Business & Financial

Guerrilla marketing is a term used to describe unconventional marketing tactics, particularly those with low cost or no cost, which rely on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget, so they are ideal for the cash-strapped small business in the present economic climate.

The idea is to target customers in unexpected places, in unexpected ways, to get maximum results from minimum resources and create a unique, engaging and memorable brand experience.

Here are just 10 innovative marketing ideas to get you started:

1. Run a competition to win advertising space on your site. This is a no-cost prize you can use to market your website: free for you but valuable for others.

2. Leave your business card in unexpected places: for instance pop one inside every book in an appropriate section of the local library.

If you took one year off from your business, would it be in the same shape – or better – when you came back? If the answer is no, according to Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, you don’t really have a business, you’ve got a job.

There’s no reason your business shouldn’t grow just because you’re not around to tend to it. You simply need to think differently to make that happen.

The lower paid people in the world think they get paid for each hour that they work. That’s how they measure income. That’s how they measure value – by the hour. They think about an hour’s worth of work and what they’re earning for that hour. Those people are always focused on raising their hourly income.

Put a mental check mark next to each of the following statements that describe you and your business:

• In order to generate income, you need to put in a certain number of hours.

• The more hours you work, the more money you will make.

• Your business makes money only when you are working.

The more check marks you’ve made, the stronger your connection between time and money is. If you’ve got a strong time-money link going on in your business, this can actually mean that you end up working a lot harder or longer than you need to for the money that you make.

You’ve heard the saying “time is money” plenty of times. I’m willing to bet you’ve said it yourself in the past few weeks. The problem is that as long as you agree with that statement in any way, shape or form, you inhibit your ability to create wealth.

When I was 16, I got pregnant with my son. Since children are a lot of work, I had to drop out of high school to get a job and support him. Childcare, food, and diaper bills add up quickly. When you don’t have a high school education, well paying jobs are hard to find. I had to work two and sometimes three jobs just to keep out heads above water and to keep the creditors from calling.

I wanted my son to be proud of my, so I studied for my GED during breaks at work. Once I got my GED, I was ready for college. But how could a single mom, working 3 jobs just to get by, ever afford to go to college? I filled out the college applications hoping that I would find a way to continue my education. When I was at my night job as a diner waitress, one of my customers called me over to their table.