Small Business Marketing: DIY Beats Corporate Sponsors

Last week I was at a blogging conference, BlogHer 08. The marketing and advertising around me was mind-boggling. And the shwag. Oh, the shwag! But that’s another post. Big corporate sponsors like Quicken and Microsoft spent thousands of dollars trying to get our attention. But you know the marketing that impressed me even more? This:

Now, I’m not just saying this because the unusual object above was made by Wendy Piersall, the Sparkplug CEO link and her children (her very sweet, well-paid children). I chose this as a great example of DIY marketing because it’s simple and effective.

So what is it? We dubbed it unofficially a Twitter Tag. Now I know I’ve been less than an enthusiastic fan of Twitter in past posts, but as you will see in upcoming posts, I may become a Twitterite yet. Anyway, at BlogHer, everyone was on Twitter. Even the sponsors (yet another post to come). So Wendy cleverly came up with a tag (made from a Shrinky-Dink!) for attendees to write their Twitter names on. Simple.

The marketing came with the little Sparkplugging logo on the tag, a second paper tag that directed attendees to our modest site, and information on our upcoming Sparkplug U courses. Now, all of you are, of course, loyal Sparkplugging fans from the old days of eMomsatHome, but unbelievably, there were a few bloggers who hadn’t heard of us. I met so many amazing people who work from home, and was proud to be able to offer them such a valuable resource as Sparkplugging.

[I'm waxing on, aren't I? I think my blogging is indefinitely changed by this conference.]

Coming to the point. Sometimes you don’t need the big bucks to market. Okay, you never need the corporate pocketbooks. Creativity is ingenious. People are still buzzing about the tags Wendy painstakingly made on her home computer. And you can bet they’re checking out this site. Maybe even reading this post. What did it cost her? A bit for supplies. A bit more in bribes for help in making the tags. But what did it gain her? New readers. New students of Sparkplug U. New loyal fans for life.

So if money has been your excuse for not doing better marketing, stop hiding. Come up with ways to make your company shine creatively before your competitor does.