10 ways your Small Business can show up online without spending a dime!

1.        Customer testimonials/reviews – Give great service and encourage your customers to share their experience

2.       Business-to-Business collaborations – Find collaborators with complimentary businesses and do reciprocal sharing within your customer groups

3.       Write a social media post – Update your business pages consistently, whether you get engagement or not is another story but stay consistent.

4.      Engage with other business’s post – Especially if it resonates with you, comment, like share, follow or subscribe --- you never know, you might just gain an ally who reciprocates.

5.       Host an online event/Go Live! – Are you a DIY, craft based, coaching, training … or just about any type of business? Host an online event to share information, launch a new product or share a ‘how-to’ with your customer group.

6.       Do a giveaway – Giveaways are a great way to generate interest for your business online.  Free tips and advice, discount cards and access to exclusive business information make for great engagement.

7.       Join and network in online business groups – Identify and join relevant business groups in which you can share ideas, grow your online presence and connect with ideals clients in varying locations.

8.      Build a customer database & communicate with them – Engage email marketing.  Design a newsletter, choose a frequency and distribute it to your customer group.  Try not to become spammy but be a useful resource that your customers look forward to.

9.      Launch a Petition – Become an advocate on an issue that concerns your business, your industry or your passion and launch a petition.  Businesses that support social issues such as environmental protection, womens’ rights or violence prevention can benefit from this tip.

10.    Do a guest blog contribution – There are many online blogs, magazines and other publications looking for writers to share their expertise in specific subject areas.  Search for these opportunities and get to writing!

Seven ‘free’ online resources to professionalize your small business marketing

Many small business owners, whether startup or established, are sometimes confused as to how to approach marketing their business.  Some jump in feet first by hiring a Marketing Specialist, while others learn by trial and error.

Of course, I do not recommend that business owners take on the job of marketing themselves but there are some who have the aptitude if given the right guidance.  If you fall into that category, this post is for you.  The following are seven ‘free’ online resources to professionalize your marketing.

 

1.        Social Media – Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and more recently, TikTok have made it easy for small businesses to have a presence in the most popular social spaces online.  All of the mentioned resources are free to set up, network, engage and connect organically.  Top kick it up a notch, drop a few dollars per day on targeted advertisements to reach your specific audience.

2.       Email Marketing – Email marketing is advantageous in that it allows small businesses to build a very important resource that they can own: a database of customers.  Email marketing platforms such as Madmimi, Mailchimp and Constant Contact provide both free and paid options for small business owners to design, populate and inform their client group of developments in the business.  If you are a business on a budget, you still have the opportunity to send your messages directly to your client’s inbox.  To use value added services such as scheduling your email release, pay a few bucks per month!

3.       Website – Having a website is essential for businesses of all sizes and types.  It gives your clients 24-hour access to your business.   Some of the best free web building and hosting sites include WordPress, Wix, Weebly and GoDaddy.  As these platforms are also in business, there will be value added options at a cost.  Research, compare, then select the best option for your business.

4.       Blog – As a Blogger and Content Writer, this is my favourite free resource.  A blog allows a business to showcase content about itself.  Content consists of articles, images, videos or industry news.  A few of the best blogging sites include Blogger, Wordpress and Wix.  Optimize your blog using SEO and SEM tactics to rank higher in Google searches.  It increases the opportunity of your business being seen and its services being used.

5.       Design Tools – A critical requirement for small businesses is the design of branding and promotional materials.  The design of an item such as a logo can cost a pretty penny.  Other branding material including letterheads, business cards and graphics for content marketing can also cost a bit.  Resources such as canva (free to a point) and adobe (monthly plans available) offers do-it-yourself design options.  PicMonkey and Burst offers lots of professionally taken images that may also be used free of cost.   Of course, it may require some training to do it right, or you may just ace it on the first try.

6.      Social media scheduling tools – The use of social media for business marketing has increased in significance.  This means that small businesses must find a way to ensure that they are seen in those places that matter.  Keeping a social media presence consistent can be a time-consuming activity.  Using a social media scheduler such as Hootsuite to automate your posts frees up time for other activities.  Other options are Loomly and Sprout Social.  Again, research and choose the best option based on which social media sites your business is on.

7.       Landing page – Until recently, I didn’t know the value of a landing page.  A landing page converts visitors to your website into leads.  The landing page usually has a ‘free’ offer that is designed to get the visitor to ‘sign-up’ to receive same.  Landing pages are offered on many platforms with the top three sites being ConvertKit, Ucraft and Carrd.  The best thing is that the service is offered; free!