Firepole Marketing Blog: How to Start – and MARKET – Your Creative Project for $100 in Change

How to Start – and MARKET – Your Creative Project for $100 in Change

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 05:15 AM PDT

They say the best things in life are free.

I’d say the next best things don’t cost as much as you’d think.

I’m often baffled at the serious amounts of cash people invest into a stylish looking website, a new logo or a new product or service launch.

You don’t need to spend a small fortune to get your creative project off the ground and in front of hundreds, if not thousands of potential customers.

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth, especially not in this day in age of services, products and freelancers all vying for your business at competing on cost and turnaround time.

While I’m not suggesting you skimp on the things that matter most, I am suggesting that $100 will allow you to create a project, initiative or product that can go on to create major impact, new business and serious change.

Launching Your Website, Blog and Email List For Under $100

When you’re first starting out all you need is a great domain name, a reliable hosting service and preferably a WordPress theme that’s customized to suit your look.

Here’s an example on how to get started*:

Buy a domain name and get hosting with HostGator for less than $50 per year, all in.
Buy a customized WordPress theme through ThemeForest for as little as $35 (one off cost) to make your website and blog look hot.
Sign up with AWeber for $1 (it goes up to $19 after a month, and is totally worth it), and start your email list by simply embedding the opt-in code on your new site.
Create an enticing gift as an opt-in. Don’t get overcomplicated. Simply record a video talking over prepared slides with Jing – a free screen recording tool.
Or you could create an audio recording on your topic of expertise and include it as an MP3 download, or a short yet highly valuable eBook using Publisher or Word and turn into a PDF.
Head over to Fiverr and get someone to do a cool looking 3D cover design for your book, audio or video product for $5 and add this to your optin form and a sign up page on your blog or website.

Total Cost: Approximately $86

*I like to keep things simple by just recommending one solution for each problem, but there are plenty of other domain providers, web hosting services, themes, and email list providers, so feel free to do your homework and pick those that suit you best.

Marketing Your Brand and Website for under $100

Now you have a new website, blog and way to collect names of potential customers and keep them informed, how do you let people know about what you’re doing.

The smart way is to become a creative and effective marketer. Getting the word out and creating buzz does not have to be a costly exercise in buying advertising, sponsored posts or hiring PR agencies to do the leg work.

Here is how to get started:

The most effective (and free) way to get started is to read Engagement from Scratch! Danny put this amazing book together to show you how to do 90% of the leg work required to build great relationships, thriving communities, a loyal audience and much more.
Invest the whopping $4.99 that it costs to get How to Build a Blog, the book that Danny and Sean Platt wrote about blog building. It is designed to help you build a compelling online presence. It will help you differentiate yourself from your competitors and attract your right customers that need to work with you.
Start guest posting! There is no better way to drive more traffic and visitors to your site or blog then getting in front of them on bigger and more popular sites. It’s free and just requires extra time and effort to make contact, write quality posts and get them accepted (and if you need help, check out this free live training all about how to do it right).
Depending your level of comfort, start with a webinar to increase your email list, spread your knowledge on your niche topic of expertise and promote your product or service. Sign up with a free account with MeetingBurner and read my post on the power of webinars and how to run and market one.
Setup an affiliate program using e-Junkie for $5 a month. This cool service lets you sell your digital products and programs and ensures others who like what you do, can promote your stuff for you. There’s no better way of getting the word out then loyal fans who will actively review, recommend and promote your products and services.
Invest in some strategic advertising. I would recommend starting with Facebook Ads given it’s highly likely that a decent percentage of the 900 million plus users are your target audience. You can set your budget as low as $5 per day and spread that out over a week to see what makes people click and entices them to visit your site or buy your product. Start small, test, tweak, monitor and then reinvest if it’s working.

Total Cost: $100 if you max out your advertising budget.

Using Your Initiative

With luck, the above examples have left you with plenty of ideas to put into action. Take these two strategies, and for a $100 investment you’ll ensure you launch your website or blog and market your products and services like a pro.

If someone had told me it would be as easy and cost effective as this, when I was getting started, I wouldn’t have believe them. But it’s true. The best things in life are free, you just have to add in your own uniqueness and create marketing practices that work.

The trick is to keep it simple. Effective marketing, branding and community building is not about spending hundreds or thousands of dollars, but it is about being smart, strategic and putting in the time and effort where it pays off most.

If you want to take that $100 one step further consider joining the $100 Change initiative. You can be inspired by 100 Change Makers over 100 days and use their wisdom and insight as a blueprint for starting a project, initiative or business of your own.

What’s more you can potentially turn your $100 Change into 10x the investment by applying for a scholarship to start your own project and create some serious change.

Learn more here and in the comments below, let me know what you’d spend $100 on to creatively market your brand or business.

Natalie Sisson is a Suitcase Entrepreneur who is on a mission to ensure others create freedom in business and adventure in life. She blogs about how best to use online tools, social media and outsourcing to build a thriving online business you can take anywhere. Over at the Suitcase Entrepreneur she offers free resources and tools, digital products and programs and business design coaching to ensure you create your ideal lifestyle. She’s also founded the $100 Change Initiative to empower hundreds of other entrepreneurs to start a business or project they love for $100.