"Tough times never last, but tough people do." ~ R. Schuller
$0 DOLLARS IF YOU HAVE TIME AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TIME TO OPTIMIZE POSTS AND ADS.
Start up costs can be very low if you are offering services out of your home. And that is what I can share about on this article. If you trying to sell products with affiliate marketing, the market can be very saturated and unless you have a large budget to put towards the ad spend, I would not even touch that idea.
START UP COST CAN BE MINIMIZED
If you are able to work from home, a home office for example, then you will not need to worry about start-up cost - so much. Making sure that the room is mostly used for business (is helpful) and not anything else will help you when it comes to tax time.
YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE A COMPUTER
You will need a computer and you likely already have a laptop and that could cost approximately $600 for a good computer. So, this may not be a concern in regards to cost to consider.
Assuming you already a laptop then we move to the topic of being seen online. And then the social media marketing of your small business or start up.
GOOGLE MY BUSINESS LISTING
First suggestion that cost $0 dollars is to claim your business on search engines such as Google, Bing or Yahoo. Forget Yelp, in my opinion (long story). Don't bother with Yelp. (it is a long headache once you open that door). Here is an article that explains how to set up Google My Business https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/google-my-business
WITHIN 7 DAYS
Claim your search engine listing and then handle the data entry. Enter all the important information that is requested. They will mail you a postcard within 5 business days approximately. From there, you can finish up your listing. Then comes the important SEO part. Search engine optimization portion of the listings.
INCLUDE PHRASES THAT HAVE INTENT
Be sure to add long-tail keywords. What I am saying is that you want to add a phrase that has intent. Don't focus on one keyword "ice cream." It will be too difficult - if not impossible to rank organically when you have other businesses that sell "ice cream."
NEAR ME
For example - If you are selling ice cream in Chicago. Make sure that you have phrases that say, "strawberry ice cream near me" or even "strawberry ice cream in Illinois." Breaking it down will give you less competition with the bigger companies. This is actually called search engine optimization. Or SEO.
FREE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
You are more likely to rank over time, organically. You will increase your traffic to your website by focusing on phrases that have intent. Assuming you have a website?
BASIC ONE PAGE WEBSITE THAT IS INFORMATIONAL $700
The next step is, getting a website. If you don't have one and you are well versed in search engine optimization and user experience then jump on Wix. If you want to hire someone to create a website that can capture visitor emails and create content on your page to attract free traffic too - then expect to pay at least $700 - $4000 for a great information one-page website. This is not for e-commerce.
SOCIAL MEDIA AS MARKETING STRATEGY AD SPEND
The next topic to consider is social media as marketing strategy. Pick only one platform. Don't drive yourself mad with too many platforms. Where is your audience? What age group?
ADVERTISING BUDGET FOR SMALL BUSINESS $200
The most costly part of a start up is the dollars that you will put toward the 3rd party ad spend (Google, Bing, Facebook or Linkedin) marketing strategies. Depending on the cost per click and competition, you can and should budget for at least $200 a month to be fairly competitive. And start with a $5 daily ad spend but $20 a day would be better.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING TIPS $700
And to hire a social media marketing strategist can vary from consultant to consultant and hourly varies too much. I would suggest (as with my business) to go with someone who charges a flat rate and not an hourly (since you really can't see how they spend their time behind the scenes). For example, I charge a flat rate of $700 per month + ad spend.
FREE ORGANIC FACEBOOK TRAFFIC
If you have time to create content on Facebook that will get a high reach over time and engagement (I am not talking about likes) then try your luck. I wrote an article on social media marketing tips and you can learn within a few minutes on how to create posts that can attract eyes on your FB page and for $0. https://www.businessadvertisingmedia.com/post/easy-way-to-get-free-traffic-from-facebook
CREATE WHAT THEY WANT TO READ NOT WHAT YOU WANT
If you are good at creating content that people or your fan base want to read (and not what you want them to read) then go ahead and try to create content 80 percent of the time on topics they want to read and 20 percent can be about your service. Write about topics that solve issues. Check out this SEO tool for ideas https://answerthepublic.com/
NO TIME TO MARKET $1000
If you don't have time to test content, lower your cost per click on ads, research keyword phrases, hashtags, create ads for search engine marketing (see this page for an example on writing Google paid ads https://www.businessadvertisingmedia.com/post/search-engine-marketing-agency-results ) and more then hire a social media and search engine marketer. A freelancer will be the lowest cost. Expect around $1000 for a well-experienced marketing consultant online.
CLAIM YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE FIRST
Just start with claiming your business on search engines or hire a freelancer to claim your listings. Expect around $240 a task or listing to have it completed correctly.
LOW OVERHEAD COST IS MOST SUCCESSFUL
I strongly suggest that you do your best to create a service that does not require overhead if you are a start up and especially during the time of the coronavirus.
I'm the founder and CEO of Business Advertising Media LLC. I have over 30 years of sales and marketing experience across many industries (skincare, facials, chiropractor, med spas, virtual reality video arcades, real estate, property management, fine dining, pharma, and marketing). I started Business Advertising Media LLC out of a home office and I
have turned a profit month after month since 2017 and I serve startups and small business people - all across the United States. I know what small business owners and entrepreneurs face because I've faced it myself. For more information, please email me at monique.d.marcano@gmail.com if you have any quick questions that need a quick answer.
Keywords: marketing for small business tips, Start Up Cost for a Business, Social Media Marketing Tips and average startup cost for a small business.