In the current competitive business world, where there are big time players in your industry, it can be very difficult for women owned businesses to stand out. You may not have the money to market your business as they do, but there are lots of options that you can use to help with your marketing.

We know advertising is costly, and because of the pandemic many businesses had to cut back on advertising in 2020 and many small business can not compete in the ad spending as the big giant companies.

Every business owner would like to get their goods and services in front of many people as possible, but most traditional methods are to expensive and not every one can afford TV commercials, especially as a startup company.

With the demand for e-commerce, you can still promote your business effectively and successfully without spending a lot of money. Many small business are looking for ways to get more customers, keep the ones that they already have without breaking the bank.

Here are 4 Proven Ways to Grow Your Small Business Online for Free

Before the internet businesses used printed materials as a form of marketing. For example flyers, direct mail, door to door distribution, flyers in neighborhood newspaper, and even though nothing is wrong with them, in fact they still work effectively , but the world going digital and everything that is tangible is going online.

1. The advantages of social media

Take advantage of social media. Social media has become a necessary investment for many companies. It not just a tool for gaining exposure, it has become an integrate part to communicate directly with your customers. LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook Business pages are ways to network personally and professionally.

2. Use Local Business Listings

Your business can be easily found on Google searches and can appear on Google Maps when you register your business with Google My Business. You can register for Free, then your business needs to verified through the confirmation process which be done by phone or mail.

3. Create a Blog

A blog can help your business gain exposure through followers which allows you to connect with your potential customers more personally. Keep in mind that the most important thing of blogging is to keep a steady stream of valuable content on your site or it can become a worthless blog.

Having a blog makes your business searchable and competitive. Hence a blog's primary function is to connect the business owner to the most relevant audience along with boosting the business owner's traffic and sending quality leads to their website. Blogging is a valuable tool that many businesses should prioritized to see a positive growth to their business. To start a blog, we recommend Blogger.com, create your blog for free and you can purchase a domain name for $12 a year depending on the domain name you are using.

4. Make your website mobile friendly

The vast majority of people access the internet on their devices, besides desktop or laptop computers and so your goal as a business owner is to make sure your website or blog is easily accessible via their personal devices.

They should be able to read and interact freely with out any problems and with any device including smart phones, iPad or tablets, kindles and even television like Smart TV. The best way to do so is to use responsive web design with allows a website to adapt to different screen sizes and resolutions.

Final thoughts

Social Media Marketing is the most proven way of internet marketing to enhance your brand reputation big or small. If you embrace internet marketing your business will begin to expand and grow beyond your imagination. Even though traditional marketing mention at the outset of this blog post are still useful, the advantages of internet marketing are tremendous. Always remember you can use social media to get your target customers. Anything is possible!

To your success

Nicole