Free Business Marketing Ideas
When you think of the word “free” and “marketing”, the two never mix. Since it usually takes money to make money, it isn’t always the case. In fact, there are a few ways online that you can use in order to maximize your profits without spending a penny. Yes, some of these marketing methods are going to take some research on your part but trust me, they will all pay off in the long run.
Let’s look some ideas you can use when you’re looking to market your business for free. Depending on what kind of business you will run will determine how good these methods will truly work. If you’re confused on some of the marketing ideas, I suggest you do a quick search online to get more information because as I mentioned above, it’s well worth your time.
Offer something free for the day – Yes, I know, it’s going to cost you money to give the customer a product but the marketing value is free. Think of it this way. If you own your own restaurant, you could offer a free lunch for the first week you open up, etc. In order to get this free lunch, you’ll have the customer fill out a little form with their address and e-mail on it. This information is very valuable because it allows you to keep in contact with someone that has been to your establishment. Not only that, if you’re offering a great free service for a limited time, the word will spread and nothing beats word of mouth advertising.
Search engine marketing – If you can take time to learn anything, I highly recommend you learn how to market on search engines. Let me put it this way. If you can rank in the top ten for terms that draw traffic, you’re going to get customers that want what you’re selling. As you know, it costs $0 to rank on a search engine. It’s a win-win for you. Say you’re selling fishing poles. If you put up a website and optimized it for Google, etc and had it target the keyword “fishing poles”, you would have people coming to you looking for your product. This is by far my favorite free way to advertise. Yes, it will take a while to learn it but try it out, you won’t regret it.
CraigsList.org – A few days ago, I made a post on how you can advertise on CraigList. If you haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend you do so. CraigsList is a great way to advertise your business for free. With millions of people using the service daily, you can’t afford to lose out on this valuable opportunity.
Write for a newspaper or website – Every publication loves free content. Offer local newspapers or websites your work. In exchange for your article, link back to your business. Write a great article and if it’s good enough, you’ll have people coming to your website and who knows, they may even become a long time customer.
Offer free workshops – Another great way to advertise is simply by offering free workshops. If you own a hardware store, offer workshops on how to tile your bathroom, etc. This is a great way to bring people in. During the workshop, show them what they need to buy in order to get the job done. This always works great.
There are so many ways to advertise for free, it’s almost silly sometimes to pay to advertise. Use your mind and be creative when it comes to marketing. There are so many ways out there, it’s almost impossible to run out of ideas. Remember to test, test, and test to find what works. Once you find what works, stick with it and try to rinse and repeat as often as possible.
Related posts:
