We are going to cover a range of different marketing ideas for small businesses that each cost less than $500 to implement and get publicity:
College Newspapers
Advertise in a local college newspaper or better yet, contact a journalist from your local college paper about a story in which they might be interested. College papers generally have cheaper advertising rates than regular newspapers, and they are easier to work with because they have editors whose email boxes are less bogged down. They also cater to a very specific audience; therefore, if your business plays well to college students, it is definitely worthwhile looking into college papers as a marketing avenue.
Host an Event
Host an event for your target market. It doesn’t have to be extravagant and you don’t even have to pick up the bill. One business consultant, for example, organized dinners between twenty influential investors and high-impact entrepreneurs. People who would never otherwise agree to dinner with him agreed to attend because they knew they would meet other high-caliber individuals. As a result, he built a powerful reputation and a client base with a list that drives his business forward.
Yelp, Meetup, Craigslist, Google Places
These are a few low-cost online services that you can use to market your business.
Yelp is an online review website where people review small businesses. They give it a rating from 1 to 5 and can write comments about the business. It is currently in several major cities in the U.S., including San Francisco and New York.
If you’re reviewed on Yelp, do everything you can to get as high a rating as you can. Yelp alone can drive a lot of traffic to your business.
Meetup is a website where people come together to find interest groups for various topics. It could include everything from salsa to yoga, to business, to rock climbing. If your business fits into a market that could benefit from Meetup, then you should definitely be on the website.
Craigslist is a free classifieds website where you can post ads for your business in the services section, as well as advertise events in the events section. It’s one of the most highly trafficked websites on the Internet.
Google Places is Google’s way of giving local businesses a leg up. If you get your small business listed on Google Places, your business will show up ahead of other websites targeting your search term that aren’t local. In other words, if you own a noodle shop in Boston and someone in Boston enters “Noodle Shop,” yours will come up first.
These are a few low-cost marketing ideas for small business owners. Each of these ideas can be implemented for less than $500. They are easy, affordable and efficient tactics that you can apply right now to see a boost in your business.
