Business promotion is to running a successful business as practicing scales is to playing the piano well; it may not be a thrilling activity in itself, but you just have to do it! You should spend at least an hour a day on businesspromotion or planning how to promote your business (and more is better, if you can fit the time in).
You promote your business by getting the word out. The first axiom of business promotion is that you have to do this consciously. You can't rely on other people to do it for you, no matter how great your product or service is.
Business promotion is an integral part of any business's success, as it is through promotion that a business expands its customer/client base and opens new windows of opportunity. There are many ways to promote a business, and each varies in regards to time, labor and costs. Many business plans use a combination of methods, based on individual needs and circumstances. Here are suggestions for how to promote your business.
Create a brand image, or logo.
Widespread brand recognition is your goal, as it will give your business credibility and inspire others to spread the word about your business. Grow your brand by placing your logo in your business stationary, business cards, email signatures, brochures, signs, website and merchandising materials.
Blogs/websites –
There are an astronomical number of these that are hungry for content! Many accept, even seek out, "guest posts", blogs or articles from people not employed by the person or business running the site.
These can be great promotional placements for you as long as you choose the blog or website you allow to publish your work carefully. Having one or more of your articles on a site that gets little traffic isn't going to help you and may even hurt your business if it's a spammy looking site. Ideally, you want to get your piece published on a blog or website that has high traffic and has a good chance of being visited by your prospective customers.
You also have to choose carefully in terms of your target market. If you're selling baby clothes, getting one of your articles published on a blogabout SEO isn't going to be seen by many (if any) of the customers you hope to impress. Getting your work on a popular blog directly related to bringing up baby would be a much better fit.
Network.
Meeting professionals from other, related businesses is an effective form of business promotion, as it provides you with opportunities to learn about your competitors, ask for referrals, form mutually beneficial partnerships in complementary industries and spread awareness about your business throughout a group of like-minded people. Network with other professionals in the following ways:
Magazines –
The magazine industry isn't dead yet and many of them are always looking for content too. Once again, the trick is to get your article published in a magazine that your target market is likely to read. Search for these online by specific topic (i.e. baby magazines).
Freelance writing sites also provide a great deal of information on all kinds of publications that might publish your efforts. Make your research easier by starting with a great site that provides all kinds of lists and information on markets.
Newspapers
are also excellent places to place your business promotion article. Try contacting the Business editor of your local paper and pitching your article. If this approach fails, you might be able to get your piece into the paper by sending it in as a letter to the Editorial section.
Sending out press releases is another great way to get some free business promotion.
The caveat to using press releases as a business promotion tool is that your press release has to actually contain information that is newsworthy, and be engaging enough to get people's interest. Has your business recently expanded? Do you have a new product? Have you been involved in some promotional activity such as sponsoringa charity event? Have you or your company recently won an award? All of these are examples of "news" that you can capitalize on to get some freepromotion for your business.
Press releases can also be published online.
Spend some of your online time on business promotion throughsocial media.
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Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are great ways to promote your business through social media. A good example of how this can be effective was illustrated to me recently when we had a power outage that affected some areas of our small community. One of the local restaurants posted on Facebook that they had power and were open for business and within an hour they were packed with customers.
To get started with social media see How to Createa Social Media Plan. See also How to Createa Fan Page on Facebook and How toPromote your Business on Twitter. If you are skilled with taking video (or know someone who is) you can record videopromotions of your products or services and post them on YouTube.
Use buddymarketing to promote your business.
For example, if you send out brochures, you could include a leaflet and/or business card of another business, which had agreed to do the same for you. This gives you the chance to reach a whole new pool of potential customers.
You might also plan and carry out business promotions with complementary businesses. A pet store and a pet groomingbusiness, for example, might use sharedadvertising, or run a contest together. This can considerably cut down the cost of business promotion, and allow each business to use promotion techniques that would be too expensive to implement alone.
Give out freebies as business promotion.
We're all familiar with hearing or reading advertisements that promise that the first 50 people to visit a particular store will receive a free. It could be anything from a red rose through an ice-cream cone! We're all familiar with this kind of spot promotion because it works. People love to receive things that are free.
Besides using freebies as business promotions, you can also use them regularly as customer "rewards". For example, I recently had a picture framed; the framer had attached a free picture hanger to the painting's wire, with a small card thanking me for my patronage. It's only a small thing, which certainly didn't cost him much, but as the customer, I appreciate not having to rummage through my home looking for a suitable hanger, and can't help thinking positively about the service he provides. What small, inexpensive things could you give out with your product or service that will get your customer thinking good thoughts about you? Combining business promotion with customer rewards is definitely a win-win situation.
Still looking for more low-cost business promotion ideas? Continue on to the next page, which discusses being a talk show guest and giving seminars as ways to effectively promote your business.
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