Boost Your Profits – Dirt Cheap Advertising!

The cost of advertising your business can quickly add up, especially if you’re not careful. Every week I receive at least two phone calls from media agents promising me the world with their latest “in” way to advertise, unfortunately this comes with a premium price tag and no promises. After running my own business for several years I have developed a series of dirt cheap, down to earth methods of promoting my business.

Facebook Site, Event or Group: Price – Free
Oh no! I hear you cry, another post about how to market on Facebook. – I promise I will keep this short and to the point. Facebook is free to use, allows for your business to spread quickly among friends and customers and allows you interact with your customers in a forum they trust. You can also post pictures to help your customers gain familiarity with who might be showing up at their door. One slight caveat, if you are visible you are accountable so make sure you deliver on your promises!

Customer Referral Cards : Price -$50 / 1000 cards
We all know that referrals are the most cost effective form of advertising, however they are notoriously difficult to generate consistently. I noticed a huge increase in the quantity and quality of my referrals when I printed and distributed my own customer referral cards. My referral cards were simple, on the back was my standard business card backing (a sample of our services and prices) but the front was quite different. Instead of the usual logo we had roughly the following “present this customer card to “store name” and receive a $10 discount for you and your friend.” Below this line was an un-laminated strip where our original customer could write their name or customer ID so we could track the cards and reward the discount. There were certain limitations with the cards, minimum spends etc. but you get the rough idea. Each time we performed a job the customer would receive five of these cards as well as a small instruction guide to show them what to do.

The cards work for people on a number of levels, firstly it is very simple. No complicated loyalty scheme or points to remember, just an easy to figure discount. Secondly the cards were effectively business cards, which people are accustomed to distributing anyway, on more than one occasion people rang us up and asked for more cards to give out at parties – how’s that for free advertising!

Customer Information Packs: Price – $1 – $5 per pack depending on contents and presentation
One of my oldest customers once asked me if I knew anyone who designed websites – I said, “Sure, – We do! – Didn’t you know, it’s on our business cards and website!” He said, “Well to be honest once I found out you could fix my computer I didn’t really read your card etc. I just assumed this was all you did”

From this small exchange the Customer Information Pack was born. It comprised of a white A4 Folder, some business cards, some referral cards, and most importantly a 3 – 5 page document which outlined everything our business did, in language that was simple to understand. Most importantly the booklet contained a cover page with large headings detailing the major areas of our business. – Think (WEBSITES – ONSITE PC SERVICE – GRAPHIC DESIGN) etc. Eventually we included a short DVD with our logo and a presentation of past work and customer testimonials.

Your price will vary depending on what your pack contains but remember a high quality pack can help to raise the profile of your business. We now give out a customer information pack to every new customer and every customer we have not seen for more than 6 months. The pack has a tremendous impact on how people view your business and help you get work that would otherwise have not come your way. When designing your pack, try to make it educational as well as promotional, that way your customers are more likely to read it all the way through.

Neighborhood Advertising: Price – $60 / 1000 per – (read the rest and find out)
The situation: You’ve driven to a new customer’s house and fixed their PC in record time. They are happy with your service and you’ve even been nice enough to give them a discount. But you’re terribly ahead of schedule and want an innovative way to promote your business, while strengthening your relationship with your new customer.

The solution: Out of your technician bag you pull your newest marketing weapon. The Door knob Menu

No I have not gone insane. This promotional tool is usually used by local fast food chains but, if correctly designed can be just as effective for your IT business. Depending on your design tastes, your business image and your general level of confidence you can have pretty much anything on your leaflet. Along with the standard logo, products and prices our approach was to make a form of “instant” review, we would have a few lines like “I was so overwhelmingly impressed by my experience with [business name] that I want to give you their information” along with an area for the customer to sign their name. Depending on the customer they may wish to distribute the item themselves, or you can fill up that annoying free time with a nice 10 minute walk.

Stickers, POST and other Branding: Price – $60 / 1000 stickers, BIOS – Free
It may seem simple but the trick to generating referrals and keeping your business on the tip of everyone’s lips is to remind them that you exist. Simple and affordable tricks include sticking a small but visible branded sticker to the top or side of a desktop PC. This can include helpful information like emergency numbers, but most importantly it has your logo and your slogan.

Alternative approaches include editing the POST Image; there are many programs which allow you to do this safely. (One major laptop brand even comes with its own application for this specific task) Every time they turn on their PC, instead of seeing a meaningless promotion for triple buffered ultimate channels your customers can be reminded of their friendly IT Support Company. Of course this idea isn’t for everyone but every little bit helps.

If you have graphic designers on-board who like designing graphics you can take advantage of the new Windows 7 feature of rotating background images. Simply have your team put together ten or more cool designs and set them as the default background. If you choose you can simply offer this as a gift to highlight your designer’s abilities, or you can incorporate details such as emergency contact numbers and a logo, it all depends on how is buying the computer.

I hope you have all enjoyed my list of dirt cheap promotions, feel free to share your own in the comments!

 
Written by James Gilbert