker at their meetings. After about six months I found myself speaking on average, once a month to groups from 10 to 100. This enabled me to get in front of a lot of potential clients quickly and build my business at a minimal cost to me. I also contacted all the local newspapers to notify them of when I would be speaking, the topic and for which organization. I requested this be printed as a news release. That provided me with double public exposure again at little to no cost to me.

2. Media exposure: I started listening to every radio station and watched all the local television shows I could find, looking for talk shows. As soon as the show was over I called in and offered to be a guest on their show in my area of expertise. I soon found myself on radio or television on average about once a month for many years. It then seemed that wherever I went people knew who I was and my business really started to boom. Today you may be able to do a lot of this online.