Running a business while looking after kids is hard work and sometimes we all need a bit of help. That's why we thought we'd set up this board - 'The Business Clinic' - and invite entrepreneurs to share their experience of running and growing a successful business.

This first discussion will be hosted by Antonia Chitty and is dedicated to How to market a business on a tight budget. Antonia will be happy to answer your questions posted on this board between now and 25th July.

Antonia Chitty has been working flexibly since having her daughter in 2002. She says, “On returning to work I felt like I was trying to do a full weeks work in part time hours, and spending all my money on childcare. Other people were looking after my daughter, and I was missing out on her growing up. I looked at the skills I had and how else I could apply them. A session with a life coach really helped. I’d never thought of running my own business, but she opened my eyes to the fact that people would pay money for my skills.”

 

Antonia explains, “I set up my own PR agency which focused on helping mums in business to do their own PR. That led to my first books A Guide to Promoting Your Business and Family Friendly Working. I’m now working on my 14th book, and I love what I do.”

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Antonia was awarded the 'Inspirational Business Mum of the Year' Award at the 2009 Mumpreneur Conference. She shares her business expertise with any mum who wants to set up a business through The Mumpreneur Guide.

 

I get stuck in a rut and quite often am unsure as to what to do next. I find it hard to know what I should be doing next. I think it would be quite useful to create some kind of list of things that should be done on a weekly/monthly basis. What top five/ten things would you suggest are the most important things that should be done on a regular basis to market a business?

It'll be interesting to know what other people think. I will have a think and get my list posted asap.

Lisa

I'd probably opt for four/ five in the first place and really get those four/ five things as part of your weekly or monthly routine.

For most businesses my top recommendation would be to really get your online promotion cracked. Start by learning about search engine optimisation and the key phrases that you need to work on to find people who want your products or services. The develop your online presence through social media and networking so that wherever people are searching they can find you. Add in a way to entice people to sign up and share their email with you and you can start developing a relationship with them ... which will eventually take them to purchasing.

You could then break your month down into different regular weekly slots. How about week one you work on your PR, picking a new 'newsy' idea about your business to share with appropriate media - this could be local or national, magazines or newspapers, print or online.
Then maybe the next week you plan out your newsletter and promotions to customers. Staying in touch with existing customers is well worth while and a much better investment than constantly having to seek out new ones.
For week three you could look at advertising your business: again, consider print and online advertising, and maybe look at getting your website listed in directories too this week. You could stretch your budget by doing co-promotions with complementary businesses, so you promote them to your customers and they return the favour.
And in week four you could look at some of the other marketing methods available to you - I've been blogging about these every week over the last six months at www.acpr.co.uk, so check out the blog for lots of marketing ideas.

If you have a question, please post it below. I'll be checking in once a week over the next 3 weeks to see if I can help.
Antonia