Getting publicity for small businesses is a major problem in many developing nations. Free publicity, may be of help when trying to reduce the cost of managing a business. As someone who lives in this part of the world, I know how difficult it really is to get people to patronise a small business. The very first business I did, I did not pay for any form of advertisements. People just came over because of some things I did, which I'll be sharing in this article.
Discussions with friends
Immediately I started the business, I told most of my close friends about it. They were really surprised, they wondered how I'll get customers. But due to the epileptic power supply here, they were eventually the first buyers of the power banks I sold. My friends kept spreading the good news (that is, how great the power banks and phones were). More than 50% of the products I sold were from referrals - Referrals from friends and friends of friends. The circle just kept on growing.
Participation in online forums
The most popular forum in Nigeria is Nairaland, I previously had an account on the site before I started the business. But I needed an account which would be strictly for business, so I created a new one. I was able to find customers that were just 30 mins away from my location and needed the products I had for sell on the website. Interacting on the forum really paid off. I didn't only come online to make sales, I also commented on threads made by other users, and contributed to several topics. This got them visiting my pages.
Making Use of Free Classified Websites
Jiji.ng came really handy in this area. Without paying a penny, I was able to set up a free Ad. All that was needed was my location, pictures of my producs and my contact. I got several calls from the website daily, more than 75% of the persons that called were really interested in getting the products. This helped increase my visibility online. There are also classified advertisement websites for hotels, but I didn't really have a business with that.
Social Media
I'm a big fan of social networking. Ehh you will only find me in a few though. Twitter is home mehn... But the thing is you can't just keep posting about your business there without contributing. I have been building my social media presence for some years. So I tried something new to me, like an experiment, I tried posting about my business several times a day, then I discovered I lost a significant number of followers. So I needed to restructure the way I talk about my business, I decided to post business Ads a maximum of once a day. The restructuring actually helped. This way it wasn't like spamming anymore, since the tweets before and after the promo tweets were some funny tweets. Twitter is a place with many persons with high sense of humour. So I appealed to their sense or humour. Twitter is the only social media I tried, Facebook and LinkedIn looks promising too. Steemit.com is still growing, might be good for local businesses in a short time.
I also attended some seminars, but I didn't really get customers from there. You can try that, maybe it it will work for you. It feels really cool to make sales without spending a dime on Ads.
You can read this too, Choosing the Right Hashtag for a Social Media Campaign
Thanks for coming around :)
Thanks for the tips. The steps you described are more time consuming than buying ads online but they can be very effective.
Yeah, they can be really effective. Thanks for coming around.
I was really looking to do something soon and yeah of course because Google ads and Facebook ads are too expensive nowadays we have to choose the free platforms instead :)
Yeah, we have to be wise when making decisions that involves funds. It's better to sow a suit accordingly to one's size.
That's the real hustle right then and there! Congrats @jaff8
If you feel that Facebook & LinkedIn look promising, you might want to checkout my post from 2 hours ago about Facebook Messenger Marketing and how it's a great option right now for every business. Link to the post
Good luck with the hustle!
Okay, will check it out later.
You are an amazing business man...will invite you someday for a business seminar in @ghana
That will be great. Nice seeing you around.
Educative
Thanks for these tips, I may try it out in my new business
That's good, let me know how it goes.
Thanks for this advice
Thank you man
People shouldn't use the lack of money as an excuse not to start a business...so long as you have a product........you can sell it
A good product always sells itself, that's true in a way.
Solid recommendations. I'd love to see you elaborate more on your social media strategies. Each platform has a different audience and a different profile for making purchases. What have you found that works best for each?
I'll try to write on that soonest, will check if I have an older post that talks about that too. Nice seeing you around.
Very useful, easy-to-read advice. Thanks for sharing this. If you have anymore advice for Small Business Owners, you can use the hashtag #sbo. I'm trying to create a community of support for like-minded thinkers. :-)
Okay, will do. That's a very fine initiative, hope the scope gets wider.
You may not realise how vital this info is to me.
Started a new business myself, marketing some nutritional products and i was thinking about going all out to twitter to always talk about it.
Also i never knew i could market on nairaland as well.
As for friends, one of them got one of the products from me yesterday, i just hope he brings referrals!
LOL
I so love referrals in business. A satisfied customer always bring more customers. Just try to satisfy the needs of your customers. About nairaland, that site na gbooza o, just dey relate wella for the place. You go get many good news this year.
Chaii!
God bless you!
E be like i go dey consult you for business advices wella
We'll be talking soon!
Ah greet you boss
Impressive @jaff8. You really put so much work into your business and it is gradually paying off. I am happy for you.
Thanks Baelish, your username always makes me remember Baelish in GOT. He was a really good business man. Mixing business with pleasure what was got him in problems, try to avoid that man.
😂😂......i will do my best sir
Good business counselor of all times @jaff8
Thanks Sam. I'm always around your blog, you are doing quite well.
nice sir @jaff8
I wish i have a business so that i could do the same :-)
Excellent post