Putting all the elements in place to establish a business may be easier than convincing customers and clients to come flocking in. Startups are often starved for resources. Anyone can understand that. However, it is the foundation that counts; your efforts can be small at first. After all, you have to start somewhere – and the best place is at the beginning.
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Entrepreneurs new to the lay of the land often stumble, thinking they must spend more than they have. In fact, you don’t even have to spend $100 marketing small businesses. The start of a good thing can begin in any one of these strategies.
Pick the right market
You’ve immersed yourself in the product. It can be hard to believe that perhaps a fragment of the population will ever be interested in it if that much. At first, it might seem prudent to market your idea to everyone, but that just never works. You’ll quickly exhaust time and funds. Instead, aggressively pursue niche markets based on demographics, competition, the money people there can spend, and the uniqueness of your value proposition.
Determine what success means
For one startup, the number of people signing up for a service or newsletter may be a goal. Another company may set a dollar amount for monthly revenue. Whatever your measure for success is, it should be defined very early, and everyone on the team should stick to it. The same parameters should be in place whether you’re running a web design business or a creating a marketplace for recreational vehicles. Success metrics may vary, but the one commonality is you need to stick with the same ones to get ahead.
Establish core metrics
These can include conversion rates among those who sign up on your site. Whatever the metrics are, they need to be measurable. All you need is a few indicators, so there is something to track in gauging the direction your business is moving in. Once, for example, a conversion rate is estimated, you can set additional goals and predict future income.
Public relations
For a startup, knowing what to say, when to say, and who to speak to is important. Crafting a meaningful position statement will influence others in a way that can get your product sold. Writers, messages, and press kits are essential. Again, it might seem like there’s a significant investment in time and money, but there are startups out there offering low cost or free PR for entrepreneurs.
Social media
Social sites such as Facebook and Twitter can be great tools for both large companies and budding entrepreneurs. First, choose the right network; promoting your content on Twitter, Pinterest, or LinkedIn can be great depending on where your audience resides. Also, think about when your viewers are most likely to read posts. For example, Facebook users tend to be most responsive on Saturdays, while Twitter followers retweet most often around 5pm Eastern Standard Time. Keyword lists and blogs are also ideal for drawing and maintaining a following, so your startup marketing strategies can focus here and in the other areas described above.