The biggest reason why most new business startups fail today can be attributed to lack of marketing. No matter how great your product or service is, if you don’t promote your business, you won’t have customers. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be expensive, when you’re just starting out on the entrepreneurial path. An excellent book I recommend is “Guerilla Marketing for Free” by Jay Conrad Levinson. It gives several great marketing ideas that don’t cost a dime. Some include:
Ø Making Guarantees (money back if not completely satisfied) and offering Free Trials - These are both ways of removing the feeling of risk in your prospects eyes.
Ø Offering Gift Certificates- An excellent gift idea for customers, prospects or friends and a great way to spread the word about your business.
Ø Using Free Classified Ads on the Internet- Run a google search on “free classified ads” to find all of the sources available.
Ø Designing superb business cards- Be Creative. These should be unique in design with as much information as possible about your service.
Ø Writing E-Books- In the information age, writing can help you earn instant credibility among your prospects and customers.
Ø Writing a column in your local newspaper- Again, this gives you credibility and establishes you as an authority in your field.
These, as well as dozens of other straightforward ideas listed throughout the book, will benefit any startup business lacking a huge marketing budget.
About the Author
Jonathan Taylor, specializes in helping people in every stage of their lives to find more meaning and purpose in their work. He believes that to find that purpose and meaning, a person's interests, skills, passions, and goals must integrate seamlessly with their work. To find more great tips on business startups, subscribe to Jonathan's newsletter at www.careercalling.com!