A look at some handy promotional tips that dont break the bank

The question that keeps popping up from time to time among small business owners is how do I compete with much larger competitors when I don’t have a budget to match. Well the answer is try and work smarter.

In any business you must ensure that you have the basics right so you must have

•  A business plan – they must be a bit time consuming to do but they will form the blue print as to how to run your business.
• Identify your target market (you should know your audience very well. Ensure that your results are from accurate data )
• Create a budget
• Develop a marketing strategy

Once you get the basis and you stick to the plan it usually pays dividends. So what activities could I possibly do as part of my marketing strategy?

•  Use word of mouth
•  Give incentives for referrals. This is always good to do but in most cases people are more than happy to refer people to businesses that provide good quality    products or service.
•  Attend industry meetings and conferences – I don’t mean get together with your industry colleges and pat each other on the back I mean the ones your customers actually attend and you will be likely to get introduced to new prospects.
• Narrow the scope of social media you concentrate to just a handful
• Release a press release when there is news and submit it to distribution services
• Networking events can be very beneficial and worth attending