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Marketing a Web service
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July 6, 2000: 5:08 p.m. ET
Tips on maximizing impact on a tight budget;more thoughts on older workers
By Jane Applegate
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Dear Jane: I'm a student at Cal Poly Pomona and run a company that does Web hosting and domain registration for small business owners. How can we market our service on a tight budget?
When you don't have lots of money to spend on marketing, you have to rely on your customers to help. Try offering special discounts or incentives to customers who refer new customers to your company. This builds loyalty and costs you very little. You might also try to collect testimonials from happy clients and post them on your Web site.
Be sure to include photographs because everyone loves to see their picture. One of the best low cost promotions I've heard about involved an orthodontist and a local photographer. The dentist asked the photographer to take pictures of his patients on the day they got their braces off. The dentist presented one picture to the happy patient, but most of them bought additional prints to celebrate their beautiful new smile.
Work with professionals who advise business owners to promote your service. Contact attorneys, accountants and consultants and offer them a free Web site if they will recommend your services to their clients.
'Older workers in high tech' - a follow-up
I received many negative responses to my advice to the older woman who wanted to go back to school and learn to be a software programmer. Dozens of you sent messages saying that no matter how skilled she was, she would never get a job because she's over 50. It may be true, but I still believe she should pursue her personal goals. If companies are desperate for skilled workers, they should be more open-minded when it comes to hiring older workers.
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