Blogging is both fun and exciting but it can become a tiring and time-consuming process at times while trying to offer a unique and interesting experience to your audience; however, it can be made much simpler and easier by using some blogging tools that have been created specifically for bloggers. Below I have collected some of the top blogging tools available from the internet.

1. Content Idea Generator

Content Idea Generator is a Google document which has been created by the guys at SEO Gadget. You can make a copy of the document here. This document gives you a wealth of information related to your niche/industry.  It allows you to run keywords associated with your niche and returns top searches based on your keywords. The information returned is more than enough to give you an inspiration for your blog’s content. The search returns include top searches from Google news, Bing News, Digg, Reddit, YouTube and so on…

2. Diigo

Diigo is a social bookmarking site that allows you to bookmark and tag web pages. It is a great tool for all those bloggers who need to keep track of their desired articles for later reference.  Not only that you are also able to add notes to your bookmarked content. It also supports mobile phone devices such as iphone, ipad etc.

3. Disqus

Disqus is one of the most powerful blogging tools. It provides you with everything you need to build a community around your blog, and to maintain a powerful commenting system with a much better threading in the latest version than in the older one. It also allows you to up-vote and down-vote comments. The posts and comments are connected with each other in a neat and clean manner; also, you can place related articles at the bottom of a post and have a look at the top commenters at a glance.

4. Focus Booster

Focus Booster is a tool that is used by many bloggers to gain focus and increase their productivity. They have both a desktop and a web application available. Based on the principles of the pomodoro technique , the application provides a simple timer with a sleek design to enhance your concentration and focus.

The principle behind the tool – the pomodoro principle – “uses a timer to break down periods of work into 25-minute intervals (referred to as “pomodoros”) separated by breaks and is based on the idea that frequent breaks can improve mental agility”.

5. Alltop

Alltop lets you in on what is happening around you by collecting headlines from top sites and headlines. The site provides an insight into all the topics which can be of interest to us – all in one place.

6. Trapit

Trapit is “the world’s most advanced personalized content discovery application” – as they call themselves. The app lets you set up “traps” for various topics – from very broad categories to niche information – and then it aggregates articles related to your selected keywords from around the web.

Trapit “learns” from your explicit and implicit actions in order to deliver the most relevant content.

7. Photo Pin

Photo Pin is a source of free images for your blog; the photos come from creative commons. The tool makes it very easy to browse photos and to download them in multiple sizes.

One of the cool features of the app is that it gives you the attribution link to the image in HTML so that you can insert it into your blogging editor for attribution.

8. PopSurvey

One of the most important aspect of blogging is to keep your audience engaged and to understand their interests. As a blogger you need to get insights into what your target is talking about.  PopSurvey is a great survey that lets you carry on surveys on your blog to help you better understand your customers. The tool also provides you with custom reports to help you understand and evaluate your audience’s responses.

9. After The Deadline

After The Deadline is a great tool that helps you avoid grammar and spelling mistakes. It is available as a browser extension as well as a WordPress plugin. It is a great language checker for the web that comes with contextual spell checking, advanced style checking and intelligent grammar checking. Say goodbye to all those ‘arghhhhhh’ moments when you see that you have made a mistake after you have published your blog post!

10. Google Keyword Tool

The Google Keyword Tool is a must for every blogger and their mother! It lets you enter search phrases and lets you see how much traffic that particular phrase gets for over a month. Also it gives suggestions on better search phrases based on the keywords that you have entered.

These are only some of the cool blogging tools; there are hundreds of such tools and apps available which will make blogging much simpler and
easier for you.

Are you a blogger? Are there any tools you are using that you would like to share?

Have you ever thought that you can make the world a whole lot easier for yourself with some online business tools?

They are cool! They save you a lot of time and help you sync your business activities seamlessly. It means you don’t have

to worry about trivial paperwork and other issues. You can automate them and leave it to themselves. I have collected three of my favourite online tools for business that will save you trouble,money and of course,time.

#1 Shoeboxed

Fed up with book keeping before it’s begun? Shoeboxed is an automated filing system for business receipts and paperwork. You can upload your paperwork through their free online and desktop uploaders, via email or with one of their free mobile phone apps. Simply scan and send, and let shoeboxed compile the rest. Ideal for start ups, and competitively priced, I think it’s a great way of keeping organised, and takes the headache out of hoarding papers, tickets, business cards, invoices and receipts.

#2 PR Web

Looking to get the word out about your business? Choose PRWeb as your news release distribution service.  PRWeb press releases deliver your business news to all the search engines such as Yahoo!, Google and Bing, putting your business right where your customers are looking. Their packages start small, and as the price increases, you can send your story to all the major local and national news websites, as well as PR Web’s database of over 30,000 journalists, bloggers and influencers looking for stories like yours.

 #3 MOO

Moo.com is and online business printing and stationery service. With hundreds of business card templates, your cards can be designed and ordered in minutes. MOO also supply cards, notecards, greeting cards, stickers, accessories and gift cards for your business.

Printing over 6 million cards every month, MOO has hundreds of thousands of customers in over 200 countries. Their excellent turnaround times and delivery makes them the number 1 choice for business start ups and growing businesses alike.

Have you found any great online business tools for your start up? What online business services do you find saves you the most time and money?

source:http://wpmu.org/

When it comes to blogging, WordPress is probably the most powerful and easy to use content management system that is available to create and maintain your business blog.

WordPress’ excellence comes not only because it is free but also because of the large number of themes and plugins available out there which add greatly to the look and functionality of WordPress powered websites and blogs.

There are literally hundreds of fantastic plugins – snippets of codes – that are available – a great number of them being free of cost – and can be downloaded from the WordPress website.

These plugins have an extensive usefulness because they fill in the gaps of both styling and functionality in WordPress. The great thing about using plugins is you need very little knowledge of coding or web development to turn your business website or blog into anything from a superbly designed, functional website through to a supercharged e-commerce store!

Below is a list of 7 highly useful plugins for your business blog:

1. Yoast SEO

The current hot topic for every business owner when discussing their website is “SEO” – search engine optimization. Yoast lets you optimize your page titles, images, meta descriptions etc. very easily.  Every small business that is running a WordPress powered website should install an SEO plugin, and ensure they are optimizing posts and articles from day one, helping increase their search engine visibility.

2. Akismet

Spam is everybody’s enemy. If you have enabled comments on your blog there is every possibility you will be getting hundreds of spam comments. Akismet provides a simple and easy solution to filter out all those unwanted spam comments.

3. Gravity Forms

WordPress falls behind on its functionality to create and manage forms easily. Although it is paid, the Gravity Forms plugin enables you to start creating forms instantly from scratch, it is well worth the price. Gravity Forms lets you create great-looking forms in a matter of seconds after which you which you can start emailing your customers, and collecting their details.

4. NextGen Gallery Plugin

NextGen Gallery Plugin is the most popular gallery plugin, according to WordPress. It provides a powerful solution for uploading and managing galleries of images as well as single images. The plugin comes with a wide array of options for setting up and maintaining image galleries on your site easily.

5. BackupBuddy

This plugin is one of high importance. You should be backing up your site on a regular basis, especially so if your site undergoes regular changes. In order to avoid losing your entire site unexpectedly it is important to have control over your backups. The BackupBuddy plugin lets you create a backup of your entire site – widgets, themes, plugins, files and databases.

6. ShareBar

With the ShareBar Plugin you can easily integrate social media functionality into your content. It adds a vertical box to posts which contains links/buttons to different social media sites. It’s very easy to set up and it enhances your sites ‘share-ability’ factor for visitors.

7. Google Analytics for WordPress

The Google Analytics plugin enables you to track incoming traffic and links your WordPress site easily. It provides a powerful solution for monitoring your site’s visitors and will give you statistics to assist you with targeting your audience. It also helps you find out popular pages, performance of your landing pages and conversions.

These plugins will add  great functionality to any WordPress site. There are thousands of other plugins that can assist you with setting up your website. Of course, some plugins are paid but when compared with the additional functionality they bring to your site they are definitley worth the cost. Do you think these plugins are useful for your blog? Do you know of any other useful plugins? Please share below.

A Convenient Guide to Social Media Image Sizes

Are you looking to update your social media profiles or create new profiles for your business?

So, I’m working on updates / a mini re-brand for the site and for my own social media profiles, and I was trying to find all the different sizes for Facebook, Twitter, Linked in etc. What a nightmare!

There were guides all over the internet, all stating different variations on the size theme, and after asking a couple of friends and further discussion, I decided to try to find a site that published them all.

And then I found this social media sizing cheat sheet, a wonderful resource and guide to all the social media platforms, including;

Linked In

Facebook

Twitter

Google +

YouTube

Pinterest

Not only does it include the header and prfile images, but it also include the Facebook newsfeed, events and sponsored stories image sizes, Facebook App images, Facebook thumbnail sizes, Twitter headers, cover photos and much much more!

Then, I found this handy little tool from Graphic River, which allows you to make multiple social media profile images from your original design. Exciting? Possibly the best thing to happen to my Photoshop actions all year 🙂 You can get the profile image generator here

I hope you find it as useful as I have! Enjoy!

Image Courtesy of jscreationzs/FreeDigitalPhotos.Net

Business Networking is fundamental to the success of any business. While building your own business you need to know people who can help and advise you on key factors of your business. The end goal of better business networking is to build connections with people online and offline – on every available platform out there. Every entrepreneur needs to develop strong relationships with experienced people in his niche who can guide him on necessary decisions in his business. Check out these five tips to help you in a better and more beneficial way.

(1) Make the Effort

Accept invitations to all suitable occasions. Show interest. Really make the effort to attend whole heartedly. Don’t go to the event with low expectations – don’t arrive late and leave early. Make sure you arrive promptly and allow enough time to communicate with people before the event is in full swing. It is at this time that you can start building real connections.

(2) Make a Plan

Make a plan and set goals as to how many new people you intend to meet and make new connections with at the event. It is better to focus on three or four solid connections at each networking event than to exchange hundreds of business cards that mean very little to you when you get home! Exchange your business cards with them, and maybe write a personal note for them on the back. It is also a good idea to make notes for the different people that will remind you where you met and what topics or opportunities you discussed.

(3) Don’t Love The Sound of Your Own Voice

You aren’t the only person under the sun who has to set the tone for the conversation by expressing your views about a particular topic. In fact, doing this results in everyone else simply clamming up. One-sided interaction will choke a conversation. If you really want engagement in a conversation you need to listen FIRST. Show respect, allow others to make their point, express their views and opinions. Don’t be too quick to respond; think through your response carefully.

(4) Always Ask Questions

Don’t hesitate to ask questions. Being not able to ask questions puts a big question mark on you getting the best answers. If there is an idea that you have been thinking or a problem with your business feel free to ask questions. By asking questions you will benefit from other people’s expertise. Always ask open ended questions to encourage conversation.

(5) Find Relevant Business Networking Groups

Online business networking groups are another great place to build connections. They provide a virtual platform to reach out to new people and expand your networking horizons. Here are some of the resources:

• LinkedIn With well over 200 million professionals LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. It lets you grow your professional network, discover business opportunities and all the news and insights you need.
• Meetup Meetup is a social network that lets you connect with people who share the same interests and who live near you. There are a variety of group categories to choose from and join.
• BNI BNI is the world’s largest referral organisation with over 150 thousand members worldwide. BNI works on a system building powerful networks through referrals.
• Chambers of Commerce The BCC is a high-profile business network which has chambers spread all over the UK. Their mission is to “make the Chambers of Commerce an essential part of growing business” and they achieve it by “sharing opportunities, knowledge and expertise.”
• Ryze Ryze is another place where you can make quality business contacts ,get advice and tips and make deals for your company.
• Xing Xing allows you to “find useful business contacts as well as work assignments and projects.”

Once you have a proper business networking strategy in place you are sure to make more useful connections and get much better results from the events you attend. The key is to search out the relevant events in your niche, target the type of person you need to build connections with and then aim to start a business relationship with them. Really emphasise the benefits of your products or services and network, network, network!!!

As Robert Kiyosaki puts it,”The richest people in the world look for and build networks, everyone else looks for work.”

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Further to my previous post about content marketing, I found this great infographic containing some really useful help and information for any business embarking on their first content marketing campaign.

As discussed before, content marketing is the ‘ongoing promotion of a business or brand’ and this guide helps define the strategy needed for a successful content marketing campaign.

The Golden Nugget Of Content Marketing

The golden nugget that I have taken from the guide is; START ANYWHERE. There is no specific starting point, and no single point is better than any other for your business.

Covering many different types of content marketing such as press releases, articles, webinars, email marketing campaigns, useful infographics and videos, it gives useful tips about how to re-purpose and share your content across various social media platforms, to engage and build your audience.

Helpful with SEO and building an audience, producing content for various channels will assist any successful brand marketing campaign and will ultimately help spread the word about your business and engage your potential customers.

Two Scenarios Explaining Content Marketing Further

Non-content marketing business scenario 1;

You run a baby products store that also has an e-commerce site.

You place an online ad for your business and a print ad in the local newspaper. 1,000 potential customers see your ad. These customers haven’t visited your store before, and have no idea about your company or your brand. They are not sure whether you are a trustworthy company, and are not really bothered about popping into your store. They check your website, look at your products and leave.

5 customers decide to pop in and 5 customers decide to visit your website. Of those 10 customers, 2 decide to make a small purchase.

Content Marketing business scenario 2;

You run a baby products store that also has an e-commerce site. You produce a series of free ‘how to’ baby guides, and write a regular email newsletter about the latest product reviews and mother baby news. You never ask for a sale upfront; instead you produce lots of useful, helpful content on your company blog, including an interesting article about how to save money on pushchairs which the local paper decide to publish, along with a link back to your website.

Your newsletter sign up is available on your website, many people who followed the link sign up, and you give your subscribers an exclusive discount code to use on your website. They love your helpful guides and articles, and each month, around 20% of your subscribers make a purchase, in addition, customers who read your article get in touch, visit your website and subscribe and then use their discount code. you make a minimum of 20 new purchases.

You also get contacted by a local magazine to write another baby related article on the latest baby products and toys who will also publish your website link and your store details.

Spot the difference?

Did you spot the difference in the two scenarios above? I hope you can see how effective content marketing can be to help funnel potential customers into your sales funnel, and are thinking of hundreds of ways of reaching out to your potential audience.

Summary

Did you find this useful? What types of content marketing work for your business? Are you setting up your first campaign?

Please leave a comment below with your own tips or opinions.

Source: Fishervista

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Why is content marketing the alpha strategy for businesses and marketers?

Traditional publicity and marketing is a static way of capturing the attention of potential customers, and promoting your products or services. It isn’t engaging, it isn’t viral and the costs quite often outweigh the results.

Content marketing is a cost effective marketing strategy that all successful businesses need to adapt. Be there or be buried in the swamp of static websites, unknown retail stores and other, struggling businesses and brands.

So, ‘WHAT’ is content marketing?

Put simply, it is taking information pertaining to your industry, niche or brand, and turning it into useful material, suitable for your audience, the consumer and brand definition.

How we ‘DO’ content marketing?

We create a variety of different media, which can be distributed through various channels and platforms, both online and offline. We create engaging content such as blogs, articles, videos, animations, images, viral photos, downloadable guides and podcasts (mp3 recordings)  and we share and distribute them to engage our audience. We provide value in our content, encouraging end users to share and engage with our business.

Should we ‘DITCH’ traditional publicity and advertising?

Of course not! I would never suggest for one minute that local businesses and offline businesses should ditch the traditional advertising route. Instead, every business must learn to adapt new strategies and incorporate traditional marketing into their advertising campaign where it is affordable and offers the most value.

The Traditional Publicity VS Content Marketing infographic below offers a simple explanation of why content marketing is the alpha strategy for businesses to incorporate in their campagins.

When Facebook was rolled out, nobody had any idea that it would eventually incorporate an excellent marketing tool for businesses. Today there are millions of registered business pages on Facebook, all representing their brand.

Below I have outlined 25 tips to help you manage a successful Facebook business page.

1. Email your existing contacts to inform them that you have a Facebook fan page and to ask them to “Like” it. Make things easier for them by sending the URL of the page in your email. Also, ask them an extra favour of recommending your page to their friends.

2. Your Facebook cover image is the first thing your page visitors will notice. Your cover image should tell the visitor all about your business and they should understand clearly at a glance what your business is all about.

3. Instead of going after your personal page you need to sport a Facebook fan page design that reflects the nature of your services/product. For example, if you are in the property business your page will need to look corporate and professional.

4. Use Facebook scheduled posts feature to send regular updates to your profile. Whatever you choose to share – image, video, status update etc. – Facebook lets you choose the exact time it will go live. The tool saves you time, but don’t forget to visit your page to follow up and answer any comments posted by followers.

5. Increase your fanpage “Likes”. Go to the top of your business page and click where it says “Build Audience” and then click “Invite Friends”. Invite all of your friends to your page who are likely to be interested in your service or product.

6. You may not be the only person who manages your Facebook fan page. Rather than sharing a Facebook account with others you can authorize other people as administrators. Just click “Edit Page” at the top and from there click “Manage Admin Roles” and follow the steps to add multiple admins. Now you can adjust timings with other admins to manage your page seamlessly.

7. You can get “Recommendations” for your business which can benefit you highly. However, to make the recommendations available you need to provide the exact location of your business in the “About” section.

8. Your Facebook fan page should act like your “Facebook blog”. Share original content – comments, images, videos etc. – to keep the stream active. If don’t post regularly your subscribers will eventually ‘unlike’ your fanpage, thinking it is dormant.

9. Because the main purpose of your Facebook fan page is to convert visitors to fans, make sure your timeline cover photo image is eye catching enough, and ensure the ‘About’ section is completed, so people know exactly what your business is about.

10. Facebook gives you the ability to target your ad campaigns by gender, educational status, relationship status, age, location, interested in and language. This allows you to target a campaign at a particular group of fans. Be sure to research your demographics thoroughly before creating a campaign.

11. Facebook gives businesses the ability to collect data from users in a fun and smooth way. You can have fans to your page sign up for a direct newsletter through an app or you can offer them a promotion where they are required to answer a few questions before they enter. Be sure to search for available apps for business pages.

12. When you first create your page, Facebook offers a standard set of tabs like the Wall and the Info tabs. You can extend the capability of your page greatly by creating some custom tabs in addition to the default tabs.

13. Facebook gives page administrators the ability to send their fans updates. When you have something of value to share with your fans send them an update to let them know about it. However, you should be careful with updates: do it when you have something really worthwhile to share.

14. Entice prospective audience into joining your page by offering something of value. It can be an eBook, entrance into a contest, or a free coupon. This way you can have more prospective customers connected with your business.

15. Make sure that a vanity URL is available for your business. It should be something simple and easy to remember.

16. Find out what content your fans engage with the most and when to post it on Facebook. There is a third-party application – EdgeRank Checker – that you can use to do that. This application will determine for your page the most effective day of the week to post on, popular keywords, the most suitable type of media for your audience and how often to post.

17. Encourage people to comment on your page. This also means that you must connect with the people who are commenting on your page by responding to they say regularly. If you don’t reply, engage and comment back, people will feel ignored and they won’t engage or get in touch in the future.

18. When it comes to posting, pictures and videos are unmatched in engaging visitors. Share interesting and useful pictures and videos related to your business. You can also tag top posting fans or new fans in these to send them a notification whenever you post.

19. Promote your Facebook page through different media platforms. Provide your Facebook page URL on your business card, include it in your email signature, add a Facebook “Like” button to your website etc.

20. Use “Facebook Insights” to learn more about the people who like your page. Based on their specific Facebook behaviour you can tailor posts and offers to match their specific needs.

21. Offer exclusive content to visitors but require them to first “Like” your page before they have access to the valuable content. This exclusivity will more often than not entice people into liking your page and getting hold of that valuable content. You may need to use an app for this feature.

22. Engage your followers by running polls on your page with the standard Facebook “Questions” feature.

23. Update your Facebook page with your blog post as soon as it is published – share the link and post it as a status update.

24. Join Facebook groups related to your niche. Post to these groups in order to drive traffic to your own page and website.

25. Post your YouTube videos to your Facebook page stream. This is another channel to build credibility and get more people to like your page.

Did you enjoy these tips? Do you have any more Facebook tips to share or any case studies? Whats working for your business page right now? Feel free to share below.

Having your own business is exciting, fun, exhilarating and rewarding; however, a great business idea and a business plan is not the only recipe to a successful startup. Any wise entrepreneur should look much further ahead and try to avoid the most common mistakes made in the early stages of business.

Image Courtesy of kibsri/FreeDigitalPhotos.Net

It is so easy to lose sight in those early days; by positioning yourself and mapping out those initial stages, you can be sure to save time, money and start up pains.

Here are a few tips to guide you on your way and help you avoid ‘Start up Syndrome’.

(1) Take Your Time

As soon as you recognize your business idea, you must never just run in there and take the bull by the horns. Before you make your move, consult with professionals in your industry and talk to friends and family about the feasibility of your business idea. You should never overlook the need for objective criticism from those more experienced than you. It is better to fail to start than to start to fail. Question the viability of your business idea before you actually take any practical step and ALWAYS ask advice if you are unsure.

(2) Don’t Lose Focus

It’s better to do three things right than to do ten things half right. When you’re starting out you need to set priorities and goals for yourself and your business. If you become too innovative from the outset with almost all the business processes before your business is even off the ground you will end up having a brand new set of ideas for virtually anything that comes your way and no action plan or results. Too many ideas – even good ones – may slow your productivity down and prevent you from reaching your goals. Aim, Set and Fire!

(3) You Aren’t the Only One Who Can Do It!

Many entrepreneurs are likely to fall into this trap: the only-I-can-do-this syndrome. Just because you have a good idea it doesn’t mean you are the only person on the face of the earth who has to supervise its realization from start to finish. You need other people to split your goal into easily achievable chunks.  By properly delegating responsibilities to carefully selected individuals you can expedite your journey to the business goal you have set for yourself. Never be afraid to ask for help.

(4) Stop Re-inventing the Wheel!

If there is a simple way to do something, then do it. Don’t map out the next grand master plan for the simplest of tasks. Many business people often lose sight of their goals getting bogged down in the simplest of tasks such as administration, record keeping and invoicing. We live in the digital age. Make the most of software and tools available online to help you with your day to day tasks. Embrace it. Don’t be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century!!!

(5) Never Be Afraid to Follow Your Dreams

With love, care and attention, your business will grow and flourish. If you have an idea or a dream, then don’t be afraid to start researching and planning and aiming for whatever it will take to get it off the ground. Being scared of making mistakes often costs some people a lifetime of wondering and wishing. Wondering and worrying never made anyone rich, or any business successful. Deep down, you will find the correct path for your business, so start turning those dreams into a reality.

For business startups with limited budget creating a high-impact marketing can be a tough and demanding job.

Traditional marketing like radio and newspaper ads, brochures and banners will instantly eat into your marketing budget. The good news is, it is possible to introduce a killer marketing campaign at a very low cost!

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

3 Reasons to Use Low-budget Marketing Techniques

#1 You can repeat these low-cost marketing strategies over and over to get your company message and brand image across to potential customers (which affects buyers’ decisions enormously). It is effective and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg!

#2 You can direct a low-budget marketing plan into several marketing channels as opposed to traditional marketing mediums. For example, the money that you would spend on a single newspaper ad campaign can be spent on email marketing, social media and your business website combined, to create a larger, more sustained campaign.

#3 With this kind of business marketing plan you can test your campaigns relatively cheaply and stop spending money on a medium once you see that it is not effective. You can experiment with different channels and choose the one that best suits your business.

Her are 5 low-budget marketing techniques:

#1 Finding your target market

Probably the most important part of your marketing plan is finding the right target customer for your business. What you need to do is to split your target market into easily identifiable chunks and then carry out your marketing plan accordingly. For example; If you are setting up a personal training company in your local area, find conversations on Twitter, local groups on Facebook, LinkedIn Groups and local Forums, and find out the cost of placing a banner ad on the site or get involved in the group conversations and message boards as a helpful expert in your niche.

#2 Guerilla marketing

It doesn’t always have to cost thousands! Low cost guerrilla marketing tactics are often a great success and can propel a company image overnight. For those who haven’t heard the term before, guerrilla marketing is a kind of advertising strategy in which un-conventional means are used to promote a product or service. Guerrilla marketing is different to traditional marketing in that it mostly relies on personal interaction and word-of-mouth. You can focus on smaller, more targeted groups to spread the word instead of large-scale media marketing campaigns. Think outside the box for example;  you could introduce a viral YouTube video to be shared across the social media sites, you could ask for customer participation or customer video responses. Maybe ask a public question where people post images of themselves with your product.

#3 Referrals and Loyalty Discounts

Another surefire way to reach new customers is by a system of business referrals. This method is cost effective and proven to increase sales. Word-of-mouth is a powerful tool when it comes to people making decision about buying a product or service. One satisfied customer telling others about your product can do far better than any advertising campaign. Offer an incentive to refer your next sale; you could give a free gift, a discount or some other reward, specific to your business.

#4 Collaboration

You could partner up with another business and help to promote each others services. For example, if you are running a restaurant you could offer local businesses discount coupons or free items from the menu in return for advertising space on their premises. Again, what you offer and what you get in return will vary, so be sure to contact businesses that you believe your potential customers will be frequenting.

#5 In Person

A great way of building credibility and helping spread the word about your services is to offer free seminars, webinars or lectures which focus on building awareness about your niche. This will help place you as an authority in prospective clients’ minds. Find local pubs, bars, restaurants or function rooms – many will let you have a space free of charge if you can guarantee a set number of attendees, as they will purchase food and/or drink on the premises. You could start a regular free Meetup for people to attend, to help build your business brand.

Summary

As you dig deeper into marketing for your small business you will explore more and more inexpensive strategies. Before you launch any business marketing campaign, take some time to think ‘outside the box’ and brainstorm ways of using some of the powerful free social media and other online channels in your strategy. Feel free to add your ideas below or share some successful business marketing campaigns you have created on a budget.