02 Dec
Posted by: Sharon Gaskin in: Marketing For Freelance Trainers, Starting Out As A Freelance Trainer
When you are in the early stages of setting up a training business it’s very easy to get carried away and spend money on a web site, glossy brochures, logos and business cards and advertising. Guilty as charged! I remember spending around £1000 on an ‘advertorial’ that didn’t bring in any interest and about the same again on leaflets that just ended up being taken down the tip. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have a web site as in today’s world people expect that you should have one but just to be careful about pouring all your money and time into it at the start.
Don’t let the fact that you haven’t got a web site hold you back from doing any marketing. It’s probably more important to spend a day writing a list of everyone you know and working out a way to contact them than worrying about key words and Search Engine Optimisation.
And there are plenty of no cost and low cost marketing methods that you can use that don’t involve digging a large hole and pouring large amounts of cash into it. The best and simplest one I know is just to make a list of people you know. And I mean everyone; family, friends, friends of friends, past colleagues, other trainers. This gives you a great starting point for referrals and introductions. For free!
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mari sullivan
04|Dec|2009 2How true ! When I started out I also made a commitment to only spend what I had earned through Coaching and Training. I still operate like this to a great extent. It means that I have to really consider whether the training course or other advertising expense is really beneficial to my business. Thanks for the tips
Mari
Sanda Ionescu
08|Dec|2009 3How true! I jumped in at the deep end, announced to the Inland Revenue that I had set up my own business and only got around to creating a website (for free) about 5 months later, have only just now 9 months down the line printed my definitive business cards (instead of the free Vistaprint ones, because I knew my phone number was going to change), use no leaflets or advertisements (write articles and blogs instead), got a BNI contact to take professional pictures at a very low rate, etc. This hasn’t been deliberate, but rather a result of ignorance combined with lack of time, but in the end it has proved quite beneficial to my finances. Would I have got more clients if everything had been perfectly designed and done beforehand? Well, a friend of mine did… and no, she didn’t.
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