Where can I get cheap ideas to promote my brand?

There is no point in reinventing the wheel, so if you see someone doing something that works, why not try it and see if it will work for you. But before you start thinking of the ideas, try to work out what you actually want to promote – maybe it’s that you have a new product, or a new design or a new brand.

For example, it’s our fifth birthday in August, we want to promote that we have reached the grand old age of five and to keep our brand top of mind with our retail buyers. We are going to send out cookies to all the buyers (I hope they’re not reading this!) as it kind of represents a birthday cake (but is easier to send), it is quirky in that they will remember it. Lastly, it is cheap for us to do but does not look cheap to the recipient, which is always important, I think.

Below are a few places to get ideas from:

* Look around you and see what other companies are doing. For example, we give away a free Mocks button badge with every online purchase, which helps promote the brand by word-of-mouth).
* Read books about people who have started their own businesses, as they usually have some great tips about how they got recognition with very little cash.
* Read marketing books. One I found that had hundreds of good ideas was The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide.
* Get out there and network – chat to other business owners and ask what they do.
* Form a mastermind group of other business people where you can use combined brain power to brainstorm.
* Put a post on LinkedIn or Twitter asking for ideas – people love to help other people.
* Ask your consumers what they’d like. Often we ask in our newsletter to email in and tell us whether they’d prefer X or Y – then at least you know you are meeting their needs and they feel they have ownership of your brand.

Whatever you decide on, it is important to measure the results, so you know the next time you are stuck if it is worth doing again!

Lara Solomon is the founder of Mocks, mobile phone socks www.MyMocks.com and author of Brand New Day – the Highs & Lows of Starting a Small Business. Lara’s business LaRoo was the winner of the NSW Telstra Micro-Business Award in 2008.

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