By going into business for yourself, you're about to start an exciting journey. It's time to promote your home business and let everyone know about your soon-to-be-successful business.
It's easy to hire a marketing or public relations firm, but if you're just starting out, you might not be able to afford it yet. If this is the case, it's up to you to come up with different ways to market your home business through different media.
Creating a website is the most obvious thing to do. There are many freelancers who would be happy to do this for you for a fee, but if you know how to use a computer, you don't really need them. There are a number of sites that will show you step-by-step how to make a website to promote your home business. There are many that cost money to use, but there are also some that you can use for free. It would make sense to do this. A free site might not have all the bells and whistles of a paid site, but since your main goal is to promote your home business, you can add extra features, graphics, and designs once you start making money and have extra money to spend on making your site stand out.
Writing a newsletter once a week or once a month is also a great way to market your home business. Fill out the copy with information about yourself, the services you offer, and the costs involved. When you use a newsletter to promote your home business, keep it up-to-date with ads for deals, new services, and comments from happy customers.
Putting a link or option to sign up for your newsletter on your website is a must, but there are other things you need to do to promote your home business. Get the email addresses of a number of businesses and people who might be interested in your services. Instead of sending a letter about your home business to a general business site, try to get the address of a real person. Then, you run the risk of being marked as spam and thrown away.
If you run a local business from home, like a day care or an accounting service, you should put ads in newspapers and trade magazines in your area. Customers are always interested in coupons, so putting them in your ad would be a great way to promote your home business. Giving a 10% discount is always a good thing.
Also, contests with prizes would catch the eye of someone looking through a newspaper or magazine. Think about giving away a week of free service or a sale item as the prize.
As a last step in promoting your home business, make some business cards. You can use a home computer to design and print them, or you can pay a professional printer, who might have other design ideas that would catch people's attention. Give your business cards to people and businesses, and put them up in stores that have free advertising boards.
