Every company seeking customers or clients will have developed some form of marketing strategy, whether it be placing an advertisement in the local free paper, or a full blown assault using every medium known to man. Whatever the process (and of course budget) we all understand that few people will come to you for business if they don’t know you exist, and without some effort on your part of course they won’t! But as a start-up business funds are inevitably short, and marketing on a budget is essential. Hey, even if it’s not essential, why waste money?
Marketing is often shoved to the back of the queue as a priority, usually because of its airy-fairy image and a lack of understanding. Often, if a company has any form of marketing budget it will be the first thing to go in a recession, whereas this is when it’s needed most. I’ve been involved with large companies in the past, principally in the Financial Services industry, who have little or no clue about marketing, and who certainly have never thought of setting aside any sort of budget to carry it out. So let’s look at one or two effective marketing solutions with the start-up business in mind:
Advertising in the Media
Why do companies like Coca-Cola still advertise? It sounds like a stupid question but think about it. We all know who Coca-Cola are, and we all know what a bottle of Coke looks and tastes like, so why bother? Well, there are obvious answers:
Competition – If Coca-Cola stopped advertising who do you think would wipe out both them and any other non-advertising competition? Correct: Pepsi. Why? Because they DO advertise.
Brand Awareness – Coca-Cola has arguably the world’s top branding, and is instantly recognisable in almost every country where it’s sold, which happens to be almost every country full stop. Even good old Santa Claus owes his red and white imagery to an early Coke advertising campaign. In his original European guise St Nick wore robes of a blue-green. If I asked you to name a sweet, fizzy, brown drink and suggested the colours red and white then you’d probably think of Coke. If I said red, white and blue, then you may think of Pepsi.
Brand awareness like this costs big bucks and would be outside of the budget of all but the largest companies.
So if you’re marketing on a budget where should you advertise? The answer depends on what it is you’re selling. If you’re selling cars or property then the local free paper always seems to keep businesses at the forefront of people’s minds. If you’re a chippy or brickie then ditto. If you’re selling a service like mine (providing bespoke seminars for professional bodies) then clearly the local rag won’t cut it. The first rule of advertising is to research your market, then search out periodicals or other media that feed that market and advertise there. In my case, trade journals, the pinks and other specialist magazines would be an ideal start. However, even a small ad may be outside of the budget of a small start-up business. So what can be done for a minimal or low outlay, and will it work?
Website
Use blogging software to produce your own website. I use WordPress for mine, as it was only meant to be a form of online business card, rather than a site which people will search for. That’s largely because I don’t have a business that people will search for, as I occupy a very small niche within my industry. In fairness, anyone who knows about this sort of thing will tell you that Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is largely ineffective with blog sites, so accept its limitations in the short term at least. You can, however, fill up the website with all the information you’d like people to have, but would never have the time to tell them.
I’ve stayed with WordPress, but have moved the site to my own domain. I have a contact who can do this for less than £20 a year, so have a look at Crimson Leaf Copywriting and Marketing in its latest form.
Businesses without a website are just begging not to be taken seriously, and although having your own domain name is better, we must remember that we’re on a budget here. No expertise is required to set one of these sites up, and if you’re reading this then you’re reading it on my site, so have a look around at the rest of the site and see what I mean.
Social Media
Like most of you I looked upon Facebook, MySpace and Twitter as kiddies’ time-fillers for the first couple of years. MySpace seems to have had its day to a certain extent, and is probably more useful for fledgling bands to showcase their work. The other two are a different kettle of fish however.
The owners of Facebook have realised that business can benefit from social networking on as grand scale. It is now possible to set up a Facebook Business Page, which frankly has some limitations. Even the personal Facebook pages will allow you to set up an advert for your business, with paid advertising which works on a pay per click basis. On a personal note I have adapted my personal Facebook page to reflect my business by ruthlessly culling my family members and making it business focussed. I have cut them from my life, (in the business sense at least) and I’ve also opened it up to the public.
In my view Twitter is the daddy of them all. The idea is that you can broadcast any message of 140 characters or fewer in real time to the whole world. Your Tweets appear, along with every other Tweet in the Tweeting universe, in the Public Time Line. Within a short while you will find that you have followers: Tweeters who have made a point of specifically looking out for your Tweets. You may follow them back, or you may already have found someone to follow all on your own. Stephen Fry, David Mitchell, Bill Bailey and Jonathan Ross are four that I follow just for amusement.
But Twitter can be a powerful business tool too. Firstly, make sure your Twitter profile is up to date with website address, contact number and photograph. If you’ve ever looked at Twitter you will know that those without a photo stick out like sore thumbs, and not in a good way. I offer my services to the clients of IFAs, solicitors and accountants, and therefore need to network specifically in these areas. Using Twellow (the Yellow Pages of Twitter) I searched for all three groups and identified those within sensible operating range, which in my case is nationwide. I then started to follow them, in reality a form of cyber-stalking. Within a week, 60% of those I chose were following me back, probably just out of curiosity. Some of these were undoubtedly using Auto-Follow, which just goes to show why you shouldn’t. You should try to choose your followers as carefully as those you follow, as fellow Tweeters will often look at your circle of friends and judge you by them. Successful Twittering is is a question of selectivity, as no one will want to know you if all your followers are people running porn sites.
On the other hand, maybe that bit needs thinking through a bit more…
So, after you’ve culled your followers (remember, quality not quantity) you will be left with a bespoke group to whom you can market, and marketing this group isn’t about shoving your product or service down their throat. On the contrary, it’s the last thing you want to do, at least for now. Post amusing one liners; respond to the Tweets of others; write an article for your blog and publish the link; pass on useful bits of information posted by other users (known as Re-Tweeting). Every now and again Tweet about your service and invite questions, thus creating a dialogue. Only after some sort of relationship has been formed can you venture into direct email contact.
I have just received an invitation to tender for Government training contracts from a delightful woman I was following, just because she found my Tweets amusing! But in return I’ve also pointed out a dead link in one of her Tweets, which will help her own marketing. With Tweeting it helps to offer some form of reciprocal help, and if you can’t then pay it forward.
Networking
There are two types of networking: Online and face to face.
A quick Google search on Business Networking will find you Linkedin and Ecademy, two of the largest networking forums available today. Linkedin has been the most productive for me, as has IFA Life, another online offering, and obviously specifically tailored to my market. Each of these sites requires you to fill in an online profile, which should be as full as you can make it while being sure not to be confusing about your message.
Face to face networking though is by far the most effective. For my money the premier organisation for networking is 4Networking, or 4N as it’s known, formed by the scariest character in the country, Brad Burton. This man has too much energy for one body, and should really be on medication. Research Brad for yourself and see what I mean, but don’t underestimate this man’s achievements. 4N has 20,000 members, ranging from one man bands to corporations. There are 200 groups meeting across the country and paid members can attend any of them for their fee. And talking of fees, this is the first of my marketing strategies to cost any money. For just a couple of hundred pounds it is possible to become a 4N Passporter, and use all of 4N’s networking opportunities, including the coveted 4Sight slot, where you can pass on useful business tips to your networking audience, thereby raising your profile. I attend one or two of these breakfast meetings every week and just wish I had the time to do more. If your budget just will not stretch then the 4N online forum is the best I’ve seen, and will certainly work for you if you put in the time to contribute and read what others are doing and have to say.
With this type of networking you will not only get to market your own business, but you will also meet many who can help you set up, from business cards to marketing consultants, and all in the friendliest of atmospheres. And talking of business cards…
Business Cards and Letterheads
Start-up businesses still need this stuff. Try to avoid very cheap or free business cards. They tend to look very cheap or free. Often they’re printed on flimsy card and are designed to show the world what a cheapskate you really are, so you’ll go out and spend money on decent ones. Think about how many cards you might need initially: probably about 50 until you have more people to give them to. Consider making your own, but follow this essential rule: USE DECENT CARD. I recommend 380 to 400 micron card, and my own cards were set up using Microsoft PowerPoint. Cards should of course carry your telephone number(s), email address, website and of course your Twitter handle. Yes, that’s right, your Twitter username, as clients and contacts can track you online and you can provide them with real-time interaction, that little extra when it comes to customer service. Always leave the back of your cards plain, as you’ll find people like to write on the back. I did all this with my first cards and was extremely proud of the results. Having cut 50 of them I noticed that the one thing missing and omitted from the above was my own name, despite the fact that two family members looked at the card before I did all the cutting! The second batch was much better. Enough blank card for 600 business cards cost me £11.50. Bargain!
Decent letterheads and compliment slips can be produced using Microsoft Word and stored as a template. If you don’t like or have Microsoft products then download OpenOffice 3, which is open-source software and therefore free. It does everything the Office suite does, and in some cases does it better. As with the cards, use the best paper you can afford, rather than the usual copy paper we all generally use.
Recruitment Agencies
Ahhh… Recruitment Agents. When times are good for recruitment agents they are often bad for us. A lot of agents I’ve dealt with lack imagination and are therefore incapable of lateral thought. When there is plenty of movement in the job market they often default to job-filling mode and if you lack that single qualification from your CV you won’t even be presented for a job, whether or not you’ve been doing it for the last ten years. However, there are one or two recruitment agents who know their stuff. Ask me and I’ll tell you who, because I’ve met them. How are they useful to a start-up business? Well, they can introduce you to other people.
In my case I’ve found two agents who will refer me to IFAs in return for a cut (introducer’s fee) of any payment I end up getting from them. Another agent is being very pro-active and introducing me to his own database of IFAs, most of whom he’s in regular contact with, and is actively cold calling on my behalf, a job I hate but he loves.
As you can see, it’s possible to do a lot on the marketing front with very little outlay. I’m not VAT registered yet, so the cost of everything so far to me has been around £280, which includes full network membership and everything else I’ve talked about. If you’re VAT registered then you can reduce that to under £245. Now THAT’S money well spent!
PaulAnthonyDean 