11 Oct Free Money For Your Business

All businesses want free money for their business. It sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? Well it’s not. All you have to do is put a little money upfront for some items to market your business and money (in the form of sales) will follow. For example, recently I printed myself a few 13 foot full color flags to put outside my business and have had countless walk in clients and sales from those flags. The flags paid for themselves after the first full week of being up and now any future sales will just be gravy (or free money). The flags should easily last for a year or longer and keep generating more and more sales. The great thing about these flags is that they act as employees on the roadside soliciting to the plethora of potential customers driving by, and I don’t even have to pay them. Besides flags, there are many other inexpensive marketing items that can generate sales. Some of those include postcards, rack cards, banners, yard signs, and promotional products. By getting useful promotional products printed with your business contact info, they will be kept by recipients for years to come. Once those recipients need your services, they will be reminded about your business and products from that item. Promotional products can generate sales months and even years after they are given out.

Promotional items are much different than other forms of marketing because they keep on working long after you pay for them. Whereas printed media such as newspaper ads and radio ads have to be an ongoing effort and therefore paid for month after month to be effective. Now I’m in no way saying to avoid other advertising options, I’m just saying you might want to reevaluate how much you are spending on those forms and dedicate a little more to tangible items that continue to work for you. I am a huge advocate of marketing in many different ways and spread out your marketing to reach all of your target audience; however, the mistake I see the most is spreading your marketing too thin. For example, if you buy radio ads, it’s not effective to buy a package that puts your ad on just twice a day. And it’s not effective to run your radio ad for just 1 month, unless it’s for a specific event. Marketing and advertising is an ongoing process that is ever changing. You must continually reevaluate and find out what is working and what is not. Then what is not working you stop and invest more of your budget in those options that are working. The important factor is to create a marketing plan and follow it. You must have a plan.

To recap, marketing is a dynamic process that you should never skimp on, even when sales are low. In fact, marketing should be a priority when sales are low. By having a marketing plan and following your plan every month, you will have less ups and downs in your business and help to keep a steady stream of sales. By investing in some inexpensive marketing materials that are effective and useful, you can get some of that free money, which is just money from your marketing purchase AFTER it is paid for. I’ve always said that buying promotional products should be an investment and NOT an expense.