In business, one of the ways to manage your costs is to get a lot of value from all the marketing you do. This means finding ways to market your business that are cost-appropriate, and also effective. It also means leveraging each piece of marketing as much as you can.

1. 5 Ways to Stretch Your
Marketing Dollars
Dr. Rachna Jain

2. In business, one of the ways to manage your costs is to get a lot of value from all
the marketing you do.
This means finding ways to market your business that are cost-appropriate, and also
effective.
It also means leveraging each piece of marketing as much as you can.
Here are 5 ways to stretch your marketing dollars:
1. Build Your Expert Status
2. Build Your Email List
3. Build Your Exposure
4. Build Relationships
5. Build Your Word of Mouth Marketing
Let’s look at each of these in more detail.

3. Build Your Expert Status
This means that you create a home base for your online business (usually this will
be your website) and publish relevant, interesting, and educational content for
your audience. Spend time to develop content that is interesting, unique, and
“share-worthy”. You’ll have an effective and reasonably low cost way to connect
with your audience and cut through the noise of the overcrowded and distracted
internet.

4. Build Your Email List
Email marketing remains one of the best return-on-investment strategies for online
businesses. Devote at least part of your marketing efforts to building your email lists,
and to marketing to those lists. Test subject lines, content types, and track results.
Once your list gets large enough, and is responsive enough, you can more easily sell
your programs and services.

5. Build Your Exposure
Can you offer your skills to a high-profile business, in exchange for exposure? Entire
careers – and businesses- have been built on the power of exposure, well managed.
Can you share a helpful tip, or write a blog post, or offer some of your services for
free? This isn’t something you might want to do all the time, but sometimes, showing
them what you can do is much more valuable than simply telling them.

6. Build Your Relationships
Joint ventures and other collaborative efforts can help you expand your market and
audience with less effort. Sharing resources with other business owners can reduce
your costs and amplify your results.

7. Build Your Word of Mouth
Marketing
Word of mouth remains the lowest cost and highest value form of marketing.
Provide exceptional service and results; get your clients talking about you, and then
ask them to spread the word. Actively seek endorsements and testimonials; ask
them to post recommendations for you on LinkedIn, and use their successes as
your business case studies.
And there you have it. Five ways to make your marketing dollars go further.
Use these ideas to let more people know about your business, without spending a
lot more money.