No one said being an entrepreneur would be simple, but no one said it would feel like you’re a one-person army either. For larger businesses, it’s easy: you have the capital for marketing departments, fancy software, and social media.
For the solo teams, things aren’t quite that breezy. At times, it might feel like you’re the salesperson, HR, marketing, and business owner all in one. That’s why it’s essential to work smarter, not harder when you’re beefing up your marketing efforts.
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Investigate Freeware
In need of a good sales lead, but unsure about where to start? Well, that $1,000-per-year marketing program probably isn’t what you need. In fact, anything that chips away at your profit margins might not be for you. With potential overhead costs, leases, and employee expenses, you might need to avoid tacking on any extra monthly bills.
Luckily, there are plenty of options out there for entrepreneurs that come with a fantastic price tag of roughly zero dollars. This does come with a disclaimer, however, that any and all freeware you consider needs to be thoroughly vetted.
From email software that lets you build intuitive marketing campaigns without an incredibly steep learning curve to SEO applications that don’t require months of training to use, there are plenty of available options that can amp up your marketing efforts without causing a significant strain to either your time or money.
Make sure that you read plenty of reviews, see what other business owners have to say, and don’t be afraid to ditch a program if it doesn’t mean your unique needs. These applications are made to save you time and effort, not add more tasks to your already-full plate.
Incentivize Your Customers
Especially if you’re a new business owner, you might find it hard to collect enough customer information to build up a solid marketing campaign. In these days, lots of consumers are wary of divulging personal information, especially with the extensive amounts of data breaches and lost information. That’s why you need to do a few things to secure customer information in an ethical, effective way.
Preferably, you’re smartly using incentives. These could take most any form. Maybe new email signups get a special, one-time discount offer for any product you carry. Perhaps you send out exclusive deals to customers on your email list. You could even go so far as to give email signups early access to sales, specials, and promotions.
And while incentives are a great way to motivate customers, it’s also important to always be transparent about how their information will be used — using their email for marketing efforts? Let them know. Want to open up a path to two-way communication? Let them know. Are you completely against selling off their information to data research groups? Let them know!
Don’t Forget About Your Website
Nowadays, the internet is how you get found. If you don’t have an active online presence, many customers might not even consider you from the get-go. However, having a poorly cobbled website that looks like it belongs on Geocities isn’t your pathway to marketing success.
Again, you don’t need to shell out the big bucks to retain a web developer. There are plenty of intuitive web design tools that don’t require a programming background to navigate. Platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and the ever-popular WordPress are always around to make it easier for business owners to digitally connect with their audiences.
Even if you’re a marketing team of one, there are still great ways to beef up your campaigns and tactics. You don’t always have to spend a lot of money, and you don’t always have to spend a lot of time. But you do have to really push yourself to make the initial effort.
If you are interested in even more technology-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.
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