Monday 31 January 2011

Small Business Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

Businesses need to work to get noticed by potential and existing customers, even if their business is a really small business. Waiting and hoping someone will notice you and buy from you just isn't enough. Even if you have a prime location, you can't just leave things to 'chance'. Think it's too expensive to make room for marketing initiatives in your already tight budget? Small business marketing can be done, even on a shoestring budget, especially when you use the internet to your advantage. Read on for a few of the things you can do with a small budget in terms of internet-based marketing.


Search Engine Optimisation

SEO, or search engine optimisation, doesn't cost much. A bit of effort and investment will help you get free traffic. Instead of paying for every click to your website through paid advert programmes, get listed for targeted keywords and phrases that people use to look for your product. Do this to send them to an optimised website and you can look forward to traffic streams that can result in sales both online and offline.

Search Engine Marketing

Pay per click advertising sounds expensive but if you research, prepare, and do it right, a small amount of money budgeted for PPC ads could net sales. Take half the profits from those sales and re-invest and you've turned a small investment into an income stream. Don't just jump into PPC advertising without taking the time to learn how it works. A marketing consultant could be great help in this area.


Lead Generation / Email Marketing

Are you treating every visitor to your site as a lead? Don't let that visitor leave without trying to capture their info. Consider adding an opt-in form and doing something to entice people to opt-in to receiving future contact from you. If you've optimised your site well, you should be getting the right sort of traffic and by getting info you can market to that person in the future through e-mail marketing.


The above methods are just a few of the ways you can inexpensively create a small business marketing strategy. As you see results you can increase your budget, knowing that you are likely to get great return on your investment. If you are having trouble, or doubts about, navigating the world of online advertising you can find small business consultants who can advise you and do a small campaign for you to help you gauge potential and then expand on it, should it be successful.

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