All hail the public library!

I was out speaking about Zero Budget Marketing the other night at the Glen Eira Women in Business network and a very smart lady in the audience pointed out a great "zero budget" tip that we too often forget - visit the library. Whether it's your local library, the State Library or - for ridiculous amounts of great information - a University Library.

I have recently gone back to University part-time and my student log-in gives me access to thousands of journals and business publications online. So much so, that I actually think if you regularly needed to do a lot of research, it would be a lot cheaper to maintain a part-time student status than subscribe to various publications. I'm talking access to anything from business press to scientific journals.

So next time you're plotting a new venture, or researching your competitors, wanting to learn a new skill or looking for ideas, don't forget the humble library!

ps. My local library in North Melbourne has great seminar rooms upstairs that you can rent for a huge $7.20 for THREE hours. So if you're looking to run a prospecting event or something similar, your local library may be good for more than just the books!

When you're time poor, zero budget gets tougher!

Yes, I've been rather remiss in blogging on zero budget marketing ideas because I've been working 12 hour days finalising speakers and marketing Networx's first conference: www.evolveconference.com. evolve 07 is a marketing trends and issues conference for which I got a tad enthusiastic and planned 8 of the 10 sessions as panels - so great for the audience, hell for the organiser (aka me) as it means I needed 24 people for one day! It's due to all happen on Thursday 14 June in Melbourne, so I'm in serious marketing mode and serious slack mode in my blogging!

I HAVE employed some zero budget principles, in the way of tapping into my personal favourite - CONTRA. I needed theming and entertainment for the post-conference drinks and was able to "swap" these with suppliers for conference tickets and an exhibition space. Same goes for promotion via Marketing magazine and some of my design.

I am still going to be spending some money on Google AdWords - although having set up a host of keywords, I don't know that enough people actually search for phrases like Marketing Conference. Stay posted for an update - and come along if you're in the mood for a jam-packed day of insights and clever people from companies like Cirque du Soleil, Sportsgirl, AMEX, Trading Post, Mind Share, M&C Saatchi and loads more!