17 Practical No-Cost Promotions

Cheap and easy solutions for getting the word out about your business .

When you really need new customers and money's squeaky tight, try some of my time-tested creative ideas for getting new customers to come to you. I'm 100 percent confident these tips will work for your homebased business, because I've tried them all in mine!

1. Ask your previous customers to write a letter of referral that you can show to prospects and post on your website. Asthey give you these letters, their own referrals to you will also increase.


2. Create a one-page newsletter and distribute it wherever you go. Your cost will be just pennies, and you'll be able to tell people more about what you do in a newsletter than you could in a brochure.


3. Put on an educational seminar at a public place such as your local library. Keep it educational so attendees won't feel they're being sold to. Then offer a private 30-minute one-to-one session to your attendees afterward to get better acquainted.


4. Write letters to the editors of local newspapers and business publications. And be sure you mention your website.


5. Ask for introductions from your accountant, lawyer and even your clergy. People who know people are golden for your marketing.


6. You do have a website, don't you? Even though it's not free, if you forego just one of your specialty coffees per month you can cover the cost.


7. Circulate to meet as many people as possible, gathering business cards as you go. Then hit the phone and e-mail to follow up immediately. Almost no one follows up these days, and you'll be noticed for your thoroughness.


8. Triple the number of business cards you hand out. Give each person you meet one card to keep, and two to give to others they meet who might need your service. Merely the suggestion of this will get them thinking-and will sometimes result in real referrals.


9. Ask people you meet how their businesses are doing. Then ask, "Could what I do be helpful to your business at this time?"


10. Publish your own blog. Blogger.com, owned by Google, is totally free. By linking to your own site, you'll also boost your own Google rankings.


11. Offer to speak to local civic groups. Most meet weekly, so they need 50 speakers per year.


12. Team up with a colleague whose business complements yours and do joint promotions. As a copywriter and marketing consultant, I team up with graphic designers to mutually spread the word about our services.


13. Add a "tell a friend" button to your website to encourage viewers to direct others to your site.


14. At every public meeting, make a commitment to say something useful.


15. Write thank-you letters to businesses you frequent. A quick print shop owner posted my letter above his self-service photocopier. His customers read my letter and called to ask me to write for their businesses.


16. Make a bold flier and post it everywhere your prospects might lurk, such as Laundromats, supermarkets or community centers. Be sure to create tear-off tabs at the bottom so readers can take your phone number. Microsoft Publisher includes this form in its free template collection.


17. Create a dramatic handout with information about what you offer. Mine was entitled, "The 21 Most Common Direct Mail Mistakes and How to Overcome Them." Be sure your name, phone, e-mail, website and basic description are at the bottom of the document so readers can contact you.

good luck!

~entrepreneur resource