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Being a small business, your marketing budget is probably one of the last things on your mind, with your operational costs and managing your bottom line the first thing on your mind when you get in to work each day.

Many business owners discount the fact that Marketing is what brings in the leads, which if converted, turns into sales. Increasing the total number of sales is by far the best way to increase your profits and get you back into the black, but it usually sits on the shelf.

Why? Because many businesses don’t have much of a budget to maintain their current operations, what more to advertise with online or offline methods? But marketing CAN be done on a shoestring budget you just have to know where to look.

[Nett Magazine] gives these great cost saving tips for marketing your product or service if you’re on a small budget:

1. Email newsletters. The business owners in our survey rated this as their most effective marketing tool. It’s generally easier and less expensive to win more sales from your existing clients than to go out and find new ones, and a newsletter is a great way to build a community of interest and make clients feel engaged. The key is to provide genuinely useful information, then build an offer around it.

2. Networking. The cheapest marketing method of all, networking is essential for service-based businesses, especially those who sell to other businesses. But effective networking is an art in itself. Start by writing and memorising an effective 20-second elevator pitch that explains what your business is, who it services and how it benefits your clients. Then use it at every opportunity. Your eventual aim is to secure a meeting where you can gather information about a potential client’s needs and explain how you can help.

3. Referral programs. Nothing is more powerful than a personal recommendation and nothing generates recommendations more effectively than a referral program. It can be as simple as giving customers a couple of specially designed cards to pass on to their friends, perhaps with an incentive to do so. Referral partnerships with complementary businesses are also a great idea.

4. Frequent buyer programs. From the coffee shop that gives you every 10th latte free, to the fashion retailer who offers a sneak preview of next season’s styles, frequent buyer programs help businesses retain their best customers while encouraging them to buy more.

5. Free trials. Nudie juice famously built a following by hiring bright young people to hand out their product to wilting commuters. A similar approach can work for a huge range of products and services, provided you use it in the right way. For example, let’s say you’re an IT support business. Imagine how powerful it would be if you could earn an online Bernard Tanner is the Chief Operating Officer of Commonwealth Bank Local Business Banking, a specialist division dedicated to the needs of small business clients. Bernard has more than 20 years experience in the financial services industry, including roles in financial and management accounting, banking and stockbroking. recommendation from five top bloggers who used a free trial of your service.

6. Public relations. If you don’t have the budget for press and TV advertising, there may be a less expensive way to get your name in the media. It costs nothing to send out a press release and, with the right story to tell, you could generate coverage with substantially more credibility than paid advertising!

7. Search engine optimisation (SEO ). For any business with an online presence, SEO should be a very high priority. While it takes time, it doesn’t need a huge investment. Start by using a tool like Google Analytics to target the right keywords, then build active content on your site with blogs, forums, photos and video. Genuinely useful content will encourage others to link to your site and give your customers a reason to come back.

8. Online ads. Online advertising is typically much cheaper than traditional advertising, and it comes with the added benefit that it’s easy to track and analyse.

9. Invoice mailings. Why not include a product promotion with your next invoice or statement? After all, you’ve already paid for the stamp…

10. Letterboxing. Sometimes the oldest methods work best. For local businesses, a well-designed flyer dropped in neighbourhood letterboxes can offer a good return on investment, even though the number of leads per thousand flyers may be small. That’s because it’s so cheap to do.

[Web Design for Small Businesses]