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No budget marketing
31st March 2009. Posted by Ruth Ward. Trackback
Money...What Money by stuartpilbrow on Flickr
I spoke at the Screen WM and Creative Republic Crunch Time event today, to offer some advice on ‘No Budget Marketing’. As part of this, I put together 10 top tips with fellow panellist, Christ Chris Unitt, of Meshed Media and createdinbirmingham.com fame.
In the spirit of collabotation (the latest buzzword at SXSWi) I’m posting the odd numbers, and you'll be able to find the evens on Chris’s site just as soon as he's had 5 minutes to post them!
1. You are your biggest asset
A significant amount of new business, particularly for SMEs within the Creative Industries, is based on nurturing mutually beneficial relationships and getting well networked. If you’re not out and about selling yourself and your business, you’re missing out. Get involved and expand your network by joining professional bodies, volunteering some time to a local organisation or attending events. Yes – time is a valuable commodity but if you are serious about your business survival during the current climate, you need to invest!
PLUG: Creative Republic is looking for new members to join its events committee – if you’re interested get in touch with me.
3. Become your own broadcaster
Don’t wait for other people to print your news, become your own publisher. Set up a blog (and keep it updated), distribute e-bulletins, get a Twitter account or a Facebook profile. Clearly all of these tools need to add value and have relevance to the audience you are looking to attract, but at little or no cost can you afford to be without them? Some great advice on how to set up a simple and free wordpress blog on Chris’s other site which is well worth a read. Lots of debate at the moment about the use of social media applications for commercial busineses, something which I'll be writing about in more detail very soon.
5. Listen to what people say
Do your own research by finding out what people are saying about you and your competitors. Google Alerts is a free, simple to use system that will help you track what is being said about you online by searching for key words.
7. Be a connector
Make introductions and recommendations for other people. If you are successful at connecting other people and generating opportunities for them, they will want to return the favour where they can.
9. Ask clients for endorsements
Time for the obligatory quote:
“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Case studies and endorsements are a great way of illustrating your work. Just like including work experience , employment history and referees on a personal CV, you should develop a company portfolio that includes client endorsements for the work that you have carried out.
Comments
Hi Ruth Do you mean Chris Unitt as opposed to Christ Unitt or did I miss some kind of miracle? Best ;-) Brendan
Brendan O'Neill
25th April 2009
Ha! Yes, Christ Unitt, the new media messiah. Good spot!
Ruth Ward
25th April 2009