Being a work-at-home mom isn’t easy. You have to juggle not just growing your business, but raising a family too. Naturally, you have to often make choices, especially when it comes to spending money. Do you get that new baby carrier or do you update your website design? Yes, many decisions and choices. But despite all of that, with a little ingenuity, you can promote your work at home business on a budget.
While at times, you will have to make tough calls and choose one over the other, when it comes to promoting your business and growing it as well, there are several ways to do this on a shoestring budget:
1. Get Free Press
That’s right. Free press and publicity. You don’t have to hire an expensive PR agency or publicist to get your brand or business name in the papers. All you need to do is sign up for FREE email services like, HARO or Help a Reporter Out and respond to pitches by the media themselves. Cool, isn’t it? HARO emails come thrice a day and are packed with requests from the media for different sources. Create your own press releases as well to increase exposure.
2. Involve Friends and Family
Do your friends and family know exactly what you do? If they meet someone, will they be able to refer your services or products to them? If not, you need to get them involved and explain what your business is all about. By doing this, you are expanding your circle of reach and are connecting to their network as well. For instance, all my family members and friends know that I’m a social media manager and business blogger. Whenever they’re at a party and someone mentions that they need help with content, guess who they recommend.
3. Use Social Media Smartly
Social media is a fabulous free way of promoting your business without going bust. However, it can get overwhelming keeping your presence alive on ALL the networks under the sun.
So, play smart.
Choose 1-2 networks that are key to your audience and business, and really leverage those. However, don’t turn your feed into a spamming machine filled with links. What you need to do is use social media to engage with your target audience and bring them to your website or bricks-and-mortar store.
4. Keep Your Eye on the Goal
Finally, know what your business goals are and focus on them. It is easy to get distracted by the shiny object syndrome and want to buy or get whatever the next mom entrepreneur is getting. However, before you spend even $10 ask yourself, “Will buying this help me get closer to my big picture goal?” If the answer is “No”, time to put your wallet back in.
Promoting and building your business on a shoestring budget is not impossible. All it needs is a plan and a bit of effort that pays off. Whether it is getting publicity, more customers or a referral network, you can find it for free. So, the next time you’re feeling a little blue that you can’t attend that expensive conference your friend’s going to for business publicity, open up your HARO emails or invite friends and family over for a business dinner and grow your business on the cheap.
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Written By: Parenting Contributor, Prerna Malik, TheMomWrites.com
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