Most business owners believe that business development and marketing have to cost a lot of money. If it doesn’t cost a lot, surely it can’t be any good?

Wrong!

As Business Development Advisors we believe that good small business marketing doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. What counts isn’t the size of the budget, but the skill and experience of the marketer.

Our first response is to utilise low cost business development and marketing techniques. Our number one concern is the return on investment we achieve for our clients. Marketing should be an investment not a cost.

Some Low Cost Marketing Techniques

• Referral Marketing – referrals count for nearly 90% of business growth for SMEs. Do you have a referral marketing strategy to drive referrals? Or do you just keep your fingers crossed that customers will tell their friends about you?
• Trojan Horse – have you identified a product or service you can give away? In small business marketing Free is the most powerful word. It gives you something to hang your marketing messages around.
• Joint Ventures – join forces with non competitive companies serving the same target audience as you. Work together, share the costs and grow your business together.

• Public Speaking – find opportunities to speak in public. It positions you as an expert in your field and is great for raising your profile locally.
• Write Articles – if you’re published in the media, surely you must be an expert? Writing articles is a fantastic way to raise awareness of your company and showcase your expertise.
• PR – obtaining media coverage of you activities is another excellent way of raising your profile. Consumers have much more faith in editorial than they do in advertising.
• Networking – getting out, meeting people and building relationships is the best and quickest way to grow your business.
• Stay In Touch – make sure you’re in regular communication with your customers. When they want to place an order you need to be top of mind.
• Sales Skills – invest in your staff and yourself. Buy books, go on sales skills courses. Just think how fast you would grow your business if you converted 50% more leads.
• Raise Your Prices – most customers don’t buy on price. They buy on value. If you put your prices up 5% would you lose customers? Probably not but you would definitely grow your business and your profit.