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Once you have finally got all the details sorted and everything arranged and officially opened your business you will be lacking only one thing – customers. Perhaps you have some connections in the field you chose either through previous work or word of mouth but in a very short while you will need to attract new attention and new business or you will fail. 10 Questions you need to ask yourself before marketing your business
If you are hesitant towards advertising and marketing for your startup, below are some tips and advices for you
Be your own publicist
Always start by looking at the extremely low cost or free options first. These include word of mouth and direct non-paid social media campaigns. Word of mouth starts with you! This is not time to be shy or modest – tell your friends and family what you are doing and ask them to tell their friends and family. Ask them to visit or look at your business be it online or brick and mortar. Post about it on your social media – not just mentioning but with a call to action asking people to like your Facebook page or to visit your website.
Online visit the forums and reach out through Google + to people that are in a position to recommend you or for you to meet potential customers. In the real world go to the places where people meet frequently that could be beneficial for you such as conferences, events, civic clubs and organisations and tell them who you are and about your business ask them to recommend you and keep you in mind. 60 offline marketing tips here
Learn All about Guerrilla marketing from here
Do a Press Release
You can often get free publicity from local or online media if you approach it the right way. In many small markets a small press release noting that you have opened a new business and the nature of the business with your background and qualifications may get a small blurb in a local paper. All the basics of Press Release here.
This can be expanded on greatly with some creativity. Even larger media outlets will pick up on human interest stories if the story is interesting enough. Think about what makes you and your business unique. What is it that separates you from other people and business and flesh it out with details. It will not work if it is just a sales job or advertising. Details of personal success or even failure followed by the opening of the business – a genuine human side of the story- will be far more effective. Submitting this write-up to the media gives a chance for some major free publicity.
These personal human interest angles on media and publicity have a chance of going viral. Nobody is going to pay much attention to a story of “Joe opens business- says it is lowest prices and best quality.” That is paid advertising copy.
A better approach would read like this. “After college, Joe worked 12 years in the corporate world before his job was outsourced to a foreign country. After 2 years working a minimum wage job to support his family Joe has opened his own business to support himself and help others displaced by outsourcing find employment here too.” In the end you will still get to tell all about your business and attract customers but one will get free publicity and interest and the other will be paid advertising that barely gets a glance. Tips to write awesome Press Release
There are many ways to get free publicity for a business. Using resources available to help you with everything from writing a press release to preparing for a live interview are available like www.media-mentor.co.uk. Check out the list of articles on marketing topic on startupfreak. There are tools available for online, offline marketing, and even to train you to face cameras too.
