Live The Good Life on Zero Cash By Simone Kelly-Brown
Let’s face it, marketing opens doors and helps you avoid many phone hang-ups. Advertising is just one of the many functions under the marketing umbrella that can help you get your name out there and increase your brand recognition. The media industry alone is a huge $300+ billion industry!
You can avoid hang-ups on your cold calls if you’re able to say … as seen on ABC or “I was featured in the latest O magazine.” However, even referencing “See our Ad in The New York Times” or The Yellow Pages doesn’t look so bad either. The more people can find you, the better.
Yes, I know what you’re thinking … advertising, of course, isn’t cheap, but you should know by now that I am. LOL! So, I’ll definitely share with you some ways to work around pulling out your wallet by utilizing the wonderful world of barter and strategic partnerships. In my last article, I described some ways that you could partner with someone to get some exposure via online and offline advertising. Now, I’d like to share with you what some other folks are doing.
Some experts say advertising is only effective when repeated … how many times is still up for debate. Some say three, seven, and even 20. There’s a fine line between branding and overkill, so you should base your choice on your industry and see what has worked in the past for your competitors. In any event, repetitive ads sure aren’t cheap. With an average ad costing anywhere from one to 10k, bartering is definitely the way to go.
Here are some examples I’ve found:
Email blasts: Find someone who reaches your market and is willing to barter with you. If you’re a member of an exchange, it would be more helpful, because your broker could assist you.
Magazine/Newspaper ads: Offer to put their logos on your website, newsletter, event, store location, etc.
Free consulting by running someone’s ad on your podcast or radio show.
Interesting Barters for Advertising:
You can trade $3,000 worth of fax machines from your inventory for newscast radio advertising that could generate thousands of dollars in new fax machine sales.
You can trade $300 worth of pizzas for a mailing of 10,000 Special Offer coupons to homes in your area for generating the cash sales of hundreds of pizzas.
In most of my marketing campaigns, I put advertising at the bottom of the totem pole if I have to pay for it. With all of the relationships I’ve built, I like to focus on partnerships as much as I can. I like to think out of the box and find strategic barters or use my barter exchange and tap into the many media outlets who are willing to trade! Want to learn even more about advertising on barter, take a peek at this article with more details on how to barter for advertising.
Keep Livin’ Good,
Simone
Simone Kelly-Brown is the Founder of The Give ‘N Take Network, a national business networking and bartering system for women business owners.
