These zero budget ideas
will give you a flying start

These zero budget ideas are really a summary of my 'no cost' and 'very low cost' ideas. I've included it as a reminder, or as a 'fast track' for those with limited finances or indeed zero budget! I hope it serves you well.

1. Set your sales targets for the year

How much extra business do you want each month? What is your average sale value? How many new sales do you need each month to hit your target?

2. Set your enquiry target for the month

You need to know your enquiry:sales ratio to do this. What percentage of enquiries result in a sale, on average? So, how many enquiries do you need each month to hit your target? From past experience, what do you need to do to generate that number of enquiries?

3. Determine your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

What do you offer that's different? Why do customers buy from you? What problems do they have with suppliers in your field? State your USP in a single sentence or short paragraph. Use it whenever you can. If you already have a pile of brochures and stationery without the USP, make sure you include it in the text of any letters you send. At the very least, hand write it on any compliments slips you send out with information to prospective customers.

4. Work out what a new customer is worth to you

It won't cost you anything to do this. How much profit do you make each year from an average customer? How many years do they stay with you? Even though you may not have a marketing budget, you now know how much you could afford to spend to tempt them in. Cashflow is obviously a consideration.

5. Keep customer records

Whether you do it on sheets of labels, cards or on a computer, just make sure you do it. Just a few extra sales a year will pay for the time and effort.

6. Keep in touch with your customers

It doesn't cost much to telephone or write to your regular customers when you have something to tell them or offer them. They will thank you for it, if you're offering something of value to them. The extra orders will easily cover your costs.

7. Make sure all your customers know about all your products and services

Many customers buy one product from a company without ever knowing the full range of products and services they offer.

8. Take the risk away from your prospects

One of the main barriers to doing business is fear of the unknown. Make it clear to your prospects that there is no risk in doing business with you. If the product doesn't do what you say, you'll take it back. Make sure that it will do what you say! Offer them a free trial of your product or service. Yes, you'll get the odd few who cancel, but the extra business will more than make up for it.

9. Give information away to your customers and prospects

Put together an information sheet or leaflet that you can give to people or include in your mailshots. If you already advertise, ask them to call for your free advice sheet. This should not be a repetition of your sales messages. It should give them valuable information, advice and guidance whether or not they ever do business with you. Many will thank you for it and come to you when they're ready to buy something. You can have 5000 leaflets printed for under $50.

10. Make the most of free publicity opportunities

Issue press releases when you have something new to say. Get to know the editorial staff on the publications you're targeting. Invite them to come and see what you have to offer. Send them your advice sheet with a covering letter explaining how useful it could be to their readers. Call them and discuss articles you could write for them about your area of expertise that would be of interest and value to their readers. All of these get you exposure at little or no cost.

11. Test your adverts as leaflets

Before committing to major advertising spend, make sure you will get a good response by testing the ad layout as a leaflet. If it bombs, think again.

12. 'Clone' your best salesperson

Find out what makes them the best. Go on sales calls with them. Listen to their telephone technique. Put together a short training seminar for everyone else. Make sure they're using the new ideas you've given them.

13. Make sure you know how you're performing

Keep records of where your enquiries are coming from. Log your enquiries on paper forms, computer database or spreadsheet. Summarise every month and compare against your costs. Ditch any medium that's not paying for itself, or adjust your sales messages until it does.

14. Actively seek referrals from your existing customers

If you don't ask you may never be given any. Make sure you give them some incentive. Offer them discounts or free extras, don't just leave it to chance. Ask all your customers for five names you could contact on their recommendation.

15. Seek out any Internet listing services that are free or low-cost

In the UK Scoot will list you on their Internet service for free. You only pay if you want your name given out to telephone enquirers. Also, if you're a hotel, many listing services will include you from about $25 upwards. Find out what listing services exist in your own line of business, and how much they cost.

Also, Google has released yet another new tool. Google's Zero Budget Page Creator allows you to build a basic website using a simple "point and click" interface. The website is then hosted by Google at YourGmailUserName.googlepages.com -- where they give you up to 100MB of space for free. The URL (web address) is not ideal, but hey, it's free!

N.B. At the time of writing, there's a waiting list for this service due to the initial heavy demand.

16. Team up with anyone else who shares your target market

Make use of your own suppliers who benefit from your success. You're effectively selling for them, so couldn't they share some of the cost with you? Who else is already supplying to the customers you want? Could they recommend your products or services?