Operating from home? Market yourself this way

Marketing tips for home-based businesses......

A home-based business is a good way for many people to enter the world of entrepreneurship without having to invest into an office space. The challenge however is to market and advertise the business. Thankfully, the era of digital marketing has made marketing of home-based businesses easier.

Here are some tips to market your business in a cost-effective manner.

Expand your professional network:

You may be popular with your friends and peers and have a good social network, but that alone would not help you expand your business. The best way to market your business is to make sure you and your business reaches out to the maximum number of people. It is a good idea to consider expanding your professional network just as you expand your social network.

Every client or prospective client should be a part of your personal professional network. This would send out a positive impression that you as a business owner give a personalized attention to each client while helping you increase your professional network. Make sure to keep your social and professional networks separate like chalk and cheese. Any overlapping between the two could put you off as an unwanted network defeating your purpose of expanding your network to get more customers and business.

Get a business website:

If you have a home-based business but no digital presence you are definitely lagging behind. A professional website should clearly state your business, the ideals, all your previous clients, the services offered by your company and its details.

Make sure to have a feedback link where prospective clients could get in touch with you over email or phone. If you already have a business website, make sure you have active social media presence in popular social and professional networking sites offering regular news and updates about your work. Don’t be worried if you think you are too small or insignificant to have a social media presence. Some of the most exciting businesses have grown exponentially just having a proactive digital media marketing plans.

Explore social media marketing:

Having a social media presence and using it to market your products or services are two distinct matters. A lot of companies commit the cardinal sin of creating their social media accounts but never going back to check and update.

Make it a point to offer regular updates on all your social media accounts. If you have a budget for digital marketing, explore the option of hiring a person to manage your social media marketing plans. Even if your business operates on a shoe string budget as is the case for majority of home-based businesses, you could always hire a social media specialist part-time to help you expand your global presence.  

Consider sending regular e-newsletters:

Successful business companies make sure that they are always on the minds of their existing and prospective clients. One of the most effective ways to make sure your business is always the area of focus for your prospective clients is sending a monthly or a bi-monthly newsletter with all the latest news, achievements, information on any ongoing contests etc to your clients.

The newsletter does not have to be a statement of achievement but just a gentle reminder to your clients that you are still in business and offering services to a number of people each day.

Online advertising:

Online advertising is a great way for home-based business organizations to gain a lead in the digital world. Unlike traditional businesses that have a dedicated marketing program and the finances to explore a print and TV marketing plan, home-based businesses are better off embracing pay per click advertising programs.  

Rather than making an effort to reach people, online advertising allows people to reach your business irrespective of your geographic location. There are many advertisers including Google Ad sense and Yahoo Search marketing that you could consider for increasing the footfall for your business website and thereby increasing your clientage.

What has helped you the most in terms of marketing while starting your home-based businesses? Please share your views.