We’ve discussed Facebook, but there are plenty of other affordable, grass roots-style marketing strategies you can implement to build your business during lean times.

Many online marketing strategies boil down to having the time to work on them. They are often free (apart from the time spent), and so it’s a case of setting aside a block of time every week to work on them.

Here are just a handful of free or low-cost ideas to help reach existing clients and attract new prospects:

Create video tutorials or talks and post them on video-sharing sites. Most of you will have seen the great Will It Blend? video series — they reach out to millions of viewers for a tenth of the cost of a television advertisement.

Post screenshots of your work on photo-sharing sites. A good way to show off your design work is to post screen grabs on sites such as Flickr and the like. You can even make your username your business name or URL. Be careful though, of looking as if you’re spamming, as they all have strict terms of use.

Create an email newsletter. If you’ve yet to do so, I recommend creating an email newsletter to distribute to your clients. Crafting good content and adding forward to a friend tools means they are more likely to be read and forwarded to prospective clients.

Try out contextual advertising. Services such as Google Adwords allow for low budget, short-term, pay-per-click advertising, which you can trial and then track the results.

Spend time understanding SEO. Spending time on search engine optimization can dramatically increase your ranking and have a considerable effect on prospects making contact with you.

Then there are offline efforts as well:

Try asking for (and rewarding) referrals. Ask existing clients for leads, and reward them with a bottle of wine or movie tickets. Simple gifts like these make your clients feel appreciated, and helps to maximize your marketing efforts.

Become involved with public speaking. Offer your services to local business and industry groups, or hold your own talk at the office or nearby conference facilities, and invite everyone you know to attend.

Best of luck with the above ideas, and I wish you plenty of success!

This post first appeared as part of Issue 434 of the SitePoint Tribune, a very popular email newsletter that I am co-editor of. Thanks to SitePoint for allowing me to reproduce the work here.

In December 2007, I penned an article for SitePoint, 10 New Year Resolutions to Boost Your Business. You can read the article for all the details, as well as download a handy wall planner to stick near your desk. You’ll find that it’s still as relevant today as it was when I wrote it.

The ten resolutions, in short, are:

1. start setting goals
2. ask a client for a referral
3. focus on profit, rather than turnover
4. learn something new about business
5. take time for yourself
6. create products that generate income
7. delegate effectively
8. focus on client service
9. take time to wander the Web
10. build rock-solid procedures

Read the article for the full details on each of these resolutions. The start of the calendar year is perfect for us to look at implementing the first one: goal setting.

Setting goals helps filter all of the thousands of thoughts and ideas you have into a list that’s far more manageable. High achievers in every field from sports to business consistently suggest that goal-setting is an invaluable part of the process. Goals can help you define your objectives and understand what’s important to you, motivate you towards achievement, and build your self-confidence.

So what is a great goal?

Many people use the acronym SMART when creating goals, as well as for other project management methods. SMART stands for:

Specific
Ask yourself if the description of the goal is precise? A plausible goal is very specific and easy to understand. Goals such as “increase amount of clients” or “make more profit” are too vague. Instead, use specific language, such as “add three new clients to portfolio before end of March” or “increase average profit on all jobs by 5% before middle of the year.”

Measurable
Does the goal explain how you’ll measure results? A solid goal has a measurable outcome, so that you’re able to determine if you’ve achieved it, and it helps you stay on track. Hence why I used very specific terms, like 5% profit increase or three new clients. This helps spur you on towards your goal, assuming the goal is attainable.

Attainable
Is the goal possible to achieve, with some effort? If you set far-reaching goals, you may be unable to commit to realizing them; for example, “increase turnover by 1000% within three months” is probably way beyond your current means. However, the goal should require some effort; for instance, “wake up each day before lunchtime” is easily achievable for most people, and so is unworthy goal-wise.

A proper goal should stretch you slightly so that you need to be committed, yet should also feel attainable. “Increase client base by at least two per month for next six months” is a goal you’d possibly need to work hard to reach, but is still feasible.

Realistic
Ask yourself: do you have the power to control the results? You need to feel that you can reach your goals, and that you have an influence on them. Having a goal like “co-workers to be nicer to clients” is, fundamentally, out of your control, even if you are the boss. A better goal would be “run monthly workshops for employees that focus on client service.”

Timely
A concrete goal has a deadline. It may be as limited as the end of next week, or as long as the end of 2009. Deadlines help you manage your time towards achieving goals. Without a deadline, the goal will appear to be unimportant and never happen. Set a realistic deadline, with a suitable time frame.

It’s a good idea to limit yourself to just a handful of short-term and medium-term goals. Writing an exhaustive list of everything you would like to complete before you leave this earth is a sure way to de-motivate yourself.

Set some goals today, and look forward to a more productive year ahead!

This post first appeared as part of Issue 428 of the SitePoint Tribune, a very popular email newsletter that I am co-editor of. Thanks to SitePoint for allowing me to reproduce the work here.

There’s been much talk about strategies for businesses to survive the uncertain economic climate. The media every day are reporting massive layoffs and industries in turmoil. In these times, it’ll be all too easy for most businesses to feel the effects of the crisis, so what can we do?

One of the major scenarios we’re already seeing in some industries is the domino effect of a large company hitting the wall; this in turn affects their suppliers, who then suffer, affecting their suppliers, and so on down the food chain.

What is immediately obvious here is that there are two actions we need to take. I also note that these should be part of standard business practice, not just for uncertain times.

The first one is control costs. Most organizations can identify a few areas where some small cost savings could add up to a sizable percentage of their bottom line. Look for savings in bank fees, transport costs, telephone and bandwidth, office supplies, and the like.

Secondly, manage cash flow.

If your clients hit hard times midway through a project, you could be left wearing the debt. Make a habit of invoicing smaller amounts more frequently, based on project milestones or calendar months. Keep on top of recalcitrant debtors — if you start chasing them the day after the bill is due, it trains your clients to know that you mean business.

Chasing your debtors consistently means you’ll have their payment sooner, and it’ll be less likely they’ll become a bad debtor.

This post first appeared as part of Issue 428 of the SitePoint Tribune, a very popular email newsletter that I am co-editor of. Thanks to SitePoint for allowing me to reproduce the work here.