When you are starting a training business, it is easy to think that the first things on your to-do-list are logos, website, and glossy brochure.After all, how could you possibly start handing out your business cards if you don’t have the right image, brochure, and URL to match?
You have to start attracting clients straight away, don’t?
Wrong. If you have money to burn, then go ahead and let your business ego get the better of you. But today, you can’t afford to let your cashflow go out of control, especially with the current financial climate.
Getting the right branding and marketing material could make a huge difference to long-term business success, but in your early months, it is right to spend your time focusing on your planning, research and deciding what structure to set up.
The place to start? Start with deciding on who it is you want to work with.
As you begin to understand your target audience, you will be able to work out the right branding and marketing that will reach out to them. Then it’s time to start with the logos, websites and glossy brochures.
And when it comes to logos, websites and glossy brochures, think about what you can do yourself. I’m from Yorkshire, so I’m tight, and I don’t believe any new business has money to throw away unnecessarily.
I paid to have a logo done (but I chose what I wanted), and paid for my website to be set up. I update my own website – you’ll want to do this frequently, and it isn’t hard, so why pay someone else?
I print my own business cards (you can get pre cut A4 sheets perforated to business card size). I’ve changed the content and layout a number of times, and didn’t want to throw away 468 old ones each time!
You can print your own brochures – you probably only want a few of each, not 250, and the content will keep changing. Just buy 250 sheets of glossy paper and use your own printer.
£1,000 slashed from your marketing budget immediately – now you can spend that £1,000 on finding clients!