Before we start let’s be clear about one thing: There are no free marketing techniques.
Every marketing technique that you will find takes either time or money. You might find people who claim a marketing technique is free but let’s not delude ourselves into thinking our time isn’t valuable too. In truth your time is more valuable than your money because you can always make more money.
But today we’re going to talk about marketing techniques that don’t cost money… or much money. These are perfect for the new business owner or if you’re strapped for cash. To make it easier I’ll refer to them as free because they don’t cost you money.
As a side note, I suggest if cashflow is a problem for you maybe more clients isn’t the answer… maybe you need to look at your business model first or whether your marketing efforts are actually giving you results. After all this is a website about marketing that makes you money… so making an investment in marketing shouldn’t be a problem.
The confusion between free and easy
This is probably the fault of marketers but a lot of people think free marketing techniques should also be easy. They believe if they don’t get results instantly then the technique is obviously flawed and they move onto the next new and shiny technique.
The bottom line is techniques that are truly free and easy are mostly ineffective. The reason? If it’s really free and easy then everyone and their dog is out using it… there is no barrier to entry.
If you want free to work… it must be hard too
The free marketing techniques that are the most effective tend to be the most difficult and time consuming as well. That’s what makes them effective… because most people are unwilling to do them.
Take my blog for example. It’s a free marketing technique but it still takes me 2 or more hours a day to write content and market it. But I know the benefits of having a great blog outweigh the money I could be spending on paid advertising.
It’s not that I ignore paid advertising because of the blog either. Instead I use paid advertising to enhance my effort here and push people to the blog. That way I get the best of both worlds.
Where most people fall down
Continuing with the blogging example most people start a blog with heaps of passion and enthusiasm. They blog day after day but get frustrated a few months later when the world is not beating a path to their door (if they even last that long). So they quit and run off to find the next easy marketing or money making technique.
They forget the fact that good content alone (like a good product) doesn’t make a successful blog. It also needs marketing to achieve growth. You need to attract that first visitor, then the second… bit by bit as you climb the hill.
And most people quit before they reach the top of the hill. It’s amazing how many people are even in sight of the top but still give up. They don’t realise just on the other side lies the pot of gold they’ve been searching for.
Commitment and consistently
Now I don’t mean to point fingers as I’m speaking from experience here. I’ve worked hard on projects for 3 months, 6 months… even 2 years to only give up when the going got tough. I’m trying to help you learn this lesson the easy way… trust me.
But you have to commit to the technique you are using and be consistent in it’s use. We all know there are a million new breakthrough marketing ideas every year (especially on the internet) but if you run around like a kid in a candy store you’ll get nowhere. Instead choose a few that are proven to work and do them every day.
So where’s the damn list?
I know many people who are reading this just want the list of free techniques and it’s coming. Since this post is already running long I’ll compile a list to post tomorrow. Hopefully with what you’ve read here they’ll be a lot more useful.
That way you can look at the list and choose a few items you want to seriously pursue. You won’t get overwhelmed and if you follow through with the different techniques I’m sure you’ll see results. Just remember to invest for the long term.
What you do next
If you’re currently using a lot of marketing techniques that use up your time then work out which ones are the most effective and focus your efforts on them. If you’re just starting out you can wait for the list tomorrow and then get to work.
But most importantly, change your marketing mindset from free and easy to expensive and hard. That’s where the real money is made.
