You’ll know that there’s a recession when you see lots of businesses dropping out of town, or if you hear about recording sales falling off in the last quarter.
Summer or winter can be tough or easy. If you have your brochure or phone book on the right page, you’ll notice in the winter, businesses are less and less busy.
As a result, you may not be able to purchase those brochures or schedule that advertising campaign.
This can be a result of a common problem that some small business owners have – they don’t promote until they have to, because they are knee-deep in debt when business is low.
Using these tips during uncertain times not only can help your small business survive the downturn of business, but it can also position your small business for future peaks, and which means higher profits than you may have seen in the past.
They are especially important during a recession, when every small business owner is stretched even more thin.
Here are 3 steps to take that will help you do what you need to do:
1) Find cheap ways to advertise:
It’s likely that you are currently spending the majority of your advertising budget on things that will make you more money – MORE money.
Get your message out – keep your advertising low-cost.
Here are some ideas to help get you started:
Free City Report:We even mailed a report card to about 400 Realtors in this area, for free. In one year, we mailed this report to nearly 6000 Realtors. That alone generated a lot of business.
Online Banner Ads:Some of our competitors are doing this option, and it’s very effective. This type of ads are exactly what they say they are.
Facebook:Your post or article on Facebook and other social media sites are one of the best ways to advertise your business. Poor traffic on these sites, won’t really make you any money. The people who read and like what you post are your target.
Church Ads:One of some of most successful business types control their marketing by the number of people approaching them. A helping home or Christian church appeals to people’s sense of community and cos Immigration have many fish in the sea of potential patients. This is a great low-cost way of advertising.
Here are some of our clients:rather than spending gift certificate money on gas or other expenses, a couple of us had a small sign made to put on the front of our auto repair shop, which said that anyone who needed to fill a spot for their best friend in a family meeting could buy a gift certificate for $50. It created a buzz!
2) Use an online search engine to explain your business:Google is one of the most commonly used search engines today. Your local newspaper or Yellow Pages might be one of them, but chances are, they are being added to the local phone book.
It’s imperative that in today’s busy business environment, we use an online search engine for our marketing efforts.
Combine that online search with free online advertising, and you can get your message out to a large number of targeted clients for little or no cost.
Remember, it’s nearly free!
3) Create a marketing budget using a budgeting tool:
You’ve heard it said that the key to having a successful online business is creating a long-term marketing budget, and creating the budget based on profits, not engine clicks or the amount of money that you can spend in a month.
Although it is possible to have an “all or nothing” budget, most businesses budget around 5-10% of their gross sales online. If you are discouraged with your business, this amount will make a difference in your morale, and your strategy.
With a budget in place, it’s easier to narrow the time that you are spending on marketing. Rather than publishing a weekly or monthly post in your offline newspaper, or idea that will get thrown out on the internet, you will want to prioritize some of the activities you do.
You may think about different ways to target your market.
Depending on the size of your business, you may want to try different tactics that target your market.
Or maybe the opposite of what you are doing, you want to talk about other products that fit their needs and wants.
