Small Biz Strapped for Cash? Don’t Stop Promoting.

It’s been said that necessity is the mother of invention. To paraphrase, tough economic times call for creativity in promotion.

Essentially, you have two choices when it comes to marketing and promotion: find creative, cost-effective methods or crawl under a rock. For most of us, there’s no in-between.

The general idea is to balance reach, frequency and impact with cost. And now, more than ever, the value quotient is driven by cost.

But there are some possible avenues for small businesses to pursue. Here are a few that have worked for us, our clients and our peers:

Speak whenever possible: Seek out speaking engagements with groups, associations and companies, and create your own opportunities to get in front of people. You shouldn’t necessarily demand payment. Put yourself in front of lead-rich groups. That’s your compensation.
Get some ink: Whether you do it yourself or hire a low-cost provider, you owe it to yourself to try and get your business written up in the newspaper and industry publications. Give us a call and we’ll show you how. It’s not that difficult and it’s not as expensive as you might think.

Utilize e-mail: Make some phone calls to find the right contacts and e-mail (not SPAM) them as often as you have something potentially valuable to say to them. Generally, restrict your correspondence to things like, “Hey, I saw this article on Motley Fool, and here’s how it relates to what might be going on with your business…”
Consider inexpensive direct mail: Electronic media and oodles of credit card offers have left a gap in the direct mail market. Print up some inexpensive post cards with an impactful image and a brief, poignant message. You can get by for about 40 cents a card, including postage, if you do it yourself. You’ll want to work with a pro to come up with your message, but you can probably create the cards on your own desktop with minimal guidance.

Written by David Mace of marketingspoonful.com and letmaverick.com