Keeping up with marketing trends, emerging technologies and communication strategies is hard enough. Luckily, there are plenty of resources available that the DIY marketer can use to make their job a bit easier. Marketing is more than a pretty logo, website, brochures and business cards. Marketing is a strategy of how you will implement specific tactics to promote and advertise your business, as well as sell your products and services. Not having a Marketing strategy will cause you to overspend in areas that won’t make you any money.
The goal of marketing is to connect your business’ value to the right customer base. It’s a simple concept but it can take on a million different shades. Once you determine your marketing strategy, there are many free resources available to help you along the way:
- Logo & Graphic Design: To create, edit, and manage photos and images: Photoshop
HubSpot: To create InfoGraphics , pick up these free templates and how–to’s. PicMonkey and Canva – two free online tools.
- Website Design & Development: Most people equate a legitimate business with the existence and professional look of a website. If you don’t have a website, it’s almost
like you don’t exist. Do you need a quick fast, professional looking, user-friend website NOW? Try one of these four options.Wordpress, Squarespace, Weebly & Wix
- Speak At Events: In terms of branding and establishing yourself as an authority, few things are more impactful than being a speaker at popular events in your niche.
- Join Local Business Groups: Joining local business groups will give you the opportunity to meet up with other like-minded people who already share some common ground with you: owning a business.
- Email:To communicate via email to individuals: Gmail. It’s good to create a Gmail account for your business and then create your other Google accounts under this umbrella e.g. Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools, Google + personal profile and then business page.
- Video: YouTube is your first choice to find video to embed in relevant posts and grow a following for your channel. To create short videos, start with Animoto or Lumen.
Organic Social Media: If people can’t find your business via social media, they will look for your competitors who ARE present on preferred social channels.
- Logo & Graphic Design: To create, edit, and manage photos and images: Photoshop
Elements.
HubSpot: To create InfoGraphics , pick up these free templates and how-to’s. PicMonkey and Canva – two free online tools. - Website Design & Development: Most people equate a legitimate business with the existence and professional look of a website. If you don’t have a website, it’s almost
like you don’t exist. Do you need a quick fast, professional looking, user-friend website NOW? Try one of these four options.Wordpress, Squarespace, Weebly & Wix - Speak At Events: In terms of branding and establishing yourself as an authority, few things are more impactful than being a speaker at popular events in your niche.
- Join Local Business Groups: Joining local business groups will give you the opportunity to meet up with other like-minded people who already share some common ground with you: owning a business.
- Email:To communicate via email to individuals: Gmail. It’s good to create a Gmail account for your business and then create your other Google accounts under this umbrella e.g. Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools, Google + personal profile and then business page.
- Video: YouTube is your first choice to find video to embed in relevant posts and grow a following for your channel. To create short videos, start with Animoto or Lumen.
- Organic Social Media: If people can’t find your business via social media, they will look for your competitors who ARE present on preferred social channels.
