Spreading the Word on a Shoestring Budget – Part 1

If you’d asked me five months ago what my marketing strategy for SNOBS would entail, I’d probably have said there’ll be no “strategy” until there’s a budget for marketing and promotion. My mindset was, ‘just let me get the thing up and running, then I’ll work on spreading the word’. What I didn’t fully grasp back then is that my marketing campaign was already in full swing, even on a shoestring!

I want to share some of the zero-cost-promo techniques I’ve become aware of but before you whip out a pen to take notes or, more likely, call your colleagues over for a giggle at how entry-level my “marketing tips” are; please note this is not an advice article.
Much like my budget for it – my formal education in the area of advertising and customer relations is zero. The attitude I hope to breed at SNOBS is based on this: what is old news for you or your industry could be a complete revelation to someone else, so share the knowledge!

SHOESTRING INSTALLMENT NUMBER 1: Make your emails a billboard for your business…
Perhaps not every email; when I say “billboard” I’m talking a colour-picture insert below your standard Outlook-automated signature which, for most business people I receive email from, looks like this:

Jane Smyth, International Account Manager
The Greatest Sales Company in the World
106 Big Time Street, Sydneeville, 9000
Phone:    Fax:    etc.

Because these signatures (digital business cards) very often look the same, I rarely glance at them unless I need the sender’s phone or fax number. This is merely the opinion of an aesthetic-junkie, but I’ll always stop for a quick glance at an email signature if the font is colourful – something other than blue, black or grey – or there’s a business logo or mini-blurb attached.

So I’ve taken to jazzing up my own outgoing mail, when it comes to any of the following three scenarios.
1. First contact with someone I’m aiming to do business with (fairly obvious).
2. When emailing an existing friend/acquaintance who isn’t aware of my business – even if it’s a male friend who works as a fish monger in France. He could have a close female friend on the board of directors for Qantas Australia… who, er, might find my site interesting (it’s possible!).
3. Email correspondence with my bank manager, accountant, gym manager, in response to a plumber who has emailed a quote, my internet service provider… the list goes on and on. For all they know all my emails are “billboards”. I’m not asking them to read it, and don’t expect they’ll care much if they do, but you just never know the significance your business could have to a total stranger.

My email “billboard” add-on is my website banner:

For Microsoft Outlook: Just put your cursor under your email signature, select the ‘insert’ menu, then ‘picture’, then ‘from file’ and locate the folder your picture is saved in.

Sometimes I’ll also paste a short SNOBS blurb below the banner. Ideally I want the recipient to visit the site, but if they don’t have time I’d still prefer they get a quick idea what it’s about which might inspire them to come back later:
www.snobs.com.au is an online magazine and social network for businesswomen. It is a resource for news, information and advice where career-driven women can connect with fresh industry contacts and keep in touch with valued friends.

Granted, this has potential for effectiveness because my business is a website but even if you’re a guitar teacher or yoga instructor and don’t have a website, a picture of one of your lessons or sessions will make for a greater memory impact than:

Yours Sincerely,

Flexible Francine
MOBILE YOGA MASTER

Final tip: to avoid email recipients thinking you’ve accidentally attached a random happy snap of a kid playing the banjo (or a group performing Salute to the Sun) ask around to see if any friends have digital picture-editing experience.
Someone with a little knowledge of Photoshop (or the like) should be able to whip up an email-insert image which includes, say, three thumbnail-size pics of you ‘doing your thing’ and your business name somehow incorporated over the top. Maybe you could offer them a free ukulele lesson in return…

More of my groundbreaking installments on this topic will appear here soon but, in the meantime, grab yourself a little free promotion by leaving your own business-on-a-budget tips in the comment box.