How to Market Your Business for Free

Marketing and advertising your business can cost quite a bit of money, and unfortunately, the campaigns are often not as successful as you would like.  Kelly Lester, the mom entrepreneur behind the popular EasyLunchbox System (and a recent "I Want to Be" featured guest) has seen her business grow each of the three years she has been in business. This year she is on target to hit $1 million in sales.

She does all this and yet spends no money on advertising.

What is her secret?  It is simpler than you might imagine.

Market Yourself

As a trained actress, Lester has no problem putting herself "out there", so to speak. She decided early on to market herself right along with her lunchbox containers. She is a mom people can relate to, and they have no trouble connecting her personally with her product. They are more likely to buy from a mom they can relate to.

Support Others

Lester spends a good deal of time supporting others, specifically those who support her.  Thanks to Google Alerts and by following fellow lunch-packers/bloggers via various social media platforms, Lester is able to take note of who writes about her EasyLunchboxes and who takes pictures of lunches they pack in the EasyLunchboxes. Then, Lester shares those posts and pics on her blog as well as on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus.

In addition, by selling EasyLunchboxes via Amazon.com, not only is she able to offer her customers free shipping, which is a huge buying incentive, but bloggers can sign up for the Amazon Associates affiliate program. They post links to items in her Amazon store, and Amazon pays them a percentage for items sold through those links.

Final Thoughts

If you don't have a large advertising budget, consider using the tactics above that have worked very well for Kelly Lester. In addition, Lester recommends that everyone learn more about the power of social media by reading sites such as SocialTriggers, Social Media Examiner, and Social Identities.

What are your favorite ways to market your business for free?