Thread: How To: Creative Marketing with $0

In 9 days my business is going to go live (gulp) and when it does it will have all the essentials to keep it working. So logically the next step would be to start marketing to get cashflow going. The challenge is that my bank account will be at $10 after I register for an LLC. Basically I have nothing to spend on marketing. But it is still possible to do some great marketing without any spending.
Here are some ideas floating around in my head that I think I will try in 9 days:

-Create some imaginative/funny/cool pictures that I can post to Facebook and Pinterest
-Make a video for Youtube that could relate to my business
-Post on Craigslist
-Do some guerilla marketing on Twitter
-Press release to the local news (they always love high-school entrepreneurs )
- SEO (it IS marketing right?)

These are just some initial thoughts.
So if you have ever done any creative marketing that didn't cost a penny or have ideas on how to do it please post here.
I will also document the actual marketing I use so others can see if it works. Feel free do to the same.

Jake

Do exactly what you're doing now

Engage in forums and build out your connections

Pinterest and Tumblr go hand in hand , very easy to use and content spreads fast so make sure to include that.

Figure out what hashtags are relevant to your service on twitter then decide what content you're going to be giving them under those #hashtags that is relevant to them.

SEO of course is marketing - obviously find high volume search keywords with low competition (check out market samurai for that)

Build out connections with bloggers - connections- they get e-mails everyday of people that want for the blogger to blog about them - get to know them first for a higher chance

Join other facebook groups and contribute

Go to Q+A sites and see if any have any questions relevant to what you do (yahoo answers, quora, etc)

and thats all I can think of off the top of my head- hope it helps

Don't waste your time with SEO, it doesn't convert well at all unless you are ranked in the #1 position for all keywords.
Don't rely on social media either, because nobody goes on facebook or twitter to buy stuff.
There is a reason marketers use a blend of many different techniques, so don't put all your eggs in one basket!

Originally Posted by cashflow3000

For a quick boost you need to take that $10 and open up a google adwords account. Look for a coupon that gives you a free $100 ad credit. Those are not really free, you need to set up a new account and they charge $10 minimum. So dont buy that bubble gum just yet. Turn your $10 into $100 worth of clicks, chose your clicks wisely, and you'll get a good boost in traffic.

That's a good one, but I think I have tried to setup an account before and it didn't let me because I am under 18. I guess I will have to get one of my parents to co-sign the account with me. That is also the issue with the LLC and PayPal.

Originally Posted by GTC1187

Don't waste your time with SEO, it doesn't convert well at all unless you are ranked in the #1 position for all keywords.
Don't rely on social media either, because nobody goes on facebook or twitter to buy stuff.
There is a reason marketers use a blend of many different techniques, so don't put all your eggs in one basket!

So if I shouldn't do any of those, what SHOULD I do?
Or are you trying to say to spread out?

Originally Posted by GTC1187

Don't waste your time with SEO, it doesn't convert well at all unless you are ranked in the #1 position for all keywords.
Don't rely on social media either, because nobody goes on facebook or twitter to buy stuff.
There is a reason marketers use a blend of many different techniques, so don't put all your eggs in one basket!

he basically just told you to do nothing

#1 google position for any keyword can generate hundreds of thousands of hits. You don't need to be #1 for a ton of keywords. And you don't even have to be #1, anywhere on the first page is good.

Nobody goes on facebook or twitter to buy stuff but, they can get suggestions or stumble upon things that they like and in return buy your product.

If somehow you get my best friend to Like your product on facebook, and I see that... I'm probably going to check it out and see if I like it! If I do , I'll buy it!

Don't listen to this negativity

Sit down and figure out who your targets are. If you can't figure out your targets then you have some issues, so this should take all of 10 seconds.

Figure out where your target audience located. You can use Google Maps, Search Engines, & So On. It helps to find places that are most dense in terms of your target audience, but that could require travel which means spending money. So if you really can't afford that then just pick a location.

After you pick your location go to your target audience. Find ways to send them to your site.

Now your site - If you want word to spread for free then you need to figure out how to make it go viral. Use the Facebook, Twitter, and sharing buttons on your site. Place the buttons around your product. When someone buys a product you should be asking them to share. When you contact someone you should have a link that allows them to click and share. Just don't be obnoxious about it.

There are a millon other ways to do it. But I think sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and find the money.

Let's keep this post going - the more ideas the better - I'm going to be using all of these and would like to hear if anyone has some other stuff I haven't thought of

one more idea to include is follow the current trends of what images are being shared - make some of your own and share with your network
AndrewNC posted ( I think thats his username)

Found this site on Mashable

You decide you want to start hiking... - Feb 23, 2012 - That's So True

When you can share the actual image other then the website it will be a lot more usefull - sending it to twitter and facebook tumblr and pinterest anyway

Also made the image as a screenshot but the animated gifs do a lot

Originally Posted by cliqflip

Found this site on Mashable

You decide you want to start hiking... - Feb 23, 2012 - That's So True

When you can share the actual image other then the website it will be a lot more usefull - sending it to twitter and facebook tumblr and pinterest anyway

Also made the image as a screenshot but the animated gifs do a lot


http://i41.tinypic.com/104q04x.jpg

You need to learn how to advertise, and not look like a prick. aka, when it's against the rules, yet you do it every post.

If I told him to do nothing then what did I tell him to do?

Originally Posted by Icy

You need to learn how to advertise, and not look like a prick. aka, when it's against the rules, yet you do it every post.

Bingo.

this wasn't advertising at all - it was a example how i used it and showing a product I just found on mashable. This is the first link at all in any post that ive even had something with cliqflip in it! What are you talking about!!!!!!!!!

By the way, anyone that tells you that anywhere on the first page of Google is good enough; probably doesn't know shit at all.
Thanks,
Grant

What am I talking about?

It's all about looking at stuff above the fold!

You guys just turned this thread into something totally irrelevant. I hope a admin comes in and cleans it up so we can get some more creative ideas going...

What if an admin just did clean it up?

Originally Posted by GTC1187

By the way, anyone that tells you that anywhere on the first page of Google is good enough; probably doesn't know shit at all.
Thanks,
Grant

Anywhere on the first page is good, but 1st 2nd or 3rd is the best

Originally Posted by Giles

Anywhere on the first page is good, but 1st 2nd or 3rd is the best

Exactly.