Here is how you can start any type of marketing campaign with absolutely no cash or credit. Yes, you can get all of your marketing for free. Although it will take a little effort on your part, once you set this up you will be able to simply run your campaigns 100% cost free.
Here is how it works. Simply contact any business who would like to market in certain neighborhoods or to homeowners specifically and have them place an ad on your marketing piece. You can do this with post cards, flyers, direct mail letters, door hangers and more.
Below is a partial list of the types of businesses that you could do a co-op with…
Mortgage company, realtor, home improvement company, restaurants that deliver, the local pizza place, landscaper, credit repair company, appraiser, furniture business, furniture rental center, car dealer, etc.
Just think of any business in your area that you have seen advertise in the paper or anywhere else and contact the owner about your co-op advertising opportunity. If they will run one ad they will run another one with you.
Now if you are not very good at designing an ad, post card, flyer, etc. here are a few sources you can use on a “need to” basis. Simply go to ELance or Work-A-Holics and post your project and then professionals will bid on your project. You will probably pay between $20-$40 dollars to have a flyer or post card designed. You could even get your co-op advertiser to pay for that too. We use them all of the time for lots of things. I have added the websites above along with others in the bookmarks of the Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine in a group called Outsourced Labor. Now that’s a million dollar idea that can pay for all of your advertising from now on!
Here is another million dollar idea that you can use doing a co-op. If you have a property that you want to advertise in the paper and you also know of another investor or homeowner who has a property (you can find one from an ad already in the paper if you don’t know of one now) you can contact them about running a larger ad and splitting it and putting your property on one side and theirs on the other. I did this with a house I had for sale about a year ago. We each designed our ad then submitted it to the paper and they designed it and ran it and we both got calls from the ad. One person will need to pay for the ad and collect the cost from the other person.
Try this the next time you want to run an ad. I realize that doing a co-op may take a little effort but it is absolutely a great way you can start your marketing with no cash or credit. Even after you get some cash you will already have your co-op relationships established so it will be just as easy to continue doing it as it will be to go it alone.