Marketing Monday: Small Things Lead to Big Results

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
Vincent Van Gogh

Today’s Marketing Monday topic is about one of the limiting beliefs (or mindset) about marketing that holds many small business owners and independent professionals back.  

Too many small business owners and independent professionals believe that marketing their services means spending a lot of money on a big, flashy ad campaign. Or that they need a marketing team to strategize and implement very creative and very expensive ways to attract clients. Their mindset about marketing is that it’s “too expensive”.

That’s simply not true. Large corporations may have million dollar budgets that they spend on “image” campaigns and celebrity endorsements but SMART Business owners don’t need them!

I discussed “Marketing Ball” in my post on May 9th, and if you haven’t read it yet, please take a few minutes to review it so you can get a better picture of how we teach our clients to approach marketing.  (Please read the post at Marketing Is A Game)

As you can see, the purpose of Marketing Ball is to move your prospect along the “bases” so that you  develop a relationship which allows them to trust you enough to hire you.  And there are many free or low cost strategies you can use to advance the relationship.

For example, at “home plate” you start off as strangers.  You want to get on first base which is familiarity.  The best route to familiarity is via “affiliation”.  An affiliation is a group or special connection your share with your prospect. This can be as simple as networking events within groups (social or business) to which you already belong.  You can also research other events and organizations which are attended by your target audience.  Even if you find groups that you don’t currently belong to, you can often attend one or two meetings before you have to become a member.  This gives you an opportunity to find the best and most profitable groups instead of spending hundreds of dollars in membership dues only to find out that your ideal clients aren’t there!

The next step is to get your prospect’s attention.  How?  By offering something of value, a take-away which is useful and timely.  A white paper or special report, an audio program, or a free workshop can all be effective attention getters with a very high perceived value.  It doesn’t take much to money to write a report and reprint it, and it’s even less expensive if you send it via email.  Audio programs and free workshops (especially if done in a teleseminar format) require a minimal investment and the return can be tremendous.

Here are more examples of low-cost marketing strategies:

Increase your prospect’s familiarity and allow them to experience your expertise by:

• Publishing an online newsletter
• Submitting articles online and to local and trade publications
• Speaking at networking events, chambers of commerce and trade associations
• Actively participating in online forums which your prospects frequent
• Including a powerful message in your email signature perhaps directly people to your free offer or upcoming workshop

As you can see, there are dozens of ways to market your business effectively without a “corporate” budget.  Don’t let money become the excuse for inertia.  Small things done in the right order and executed consistently will produce outstanding results.

About the Author

Merlyn Sanchez, Business Coach and Marketing Consultant, teaches small business owners, consultants, and other solo professionals how to attract more clients, make more sales and have more time to enjoy their lives.  For a free report outlining the “”8 SMART Strategies that Successful Business Owners Use to Attract More Clients™ and more tips on how to create a successful business, visit http://www.smartbusinessowners.com/.

 
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