In today’s competitive business world, providing top quality service sometimes isn’t enough. To get the attention of some clients, you might need a little extra and that means marketing. Why did I say marketing instead of saying advertising? Because advertising is expensive and it doesn’t always speak to your target audience but marketing does.

Marketing your business is important if you want to increase your customer base and retain the customers you already have. Marketing can be done on the cheap and it can be better targeted to the areas you serve. When trying out some of the following marketing techniques, you will notice that you are not spending a lot of time or money and that you will actually start seeing results very quickly from your efforts. Remember, marketing speaks to a targeted audience, thus making is more successful than typical advertising techniques that cost a fortune and speak to areas outside your service region. You can worry about advertising later; today, let’s take a look at some tried and true marketing strategies that can help you market your trashcan cleaning business on a budget.

Create an Elevator Pitch

Every business needs an elevator pitch and yours should make your business stand out from the rest while telling potential customers what you do. If someone comes up to you and asks what you do, your elevator pitch is there for you. It shouldn’t be very long as it should grab the person’s attention and engage them. If they are interested, they will ask more questions; if they aren’t interested, you only spend a minute or two of your time.

Think Locally

You are marketing your business locally, so why not think locally. Look in your community’s events page and see what is happening in your area. Maybe there is a charity walk or run, maybe a community fair or expo; whatever event is going on, you want to be there getting to know your customers and gaining new ones with your unique marketing message.

Collaborate

Getting together with other local businesses to cross promote your services is a great way to market your business without spending a lot of money. You can use community based coupons and fliers, or reciprocal website links to expand your customer base and reach new people.

Network

I cannot stress enough the power of networking. No matter what business you are in, networking will help you grow. Get out there in the mix and shake hands, talk to strangers and get to know as many people as you can. People won’t know about your business unless you tell them and if they are impressed by what you have to say, they will tell even more people; thus, you have networking!

Give a Speech

There are many neighborhood organizations, churches and community centers that have meetings, get-togethers and other events where anyone can stand up and make a speech. Why not you? Take a deep breath, stand up and tell them about your service and how it can help keep their neighborhoods safe from the germs, bacteria and illness that lurks in their dirty trashcans.

We have taken a look at some very effective marketing techniques that won’t cost very much money at all. So far, you have expended some of your time to talk to people and tell them about your trashcan cleaning business. In Part II of this we look at how you can market your trashcan cleaning business on a budget, we’ll take a look at some more ways you can grow your business and gain more new customers. Be sure to check it out!