Expanding your business in any economic climate can be challenging, whether you're looking for start-up funds, capital to expand or saving money for a rainy day.
As business owners, we make a lot of decisions about how and where we want to spend our hard-earned money. In this article, we will outline a few strategies how to build brand awareness, earn recurring business, attract new customers, develop better products and services, and hire top talent all on a budget. Here are some inexpensive strategies to fuel your growth, while staying cost-conscious:
ORGANIC MARKETING
Creating a presence for your business on different social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and others is a great way to do organic marketing. Get the word out about your products, services, employees, values, mission, etc. Learn more about organic marketing at this link https://www.quora.com/What-is-organic-marketing-in-SEO-and-Social-Media
CREATE/CURATE CONTENT
Creating original content will not only get your customers to notice you—but also allows your business to stay consistently present in their minds. Act as the person customers and employees reach out to when they need help. Share your expertise on Medium, Podcast, LinkedIn post, or YouTube videos/ Click this link to learn more about the nine ingredients that make great content https://neilpatel.com/blog/ingredients-of-great-content/
EMAIL MARKETING
Are you reaching out to your customers via email? Email marketing provides the most direct line of communication for turning leads into sales, which is why the savviest entrepreneurs have no intention of giving it up any time soon. Here is a step by step guide to email marketing https://optinmonster.com/beginners-guide-to-email-marketing/
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Offer to speak at no monetary cost to a well-known organization or on a podcast. In exchange for you speaking, ask the organization to provide you with a professional recording of your speech. While there, record video testimonials with your phone. Also, volunteering to speak at local or industry events is a great way to connect with other businesses and future customers. All you need to do is be proactive, be organized, and be confident in the value you can give to others. You can learn more about public speaking at this link https://marinabarayeva.com/everything-you-need-to-get-to-a-public-speaking-to-build-your-brand
LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMERS
Take time to learn the names of your customers.”Remember that a person's name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language,” said a famous and successful author Dale Carnegie. You should become genuinely interested in your customers/clients. The aim is to make them feel important and ensure you do it sincerely. You can learn more about developing people skills by reading the "How to Win Friends and Influence People" book. Purchase on Amazon at this link https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671027034/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apa_i_5ThbDbF0DF7ZN
HIRE GREAT EMPLOYEES/FREELANCERS
Hiring employees is an investment, but hiring the wrong employees/freelancer will cost you more money in the long run. Hiring and retaining the best talent is as tough as it's ever been. Back in 2012 some projections were made indicating that, for the first time in U.S. history, the number of younger workers who entered the labor market wasn’t enough to replace those who were leaving. By 2006, one in six workers were over of 55, while the 25-to-34 demographic had shrunk by nearly 9 percent, according to a study by the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers. Check out this article on how to employ the best talent in your industry https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/78598
CREATE A VIP FORUM
Your customers have opinions about your products, services, and the experience you offer. Inviting them to share their opinions with you is a great and inexpensive way to get valuable information that can help keep you in business. Here are a few ways in which you can start a VIP Forum https://smallbusiness.chron.com/start-vip-forum-phpbb-28134.html
JOIN YOUR LOCAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Joining your local chamber of commerce brings credibility to your business. You can increase positive perception among consumers and business owners when you're identified as a member of a chamber of commerce. Increase your visibility in the community. You also can grow your business by advertising with the chamber and sponsoring events. Visit this website to learn more about joining a chamber of commerce and its benefits. http://www.americanbusinessmag.com/2012/05/why-join-your-local-chamber-of-commerce/
CREATE A FREE WEBINAR
Creating a free webinar is also a great way to connect with potential customers, especially if the majority of your business comes from areas outside of your city, state, or country. With their (webinar) live, interactive nature, webinars allow you to promote your expertise while still building a rapport with the audience. ... As you continue to share stories and insights and engage with viewers, your audience will begin to view you as a likable authority figure in the space. Click this link to find out more on hosting your first webinar https://kickofflabs.com/blog/host-first-webinar/
Identify Available Business Tax Deductions
Taking advantage of business tax deductions is another way to grow your small business on a budget. Many expenses are deductible including business loan interest but they might be subject to amount or timing limitations. Deductions may also be restricted based on the type of business entity you own—a sole proprietorship, an LLC, an S-Corp, or a C-Corp. You can find details on these tax deductions or restrictions at IRS.gov or by consulting your business accountant. Please check out this article for more details on tax deductions in business https://www.shopkeep.com/blog/small-business-tax-deductions
Attract an Angel Investor
When pitching an angel investor, all the old rules still apply: be succinct, avoid jargon, have an exit strategy. But the economic turmoil of the last few years has made a complicated game even trickier. Here are some tips to win over angel interest:
Add experience: Seeing some gray hair on your management team will help ease investors' fears about your company's ability to deal with a tough economy. Even an unpaid, but highly experienced adviser could add to your credibility.
Be knowledgeable: You'll need market assessments, competitive analysis and solid marketing and sales plans if you expect to get anywhere with an angel. Even young companies need to demonstrate an expert knowledge of the market they are about to enter as well as the discipline to follow through with their game plan.
Communicate: An angel may not be interested in your business right away, especially if you don't have a track record as a successful entrepreneur. To combat that, you should formulate a way to keep them in the loop on big developments, like a major sale.
You can learn more about how to attract an Angel Investor by clicking on this link https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242536
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