Trying to get attention without a big budget? It can be hard to stand out in a crowd with all the big agencies making big splashes with multi-million dollar budgets.  Luckily, here in the 21st century, you don’t need a big media budget to get noticed. You just need some time and some patience.

You can get attention, raise awareness, and promote your products without spending lots of money. We like that!

Here are some of my favorite tips:

Offer free information

Start a blog and build an email newsletter. Don’t oversell and don’t try to sell right away.  They’ve just met you; they don’t know if they like or trust you yet.  Space out the offers, rather than holding your hand out right away. Make it free, free, free, sell.

Build relationships

Be helpful. No hard-sell, sometimes even no real “selling” at all. Listen. Put yourself automatically at the top of the list when they need what you do. Getting hired without RFPs, cold calls, and sales meetings is a beautiful thing.

Partner with people who offer complementary services

I’m a copywriter and marketer. I partner with business coaches, web developers, graphic designers, etc. If you are a developer, partner with a coder or a graphic designer.  Recommend each other.  Bring them in on projects (and have them do the same for you).

Be visible online (and offline too)

Find out which social networking tools, online forums, or real-life business forums your audience likes and uses.  Create accounts, attend networking meetings, and build relationships.  Share helpful tips, respond to questions, and share other businesses’ posts and information, as well as your own.

Build your email list the right way

Make sure it’s clear what you’re offering and what sign-ups will receive. Get permission. Don’t just add people because they attended a meeting where you spoke.

Follow up – in a friendly way – not a spammy way.

By that I mean that if you do talk to someone at an event, follow up with something relevant. Send them an email telling them you enjoyed the conversation. Point out an article you thought they would find interesting. If you discussed classic cars, tell them about the car show in town next week.

What are yours?