Nick Roberts

Marketing is the most important skill you need to possess to make it in business yet the majority of small business owners do no marketing other than advertising which is, more often than not, a waste of precious money because it's just not effective. Sometimes it's a lack of awareness, sometimes a false belief it's too expensive and other times a lack of time but these excuses no longer apply as here are five really effective marketing techniques which are absolutely free and bar one, very quick:

1. Email Marketing. If you use a system like MailChimp you can maintain your database and send out professional fantastic-looking newsletters etc absolutely free! And don't let anyone tell you it's too difficult - you can set up an account and send newsletters to your database in 15 minutes!
2. MYOB Websites. There's no longer any excuse not to have a website. You can set up your own MYOB Atlas with a shopping cart in about 20 minutes and it's completely free for the first year and only $5 pm after that.
3. Networking. Learn how to network and then attend every free event you can - the best are those which are not networking events - training seminars, school, church, the pub - you can network anywhere!
4. Facebook. Love it or loathe it, Facebook is an effective and free way of publicising your business and no technical or specialist knowledge is required.
5. Google Places/Plus. Both are a fantastic way of getting up the Google rankings without paying for Google Adwords or SEO. Your location is also pinpointed on your local map and guess what, they're both free too!

If you need help with your marketing attend our free marketing workshops "How would you like another 100 customers", see http://www.abac.co.nz/seminars_2013.

If you have any tax or business queries of any kind telephone 0800 ASK NICK, e-mail me at nick@abac.co.nz or use "Contact Us" on www.abac.co.nz. The information in this article is of a general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific advice.