I just answered a great question on LinkedIn about marketing on the cheap and I thought you might be interested (since soooo many people want to know the answer to that same question). Enjoy!

The asker posed: “Marketing/Advertising at low costs? I have recently opened my real estate company in Dubai would like to know advertising/marketing methods which achieve desired results in low costs. Also are they any sites where I can place ads for free or low costs and still receive good leads? ”

I responded:

You may want to consider the power of social networking, and for the following reasons:

1. It is free.
2. It is simple.
3. It is effective.
4. It is popular.
5. It makes your other marketing 10x more effective.
6. It is the future.

What is social networking? Pardon me if you already know, but social networking is the activity of mass distributing yourself in a seemingly personal way while allowing you to maximize your time spent and financial investments. In simpler terms, its a way to stay connected to people and remind them that you exist in a relevant manner.

LinkedIn is a fabulous example of a business connection tool where you have the opportunity to connect with people through people. It’s a great concept on the principle of six degrees of separation.

FastPitch has created an excellent stand-alone utility that also allows you to use your LinkedIn profile, get more out of it and actively instant message (IM) new people and chat live. I like it, and have met some great people.

For outside of US bounds (primarily), you may want to consider Xing also - I have found it remarkably helpful and have met some amazing people all over the world. Based in Germany, it embraces cross-cultural networking. Some have called me from overseas to connect.

For Real Estate, which can be a B2C offering, you may also want to consider Facebook and Myspace.

How to tie it all together and make it work without going crazy? Twitter is an excellent and highly popular micro-blogging utility where you have to answer the question “what are you doing” in 140 characters or less. An example of what I might put: “answering an excellent question on LinkedIn about marketing with social networking”

How to wrap it up in a neat lil’ bow? ping.fm (current beta code: letmeping -not sure how long this is valid) - this utility allows you to update most of your status updates from that site - OR (and I love this:) AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).

All that being said on the topic of social networking, here is some very specific advice on usage: be specific enough to pique interest, but vague enough to not give away the house, and ALWAYS maintain the highest level of courtesy, professionalism and respect. People mistake social networking as a forum to be a little too familiar with people and it hurts them. Use your best judgment and you’ll do famously.

NOW… to balance all of these activities out, I would NOT suggest advertising. It can be pricey and can yield low to depressing returns. I would highly suggest reading up on how to create and distribute interesting press releases and harnessing the power of word-of-mouth marketing.

I would also suggest email marketing (Constant Contact), blogging (WordPress or Blogger) and making the entire thing cyclical. If it can’t feed into itself, your marketing programs won’t work.

Strategic partnerships never hurt either.

I hope this helps you in your marketing adventures!

“Each failure is another brick in the road to success.” - Laura Briere.

Yep, me. Just said it when I was talking to an intern about sales, and it struck him (and then me) as deeply insightful so I thought I’d share. Way to go, ME!! lol

Have a great day!

Do you know an energetic college student that’s just itching to get their hands on some really fun projects and learn a TON about the real world of business and marketing and how things are ACTUALLY done? Students who intern with us have the chance to dive into a variety of meaningful things (NOT getting coffee - that’s so demeaning!) and really shape their careers in a positive way.

Simply either a) forward this email to them and have them email their resume or b) send them to the web site and THEN email their resume. We are a young company and love working with our future leaders.

The students do NOT need to have a directly related major - dozens of majors can fit nicely!

Thanks for helping to give a great yo/pro (young professional!) a defined advantage when they graduate!!

Just to give you an idea of how great of an experience this is - here’s what our current (and former) interns have to say:

“It’s hands-on, it’s actual experience, it’s not secretarial or menial. You feel like you’re actually contributing. You’re involved in client meetings, projects and proposals. It’s a laid back, comfortable atmosphere that is professional. I moved up here for the summer to intern here from Pennsylvania because I didn’t see myself as an “intern” - I saw myself as a part of the regular team where I have a real function, it’s important, and I get the opportunity to try a whole bunch of things. I had other internship offers elsewhere and closer to home, but I felt this opportunity would offer me the greatest breadth of experience in many different areas, and it has.”
Chris Agostini, Pennsylvania State University, Advertising Major

“It’s not a typical internship because of how closely we work with the owner and how much we are a part of the day-to-day activities. It’s not like we’re getting coffee, we’re significantly contributing to the success of the business while we’re getting so much out of this to help our careers.”
Kim Selwitz, Framingham State College, Psychology Major

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to really get your feet wet and to jump right into the field.”
Steve Monroe, Framingham State College, Communications Arts Major

“I chose Vision Advertising because even when I first met the team on career day, they were all really open and the interview process was easy, painless and welcoming. Now at the internship, even in a brief amount of time, I feel like I’m getting not only projects that reiterate what I’ve learned in the classroom, but also new experiences and tasks that go well beyond a textbook.”
Kaitlyn DePonte, Framingham State College, Communications Arts Major

I’ve recently taken to salsa dancing (it’s awesome!). I go to Salsa Storm in Worcester for lessons. What I found the most interesting connection is how in salsa, the very first lesson is one of leadership, but often times in business and marketing, it can be one of the last - almost an afterthought.

Consider this…

In salsa, the man leads. Or at least he’s supposed to…

Sometimes women try and lead themselves, but it’s usually because they haven’t been shown how to properly follow, or they are dancing with a crummy leader. Worse, when given a lousy leader, they end up leading. Not fun, not pretty, and probably a little aggravating for both parties.

In business, the provider leads. Or at least they’re supposed to…

One party leads, one party follows. Ideally, we all want our clients to follow us, but sometimes they lead, don’t follow, or aren’t being properly led. They are paying for our expertise to LEAD them to the results they want, but it doesn’t always turn out that way.

Why?

In salsa, I’m guilty of leading myself, leading them, and just being a lousy dancer. I’m also the same dancer that can keep rhythm, timing and remember all my moves and I follow very well. I dance far better with excellent leaders and consider it successful and fun. I also dance far worse with crummy leaders and I consider it a disaster and I don’t like dancing with that person anymore, and thusly avoid it.

I don’t want to dance with a lousy leader any more than I want to do business with one.

In business, as the client, I’ve been guilty of leading myself, leading the provider and just being a lousy client. BUT, in the same, I am the same client that can be amazing to do business with and do everything I’m supposed to do. (are you seeing the pattern yet?) I do business far more successfully with excellent leaders, and consider it successful and fun. I also do business far worse with crummy leaders and I consider it a disaster and don’t like doing business with that entity anymore - and thusly avoid it.

The difference is in the leader.

How does one effecively lead?

To lead well (in either dancing or business, actually), you must see what it is like to follow you. You must see your shortcomings, your mistakes, and your flagrant displays of arrogance that hold you back. You must be able to ask for and accept cricism, and put it into action. A truly REMARKABLE leader will know how to follow, know what it is like to follow, and continually strive for excellence - never settling for “acceptable” or “good enough.” Ultimately your goal is to make follower look like gold.

Leadership takes PRACTICE. You can’t just do it a little and expect that it’s enough, permanent or even good enough for your followers. Always seek to improve and strive to be the BEST and most effective leader possible, and you’ll make the experience (be it business or dancing) all that much better for both parties.

Some Specific Ideas

• Conduct customer satisfaction surveys PERSONALLY
• Ask your clients the hard questions that you may not want to hear the answers to
• Work towards making sure you know what you’re doing and can truly fulfill the clients’ needs
• Admit when you’re wrong - humility goes a long way in leadership
• Acknowledge what things you are great at, and focus on those, allowing other people to be gifted in the areas you are not

Obviously there are more ideas than this out there, but this is a good place to start.

Enjoy!

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Salsa Storm Owners Ray & Annette Gonzalez &
Vision Advertising Owners Adam & Laura Briere