This is a guest post from Amanda Yang, media statistics specialist at Cision and founder of Clear the Path.
This Monday, I gave a talk to a group of about 70 investors, innovators and business owners at the Start Up Lightning Round hosted by Entrepreneurs Unpluggd in Chicago, where a fantastic community comes together for one night of drinks and honest tales of successes and failures in entrepreneurship.
Along with fellow startup founders Todd Jones, Lisa Russell, Tim Jahn and Chris Campbell, I talked a little bit about my cycling apparel company, Clear the Path. Currently, we are in the process of building a brand and product line of apparel and safety tools to make cycling a more enjoyable experience and to encourage a sustainable lifestyle.
Aside from developing a solid product, it’s equally important to make your presence known by successfully publicizing your new company. Free is key for bootstrappers like me, when it comes marketing a startup. With limited time and money to be spent on marketing, here are Four Tips on Marketing Your Startup for Free-Ninety-Nine (that means free):
Create content to complement your brand. Startups are about creating meaningful connections with loyal consumers and brands. Engage with businesses who complement the mission of your company to further your company’s mission to make your customer’s experience tops.
Index your site. Sharpen your digital marketing chops and get familiar with Google’s Webmaster Tools to list your site in Google’s Search. Sometimes, your domain or server company will already do this for you (for instance, Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr), but the majority of the time you’ll have to manually add yourself.
Build local connections through social media. According to Hearsay Social, a startup focused on optimizing social media practices, “local posts provide 8 times more fan engagement than corporate posts.” Make friends locally, so you can test and iterate your products face-to-face and build a rapport with customers.
Be an expert in your demographic. We are experts in commuting and endurance sports. From taxi drivers to flat tires, we know the obstacles of commuting and cycling and are working to solve those problems. As entrepreneurs, a group that may be juggling a ton of projects, family, and a full-time job, focusing your time on marketing to the right people can be a titanic timesaver.
Thomas Edison really did have it right: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” As someone who perspires quite frequently (both on and off the bike), I say whether you’re working in a Fortune 500 company or a team of one, work tirelessly to end the idea of a traditional customer and accept the idea of customers as partner. Partners are loyal and committed to sharing the mission of your brand, while consumers just consume.