FREE, Easy and Effective Marketing for your Small Business

I am going to share with you what really helped our business to grow. Five years ago, my business partner and I started out in a small 900 sq foot place. It was just he and I and two treatment rooms. We are now in a 3200 square foot clinic with eight employees and now this space is getting tight. I was just kicked out of my office because the shipping room needs it for them....

So, here's some of the highlights of what we did to grow so fast.

1. We started asking our happy clients to give us Yelp reviews. We asked them more than once - unhappy clients will post in a hot second, but happy ones just go about their day being happy. Our website has a link to our reviews and it really helps to convince them that we know what we are doing. When we do get the occasional unhappy review, we contact the person right away to rectify what's not working for them. Nine times out of ten, they become happy clients again. Sometimes that means having them come in for a free treatment so we can figure out what's going on. Mainly, it's making the personal contact to let them know that we truly care about what's not working. Here's our Yelp reviews.

2. There are other, not-as-frequented review sites such as Insider Pages and Citysearch that you can also utilize. All of these, including Yelp, are free. I posted the first post as the business owner just to get the ball rolling and to have a presence on those sites. If nothing else, it helps your search engine results. Just Google them to find them.

3. Referral Program - Because we are an acne clinic, sometimes word-of-mouth can be a little slower because of the sensitivity issues surrounding acne. People just don't want to talk about it because of their shame of it; and once their skin is clear, they have no credibility with people who are still suffering with acne. However, they are likely to talk to family members about it. We tend to have a large Asian clientele, who tend to be very family-oriented. We tell them that for every person they refer to us, that they will get $20 credit toward product or service. We remind them in every Constant Contact newsletter that we send out that we have that incentive for them.

4. PR - This is truly the most underutilized, but incredibly effective marketing strategy you can use for your small business. The first thing we did was contact the very small local newspaper to have them do an article about the "new business in the community". Almost all small newspapers will do this for you, you just have to ask. We got ten new clients right away.

Then, I read a book called Guerrilla Publicity by Jill Lublin and Conrad Levinson. I gave it to my business partner and said, please read this and do it, ok? Well, he did! He put out press releases to the bigger newspapers in the area and one responded within two weeks. This was amazing, since the book said it might take a year of consistent pestering to get the attention of a reporter. Well, we got a huge article in the Lifestyle section of that newspaper. It totally launched our business. I went from seeing 12 clients a week, to literally, 12 clients a day. It was crazy and exciting - my most thrilling business experience to date.

Eleven months later, we got a mention in another article about adult acne. That article went to the Associated Press, which then meant we were mentioned in articles not only around the country but around the world! We started getting calls from people all over the United States to ask us if we could help them. One Saturday, I answered the phone and a woman was calling from Dubai! She said we were in an article (that same one) which was in The Gulf News - a newspaper in her region. Our Long Distance Program was launched at that point. This was an aspect of our business that I had no idea we would be doing, but the need was so great, I figured out a way to help these people. We now have clients all over the world (who also give us Yelp reviews).

So, you see, marketing does not have to be expense in order to be effective. I did not pay one penny for all the above-mentioned marketing; and it was integral in building the business that we have today. Feel free to email me if you want more information.

Laura@facerealityacneclinic.com

Face Reality Acne Clinic

Proven Strategies for Treating Acne

Tags: acne, advertising, business, free, marketing, small

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Andrea Stein on January 24, 2011 at 1:30pm

Wow Laura,

This is some amazing information! Cant wait to try some of them. I am already working on the Yelp idea. So far so good!

Permalink Reply by Kelley Dixon on March 10, 2011 at 6:47am

Thank you for all your tips. This makes the process seem more realistic.

Permalink Reply by Laura Cooksey on March 10, 2011 at 1:03pm

@Andrea and Kelley - Let me know how these tips work for you. I've always felt, if I could do it, anyone can do it... really!

Permalink Reply by Lori Taylor on March 22, 2011 at 2:27pm

Hi Laura,

Thank you for sharing, this is so great. I have some Yelp reveiws, but I never ask for them, I guess maybe I should. I will definitely try hitting up on the local newspapers. Thanks again!

Lori

Permalink Reply by Bollygirl on July 3, 2011 at 1:02pm

Thank you so much laura for sharing these tips. I would like to get your expert opinion on my situation. I have a home business for now with very limited clientele base. would the above marketing techniques work for me?

how did your partner send his press release? just write an article and mail it out to press?

any advise is greatly appreciated.

Permalink Reply by Cora Ariella on July 5, 2011 at 8:25am

Ask for a "media kit" from your local newspaper. It has the guidelines. Then, find a reason to write about yourself ( for ex. "xyz salon celebrates 1 year in business, or offers discounts to military, etc...) and send it as a Press Release to the editor.

Permalink Reply by Laura Cooksey on July 7, 2011 at 2:11pm

@Bollygirl - You can definitely use online review sites with any type of business. Is your home-based business legal in your state? If not, then you might have a hard time getting a reporter interested in writing about you. My partner emailed the health and beauty editors of various newspapers here but I don't know what format he used. Best to read Jill Lublin's "Guerilla Publicity" to get all the information about that.

Permalink Reply by Bollygirl on July 8, 2011 at 10:33am

thank you Cora and Laura for your replies.

Yes it is legal in CA to have home business and I'm in process of setting up online social networks accounts and reviews. I love the media and press release idea but I think I will wait till I grow my business to open a store-front rather than home-based spa.

Permalink Reply by Cora Ariella on July 10, 2011 at 12:38pm

@Bollygirl : be sure your home based spa is ok with the Board of Cosmetology and Health Department. They have to come and inspect and also with the city for zoning. Not all areas in CA are zoned for both residential and comercial when it involves the public coming in and out of your residence. Better safe than sorry, fines are steep. Where I live, San Diego North County some home businesses are ok others are not.

Permalink Reply by Trish DiLallo on November 3, 2011 at 10:05am

Laura, great ideas! I love all the information offered on this site. Question though, did you have any legality issues or criteria to meet to refer to your business as a clinic? I have to look into it for my state (NY) but am curious if I could call my business a clinic w/o an actual medical person on staff, special licensing, etc.

Permalink Reply by Laura Cooksey on November 3, 2011 at 12:35pm

Hi Trish- thanks! glad you liked the article. I have never had any problems calling myself a clinic. I didn't do any legal research to see if I could, haha... and no one has bothered me about it; and I have called myself a clinic for over six years. We don't have any medical people on staff at all. (thank god..).

Permalink Reply by Alissa Chasen on March 11, 2012 at 5:21pm

Laura,

Do you pay Yelp to show all of your reviews? My Yelp rep has told me I have to pay $300 - $350/month to publish my reviews. I currently have 12 unfiltered and 0 reviews showing.