Forthcoming Events
all held at:
Henley-
Golf & Country Club
Thursday 16th September 2010 Networking Event & Lunch
12.00 o’clock to 2.15pm
Presented by: Richard Suthons -
Richard Suthons Associates
MEMBERSHIP
With effect from 1 September 2009, membership of the Warwickshire Business Club is FREE. The individual annual membership fee of £50 and the corporate annual membership fee of £150 have been scrapped! To become a member, all you have to do is attend just one networking event and this entitles you to free membership of the club.
proud to be networking since 1982
20 Free Ways to Promote your Business
by Helen Dowling of Exceptional Thinking
One of the things that many small business owners seem to have in common is struggling to come up with idea to promote a business. There are over 100 different ways out there that you can use to promote your business and most of them cost little or nothing to do. Here are 20 ideas:
If you like talking to people:
1. Contact your local BBC radio station and see whether you can go on one of their shows. On the BBC, you can’t overtly promote your business, but you could go on as an expert on one of the subjects they’re talking about.
2. Why not contact some local networking groups and see whether you can give a talk about a subject to their members? Many networking groups are looking for good quality speakers and if you like talking, this could be a great method for you.
3. What about telemarketing (cold calling)? If you like talking, this could be great for you. Why not get on the phones and talk to potential customers about what you do?
4. Walk around the neighbourhood. If you appeal to businesses, why not visit all the local businesses in your area. Just call in when you’re next going past and introduce yourself. The more you visit and build a relationship, the more likely they are to use your products or services.
5. Tell everyone! You’ll be amazed by how many people don’t really know what you do. Get out there and let them know.
If you like writing:
6. Could you write an article about your business? If you do, you could get it out to the press or you could submit it to “free article websites” if you do a search on Google.
7. Write a newsletter and send it out to your current contacts and any new people that you meet. This is a great way of keeping in front of people and building a relationship, particularly if you provide useful information.
8. Why not approach your local press to see whether you can have a regular column in the local newspaper? Answering people’s questions is a great way to build your reputation.
9. Letters to editors. If you see something in the press that is related to your industry, why not write a letter to the editor that expresses your opinion. This is a great way of getting your name out there and builds your credibility.
10. Enter business awards. This is a great way to tell people who are you and will be fantastic press if you win. Find a list of all awards you are eligible for at www.j4b.co.uk
If you like walking:
11. Go out to networking events. Visit as many different groups as you can and see whether or not they are useful for your business.
12. Volunteer. I’ve got some of my best jobs from volunteering. Remember to volunteer in an industry that’s related to your business though or this method won’t work as well for you. For example, if you’re a printer, you could get involved in a group and offer to do the printing for them.
13. Promote using your leisure activities. While you’re having fun, why not wear
a t-
14. Go to an exhibition. While they can be expensive to attend as an exhibitor, they are usually low cost or free to attend as a visitor. Talk to exhibitors, attend the seminars and talk to other visitors. They can be very productive for your business if you do.
15. Have a stand at a market stall, festival or craft fair. This is a great low-
If you like to demonstrate:
16. Hold an event and demonstrate what you do. This is a great way to build credibility and persuade people who might have been ‘sitting on the fence’ to buy from you.
17. Give away free stuff. Can you send out samples, free tips, a report? If you let people know what you do by sending out something that doesn’t cost very much for you to do, this is a really good way of letting people experience your products and services risk free.
18. Could you hold a competition? People who enter will be telling you that they’re interested in what you do and the prize will allow you to demonstrate your products and services.
19. What could you sponsor as a company? Sponsorship doesn’t have to cost money.
If you appeal to parents for instance, you might donate t-
20. Why not send a thank you gift to all the people who have bought from you? We rarely get thanked for buying something, so this could be a really nice surprise to show you care.
Remember, marketing is only limited by how creative you can be. If you’d like a list of 50 ways to market and promote your business for free, please feel free to contact us (details in resource box) and we’ll be happy to send it over.
Exceptional Thinking provides advice and help to small business owners on their marketing and to people setting up in business.
Resource -
Articles written by members of Warwickshire Business Club
Copyright (C) 2009 Warwickshire Business Club. All rights reserved.
Warwick Castle