Media Bites-April 25 2011

Congratulations! You’re a small business owner. Welcome to the world of making things happen FOR you not TO you. As an owner, one of the very first things you’ll need to do is jump right into is advertising your goods and/or services. It can be a little scary if you don’t know where to start so we’ve compiled a list of ten low cost ways to connect to your customers. You’ll find five of them within this article and the next five we’re saving for our next installment in the Journal.

Tip number one is that you set up a profile on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook and let prospective clients and customers get to know you. Go ahead and post interesting facts and stories about your industry. Talk about what you do and offer information that people might enjoy reading. Many of these sites include sub-groups where you can drill down and find a more finite group that might be interested in your product or service. For instance, if you sell chocolate, find a group that talks about specialty chocolate. Offer your expertise to the group but don’t try to sell anything. The sales will come when the group starts to see you as a resource.

One of the most important things you will need to do is to create a brand image so tip number two is to create a logo and a brand statement. We know that this can be costly. With revision after revision, a logo can run into the thousands of dollars. But we’ve found that creating these necessary items are no longer costing an arm and a leg. There are many websites available that are built specifically to help you through the process. Most are free for the development but of course when it’s time to buy, you’ll need to pay. Two of the sites we’ve used are www.freelogoservice.com and www.logosnap.com. They’re both full of ideas that will get your creative juices flowing. Both of these sites are broken down by industry. It comes in handy because if you’re an accountant, you likely don’t want to spend your time looking through all the dance and yoga images.

Tip number three is to determine your target audience. You’ll need to think about who your customers might be. Are they male, female, middle aged women, teenagers who skateboard, anyone who loves chocolate? What do they like to do? Where do they congregate? How will they find you? Will they be looking on the web or are they more inclined to read the daily newspaper. This is key when trying to figure out how you will reach them. You can find tips on targeting your audience in our book Your Ad Here: De-Mystifying the Business of Media and Advertising that will help you figure out creative ways of determining your audience.

You’ll need a website so tip number four is to create a Wordpress website. It’s easy to set up your initial site but you’ll definitely need some help customizing once it’s set up. We recommend that you contact Chic Business Support Services for help with this. They’re prices are reasonable and they’re very easy work with.

Tip number five is to go to www.youtube.com and set up your own channel. This service is completely free and your target audience is out there. Make creative videos, offer your goods, services and most especially offer yourself as a resource. Let people see who you are and what you like. It won’t take long before they feel that they know you. And we know that the average person does business with they people they know and trust.

There you have it; the first five tips to low cost advertising for small businesses. The next five tips will be available here soon so keep checking the journal. And be sure to check out our book Your Ad Here: De-Mystifying the Business of Media and Advertising on Amazon.com.