Marketing isn’t
something that should be done inconsistently, only when you think you have time
to do it. Because truth be told, as a business owner who wears a lot of
different hats, you’re never going to have the time. Instead, you have to make the time. And that means doing
something every single day. Before you think you don’t have the time to do
that, think again. Marketing doesn’t have to be hours of your day. Instead it’s
something you can do in as little as 15 minutes a day.
1. Customer service. This may not seem like a tip for marketing
your business but it definitely is. Think about it - if a customer or potential
client gives you a shout out on social media, you now have the opportunity to
engage with them (and their friends/followers too!). And you can do this all
within 15 minutes a day! When you’re handing customer service via email
messages, make sure you have an email signature that has your business
information listed in the signature. Include a link to your website, contact
information and you can even invite them to connect with you on social media.
2. Know your blog stats. Take 15 minutes a day and check out your
blog stats. It’s important to know information such as what keywords are being
used to find your website, what content is being viewed the most, and more.
This information gives you inside information into exactly what your market
wants. And then it’s up to you to give it to them by creating even more content
based on this information. Doing this will help ensure that you’re providing
them with fresh content you know they
want.
3. Read a marketing blog. Set aside 15 minutes to read a current
marketing blog or article. But take it a step further than just reading. Leave
2-3 minutes so that you can comment on the content. There are two purposes for
doing this. One, you’ll be marketing your business because you’ll be able to
include a link to your business in the comment section. Two, it also gets your
name in front of other marketers (this is especially important if you’re
commenting on content that belongs to big influencers in your specific niche).
And don’t forget to bookmark the site so you can check it daily.
4. Join an online forum. Take some time to research different online
forums. Find one where your target market hangouts and join it. Most online
communities will let you add a signature line. Use this space to add a link to
your website, your name/business name. Then spend time each day visiting the
forum and interacting with the other users.
5. Pinterest. Sign up for a free Pinterest account and
then edit the profile information to include a link to your website, brief
business description, image of yourself and more. Not only is this a great way
to market your business, it’s a fun way to interact with your market. Pinterest
is like a big bulletin board where you get to pin to the boards you create. Set
up some fun boards – let your market get to know you. If you love sports,
create a sports board and pin your favorite teams, players, sports quotes and
more. But don’t forget to create a business board where you can market your
business by posting blog posts, products you’re selling, etc. And don’t forget,
it’s also about interacting with other pinners to – leave a comment on a pin
they shared, re-pin something they shared.
6. Facebook. This is another social media platform that
you don’t want to miss out on. Take the time to set up a page for your business
so you can keep it separate from your personal profile. After you’ve created
the page, add a few posts to it before you start looking for others to like.
Keep in mind that from your business page, you can only like other pages.
Again, keep in mind you shouldn’t always be promoting your business.
The 15 minutes a
day you spend on Facebook should be more about building relationships with your
followers, not about self-promotion. Keep in mind people buy from those they
know, like and trust. Facebook is a great place for customers and potential customers
to get to know you! Share valuable information, interact with them and they’ll
keep coming back.
7. Twitter. Here’s another social media platform that
gives you a free marketing platform. Once you create your account, edit the
profile section and add a link to your website as well as a brief (you only get
160 characters) description about you/your business. Then start connecting with
people like your customers, potential customers, your competitors, your network
of professionals in your area, etc.
Spend your 15
minutes a day wisely. In the beginning it’s a good idea to spend this time
finding people to connect with (like just mentioned) and interacting with them.
Instead of just following someone, why not send a Tweet to them. Something like
“hey @username, great tagline (photo, blog post, whatever). Looking forward to
following you.” Engage with them, Retweet their stuff. When you Tweet, remember
to keep the marketing/promotional stuff to a minimum.
8. LinkedIn. Going along with the social media theme,
LinkedIn is another platform you can market your business for free. Like
Facebook, they also now include business pages. Unlike Facebook where anyone
can set up a FB page, there are some requirements your personal LinkedIn
profile must reach first before you’re eligible for a business page. Read those here. But your personal profile will work just
fine. Once you have an account set up, edit it to include a description about your
business, a link to your website, your skills, etc. Spend your 15 minutes a day
participating in some LinkedIn groups. Comment on posts, answer questions, etc.
Groups are a great way to find people to connect with and add them to your
connections (LinkedIn calls them connections not friends).
9. Google+. Google+ has what’s called a hover card. When
someone hovers over your name this card pops up. In the screenshot to the
right, you can see the hover card in action. The text is small but it says:
Passionate Social
Media Leader, Facebook Marketing & Relationship Marketing Speaker and
Author MariSmith.com • Social Media Consultant, Trainer & Speaker •
Facebook Marketing Expert • Author, 'The New Relationship Marketing' •
Coauthor: 'Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day' • Named one of the Top Ten Social
Media Influencers by D&B Credibility and Forbes • Dubbed 'The pied piper of
the online world' by Fast Company • Scottish-Canadian ツ San Diego, California
And then there’s
the box giving you the option to add her to your circles. All that to say, use
your 15 minutes a day commenting on posts. Why? Because when you do, people
will be able to hover over your name and see more details about you. This is a
great way to start interacting with others and marketing your business in a
relationship building sort of way!
10. Return on Investment. Now that we just covered a bunch of social
media ideas for marketing your business, it’s important that you spend time
tracking your efforts. You have to know what the ROI (return on investment) is
that you’re getting. If you find that you’re not getting any interaction or
traffic from your Pinterest efforts, then maybe you need to stop focusing on
that one and instead focus where you are seeing the most ROI. Part of marketing
your business every day, is knowing where/how to best spend those 15 minutes a
day.
11. Live event Q&A sessions. If you’re at a live event most of them offer
Q&A sessions after a speaker/session. Take the time to ask a relevant
question. Why? These are usually recorded and before you ask your question you
can say your name and your website URL. Quick and easy way to market your
business. Those in the room with you will now know who you are/what your
website URL is and anyone that purchases the recordings and listens at a later
date will hear the same info.
12. Attend live webinars. This is another way to market your business
quickly and easily, not necessarily in 15 minutes a day, but still worth your
marketing efforts. During the Q&A session (most webinar presenters always
provide a time for questions) chime in. If you have the opportunity to ‘take
the microphone’ and talk, do this because your name and URL will be said out
loud and the recording will pick it up. Sometimes, if you put a question in the
chat section, a webinar presenter will state your name/URL but it’s better if
you can say it, so it’s pronounced properly.
13. Facebook ads. When it comes to marketing your business to
a very targeted group of people, Facebook ads is one possible choice. They’re great
for a special product, time-limited item, or even a free webinar. You can also
use them to get more likes. Whatever you decide when it comes to Facebook ads,
keep in mind that you have to have a goal you want to achieve. And then don’t
forget to include a very clear call to action – people have to know exactly
what you want them to do when they see this ad
14. Repurpose old content. Set aside 15 minutes a day to go through
your old content. Find ways to repurpose it. Maybe that means you rewrite it,
create videos, write a report to go with it, record a podcast episode – it
doesn’t matter, just do something with it so that you can use it to market your
business.
15. Share old content on social media. All that old content that was just
mentioned, aside from repurposing it into fresh, new content, you can still use
it to market your business. Each day take time to share some of the old stuff
on social media. Maybe focus on one piece of content each day. When doing this,
just remember to tweak things a little when posting to your different social
media sites so that followers, who are connected with you in more than one
place, aren’t seeing the same thing on each site.
16. Blog. Blogging is going to be one of the most essential parts of your
marketing plan – and if it’s not, it should be. Your blog is your main hub on
the Internet and the only way to get visitors there and to keep your content
current. Now it may take you longer than 15 minutes to write a blog post, but
imagine what you could do if you schedule regular blocks of time on your
calendar to do this. In addition to creating your own content, another option
(and this should only take you 15 or less minutes) is what’s known as content
curating. This simply means finding something you think is share worthy and
valuable to your audience and you write a brief post about it, quote something
from the content you’re sharing and then link to the other site.
17. Handout business cards. Only you can decide if this is a marketing tactic you want to spend 15
minutes a day doing. If you don’t target local businesses, it might not make
sense to do this every day. But whatever works for you, handing out business
cards is a great way to market your business. When you’re in line at the
grocery store, start a conversation with the person by you; leave cards on
bulletin boards; remind others to pass them along to anyone who might be helped
by your services or products.
18. Car magnet or decal. Speaking of going out in public and handing
out business cards, why not use your car as a big business card? Have a magnet
sign with your name, business name, website link and contact information. This
is a great way to market your business over and over without you having to do
anything other than stick the magnet or decal on your car.
19. Google Alerts. There’s more to Google alerts than just
knowing when people mention your name or business. You can set up these alerts
to notify you every day about a specific keyword, keyword phrase or name that
you want to keep an eye on in your market. These alerts can be used to generate
content ideas, show you where to post a comment (if it’s a blog post or
article), and more. Google alerts are also a great way to monitor your online
reputation. Whether people are saying something positive or negative about you,
it gives you a chance to go and interact with them.
20. Reach out to past customers. Take a few minutes each day to craft an
email message letting former clients know you miss them. A great time to reach
out to them is if you are releasing a new product or have a new service
available. Don’t be afraid to take it a step further and make things even more
personable, too. If you have their phone number, pick up the phone and call
them. More than likely you won’t be bothering them, they’ll be tickled that you
went above and beyond normal customer service and took the time to reach them
on the phone.
21. Word of mouth referrals from current
customers. Get others to
market for you! As a consumer, you know that whether you have a good or bad
experience with someone (or a store, restaurant or other business) you’re
likely to talk about it. This is even more so in this day and age with easy
access to social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more. So
let your satisfied customers do the marketing for you by giving word of mouth
referrals, testimonials and social media shout outs. Give them an incentive to
spread the word – maybe offer a referral fee if you’re a service provider or an
affiliate commission if you sell products.
22. Reach out to potential clients and
customers. Reach out to
your target market – those potential clients and customers you would love to
have as a customer. You can do this in 15 minutes a day by finding their
websites, forums they hang out in and social media groups they’re a part of.
Once you know where they are, take 15 minutes every day and visit those places.
Don’t just lurk though. You can’t market yourself if you’re not interacting.
Take an interest in them, their problems and things they share. Take the time
to answer their questions and offer assistance where you can. You have to show
them there’s a reason to visit your site/buy your product/work with you.
23. Email marketing. Don’t forget another one of the most
important marketing tips there is – email marketing. It’s important to always
be actively working on building your mailing list and mailing them on a
consistent basis. Putting yourself in front of your subscribers regularly helps
them remember who you are. And also gives you the opportunity to market your
services, products, affiliate products, share great content and more.
23. Connect with the “big guys” in your
industry. Spending 15
minutes a day researching the big influencers in your industry can lead to some
huge opportunities for you in the future. Of course, it’s not just a matter of
researching them and finding out who they are and where they hang out. It’s
important that you take the time to start interacting with them, too. A great
place to start is by signing up for their mailing list. Then connect with them
on social media sites. Once you have started building a relationship with them,
you can reach out to them about the possibility of guest blogging for them or
appearing as a guest on their podcast, etc. Whatever you do, don’t reach out to
them without first knowing a bit about them and how they conduct their business
so that when you approach them you can provide a win/win situation for the both
of you.
24. Guest blog. There are a lot of marketers out there in
the blogosphere who are happy to accept guest posts. Don’t make the mistake of
just approaching every Tom, Dick and Harry though. Instead, take the time to
find relevant bloggers in your niche and then approach them. In just 15 minutes
a day, you could email several of these bloggers with your pitch of a guest
blog idea. Make sure it fits with the information they share with their
audience. Once you get the go ahead to guest blog, create valuable,
high-quality content. This is an excellent way to market yourself to a whole
new audience that might not have found you otherwise.
25. Attend live events. This isn’t something you can do in 15
minutes a day but it’s still an important part of marketing your business. Live
events mean you’ll have to travel. Some are out of town and even require
overnight (or several nights) stays. But don’t discard this idea. Not only are
they a way to get yourself out there in front of people you might have
interacted with otherwise, they are the perfect opportunity to build
relationships with others in your niche. You never know who you might meet at a
live event. There are all sorts of possibilities with the different people
you’ll meet.
26. Host a webinar. There’s no rule that says you have to host a
60 minute webinar, although most of them are. You can scale this back and do
whatever works best for you. You’ll need enough time to do what it is that you
plan on using the webinar for. Example: if you are writing a new book, host a
webinar to create some excitement about it. If you’re launching (or just
launched) a new product, host a webinar to tell people about it and maybe even
give attendees a sweet deal on it. Webinars are the perfect way to deliver a
powerful message and then throw a little marketing/promotion in at the end.
Whatever you do, don’t make the entire webinar a sales pitch. That’s the
quickest way to send people running for the hills!
27. Pitch yourself to podcast owners. Part of your 15 minutes a day marketing plan
should also include researching possible podcast appearances you could make.
Possible podcast owners to look for: your competitors, podcasts in your area of
expertise or something that aligns with your expertise. Remember; don’t just
blindly pitch yourself to someone. Meaning, make sure you read through their
guest guidelines and follow any rules they have before your pitch them. Put the
time and effort into creative an effective pitch – something that makes you
sound like someone they just have to interview.
28. Read a business book. Read a book every day for 12-13 minutes and
then use the last couple minutes (of your 15 minutes) to share a gold nugget
you picked up from the book. Post that gold nugget on all your social media
platforms. Better yet, why not whip up a quick blog post about the book and
then share a link to that post on social media.
29.
Facebook likes.
Today’s 15 minutes could be used to go to your Facebook page and then find your
favorite companies and like them. While you do not like them with an
expectation that they’ll like back, most people do. You could even spend a few
minutes writing a post on their Facebook page about why you like them. Include
a link back to your page and invite them to check you out.
30. HARO – help a reporter out. Sign up for HARO and then set aside 15
minutes a day to look through their emails. If you find something that might be
a good fit and relevant place for you to market yourself, reach out to them.
Follow the directions though! This is an excellent way to market yourself and
potentially get some media coverage.
31. Keywords. While this isn’t necessarily something
you’ll do 15 minutes every day, it plays a huge part in marketing your
business. It’s important that you spend time researching the terms people use
to find the information and products you offer. You might not think this has
anything to do with marketing your business but it has everything to do with
it. Keywords are an essential part of your marketing plan because this is how
you’ll reach your target market.
32. Submit a press release. If you’re not a great copywriter, a press
release may seem challenging to write. But don’t throw this marketing idea out.
You can always hire someone to write it for you and then you can spend your
marketing time, submitting it and promoting it. This is a great way to market
your business and also increase your credibility and visibility. It’s pretty
easy to submit to online directories but don’t forget to also reach out to your
local media outlets and see if they’ll accept your press release too.
33. Offer open phones. For this tip, you’ll need more than 15
minutes because each call you take should be about 15 minutes. This is an
excellent way to market to potential customers by letting them call you with
any questions they may have. Don’t worry about closing a deal while on the
call. Get their permission to send them a follow-up email and in that email you
can summarize what you talked about and then mention a service or product you
have that can help them.
34. Facebook Q&A session. Offer yourself for 15 minutes a day, at a
specific time, so that people can post a question for you and you’ll answer.
Let your market know that you’ll answer as many questions as possible within
that 15 minute timeframe. Remind them, if you don’t get to their question
today, you’ll be back again tomorrow. This is not only a great to market
yourself, but it’s an easy way to get your audience engaged with you!
35. TED talks. These usually run about 18-20 minutes, so
you may want to set aside a little more than 15 minutes every day for this one.
Choose from one of their 1800+ talks here. After you watch it, hop on over to your
social media sites and share something you learned from it. Check out the
speaker’s bio for a link to their website and then see if they have any social
media information on their site. If they do, follow them on Twitter, connect
with them on Facebook. Check out their website too and see if they have a blog
and if they do, skim through things and see if you can find any other
information of theirs you might like to comment on or mention on social
media.
36. Research potential sponsorship
opportunities both online and locally. Are there any events going on that your target market would be
participating in? If so, contact the event organizer and see if they are
looking for sponsors and if so what is the cost, etc. If it fits into your
budget, sign up to sponsor it. If it’s a live event, make sure you have
business cards, flyers, and other marketing materials ready to go. If it’s an
online event, they’ll probably list you as a sponsor and link back to your site
37. Google Adwords. This is an effective marketing strategy
because it’s a great way to get your business listed in search engines for
specific keywords/keyword phrases. Make sure you take the time to research
Google Adwords and familiarize yourself with how they work because if you
don’t, it can’t get expensive quick. One suggestion here is to set a monthly
budget for this so you know what you have to work with.
38. Article marketing. Some people say article marketing is dead.
Others still rely on it heavily as a way to market their business and increase
their traffic. Only you will be able to tell if you’re getting a good ROI on
it. There are a lot of article submission directory sites out there, the most
popular being Ezine Articles. You’ll have to narrow it down to a handful of
sites or you could spend hours submitting articles.
39. Social Media Events. One thing that seems to go over really well on social media sites,
specifically Facebook, is when you invite your audience to share links to their
sites, or links to their pages. You’ve probably seen things like Fan Page
Friday or Twitter Tuesday. These are ways for business owners to encourage
their audience to interact with them and others. It also gives them promotion,
which we’re all looking for a little free promo now and then. Maybe you don’t
want to offer Fan Page Friday. Instead, maybe you want to offer your audience
the opportunity to share a link of theirs every day. Maybe one day you could
ask them to share a link to their favorite piece of content, a link to their
favorite product, etc. You decide!
40. Respond to blog comments. If someone took the time to not only read
your content, but actually write a comment about it, you better take the time
to respond back. This shows that you value their time, that you do see the
comments and respond back. It could also be a way to engage in a little
conversation with a reader. When you respond back, maybe ask them a question –
something that will get them to respond back to your response to them.
41. Google places. This won’t take you 15 minutes a day, but
listing your business on Google places is a great way to market your business
for free. And because Google places is part of…well Google, its search engine
will like this.
42. Yelp. Yelp has over 60 million users and over 20 million reviews posted (at
time of writing). That says a lot about why you should have your business
listed on their site. It may not need 15 minutes a day of your time, but it’s
worth setting up an account and getting your business listed. Your Yelp listing
will help local people find your business. Make sure you take the time to
respond to anyone who leaves a review about your business.
43. Visit your local library. Spend some time in their magazine section.
Grab a magazine that you normally would never think of picking up and spend 15
minutes flipping through it. After you’ve done that, think about if you could
create a blog post about something you learned that would benefit your
audience. Or maybe it wasn’t blog post worthy, but there was something you
gleaned from it that would be worth at least putting a quick social media post
up. Whatever you decide to do, go and do it.
44. Podcast. Start your own podcast. Maybe you won’t do a
podcast episode every single day, but when you do it, it can certainly be done
in 15-20 minutes (or longer if you choose). Not only is this a marketing ploy,
but it’s also an excellent way to establish yourself as an expert.
45. Local media. You have to be a little cautious when
pitching any media outlet – both online and offline. Before you pitch to your
local media outlets, you have to decide whether or not you even have something
newsworthy that is worth pitching. Do you offer something no one else does? Do
you have a product or service that is trendsetting? These are just a few of the
questions you can ask yourself in order to decide if something is worth
pitching to the media.
46. Niche sites. Research some niche sites in your market.
Once you find them, comment on their content, follow them on social media sites
and start interacting. Share some of their content with your audience. The key
is get them to notice you and then once you’ve started interacting with them,
approach them to guest blog or have them guest blog, etc.
47. Publicity. Create a page on your website called ‘in the
media’ or something along those lines. When you appear on a podcast, a media
outlet references you, you guest post somewhere, or otherwise appear in public,
be sure to add the information to your media page. Then it’s time to start
creating some social buzz about that publicity. Share it on social media. Ask
friends to share it for you. Brag about yourself!
48. LinkedIn groups. There are a lot of groups on LinkedIn.
Research them and find ones that are related to your niche. These groups will
have your target audience hanging around. Show that you’re an expert in your
industry by answering questions and providing helpful information.
49. Facebook groups. Because anyone can quickly and easily
create a Facebook group, you’ll find them targeting just about everything you
can think of. Spend some time researching groups and find a handful of ones
that are niche specific and join them. Once you are added to the group make
your presence known by commenting on things others posts, answering questions
if you can, and providing value in other ways. The key is to stand out as an
expert but do it in a way that isn’t self-promotional or pushy.
50. Google hangouts. It’s pretty simple to set up a Google
hangout and broadcast live. This would be a great way to market your business
by inviting potential customers to join you and ask you questions about your
products and services. Let them get to know you while seeing your face and
hearing your voice. If you’re too “shy” to do a live hangout, you can do one
with just yourself and then publish it to your website and invite people to
view it there.
51. Group giveaways/partnerships. More than likely you’ve seen big group JV
partnership events before where a group of people will get together and each of
them will give away a product (or even sell it). If you have an opportunity to
participate in something like this, it can be a good way to market your business.
And a lot of times, the bigger benefit of doing something like this would be
the opportunity to build your mailing list.
52. Stationery. Creating some notepads that have your
business information on them is a fun way to market your business. Hand them
out at a networking event, when you’re out and about in public. Use them as
thank you gifts for customers. Get creative – leave them at your local library,
leave a few in the waiting room of your doctor’s office.
53. Ask for product reviews. Research some bloggers in your market that
could help get the word out about your product. Once you’ve compiled a decent
sized list, start reaching out to them and finding out if they would be
interested in reviewing your product in exchange for an honest review/testimonial
of it.
54. Hashtag. It used to be that a hashtag (#) was only
found on Twitter. Now, they’ve carried over into other social media platforms
as well – Facebook and Instagram both use them, too. Create a hashtag for your
business, a product, service, etc. and then when you’re marketing on social
media sites, be sure to use it. Let your customers and social media followers
to use it too.
55. Site directories. Add your site to some of the directories. A
few of them that you can submit your site to are: Google, Bing, Link Directory, LinkBook). There are
a lot of other directories out there, but this is a good start. Note: some of
these directories are free resources and others are paid resources.
56. Guest bloggers. Make a list of bloggers that would be a
good fit for sharing content on your website. Start reaching out to them and
find out if they would be interested in writing a guest post for you. Make sure
that you provide them with a reason why that guest blogging for you would be
worth their time and effort – do you get a large amount of traffic to your
site, is your social media following large, etc. They need something to
‘entice’ them to put forth the effort to giving you content.
57. StumbleUpon. If you’re not familiar with them, they’re a
social bookmarking site. Users add things to their profile based on what they
like. It’s an excellent way to drive more traffic to your online content and
with 20 million users, there’s a potential
for your content to go viral. Top 10 (or other list type) posts tend to catch
the eye of users, so keep this in mind and create some high quality, valuable
list type posts for your blog. If you aren’t interested in putting time into
actively using StumbleUpon yourself and just want it for promotional purposes,
they do have what’s called Paid Discovery where you will pay 10 cents for every
click through to your site. But why pay when you can spend just 15 minutes
every day being an active StumbleUpon user instead?
58. Digg. Digg is just one more quick and easy way to market your business and get
more traffic to your website. Submit your blog posts to Digg by entering the
URL of it and a brief description. Make the description one that creates
interest so people will want to digg it. Other people can also submit content
for you – ask friends or others in your industry to submit something of yours
and don’t forget to return the favor!)
59. Social Monkee. This is a link building tool that you can
use to create backlinks to your website. Every time you have new content on
your site, submit it to Social Monkee. They’ll then distribute it to up to 25
sites. They encourage you to spin the title and description of every submission
you make. This is so that the backlinks don’t all look the same.
60. Chamber of Commerce. Check out your local Chamber and find out
about joining. This is an excellent way to not only get involved in your
community, but it’s a great way to market yourself locally. Once you join,
attend the events and network. Anytime new members join, make it a habit to
introduce yourself and follow-up with them, make them feel welcome. It’s a sure
way to make someone remember who you are.
61. Paid advertising. Research some influencers in your niche and
find out if they offer advertising on their website. Most sites, if they have
advertising options available, have an advertising link on their navigation bar
so it’s usually easy to know right away. Don’t just research big influencers in
your community; spend some time looking at other options – sites that your
target market would also hang out at. For example if you’re a weight loss
coach, you could advertise on a site that is about self-help. One of the most
common forms of advertisement website owner’s offer is a 125 x 125 button
they’ll place in their sidebar.
62. Craigslist. When you think of Craigslist you probably
think of buying or selling things on a local level. Most people don’t think of
it as a marketing platform for their business. But it can be. If you’re hosting
an in person event, promote it through the Craigslist event listings option. If
you’re not doing an event, but have a digital product you’d like to sell,
create an ad. Make a plan for how you’ll use Craigslist as a marketing tool.
Don’t just go in and create a bunch of ads. Be creative and think about the
areas you want to market to. And remember, they also have a strict no spam
policy so make sure you’re following their rules when setting up your ads.
63. Classified ads - online. This tends to be something a lot of
marketers don’t think about or overlook. You can use sites like http://dir.yahoo.com/business_and_economy/classifieds/ Submit classified ads to market a new
product or service you’ve just released, a giveaway you’re doing, etc.
64. Classified ads – offline/local. You can also use your local newspapers to
post classified ads. Use it to promote a new service or product you’re
offering. Create an ad to promote signing up for your newsletter. If you’re
hosting a giveaway or contest, create an ad for that. Don’t forget to track
your results. It’s always important to know what kind of ROI you are getting on
your efforts!
65. Giveaway old books and magazines. Instead of just throwing out old magazines
you have, why not donate them? And before you drop them off at a local doctor’s
office (or library, dentist, etc.), make sure that you have a label on there
with your business information listed. This way anyone who picks it up might
see that and want to check out your website. Do the same thing for old books
you’re going to donate.
66. Affiliate program. One of the ‘easiest’ ways to market your
business is by offering an affiliate program so that others earn a commission
if someone purchases through their link. Make it even easier for them to do the
marketing for you – create some affiliate tools and resources (ready-to-go
emails, Facebook posts, Tweets, etc.) so they can just add their affiliate link
and then share it.
67. Apparel. Have a shirt designed with your business
logo or website information on it. When you’re out in public wear the shirt and
market without even thinking about it. There are other alternatives to a shirt,
too. You can have baseball caps made, sweatshirts, scarves, book bags, coffee
mugs (although that doesn’t fall under apparel), and more. Get creative! Give
them to family and friends and have them wear your marketing message, too.
68. Email signature. Every day millions of emails are sent. You
probably spend a lot of time emailing with customers and potential customers. So
don’t forget the email signature line. This is valuable online real estate.
Include a link to your website, your contact information, invite them to
connect with you on social media, sign-up for your list and more.
69. Speak at a local networking event. Public speaking isn’t on everyone’s to-do
list and if you’re afraid of doing it, you’re not alone. It’s one of the most
common fears people have. But, if you have the opportunity to showcase your
expertise by speaking at a networking event, get up there and do it. One of the
quickest ways to show people you’re an expert in your niche is by being invited
to speak at an event. And once the talk is over, you’ll be able to have
face-to-face conversations with potential customers and interact with others.
And honestly, there’s nothing better than in-person networking!
70. Host a giveaway. People like winning things so why not host
some sort of giveaway on your site? Maybe you’ll have something for first,
second and third place. But don’t forget everyone else that participates too.
Maybe give away a free report to everyone. Giveaways create a lot of buzz so
it’s an easy way to market your business.
71. Make a slideshow. Slideshows are a way to give your audience
another way to learn from you. Remember, not everyone learns the same way so
the more ways you can give people to consume your content, the better. With
sites like Slideshare, you have
a platform to easily share a slide show presentation as well as all sorts of other
content such as videos and PDFs just to name a few. The point here is to make
sure that the information you share is branded with your business name.
72. QR code. In today’s technologically advanced world,
more and more people use smart phones. This gives you the opportunity to market
in a whole new way – with QR codes. You’ve probably seen one before. They are
little black and white square boxes that you scan with your mobile device.
Essentially a QR code is a shortcut. Instead of someone having to type a URL
into their browser, they can simply scan one of these and it will take them to
the website, Facebook page – whatever the person has set the code up to do.
Try it out and see
how it goes. Set one up to send people to your mailing list opt-in landing page
(you do have one of those right?), your Facebook page, whatever – just test out
this marketing option and see what happens.
You can quickly and
easily create QR codes by using sites like QR Code Generator or KAYWA QR Code, just to name a few. Note: if you’re going to use QR codes, please
make sure that whatever URL you are pointing someone too is optimized to be
viewed on a mobile device!
73. Solo email advertisement. Another valuable way to market your
business is to purchase a solo email mailing. You’ll have to spend some time
researching this one. Find others in your niche market and reach out to them to
see if they offer the option to purchase a solo ad to be sent out in one of
their newsletters/mailings. Keep in mind, a lot of people are very protective
of their lists (as they should be and you should be too!) and are cautious of
doing things like this especially if they don’t know who you are or what your
product is. This is why it’s a good idea to build some sort of social media
relationship with them and join their mailing list too.
74. Amazon reviews. Did you know you can set up an Amazon
profile and edit it to include a picture of you, a brief description about you,
a link to your website and more? This is an easy way to market your business.
Once you have the profile set up you can spend 15 minutes a day leaving reviews
for books you’ve read and items you’ve purchased. Why? Because when you do, if
people see your comment and are interested in learning more about you, they can
click on your name and it will take them to your Amazon profile.
75. Local business reviews. After you visit a local hair dresser,
restaurant, retail store, etc. find out if they are listed anywhere online that
you can write a review. The purpose of taking the time to write a review? While
you’re helping others by sharing your experience (a lot of people make a
decision to visit a place by the reviews they read), you’re also doing a little
marketing for yourself by putting your name/information on the review.
76. Twitter lists. Set up a list in Twitter (you can make it
public or private) and add influencers in your target market. These are the
“gurus” you want to keep an eye on and see what they’re up to, the leading
experts. Share their content once in awhile and just stay up to date on new
things they’re doing, what’s working for them and what’s not. You can learn a
lot from those that are further ahead in business than you are so pay attention.
As you can see from
this list, marketing your business can be done in as little as 15 minutes a
day. The key takeaway is that you have to consistently market your business.
It’s all about putting a little effort into it each and every day to get your
name out there, build relationships with those around you and showcase your
expertise.
