Selective advertising + targeting = low cost lead generation

Sometimes a little bit of regular advertising may be just what a business needs to keep awareness up or leads flowing in. But advertising is too expensive, isn't it?

Well, not always. I was recently reminded of this when buying 10 spots on Melbourne's Triple RRR -for around $500, including the ad's production. Now 10 spots over a month isn't much - but if the audience is targted enough, this won't necessarily matter. These ads, over 3 months, have continued to bring in 3-4 customers a month for my client - which covers more than the aquisition cost - plus it has the benefit of spreading awareness among others who may join in the future.

Another option I've used with success before was a small print advertisement in one of Melbourne's gay/lesbian papers. It was for a small laser hair removal studio. Now the first thing most people think of when thinking hair removal is girls. But we didn't have the budget for advertising in female glossies. So it came down to thinking about who else is looks conscious and living around South Yarra? The small and inexpensive weekly ads - again including production - generated MOST of their business from then on.

So if you've got a targeted product or service, there may be a relatively inexpensive media vehicle out there that YOU may not consume, but that your target audience does.

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!

A little inspiration from Greenpeace - spread that word

Charity and not-for-profit marketers are extremely familiar with the "zero budget" phenomenon. That's why there's some great inspiration to be found in seeing what charities will come up with next.

As a Greenpeace monthly supporter, I just received this clever initiative via email. They're inviting their supporters to get a free, 2 day public speaking course and then "volunteer" in the community to visit schools, community groups, etc and talk about the work of Greenpeace.

Why is this so smart? So many reasons.

1. Talk about a great way to get your supporters involved - especially those more conservative types who wont be volunteering for a trip on one of their ships anytime soon.

2. Get your supporters (or "customers") MORE passionate about your work by teaching them more about it.

3. Get 30-100 (not sure how many they're recuiting) spokespeople for nothing but the cost of a training course, which they may have got pretty cheap to start with.

4. Hit thousands more people with the Greenpeace message than would be possible without this unpaid army of enthusiastic speakers - and in a way that's far more engaging than any other: people talking to people.

5. Tapping into the zeitgeist. Finally green issues are firmly on everyone's agenda and Greenpeace aren't missing the chance to get to people when they're finally paying some attention.

Is there any inspiration in "for profits" in this. Of course. If you are selling a product or service that people are passionate about, why not bestow people the honour of becoming an "evangelist" for you. I'm not suggesting there's a huge public speaking market, but there is a "refer a friend on steriods" opportunity here.

So good on you, Greenpeace. Great cause and very clever marketing.

Great free market research tool

I'm probably way behind the 8-ball on this one, but I've just come across another great free service from Google - www.google.com/alerts.

Basically, you can plug in your brand name or industry sector or competitor's name and request an "as it happens" (or daily, or weekly) alert. Google trawls the web, news, blogs, etc.

So instead of wondering if people are talking about you - you'll know.

And it's free -no subscription fee, unlike most media monitoring - so you can afford it on that zero budget!

Business to Business Marketing Inspiration

In running my marketing events, I'm often prompted by people to ensure I don't focus too much on B2C marketing and ensure I give some airplay to B2B marketing. Whilst many of the same rules apply, there are some "tried and true" business marketing rules you can't escape, like the need for more personal selling and relationships. Innovative marketing then becomes more about how good your lead generation and then sales team are.

Anyway, I came across a great blog that listed FIFTY B2B marketing blogs. So if you need some inspiration, follow that yellow brick road.

Are you sick to death of boring copy?

With an estimated quarter of a million words in the English language, why is it that certain words are so overused in marketing copy. I have had a serious bee in my bonnet about the HUGE overuse of the word "solution". And thank goodness I'm not the only one.

When you're on a tight budget, every word written for your marketing should count. So how do you make your copy sound better? A few thoughts...

• Detective-fiction writer Elmore Leonard says, “If it sounds like writing, re-write it.” So write as you speak in business letters. Really, who says "don't hesitate to contact me" in real life? Apart from the whole double-negative thing, just skip to saying "give me a call".
• Don't write long, unwieldy sentences. Short and sharp is easier for people to read.
• Use lots of headings. People are busy, make it simply for them to scan and decide what they want to read.
• Use emotive words where possible to conjour up images.
• Don't you find that when you see a question written, you can't help but answer it mentally? Did you just answer that question? Ok, I'll stop now. In summary - start copy with questions to engage people with your writing. It works.

And if you're finding yourself lacking in writing inspiration, visit my friends www.thesaurus.com and www.dictionary.com.