What Can Small Businesses do in This Economy That Costs Little or Nothing and Helps to Grow Their Business

August 28, 2008

My name is Kris Hogan and I have lived in Tinley Park since I was 5…which now totals 35 years, and all within a 3 block area. I’ve tried to move, many times, but it just wasn’t in the cards. I love my neighborhood, my neighbors and my home. I am a mother, a wife, a friend, a dog lover/owner, a Christian and now a local business owner. In January, I started my dream company, and run it from my home. I named it Hodoorgan Design Inc. The name “Hodoorgan” comes from smooshing together my six children’s last names…Doorn and Hogan. I’d have thrown my maiden name in there if I could have, but it is hard enough for people to know how to pronounce “Hodoorgan”. All though, it really isn’t too hard, HO – DOOR – GAN. At any rate you can check us out on the web, www.hodoorgan.com.

So, enough about me personally, and on with the blog. My reason for doing a blog is everyone’s doin’ it! Well, that’s not really the reason. Supposedly, a blog is a place to share your thoughts and knowledge on subjects related to your business, create links to useful information, and post news and other announcements. So, as a small business owner, I want to succeed and if by chance there’s anything that I know or do that can help others to succeed as well, then life is good.

My topic/idea for today is what can small businesses do in this economy that costs little or nothing and helps to grow their business?

Here are just a few ideas, some of them obvious, some not so much.

1. You NEED a website. If you are in business today, you need to have a website for many, many reasons. A website is the #1 way to advertise/market. For a list of reasons why you need a website, go to: http://www.merchantcircle.com/blogs/Hodoorgan.Design.

2. Put your web address on all of your printed materials, in your window, everywhere. That way, you can tell your clients anything you want just by putting it on your website. Another idea is put your coupons/discounts on your website; advertise that in your window or on your printed materials. That saves you from spending money on additional printing of coupons. Let your clients print them themselves; just tell them where they can get them!

3. Craigslist.com Advertise for FREE!! Stay on top of this, relist every week. I get responses when I first relist, not so much during the rest of the week. When your listing is new, it is seen first. Also, I’ve gotten other ideas of places to advertise from people who look through the listings on Craigslist.com to get people over to their sites. The more your name is out there, the better the chances of being seen. And even better yet when it costs you little or NOTHING! Make sure to include your website in all listings…for many reasons, one of them being SEO. SEO stands for search engine optimization and one of the best ways to accomplish this is by having many links to your website throughout the web.

4. Craigslist.com Barter for things you need done in trade for your services. Saves you money…and you can get some of the things you need as well.

5. Network throughout the internet. Some of the places I network are Linkdin.com, MerchantCircle.com, Facebook.com (no, it’s not just for kids! It’s for business networking as well!), myspace.com (again, not just for kids, network, network, network!) These are great places to network nationally, and network locally. When I need services done, I look within my network online as well as my network of friends that I talk to regularly. I know I’m not the only one; I have many people in my online networks that do the same. If you are a woman, you can join WomanOwned.com, a really nice network of women. One of the services I offer is Online Memorials, both for humans as well as for pets. Because of those services I have joined networks like Grief and Loss Care at http://soulandspirit.ning.com and numerous pet networking sites.

6. A service I offer for clients, but can easily be done on your own is registering with any and all search engines you can find. Do a search for free SEO submission and you will come up with a lot of places to register. Now, this does take a lot of your time, but I feel it is worth it, and it is free, aside from your time.

Well, I don’t guess that these things are supposed to be this long, so I will sign off for now and give you more ideas as they come to me. Thanks for reading and until next time…