Marketing on a Budget
- Growingwealthmagazine.com
by Geoff Williams
http://www.growingwealthmag.com/?p=483

January 1, 2008
You don’t have to spend a fortune to promote your business effectively. Although there’s nothing wrong with spending the money for a major advertising or marketing campaign, there are alternatives.

Even if they don’t like it, most businesspeople accept the wisdom behind the adage: You have to spend money to make money.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to risk your entire piggy bank or portfolio on your marketing budget. If you want to make money while saving money, the following five ideas — ranging from semi-expensive to virtually free — will help you stretch your marketing dollar.

Affordable PR
There are undoubtedly a number of public relations firms that specialize in inexpensive marketing, but Charlotte, N.C.-based PRstore is unique. It’s a public relations firm franchise, and its customers are small- to medium-sized businesses.

“We exist to fill a very large niche of businesses that fall way below the annual budget that’s required to work with the majority of agencies,” says Dan Fragen, CEO of PRstore, a chain of more than 30 stores in almost half of the nation’s states. In fact, PRstore has grown so quickly, the firm priced itself out of its own customer base and has recently hired a big-budget PR guru to handle its public relations needs.

Unlike many PR firms, “We don’t put clients on a retainer,” says Fragen. “We don’t have a minimum budget they have to meet.

“If you’re looking for something that’s more ongoing, like publishing newsletters or producing radio and TV advertising, we do that,” he says. “But we can also do things as simple as helping to create your logo for business cards and letterhead.”

In essence, PRstore aims to become what FedEx Kinko’s is for office copying, collating, and printing services. Clients will visit the franchise for advice and expertise on everything from crafting press releases to spearheading direct marketing campaigns.

Potential cost: Anywhere from several dollars to several thousand dollars and slightly beyond but still well under what major advertising firms charge.

Entrepreneurial centers
Many universities open their entrepreneurial centers to students as well as the entire community. Find out if your local university has a small business institute, where professors periodically select a local business, identify an actual problem it’s having, and turn it into a class project.

For example, if you need help reestablishing your image after a change in ownership, you may find yourself working with a group of students who are driven to produce excellent results — either to earn a high grade or maybe to ask you for a job.

The students learn, and you get free help from, in most cases, experienced seniors and graduate students who are probably far more immersed in the latest marketing trends than you.

Potential cost: Usually free, and you can get much more than you pay for.

Newspaper op-eds
It’s an idea as old as newspapers and magazines themselves, but it’s easy to overlook. Write your opinion in an essay and submit it to a newspaper or, even better, an industry trade publication with a ready-made audience for your argument.

The catch, of course, is that just because you submit an op-ed piece for publication doesn’t mean it will be printed. But if your message is put in front of the general public or a large group of your peers, it certainly can be more effective than writing it on a blog that only your mother reads with any regularity.

Jess DeBevec is an account supervisor at Padilla Speer Beardsley, a leading PR firm. A devout believer in the op-ed, DeBevec’s New York office specializes in helping companies craft these essays.

“Op-eds are an excellent way to gain awareness for your brand, as well as for the ‘thought’ leadership of a small or midsize business,” DeBevec says. By submitting a succinct response on issues impacting their industry to a local, regional, trade, or national publication, “business owners can help educate key target audiences that might not be normally reached through traditional sales efforts.”

And because the business owner is writing the editorial, DeBevec indicates they have a better chance of controlling the message than if an independent journalist or editor were to write about the company.

Potential cost: Just your time.

Networking sites and clubs
It’s easy to forget that simple word-of-mouth advertising is an extremely useful marketing tool. And you can still network this way with the old standbys — like the chamber of commerce or the Rotary Club. But more frequently, today’s business community is turning to business networking Web sites such as LinkedIn.com, and even social sites such as Facebook.com and MySpace.com, for marketing advice and insight.

And yes, you can even create your own blog — though you must dedicate yourself to writing and posting interesting material frequently so visitors continue to take time out of their lives to read it. Otherwise, as noted previously, only your parents will know what you’re up to.

You could also join a business group like the rapidly growing Business Networking International (BNI). For your paid membership, you’re matched with business community peers who are not competitors. Though there’s more to it than marketing, it is the largest referral service in the world, according to the BNI Web site, and you’ll have numerous opportunities to get the word out about your business.

Potential cost: From free to potentially hundreds of dollars.

Headline-making news
If you’re tired of waiting for the media to discover your business, think of a way in which your company can make news, and send it to reporters. For instance, if your company makes lampshades, designate a certain day as “Lamp Day,” promote it as such, and hope the media pick up the story.

But keep in mind that journalists are a savvy bunch; they likely won’t publicize an event created solely to get press.

Matt Baron, himself a member of the press before he started a PR agency in Chicago, explains how to approach his former peers. “Based on my 20-plus years as a journalist, I always advise clients to think not in self-centered terms of what they want but instead in terms of giving a media outlet what it needs,” Baron says. “In doing so, more often than not, you’ll get what you want.”

For example, Baron created a marketing strategy for his client — a chiropractor who specializes in whiplash treatment. “At the end of the day, that’s not really news,” says Baron. So he arranged a public service event to teach motorists how to lower their risk of sustaining whiplash in an accident.

Baron sent off a press release, and the local media provided extensive coverage of the event, “often using large excerpts directly from the release because it did not come across as over-the-top PR.” Instead, says Baron, “we presented the event as legitimate news that provided a meaningful health-related service to readers.”

Potential cost: Depending on the news you create, it’s up to you.

Geoff Williams can be reached at gwilliams1@cinci.rr.com