NEED a Leg Up, Try "BOOT-STRAP Marketing"

One of the most frequent questions I am asked; “I don't have a lot of money with which to market my small business. How can I grow it on a limited budget?”

Consider Bootstrap Marketing as a means to get your business, off the ground and out there in front of people.

Bootstrap Marketing is a systematic marketing approach for a business that has limited time, money or technical marketing expertise.  

It is based on the saying, “ He pulled himself up by his bootstraps”, a widely-known image in the 1800’s, when men wore boots that served as a piece of transportation equipment, equally useful for walking long distances or for riding horses. Clearly, a horse could take a person further, faster than would walking. Wealthy individuals had valets or coachmen to assist them in mounting onto a horse  or atop a wagon by leveraging the straps of their boots, together with the harness and stirrups, in order to swing a leg over the other side. The required energy, strength , and individual effort.

The phrase “ he pulled himself up by his bootstraps” evolved to a situation in which a person completed the activity of mounting his horse by applying energy, strength and individual initiative, rather than either relying on support and assistance of others. He chose to get a “leg up” instead of the less ambitious alternative of simply walking.   

Thus Bootstrapping. . . a bootstrap marketer uses intelligence and know-how to muster the energy, strength, and individual initiative to employ proven marketing techniques that will enable his business to go faster and further that it possibly could otherwise.

I chose this rather detailed explanation of the term, to provide imagery into what “bootstrapping”. It does take a little homework on your part to make sure that the money that you do spend is spent wisely. But with effort and a system you can get that “leg-up”.

The first thing you must do is to analyze your potential customer base.

• Who is your target demographic?
• What sex are they, how old are they, where do they live, how much money do they make, why do they buy from you, what do they read, watch, and listen to?
• Once you have a very clear idea about who your customers are, you will have a much better idea about how to use your limited resources most effectively to REACH OUT and touch them.

For example, I know an architect with a problem similar to yours. He works out of his house and all of his business comes from word of mouth advertising. That's great, except when it stops, or the mouths move to another state, retire, or simply stop talking which was the case when I saw him recently. He needed to bring in new business, didn't have a big budget, and didn't know where to spend what he did have.

So we went through the same exercise. It turned out that because this architect worked mostly on house remodels, his ideal customer was a young homeowner with a few kids who would rather add on a new bedroom than buy a new house. Armed with this information, we devised a small ad that now runs every Thursday in the Home & Garden section of his paper. "Remodeling? Free Consultation," his ad reads. He has plenty of business, and that small ad did not break the bank.

So you have to do something similar. Once you have an idea as to whom you are looking to attract, you can earmark your marketing and advertising money much more wisely and specifically.

The next thing to consider then is how you will attract this target demographic. An ad is only one of many tools. You need to identify some marketing methods that will penetrate your designated target market. Look also at what your competitors are doing. What kind of marketing tools do they use? Can you copy those?

BEFORE, we discuss any of these I must assume you have a website already in place and online! If not, stop reading and get that website, you are trying to put on the wrong size boots at this time- Now back to bootstrapping.

Some of the options you might consider are:

• Direct mail: Direct mail merchants can generate some very specific lists that you can use to send potential customers a flyer or other info. Make certain you have your website and a landing page established to have people go to online
• Always Use the back of business cards: Ever found a business card given to you a few months before, which says “Bob Smith, director, Bob Smith Associates”.. and wondered what Bob Smith does? Use the empty space on the back of your business card to list your services or position your business. It’s cheap and will attract clients, Better yet, use the back of your business card as a coupon, people will save it until they are ready to buy. A sure fire way of having people retain that card
• Telemarketing: Telemarketers can also generate very specific lists that the telemarketers can use to sell your product or services. Do not overdue this, and make certain you only call people who have an opt-in for phone calls.
• Trade shows / Local Exhibitions: If your target market attends a certain type of trade show, then getting a booth at one may be a good idea. The architect for example might attend a Home Show.
• Signs: A big, bold sign in the right location can be both cheap and very effective.
• Media advertising: If you cater to seniors, for example, buying an ad in a local senior newspaper is much cheaper than your local daily. Also, if you call a magazine near their ad deadline, you may find that they have space they have not yet sold (sometimes called "remnant" space) which may be available at a great discount. This is also true for the electronic media. Advertising in a media outlet that your demographic uses almost always works.
• Give a BIG Guarantee: If you truly believe in your product or service, guarantee it. Offer money back if they’re not 100% satisfied. Yes, a few people will abuse your guarantee, but you’ll attract more business in the first place.
• Give away unusual freebies: Pens with your logo are boring and forgettable. Thanks to powerful digital printing techniques, there are literally thousands of things that your logo can go on. I worked with an underwear company. We decided potential clients would better remember an underwear company that gave them an edible gingerbread man with tiny pants to remove and keep. Wild Yes, but it worked! It’s different and people talked about it for a very long time.
• Have outstanding customer service: Nothing attracts customers more than positive word of mouth from other customers. Customer service is your biggest weapon against rivals, especially those run by big corporations. Make it a central part of your business. If it’s important you are seen to answer the phone quickly, promise to do it within three rings or your service is free. You’ll soon make that a priority when you start losing money!
• Change how you answer the phone: Give your staff freedom to experiment with exciting ways to answer the phone. They’ll enjoy it and your customers should too. Just remember that the phone can be the first contact with a business; be aware of answering the phone in such an odd way that it puts callers off
• Offer a discount card: These are the cheapest way to reward your existing customers for their loyalty as you only give free product away to your very best customers. When they buy your product five or six times, they get the next one free. What a great way to say thank you
• Reward Customers who refer other customers with a Free Giveaway or even a Cash Coupon
• Support a cause: This is known as cause related marketing, and is a powerful way to get your business noticed through its support for a relevant charity or organization. Pick your cause carefully, commit to it in the long-term (better still form a partnership with them), and shout about everything you do to help it.
• Do what the others can’t or won’t: Analyze your competitors and pick the things you think customers demand but no-one delivers. They will probably be hard to execute, but should be worthwhile (and it’s because they’re hard that no-one does them). Talk to customers to find out what they really want.
• Co-Op Partners: Find a marketing firm, graphics firm, ad agency, etc that is just starting out, talk to them about a sweat equity campaign. Both of you contribute to the campaign and each of you shares the results. They get a commission on every potential customer you close. It may cost you more if successful, but cost you very little if it fails. Also a nice way for both of you to do some great business building.
• Reduce rates for repeat business: Buy more, pay less. Make sure customers understand that simple rule and keep repeating it. They will respond to it.
• Pick up the phone: The phone is the cheapest marketing tool you have. Don’t waste it on cold calling. Use it to phone leads or contacts, rather than just email them. In a world swamped with electronic communication, this is a great way to stand out
• NEVER lose your enthusiasm: The most important thing you can do to stand out it… something. Businesses that do something regularly tend to perform better than those that do something brilliant now and again.

Finally, once you have chosen an outlet, make certain to track your results. That way, you know what is working and what isn't.

Today’s Wisdom: A well- written press release sent to the right media outlet can generate a free story about you and your business that can not only be used for sales, but can be reproduced and used again and again to create credibility. The key is to generating interest with your press release is to be newsworthy.

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Comments

[Barbara.H]

This is really good stuff. I found 10 things I am going to try, please keep them coming.