How To Get Free Effective Advertising

As you can tell from my previous post, having warm prospects is the gasoline for your business engine. Too little gas and the engine stalls, too much and you can have a fire or explosion. However, too much is usually better than too little. So how do we go about getting warm prospects without spending money?

One way we talked about is networking. Networking can be done step by step using the telephone. First you write down everyone you know and their telephone number. Then you call each person and ask them if they know anybody that fits into your demographic profile (don't literally say this, say "Do you know anybody who cooks?" etc.). Then you get the name(s) and phone number(s) and add them to your list. Then you repeat. If you are unclear what I mean by demographic profile then go back and read my previous blog posts on demographics.

Networking can also be done by meeting new people at the bar, gas station, golf course, grocery store, etc. and exchanging contact information with them. You want their contact information and you want to give them yours. Then you socialize with them. You can add them to your contact list at any time and do what we talked about above, but just like your normal family and friends, you want to continue being close to them and socialize with them. For most people, this kind of networking comes naturally but for introverts like me, this can be difficult.

Other than networking, our option for finding warm prospects is to advertise. You can advertise for cost in many different ways. In addition, you can advertise for free in many different ways, some more effective than others. The most effective advertising you can get is when lots of people in your demographic profile see your ad. However, if you are advertising for free, lots of eyeballs seeing your ad can be a good thing, even if they are not part of your profile. They can filter themselves, you just want to get noticed. The best way to get noticed is to be featured in an article. An article that mentions what you sell and how to contact you is the best. Often companies write their own articles and submit them to newspapers or news outlets, and try to get published. It really is possible to get published and this is one thing you may want to consider attempting.

There are many outlets on the internet to advertise for free and there are websites devoted to telling you where to advertise for free. Just do a google search. Personally, I like the social networking sites but I have also found that responding to blog posts is a good way to publicize your company.

Off line, you can put a big sign in your front yard or a magnetic sign on your car as a couple of ideas. But if you really think about it, there are tons of ways to advertise your business. I often put business cards on bulletin boards at grocery stores for instance.

Use your imagination to see if you can come up with more free ways to advertise. Did you read about the 911 call about the balloon carrying the little boy? DON'T DO THAT. There are limits to what you should do to drum up publicity.

Be ready for when people start to contact you. How are you going to do your sales presentation?