marketing | smallbizdream blog

How to Market Your Business For Free

Spending your hard-earned money on expensive marketing or ad campaigns is out of the question when you have razor-thin profit margins.

And while businesses are beginning to open up, we’re not out of the woods yet and businesses are still reeling from the effects of extended lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions. But the good news is, we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and businesses are gradually opening up once more.

So how exactly can we market our business and spend zero dollars in the process? Let’s start with the most obvious one – accumulating social capital.

Spend Time Building Your Social Capital

No matter what business you’re in, building relationships is essential. It’s hard to imagine running a business with no thought of gaining people’s trust and maintaining good relationships. How much work you put into building your social capital will determine how successful your business will be.

The great thing is you don’t have to spend much money accumulating social capital than you would making friends as you go about with your day to day activities. And you need not look further than good old social media.

Facebook is particularly interesting – usage is at a record high. But unlike before, people aren’t just spending time on Facebook ‘social not-working’; they’re actually using it to find local businesses and checking on people to know how they are. Local businesses are also cranking up Facebook posts like never before, promoting their businesses through Facebook Page invites, shares, and being actively engaged for most of the day.

YouTube time has also increased. We’ve seen this before COVID-19, but even more so today as people are hungry for good, reliable content from news to entertainment and everything in between. You can be the go-to guy by sharing your experiences and expertise. So for instance, if you’re into food business, talk about how you can save on food by planning your meals and recycling leftovers so nothing goes to waste.

Offer Something for Free

If you think about the cost of getting a new customer, you’ll quickly realize how inexpensive freebies and giveaways can actually be. Besides, people will remember you more if you’re giving something out. Things like mugs, T-shirts, umbrellas – they’re not only useful, they double as a marketing tool by itself. But what if you don’t have money to go around?

One of the most effective ways which is still true today is offering ‘gated content’ to your target audience. This could be a free e-book, whitepaper, research, exclusive access to a live webinar, or a complimentary item or service which they can avail by signing up to your mailing list. This often goes along with a CRM and a content marketing strategy. Always remember to use ‘double opt-ins’, like what we do with our Small Business Dream Sales and Marketing Automation, in keeping with GDPR laws.

Other options include hosting a ‘mini-contest’ on social media via Facebook Live or newsfeed posts. Sounds simple, but it actually worked on many small business with little to no marketing budget. Check out this blog post on creative ways to run Facebook contests if you need some ideas and try one yourself.

Content Marketing

As the name suggests, you use content to promote your business, albeit more subtly compared to using traditional ads. It’s an age-old practice and comes in many forms from old-school TV shows and soap operas to blogs and YouTube videos. This requires some dedication on your part to deliver content consistently and you might also need to learn some SEO so people can actually see your posts.

It will take a while to rank organically, but there are workarounds to get more people to know about you quickly. When it comes to text-based content, guest posts are a great way to get exposure. Some sites allow you to post a link to your website at the very end. Content marketing always works best when used with other methods such as social media and email marketing. Same goes for YouTube content. But on top of this, you’ll need a CRM/sales and marketing automation to organize and execute your marketing plans.

Joint Venture with other Businesses

We’ve talked about this in one of our blog posts about joint ventures. The idea is to find complementary businesses with a huge list of people who might be interested in your product or service. In return, they get a percentage on every sale you make. You get the list, they get their share – even Steven.

The biggest draw is you don’t spend on anything until you make the sale, and even so, it’s just your own way of returning the favor on things which would have cost you more, i.e. ads and other marketing expenses. The key is to look for businesses that can benefit from what you have to offer and are not a direct competition to yours.

Restaurants can joint venture with delivery services and apps like DeliveryBizConnect. Insurance companies can joint venture with auto and real estate. Even content creators can become joint venture partners by allowing some type of promotion on their blog or YouTube channel, kind of like affiliate marketing. So yes, you can definitely market your business without spending a single dime if you know how to joint venture.

Showcase Your Work

Part of your portfolio should include your most notable works as well as testimonials from your previous clients. Just by looking at your works and hearing what others have to say about you almost instantly wins people’s trust. One of the most popular ways is to create a LinkedIn account for your business. It functions as your virtual business card and is a great networking tool.

Another popular option is to use free website builders and CMS like Wix and WordPress where people can marvel at your work. Note: just by having a professional-looking website is a statement in itself. It speaks a lot about you and your business and why they should trust you.

You can get testimonials and user recommendations for free and they are extremely powerful in promoting your business. They provide context to your product or service. They make your business more relatable because people are able to put themselves on the shoes with those who share the same problems and experiences as theirs.

Testimonials should be posted on your website, Google Reviews, Facebook and Yelp if appropriate.

Ask for Free Small Business Advice

We want to reach out and talk with you through our FREE 45-minute business consultation where we can discuss some solutions to get you through the pandemic.

We layout every possible means to keep you in business, whether it’s through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, email series, sales funnels, landing pages or business directories.

Can’t go to the office? Download SBD Sales and Marketing Automation App for your mobile and keep tabs on your business in the comfort of your homes.

How Can Small Businesses Survive COVID-19

COVID-19 has started taking its toll on millions of small businesses. Doors are closing and people are losing jobs. Luckily, some countries are finding ways to buy business owners some time with mortgage deferrals, wage subsidies, and low-interest loans.

Other businesses are looking into other options like branching out to serve immediate needs of customers like health, food, online selling, and delivery services. Let’s look at some ways to get you through the lull during COVID-19 lockdown.

Make Good Use of Your Time

Remember when businesses were bustling with activity and you didn’t have time honing your craft or learning something new? COVID-19 came about, and suddenly you’re left with very few customers, not enough cash, and too much time in your hands. Time well-spent can turn things around for your business even in difficult times. You can still be productive by learning some skills to tide you over until you’re up and running again.

Learn New Skills

Skills that make you money are worth its weight in gold. Think of it like storing up assets or training for an Olympic event. Here are a few things you can learn at home during COVID-19 lockdown:

1. Copywriting. Instead of reading about the doom and gloom in social media, why not learn something that would actually make you more money, or at least save you hundreds of dollars in marketing budget? Copywriting is a multi-million dollar industry and it’s not going away anytime. Hint: you don’t need an A+ in grammar school to become a successful copywriter. You can find dozens of free copywriting tutorials online so you can put that extra time of yours into good use while waiting for the pandemic to die out.

2. Vlogging & Podcasting. Big media companies used to have the monopoly in broadcast. But with YouTube and podcast’s growing popularity, that may no longer be the case. YouTube has made it easier for average users to create professional videos at home with a stable internet and a decent smartphone. Take a look at some examples on YouTube with around a thousand to 10,000 views. You’ll be surprised to see how even the simplest setup (home studio, green screen, whiteboard and pen, etc.) can rack up more than a thousand views on YouTube. So it’s definitely worth looking into with so much time to go around.

3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM). If you’ve never heard of CRMs and sales and marketing automation, now’s the perfect time digging into it. Check out our comparison blog post on Infusionsoft vs. Hubspot vs. Small Business Dream if you want to have a good grasp on how CRM and sales and marketing automation works for small businesses. We created a system that can take your small businesses from zero customers to getting hundreds of leads, customers, and referrals. However, it’s not a silver bullet so you need to put in some hours learning on how to make it work for your business. If you need help learning about CRM, don’t hesitate to schedule a FREE 45-minute consultation with us and we’ll reach out to you in every way we can.

Build a Following Online

Most people are glued to their monitors and smartphones, so you might want to put out some good content your audience would appreciate during these long periods of isolation. It doesn’t always have to do with what you’re selling. It can be anything from keeping yourself fit during lockdown, e.g. cardio and bodyweight exercises, to indoor games to keep your kids from going out.

You’re not concerned about selling anything at this point, but it’s more about adding value and building an audience while your business goes into hibernation. Ideally, you’d go for the ones that are more likely to give you traffic, i.e. YouTube and social media. After some time, you can slowly work on your newsletters and autoresponders for your CRM and sales and marketing automation.

1. YouTube posts. Video tutorials, walkthroughs, and customer reviews are some of the most popular videos on YouTube right now. Think of any tutorial related to your business. Do a cooking demo. Walk them through your car tune-ups. What’s your take on a certain product, and would you recommend it to your viewers? Keep them interested and be as creative as you can be. Look for examples in YouTube if you’re a bit camera-shy to give you an idea on how it’s done without focusing much on you.

2. Social media posts. Curate some good content over the internet and share it on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Find something positive and uplifting, useful or informative. However, just be mindful about your posts from other sources. Always fact-check for veracity and credibility. Better yet, you can share your own blog and YouTube posts. Try repurposing some of your old blog posts or do some of the things mentioned above (no.1). Create a business page for your posts so you have something to go back into when you’re ready to build a list, i.e. getting contacts for your CRM. We’ve created our proven and tested LinkedIn strategy to help you build connections on LinkedIn using Small Business Dream CRM.

3. Email Newsletters. People rarely read emails these days. Good news is, it’s not going away and it can still be an effective follow-up tool even if it takes you three to five years before making the sale. You don’t have to rush on this one since you won’t be sending too frequently (anti-spamming laws won’t let you anyway). Just one newsletter per week and setting your autoresponder to send one for each month goes a long way to keep you in touch and top-of-mind during the lull. Here’s a quick tip: you don’t have to start from scratch. Look up your inbox for old newsletters from your previous subscriptions and make it your own. Improve on it. Customize it for your own business. Play around with your CRM’s email builder and autoresponder and create email campaigns for your subscribers. Ask us if you need help setting up and we’ll spend 45-minutes of our time with you – no strings attached.

Get Everyone On Board

You don’t have to do all these things on your own. In fact, if you can get everyone involved, you probably won’t have to lay off your employees who are counting on you for their survival. (If it’s possible, borrow some capital for your running expenses and try to recoup them when business goes back to normal. This might also mean cutting their working hours in half.)

Get them to learn CRM with you and help you with some marketing stuff. We’ve come up with a LinkedIn marketing strategy and put it down in book form, “LinkedIn 5-Step System: Generate 10 fresh qualified leads in 10 minutes for you small business,” which you can download here for FREE.

Think of it like training your employees on a payroll. You might not get as many sales as before but you’re investing on skills which will pay off eventually. Just hold on to it. You’ve invested a lot of your time and resources building up your small business and you can’t let a few weeks or months of inactivity take it all away from you.

Struggling to Keep Your Business Afloat?

Why not spend some time with us? Schedule a FREE 45-minute business consultation with us and we’ll reach out to you in every way we can to help you with your small business.

Take a look at our 5-step Rapid Sales Growth Blueprint where we lay out every possible means to rapidly grow your business, whether it’s through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, email series, sales funnels, landing pages or business directories.

Want to stay mobile? Get our SBD Sales and Marketing Automation App for your mobile and keep tabs on your business everywhere you go.

Technology is Changing How Real Estate Works – Here’s What to Do for Agents and Brokers

If you’re a realtor and you believe that the business will never change you’re in for a real shock. Technology is seeping into every facet of our lives and work and it’s changing the way we do things – even buy and sell property.

Beginning August, real estate agents and brokers in Toronto can collect data from sold listings databases from multiple listing service (MLS) to attract homeowners and buyers within the area.

This is big news for real estate, considering the fact they have the largest real estate board in the country. This could very well mean the rest of Canada will be on the same route and we’ll be seeing more websites like 99 Acres, One Flat Fee, and Nobul jumping into the scene for Canada’s real estate business to bring the real estate business online.

Sold Listings Are Now Considered Public Information

Homeowners and buyers are now able to make their own research online from past data such as price, location, specifications, photographs, and other relevant information about the property, as well as the real estate companies who listed them. This would help spur competition and innovation in the country’s real estate business .

Century 21 and Nobul are a few examples of online real estate marketplaces in Canada, the equivalent of Redfin and Zillow in the U.S. (Note: It’s possible to search for active listings in Canada in websites like Realtor.ca but they don’t include information on sold properties). Real estate companies can present sold data however they wish and continuously improve user experience.

Homeowners and buyers will still be in need of agents and brokers in ironing out specific details even with for-sale-by-owners (FSBO) transactions. So really, being able to search sold listings online shouldn’t worry people about downsizing or going out of job. They just have to be more creative and rethink their strategies.

How This Will Impact Real Estate in Canada

Sold listings is probably the most crucial piece of information about the real estate market because it helps us get a better picture of what’s going on in the industry. Which types of properties are mostly sold this year and at what price? How long have these properties been on sale? Which areas/provinces have the most number of properties sold? Is renting a more viable option to buying this year?

Looking at the charts, we can see why such need for transparency in the real estate business is more important than ever. It gives us some useful insight about, say, the recent decline in provinces that enjoyed spectacular gains in recent years (Greater Toronto with 2 years slump in home sales since 2017, and Greater Vancouver with home sales dropping by 31.6% last year).

It also helps address the issue of competitiveness in the real estate business by establishing a price point based on supply and demand (people will know which ones are easily sold and which ones take more time at a certain price level), eliminating a lot of guesswork and arbitrary pricing. This is key in provinces like Toronto and Vancouver where the cost of owning a home is “off the charts.” Compare that with Ontario and Greater Montreal where competition in the housing market is in full swing.

The Need for an Online Solution

Technology coupled with greater access to sold listings creates a perfect environment for competition and innovation to thrive in the real estate business. Here’s what you can do to stay in the game.

1. Maximize your online presence

According to a 2017 data from a NAR Research and Real Trends Report, 92% of buyers and sellers start online, with 70% of the buyers and 75% of the sellers finding their agent online, and it’s been going up ever since.

Much of your clients’ activity will be spent in online searches than office visits. Consider using online real estate marketplaces to fast-track your sales. More and more people are going to these sites to compare prices and find competent real estate agent or broker without physically going to the brokerage.

Alternatively, you can set up a micro-site as an independent licensed agent where you can offer listing in the MLS using a flat fee. Or you can market properties for sale by yourself through social media and have clients come to you directly. It’s easier to do using sales and marketing automation with site-building capability and social media integration such as Small Business Dream.

2. Use automation to stay in touch

The length of time it takes to convert a client from initial contact is way much longer than it used to – around 3 to 18 months. This is particularly true among millennials who are more receptive to customer education and whose number two priority is to own a house (the first and last priority according to survey is to save for retirement and getting married). Hence, you’re going to need a system to keep track of your clients even when you’ve stopped thinking about them.

We’ve had a similar experience before when we made a $30,000 sale with a client 12 years after making an initial contact with him through our Small Business Dream suite of tools. Same thing can happen in real estate. Having a system like Small Business Dream helps real estate agents and brokers stay in touch through email autoresponders, newsletters, and semi-automated messages and phone calls from the initial contact to the final sale and beyond.

3. Follow up on your clients

Creating a good impression on your clients goes a long way on your ratings as a real estate agent and will help you get more exposure over the long run. Touch base with them from time to time about their purchase and provide some useful tips on how they can keep it in pristine condition. It’s also a good way to stay top-of-mind to your clients. Watch the video to see some little-known secrets used by successful real estate agents.

Same applies for your clients investing in real estate who might be interested in getting more property within the area. You can sell more to your existing clients by simply following up on them after the initial sale using sales and marketing automation like Small Business Dream.

Learn more on how you can successfully build your real estate business at SmallBizDream.com and start using our suite of tools to increase your sales and profitability like never before.

How To Use CRMs For The Changing Auto Body Industry

The body shop industry has been adapting to the changing times driven by the recent growth in the electric car market, and the push towards “greener”, safer transportation around the world. For example, electric car sales has nearly doubled in Canada with close to 35,000 units sold by the end of September. European countries have also seen an uptrend in hybrids last year.

With so much going on in the auto industry, shop owners are scrambling to stay current with their customers. Let’s look at some of the factors that will change the way we do business in the auto body industry and how a customer relationship management software can help better serve your customers.

“Green” Cars Are on the Rise

Green cars are becoming more popular over the years, and we might see an influx of buyers and customers in the not-so-distant future. Technology is starting to mature on these high-tech vehicles with significant improvement in speed, acceleration, range, and power efficiency compared to their predecessors.

Hybrids and fully-electric cars have come a long way, and now we have Plug-in Electric vehicles (PEV) like Tesla Model 3 leading the charge (no pun intended). Major companies like Toyota, Ford, and BMW are also digging in to get their share in this emerging market. We could see more adoption in the near future as competition grows and PEVs diversify to meet various needs (Think Nissan Leaf hatchback, Jaguar I-PACE SUV, and Rivian R1T pickup truck)

Its Impact on the Auto Body Industry

Working with hybrids and electric cars is in many ways different from conventional methods. Body shops will have to work with aluminum more often which requires specialized training and a separate facility for aluminum collision repairs. Same applies to gas-driven cars by Ford and GM which are also using much lighter aluminum over conventional steel to increase MPG.

Body shops will also need an entirely different skill set for dealing with electrical components like the induction motor, inverter, battery pack, electronic sensors, etc., as well as OEM certification when servicing these parts. The question is, would it be worth putting the extra time and money? Note: electric vehicles also requires maintenance despite having less moving parts.

The Solution: Be Quick to Adapt to Customer’s Needs

Regardless of how big or small your business is, your ability to quickly adapt and stay current with your customers is the key to surviving a fast-changing environment. Here’s what you can do to help prepare your auto body shop business.

Research the market. Check the stats in your area. Do you have a large enough market to justify the cost of upgrade, or are they pretty much a niche market as of this time? Looking at the charts, we can see, for example, how electric vehicle sales in Ontario grew by 209 percent last year, followed by British Columbia and Quebec at 151 and 131 percent, respectively.

Given these numbers, there’s a fair chance of customer demand for maintenance and collision repairs in hybrids and electric vehicles (EV). However, this may not be the case in countries on the other side of the world, where people might actually buy good old gas-driven cars to take advantage of price cuts as demand for oil starts to dwindle. Either way, always be ready to take action when opportunity presents itself.

Invest in technology. Whether you’re dealing with older vehicles or high-tech EVs, it is worth investing in technologies that will help increase efficiency and productivity for your business. You can either choose to upgrade your auto body shop to serve a broader range of customers or increase throughputs by adding more bays and introducing IR curing systems. You can also improve other aspects of your business such as keeping track of your customers’ job order, in which case, you’re going to need a CRM to help you stay on-schedule.

Let people know you’re in business. After spending considerable amount of time and resources upgrading and improving your services, people need a way to know about it. Small Business Dream suite of tools helps business owners by offering a cost-effective way to reach out potential customers in multiple channels using automation (email autoresponders), semi-automation (email templates and phone script), social media marketing, and other useful features such as client acquisition (landing page and sales funnel), A/B testing, survey builder, and so on.

Stay in touch with your customers. Your current customers are an important source of information to help push your business forward. Throw out a survey from time to time to get into your customers’ head. Are they keen to have an electric vehicle in the future? If so, which model and make are they most interested in? Would they prefer to have both types (legacy and EV) for specific purposes? You can get a lot of useful feedback by just using Small Business Dream’s survey builder. Or, you can have them sign up to your auto body shop newsletter to keep them updated with your latest upgrades and services so they never miss out on anything and keep your business top-of-mind.

Learn more on how you can successfully build your auto body shop business at SmallBizDream.com and start using our suite of tools to increase your sales and profitability like never before.

What Small Business Can Do In a Depressed Market

The Economy is extremely volatile at the moment and if it becomes a bear market, it can have severe consequences for a lot of small businesses. For some, it meant cutting back on expenses, downsizing, or even bankruptcy. However, during these times businesses can give real value to their customers and stand out from their competition. Your ability to adapt, shift priorities, and look for opportunities during a downturn can help you stay afloat and gain a decisive edge above the competition.

We’ll be focusing on three main areas considered to be the most vital during this phase.

Customers

Customers tend to be more price-sensitive during tough times. Buying habits change, as well as their priorities. But despite all that, you need to keep a steady flow of income for your company. Getting enough customers to keep the ball rolling should be high on the list of your priorities. There are at least 3 ways you can achieve this:

Cross-sell/up-sell
Be more competitive
Focus on Customer Service

Although it seems counterintuitive, cross-selling or up-selling when most people are trying to stay on budget actually works. In retail business, this could mean offering bundled items, a discount, or selling them in bulk. Services like salons may offer one or more complementary services at a slightly lower price than if customers were to avail of them on separate occasions. Customers will take every opportunity to get the most out of their dollar whether it’s through discounts or storing up for the rainy days.

Staying in touch with your customers is a lot easier these days because of sales and marketing automation and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Small Business Dream helps business owners acquire new customers and maintain customer loyalty through email autoresponders, survey forms, inside sales tools for salespeople (Action List, phone script, notes, etc.), landing page templates, and sales funnel.

Cash Flow

Maintaining a positive cash flow can be tough for businesses during recessions. People tend to be more conservative with their finances, and businesses might have a hard time finding more capital to run their businesses. This often results in drastic measures like downsizing and outsourcing certain tasks, while others may try reducing their workload through automation. Check your cash flow and see if your business spending gives the best possible output.

Identify important areas in your business. If you are to strip down your business to its core, which ones would likely stay and keep you in business all throughout? Is there any task that hasn’t been automated, and is taking up too much time to accomplish? How effective is your marketing, and does it justify the cost? In many cases, business owners find themselves spending too much on things that don’t have significant impact on their bottom line. You could be hiring more people when you could have just spent a fraction of the cost using sales and marketing automation. We want our business to be as lean as possible and still be able to maximize our gains.

Reallocate your resources as needed. Technology has come a long way towards improving our efficiency from customer acquisition to maintaining good customer relationship. In fact, some businesses are already moving towards inside sales using CRM because it allows them to save up on gas, meetups, business trips, and other related expenses doing outside sales. This strategy greatly reduces business costs and helps them stay cash flow-positive when most businesses are barely making it.

Opportunities

When the economy is bad, most people turn to cash. Savvy investors and business owners use this opportunity to acquire more assets and properties as many of these will go on sale during recession. This is where businesses with enough cash stored away can benefit the most. If you are able to stay cash flow-positive, this can be your chance to grow your business significantly.

Foreclosures and auctions are pretty common during economic downturns. Take some time looking for opportunities to buy assets properties on the cheap which include real estate, office equipment, vehicles, goods, and raw materials. Some of these normally cost a fortune, but you might be able to acquire them for your business at significantly reduced prices. Market downturns allow you to grow your own business by picking up the pieces from what is left of other people’s businesses.

Final thoughts

You can succeed with any small business regardless of the present economic conditions so long as you have the mindset, skills, and the right tools to get the job done. You can always achieve more by working smarter, not harder. Use technology to speed up and automate your tasks, and be prepared to step up your business when opportunities present themselves.

Learn more on how you can successfully build your small business through sales and marketing automation. Visit SmallBizDream.com and start using our suite of tools to increase your sales and profitability like never before.