Every small business out there spends hundreds and thousands of dollars on marketing. But, have you ever stopped to consider that the only marketing you could need at an early stage comes for free?
Especially in bootstrapped companies, where budget is tight, CPC, PPC, CAC and all the other marketing budget lines, are burning cash hand over fist. The first, and best marketing technique is using your network to meet potential clients
You don’t even need to do much, all you have to do is strike up normal conversations with some of your friends and family to make sales. And, if you haven’t guessed it already, this technique is called networking and it’s one of the best ways to grow your business. Here are a few reasons why we recommend that every SME tries networking before moving towards more expensive advertising strategies.
Referrals Work Wonders: Researches by Nielson have proved that referral marketing is actually a thing and it has the highest potential for sales out there. Nielson claims that 92% of customers trust referrals from people they know. Apart from that, folks are 4 times more likely to buy a product when referred by a friend. Get the word out to your social circle and the power of referral marketing will do the rest.
Even for us at Urban Place, we have a referral program where if one of our members refers their friends, they both get a 25% discount off of their office.
Social Circles: A study by the New York Times suggested that an average person knows 600 people. If you can get the word about your company to them, and they do the same, you could gain a ton of exposure in just a couple of days.
Confidence: A lot of SME owners struggle with confidence while advertising their product. Getting someone’s money out of their pocket is a really tough task. But, when you’re networking, you have a chance to experiment with different strategies on your friends, people you are already comfortable with. It makes sales and preps you for future clients, it’s a win-win.
By joining a coworking space, specifically a boutique space focused on building community, you can increase your natural network and grow your company- just by showing up to work.
