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TimothyRich–Marketing&CopywritingConsultantIncreaseYourProfits20-100%InJust90DaysWithoutSpendingAnExtraPennyOnAdvertising!Email:[email protected]
PRESSRELEASE|“7WAYSTO‘BOOTSTRAP’YOURMARKETING”
THISMARKETERSAYSYOUCANDOUBLEYOURBUSINESSWITHOUTINCREASINGYOURADVERTISINGSPEND!
Northampton,UK.April7th2016
TheproblemwithsmallbusinessestodayisthatawholelotofentrepreneursgointobusinesswithaGREATidea…andthenfail.
Don’tgetmewrong–I’mnotsayingthatyourideaisn’tgreat!Butwhatbusinessownersandentrepreneursdon’trecogniseisthatbygoingintobusinessinthefirstplace,theyhavetogointothemarketingbusinessaswell.
AccordingtoTheOfficeofNationalStatistics,1in10businessesthesedaysareclosingdown–andjustzeroinginonthenightlife:thereare50%fewerestablishmentsthantherewere10yearsago!
Andwhyisthat,inaneconomythat’sontherise?Youcouldblamethehighbusinessrates,ortheinabilitytocompeteagainsttheleaders:Tesco,Starbucks,Uber…Andthesemayindeedbeabigfactor.
Butifallyou’redoingispumpingyourmoneyintoadvertising,thatisn’tcompetition–that’sfeedingMrAdvertiserandhisfamily.
SOHOWELSECANYOUMARKETYOURBUSINESS?Firstofall,weneedtomakeitclearwhatexactlyIS‘marketing’anyway?
Isitadvertising?Abit.
Isitsales?Also,abit.
Isitlogos,signsandposters?Well,thatcomesintoit.
Isitallofthesethings?Inamannerofspeaking.
Whatmarketingreallyisisthecommunicationofamessage–yourbusiness’message–toyourprospects,customers,andclients.It’samessagethatgetsthemtoknowyou,getsthemtolikeyou,andgetsthemtotrustyou.
Nobodygivestheirmoneytosomebodytheydon’ttrust.
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Andthewaysmallbusinessescancompeteagainstthebigboysisbyemployingthebootstrapmarketingtechniques–thesameonesbigcompaniesusedbeforetheyhadhugeadvertisingbudgets–tobuilduptheirownshareofthemarket.
EXAMPLESOFBOOTSTRAPMARKETINGTECHNIQUESWhatdidStarbucksdobeforetheyhadmoneytospendonadvertising?Theyspelledyournamewrong.
That’sright,eachtimeyoutookaphotoofawronglyspellednameonacupanduploadedittoInstagram,that’sFREEpublicityforStarbucks.
RememberwhenHotmailstarted?Theyautomaticallygaveeachemailasignature:“GetyourfreeemailaccountatHotmail.com”,causingthemessagetobespreadvirally.ForFREE.
GoogleandMicrosoftbothstartedoutsimplybyusingPublicRelations.Iftherewasanindustrymagazinearound,theywereinterviewedinit.All–the–time.
Ifyou’realreadyadvertising,youcanoptimiseforhigherreturnsjustbydevelopingandcommunicatingyourUniqueSellingProposition.
Domino’sdidthatwhentheydeclared:“Warm,freshpizza,deliveredtoyourdoorin30minutesorlessoryourmoneyback.”
We’renottalkingaboutasexysloganhere,justapromise,adeclarationofyourdifferentiationfromthe“metoo’s”onthemarket.
Considerthis:whentheconsumerisfacedwith“metoo”businesseseverywhere,theonlywaythey’reabletochooseisbasedonprice.Butwhenyoucompeteonprice,youlose.Everytime.
7WAYSTOBOOTSTRAPYOURMARKETINGBootstrappingyourmarketingisn’tanewconcept.
It’sthewaymostofthebigguyshadtostart–andthewaythefuturebigguyswillstartouttoo.
Soifyouwanttobeafuturebigguy,hereare7thingsyouneedtodoforyourbusiness,startingtoday:
v Standapartfromthe“metoo’s”–findoutwhyyourcommunityspendsmoneywithyouandnotyourcompetitors.Then,tellthatmessagetoeveryone!
v Chancesareyourfavouritecustomershangaroundwithlike-mindedpeople.Doyouwantthemtobringtheirfriendsnexttime?Whynotgivethemareasontostopkeepingyourbusinesssuchasecret.Thistechniquealonecoulddoubleyourbusinessrightoffthebat!
v Whereelsedoyourcustomersshop?NottoolongagoMillie’sCookiescross-promotedadiscountwithOcadototheircustomers.Whoelsehasyourcustomersandhowcantheypromoteyourbusinesstothem?
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v Getoutinthecommunitybysponsoringlocalevents,orjusttouchbasewithindustrypublications–rememberMicrosoftandGooglegotstraightinfrontoftheirmarketjustthroughfreepublicity.
v Doyourcurrentcustomersneedareasontocomeback?Coffeecardsmaybecliché,butthey’reeverywherebecausetheywork!Howcanyoukeepyourcustomerscomingbackformore?
v Doyouhaveup-sellingopportunitiesthatcanincreasetheaveragesalepercustomer?Amazondoesthisonlinewiththeir“Customerswhoboughtthisalsobought…”section;websitehostsup-selltheirpackagesallthetime.Evenoffline:fastfoodandrestaurateursdothisbysellingbundles,mealdeals,up-sizing,winerecommendations,starters&desserts.Takealookatclothestoremannequinsorboutiquedisplays.Howcanyoumakesureyourcustomersbuymoreeachtime?
v Collectorandmodel-makermagazinessellthefirstissueformerepenniesandmakealossupfrontbecausethefollow-upsubscriptiontocompletethemodeliswheretheprofitcomesfrom.Doyouhavebackendprofitpotential?Ifnot,canyoubuildsome?Youmightevenconsiderdistributingapartnerproductfora50/50splitandhelpafellowsmallbusinesstogetoffthegroundaswell.
Allthebigcompaniesthatyouthinkareyourcompetitionweresmallnottoolongago.
Thesebigguyslearnedtogrowupwithoutahugeadvertisingbudget,whilefacingthecompetitionoftheirtime,payinghighbusinessrates,andpotentiallyinaworseeconomythantheonewe’reinrightnow.
Butbybootstrappingtheirmarketingandseeingopportunitieswhereitlookedbleak,theymanagedtogettotheplacethattheyarenow.
Youcanbethesamesuccessstoryinthenext12months,sothinktoyourselfaboutthese7waysyoucanleverageyourownbusinesswiththebenefitsyouhavearoundyoueveryday,andseewhatuniqueandexcitingmarketingavenuesyoucanexploreforyourowngrowth.
TimRichisareferral-basedMarketingCoachforsmallbusinessownersbothofflineandonline.HeemploysthemethodsinthisarticleandmanymoretohelpentrepreneursimplementMarketingSystemsthatwillincreasetheirprofits20-100%withoutincreasingtheiradvertisingexpense.
