Courtesy: Flickr, young shanahan, https://bit.ly/34cZEMaa, CC BY 2.0, modified
Small businesses and non-profits can make an impact on a small budget.
By Roy Harryman
Heard of a Molotov Cocktail?
It’s nothing you’d order at a bar.
It’s been described as the “poor man’s bomb.” A glass bottle, a rag, a lighter and you’ve got an improvised explosive device. It’s not pretty, but it gets the job done.
The name was coined during World War ll when the Finnish were using anything they could to repel the invading Soviets. Molotov was a Soviet politician and the face of Russian diplomacy. And needless to say, not liked in Finland.
I’m a history geek, and when reading about the “cocktails,” it struck me that small business marketers need the same approach: a big bang on a small budget.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve no fascination with violence and am not cavalier about it. So when I began using the term Molotov Marketing, I added the tagline, “Make sales, not war.” The terminology is simply a way of making the point that you can spend little and still make an impact.
But don’t you want to bill people?
As an independent marketing consultant, some might say it’s counterintuitive for me to take this approach. After all, the more I bill, the more I make, right? Well, not if my customers go out of business. More importantly, I believe it’s criminal to sell clients something they don’t need or understand.
There really is such a thing as free stuff
Molotov Marketing begins with establishing clear goals: What do you want to accomplish with marketing? After that, we embrace tactics that are free or cheap. Money may need to be spent later to accelerate the effect of the original plan. But you can start with a small investment, evaluate it, then decide what to do next.
The skeptical may say, “Nothing’s free.” Well, the skeptic would be wrong. As of this writing, these are some marketing tools that are 100% free:
Google My Business page
Facebook business page
Twitter account
Instagram business page
Linked in accounts and LinkedIn business pages
Flickr photo site
Blogging sites
YouTube business channel
MailChimp email marketing (up to 2,000 addresses)
And this is just a start.
Beyond the free tactics, a website need not cost hundreds of dollars per month (though you can easily pay that). Depending on what you need, you could spend $20 per month or less to host your site.
Now, to be clear, there’s sweat equity involved in using these free tools. It involves writing, taking photos and videos, plus research. Time is money. But no actual cash outlay is required. And that’s good news for a small business or non-profit.
Yet I find that most people haven’t gotten the word. Of if they have, the low-hanging fruit is rotting on the tree. Take the opportunity to become one of the few businesses and organizations that harvests it and establishes a digital footprint in the marketplace.
Make a statement. Make an impact – on a small budget.
Throw a bomb! But only one that’s metaphorical.
Make sales, not war.
Roy Harryman is principal of Roy Harryman Marketing Communications. He preaches and practices Molotov Marketing, helping small businesses and non-profits get a big bang even with small bucks.