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Something I’ve often thought about when running my own companies is how little money I’ve spent on marketing. In fact, the only money I’ve spent directly on marketing in the last few years has been on business cards and web hosting.
I own a web development company, so costs there are kept within the umbrella of my empire. I also own a reseller print company, so business cards can be produced at cost. Everything else I’ve built up has been purely on word of mouth and making the most out of every day events and interests of mine and my colleagues.
I have an interest in charitable causes, fun events, activities, and community projects. Just in doing these things alone, I’m able to raise awareness of my own businesses and even incorporate some of the “good cause” into my business. For example, my trip to Malawi in 2007 was funded by my web company, and whilst out there I managed to get to do some work with the Malawian schools, donate money to the Wildlife Centre through my company, and generally operate as an ambassador for my company whilst in Malawi.
I’ve been asked by a client if I would help at a charity event on 26th June (tomorrow… if you’re reading this on the post date!) for the children of Chernobyl. Naturally I said yes, as it not only meets my core values but as a bonus it will be a boost to my company profile – I’m very much about promoting good causes, and in doing so through my business dealings also builds trust in my brand and the causes themselves.
Later this year, my Malawi trip will be funded partially by my web company as I’ll be conducting free of charge construction and IT work over at the Wildlife Centre, and partially funded by my new Sports Coaching / Personal Development company.
Whilst in Malawi, I will be working in schools and orphanages to deliver sporting activities for the children to help develop their interpersonal skills and to build confidence. This will be operating as part of my Sports Coaching business, free of charge of course!
So as you can see, just by using a little creativity you can make excellent marketing and advertising campaigns virtually free of charge, whilst incorporating causes that really do make it all worthwhile. There’s so much to be said for putting the expense of these trips into good causes rather than lining the pockets of a marketing agency.
If you want to do things closer to home, you might want to consider helping out at a local fair or sponsoring your local community centre. If you feel like being more hands-on, offer to help at a local youth centre or community project. There’s no end to the creative ways that you can get involved with real life and at the same time promote your business through ethical, cost effective channels.
If this isn’t your cup tea, there’s still a whole range of inventive ways that you can modernise your marketing techniques. A good article to get your creative juices flowing can be found at the Creating Passionate Users blog.
