Marketing tips and tricks don’t need to be spammy, scammy, shady, or sleazy. In fact, the best ones rarely are. In this brief, no-frills post, we’ll offer some golden nuggets to help get you off the ground with the maximum amount of force possible. What you do with it thereafter is the subject of a future article.

So, what marketing tactics can you apply to produce tangible short-term (and long-term) results? Let’s list the obvious.

1. Social media marketing: Launch a branded profile page (on one or more of the many social networks) in hopes of building a relatively large online community around your product(s), service(s), and/or content.

2. SEO (i.e., search engine optimization): Attempt to organically rank your site and associated pages within the editorial listings (particularly among the first results) of major search engines; on-page & off-page SEO, together, make up an increasingly challenging/competitive technical skill.

3. Word-of-mouth: Tell your acquaintances, friends, family, peers/colleagues, and others within your close circle about your endeavors (and request that they tell theirs about them as well); have a business card on hand to facilitate this.

Truth be told, the above three do work… at least better than the alternative of waiting around for a miracle (a serious choice for countless entrepreneurs). But there’s got to be a way to drive sales in large-ish numbers and consistently at that — even for high-ticket items (like real estate and consulting services, to list just two examples). A few notable mentions come to mind.

1. Find your target client hangouts, and be present (meaning, interact [albeit in a natural way]): This may be an online forum or a local (offline [i.e., in-person]) gala; if your marketing budget is severely limited, start with the free ones, eventually moving up the echelon with each newly-acquired customer.

2. Focus on offering value (and, ideally, make it shareable): This may be a form of content (such as original articles, audios/podcasts, videos, etc), a complimentary good, a product sample, an informative seminar (or webinar), etc; people need to be warmed up to buy, and freebies effectively assist merchants/retailers, manufacturers, and/or distributors in building trust with their network.

3. Build relationships with platform owners/creators: They own the platform so they, essentially, are also the umbrella that holds all potential customers; for reference, the platform could be an online platform (like a social network), but it could also be manufacturers of unique & innovative products in your chosen niche. Regardless, and oftentimes, they have strong industry connections, whether B2C or B2B (such as in the case of suppliers), so they’ll gladly provide regular referrals to relevant 3rd-party companies/organizations/enterprises, service sellers, and marketers.

Conclusion

Marketing is a numbers game. It truly is. Don’t get caught up in whether someone “likes” your content, product(s), and/or service(s). Listen to their feedback (to improve on future iterations, means of communication, methods of presentation, etc), but never take things personally. Your concern, instead, should be in getting as many eyeballs on your offer (including your free value precursor) as possible; continually refining your value proposition (i.e., your pitch), while secondary, is important too. Also, and finally, it’s okay to be nice, but don’t bend on price. In other words, do not position yourself as a slave. You’re worth infinitely more than that. You’re an authority within your market of preference. If someone can’t afford (or isn’t ready or willing to spend on) your flagship product, then, respectfully, they’ll have to move on until they are.