Growth-hungry entrepreneurs often find themselves in a catch-22: to grow your business, you need funds, but to get those funds, you need growth.
While it’s true that growth is an investment, it doesn’t have to be a huge one. There are economic methods out there for the money-savvy business owner looking to expand.
With just a bit of elbow grease and entrepreneurial spirit, you can grow your margins without breaking the bank. Here are seven low-cost ways to grow your business.
Give away a valuable lead magnet
Email subscriber lists are an excellent tool for marketing. However, many consumers lose interest in email newsletters over time. The best way to keep your email audience engaged is to brainstorm a free resource your target market will want.
Ask yourself which small problem you can solve by giving away a free report, video, or cheat sheet. Don’t try to solve the problem your product solves. Keep it small, help subscribers get a quick win, and then position your product in front of them as the next step in their problem-solving process.
Use a virtual business address to expand your business presence
If you have a brick-and-mortar location in your original city, then you know how expensive a physical presence can be. Believe it or not, though, renting office space isn’t the only way to get a foothold in a new market. You can also get the job done using a virtual business address from iPostal1.
It’s true that physically expanding into a new city or state requires a considerable upfront investment. On the other hand, a virtual business address provides you with an actual address you can use to register an LLC and a Google My Business listing. This method lends you all the trust and credence of a physical location without the costly monthly rent.
Employ a social networking plan
The greatest asset of social media for marketing is that it’s free to use. It doesn’t cost any money to grow your social media platforms organically. Look for potential customers on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other apps. Make contact by inviting them to your email newsletter or offering a free demo.
Use partnerships
You can generate leads and sales by partnering with other people who previously built large audiences. Imagine taking an interview on a podcast with thousands of listeners. What if your partner invited you to run a webinar to their 25,000 email subscribers? You can drive the traffic from those appearances back to your email list or sales page.
Your partnerships also don’t have to be big industry names. Even partnering with someone at your own level can expose you to a new consumer base.
Please your customers
You’re likely investing heavily in customer satisfaction already, so it never hurts to lean in. All the exposure in the world won’t matter if you have poor reviews and no-repeat traffic.
Get referrals
One excellent side effect of investing in your customer satisfaction is referrals. Relying on word-of-mouth can be a fantastic, frugal money-maker because customers will essentially do your marketing for you.
Use search engine optimization
Few things can grow your business long-term like a quality search engine optimization (SEO) plan. SEO doesn’t require much marketing budget if you do some or all of it in-house. You’ll notice that leads and sales come in passively once your SEO efforts take hold and you start ranking.
Wrap up
Though having enough liquid cash to dump millions in marketing is the dream, it’s not necessary to grow your business. With a bit of outside-of-the-box thinking, you can grow your business without shelling out the green.
