It’s been a rough year for everyone in this economy, but business must go on. For people with a small business, that may mean finding a way to reach new customers, with a minimal marketing investment.
So if you find yourself looking for way to grow your customer base on a tight budget, don’t despair – you’ve got options.
You may feel that the big turnkey marketing options aren’t on the table. You can’t afford to advertise, at least not in the places or amounts that will make a difference – avenues like PPC may bring you results if you can afford to invest significantly ( alot depends on your industry), and print and other media can have an intimidating price tag for a business trying to save money.
So where does that leave you? Well, these days, the name of the game for many people is Making Personal Connections. The idea is, you may not be able to get your message out to every person on the planet all at once, but if you can reach a small group, and make them really feel connected to you and your business, then they may help you spread your customer base for you. You may not bring in the massive numbers of a big-budget campaign, but the people you do reach may be much more likely to become your customers.
You first step, always, should be to make a plan. You need to look at your business – figure out who your customers are (and who your best customers are), who your competitors are, and what your message is. Then you need to know what your marketing budget is. We’ve spoken to companies that feel like they just have no budget at all, but you always have something to invest in growth, whether it’s $50 a month or $5000. Know what it is, and plan around it.
One good area is through Social Media – focus on a few social media networks that seem to work for your business, and then spend some time each day making posts, commenting on other people’s posts, and growing your social network. It doesn’t cost anything more than an investment of time, and a commitment to sticking with it.
You can start a blog for your business – it’s a great way to connect with people on subjects connected to your business and show off your expertise. But make sure you have the time and the energy to stick with it – if you’re not updating at least once a week, you may be wasting your time. If you do update consistently, take advantage of your other social networks bring people to the articles you’ve written. And be sure not to make each post a sales pitch. Focus on real content that would interest your market.
You can also take your marketing offline, and seek out meetup events and networking groups wherever you live. A face-to-face meeting can be far more powerful and memorable than any online connection, and you never know what may result from meeting someone. Even people who will never become your customers may have other ways of helping your business grow.
And once you have a growing contact list, make sure you stay in touch! Don’t waste your efforts by dropping the ball. Make sure you stay in touch with your list with a good, regular email campaign, and take the time to respond more personally to people you’ve connected with. Keep your word-of-mouth marketing in mind, and encourage people on your list to reach out to people they know who might be interested in your business.
Above all, keep in mind that you will need to stick with your marketing plan for a while in order to get the results you want – you’re not going to see any quick fixes. It’s easy to get discouraged after only a few weeks and give up on your efforts, or try a different direction altogether. But if you stick with your strategy and mark your progress as you go, you should see a steadily growing base of followers.
Of course we think you may want to work with us on your internet marketing 
but you may also want to take a look at this recent newsletter from sitepoint, with some similar advice on the subject of “skinny” marketing.
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