We are fortunate that we live in a world where we have so many tools at our disposal that we can use to market ourselves. They have made it easy for us to increase brand awareness and to connect with our target audience. Social media, blogs, and the internet as a whole are the obvious tools here but you will be surprised at how many other free methods that you can use to market yourself.
Each of the following methods do not cost a thing. In fact, you will need nothing more than your own time to market yourself. As long as you have a solid plan, a clearly defined brand, and an engaging website, using the methods below will ensure that you can market yourself effectively and on the cheap.
Making Connections In Person
Despite the technology that we can use to market ourselves these days, nothing beats getting out there and networking yourself in person. Do not do it the lazy way either, through email or messengers. Sure, use them to make initial contact but relationships develop a lot faster through meeting people in person.
Social Media
How powerful has social media become for marketing? It is free too! Make sure you have profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube and post regular content. Grow your profiles, followers, subscribers and you will start to get an audience that may share or engage with your content. Social media is massively important if you want to market yourself.
Host a Podcast
If you can offer valuable information and want to hone your interviewing skills, you should consider hosting regular podcasts. Everybody loves to listen to a good quality podcast and by providing one, awareness about you and your brand will increase. Make sure you plan the podcast to the last detail, as people will not return for future episodes if you do not provide the value or entertainment that they are looking for.
Write Guest Blogs
Whether you already have your own blog or not, writing guest blogs for other blogs is a great way of gaining exposure while also forging new relationships. Get in touch with bloggers you have respect for to see if they would be happy to post your content on their blog. Many will be happy to get some free content for their site if it is of a good standard.
Write eBooks
Costing nothing but your time, writing eBooks is another way to give your target audience something of value. Short or long, an eBook can be given to your followers in return for the email addresses. Just make sure that the contents are valuable and will inform those who read it. Perhaps a guide on something that your business is an authority on?
Email Marketing
Building up your email list is a priority if you want to market yourself and your business. As mentioned above, giving visitors to your website something in return for their email is a great way to do this. You can then market yourself to the entire list with weekly emails offering your services, products, or simply to get to know your target audience. For email marketing you may need a VPN for some of your marketing activities.
Conclusion
In the beginning, it can be difficult to market yourself effectively. Once you start to gain a following however, it becomes a lot easier. As long as your content is of good quality, those already following will help you to spread it to new people. It is a snowball effect that will continue to grow. All you need is regular content whether via social media, blog posts, or email marketing that offers true value to your target audience.