Originally published online at ColoradoBiz Magazine.
With the economy declining, many businesses are doing everything and anything to save a penny, including making the most efficient use of their marketing dollars. Few business owners have the resources to invest 2.7 million dollars on a 30 second television spot during Superbowl XLII. Fortunately, with the proliferation of the internet and social media, it is now possible to reach a larger and more geographically distant market for the same or even less money than it costs to reach a regional market using traditional means. There are a variety of free or inexpensive tools to market your business online, and here are a few of our favorites.
LinkedIn is like a search engine for people. You can post a free profile about yourself and your business, which will be searchable by over 20 million users globally. LinkedIn is great for looking for new employees, conducting market research, and getting free consulting through the Answers section. A good profile is the key to being “found” on LinkedIn, so it’s important to include plenty of relevant keywords in your summary.
LinkedIn also offers advertising opportunities which can cost as little as $12.00 per 1,000 impressions. You can target your ads to reach business professionals in a set demographic, or you can create your own custom target which can be tuned to specific local areas or keywords.
Ning
Nings are little social networks or communities based around a common theme. If there isn’t already an online community or message board centered on your niche, you can use Ning to create on for free. You can build free group sites to promote a topic or area of interest that your potential customers are interested in. You can then use your community on Ning to interact with your customers, educate, build relationships and do market research. If there is already an active network on Ning which is relevant to your business, you can contact the group owner about placing advertisements directly on their network.
Twitter is a hot micro blogging tool that has been in the press a recently for breaking news stories before traditional media outlets. It allows users to post messages in blurbs of 140 characters or less. Twitter is great for developing relationships with potential customers and providing service to your existing customer base, as the CEO of Zappos.com, and the folks at Dell and H & R Block have found out. You can use Twitter search tools to see who is talking about your company or industry, and “follow” those users to get in on the conversation. You can also use tools and plugins which allow you to display your twitter posts on your website, or to provide links to your latest blog posts to your friends on Twitter.
Facebook is one of the largest and most popular social networking platforms on the Internet. By joining Facebook, you’ll have the ability to set up a profile and use simple tools to create groups related to your business’s target market. You can increase interest in your Facebook group by offering special promotions that are exclusively available to group members.
Facebook also offers an inexpensive pay-per-click or pay-per-impression advertising program. You can advertise a page from your own website, or your Facebook profile, and customize your ad with an image and a text description. Facebook allows you to target specific user demographics by location, age, gender, education level, interests and employers. Ads can cost as little as $0.01 per click or $0.10 per 1,000 impressions. Daily budgets can start as low as $5.00.
Craig’s List
Craig’s List is a (mostly) free, no-frills online classified site that we find particularly useful for service providers. If you’re just starting out, and you’re strictly looking to advertise, without spending a lot of time on profile management and relationship building, Craig’s List can be an invaluable tool. You can post about services and products offered by your business, as well as recruit new hires, or engage in social networking through their discussion forums.
With a little time and attention, you can use online tools to stretch your marketing dollar and reach your customers with a very limited advertising budget. New tools for online marketing are popping up every day, and you can keep up with our favorites here.
Leave a comment below and tell us your favorite ways to market your business online!
Very nice Job and well written Rob.
Your success is obvious in you attention to detail
Thanks Chuck. We’re glad you stopped by and left us a comment!
I am running a small internet marketing business as my side business. This has helped me cut time when I’m free from my busy schedule. I really get satisfaction when I am my own boss.