You have a great idea. You create great products. You research your audience and future customers. You build a stunning website and design your packaging. You are prepared. You are ready. Any day now, you'll start seeing customer's beating down your door to order. That's how it goes...right?!?!
I have decided to chronicle the struggles of going into business for myself. Things that seem to work, and one's that don't. Right now I am in the beginning stage. I am working feverishly to get my name out to the masses. To be honest, right now my daughter and I are our best customers. We know that our products work, the struggle is convincing others to give us a try. That's Marketing 101...how to convince people to trade their hard earned money for your services/products.
So how do you "work your jelly" on a slim budget? I am constantly looking for new avenues and way's to get Bathe in front of people. A few things I'm trying are:
#Instagram: Using Instagram and Facebook is actually pretty beneficial. You begin small and slowly but surely develop a pretty healthy following of people. I definitely isn't a quick process and I don't know how well it garnishes "loyal" customers; but it is a very good format for cheap and free advertising. Tip: learn to use #hashtags effectively.
#BusinessCards: Hand those things out to anyone that will take them. Leave them on windshields. Make it rain in the club with them.
#Samples: I have the product. Why not use it as a #marketing technique. I have been actively looking for promoters and sponsors of events and reaching out to them to provide samples for swag bags. I'll keep you updated on how much that helped.
#Entrepreneurs: No one becomes successful on there own. I have started looking for Business Buddies. Like minded entrepreneur's to help me grow as I help them. We can do this thing together.
Everyday I am in marketing mode. I market more than I actually create right now (which is a downer, because I'm an "artist" first); but I know one day it will pay off. I just need to keep investing in me. What are your start-up struggles? How did you overcome them? What marketing ideas worked/didn't work for you?
