3 Ways to Market Your Side Business While You Sleep

market your side business


Now that you have your shiny new side business up and running, you need to market it. In other words, you need to spread the word about what you are doing.

When I started blogging, my main goal was to get the word out about my blog. I had two common problems though: I didn’t have time to market, and I didn’t have any money.

Lucky for you, I am going to share what I learned through hours of research, interviews, and events. What I learned were the secrets to marketing a new business or blog online…all for free!

Here are 3 great ways to market your business while you sleep. Try them out and see if they work:

1. Start Blogging Today

If you don’t have a blog, start one today. Blogging is a no-brainer, and everybody should be doing it. By writing a blog, you can position yourself to become an expert in any field — including your business.

On top of positioning yourself of an expert, blogging produces loads of other great benefits. My favorite feature of using a blog as a marketing tool is the passive and residual impact it creates for you.

It’s important to understand what I’m talking about when I say “residual”. Residual or passive means “over and over.”

For example, once you write a post and the content is published, it’s out there for people to see- forever. A prospective customer can read the post tomorrow, next month, or next year, and it will still have the same impact.

You put in the work now, and the benefits (or sales) will continue forever.

Lastly, writing great content on your blog and sharing what you know with potential customers creates a soft-sell. Your readers will gain trust in you over time and will be more apt to purchase your product or service.

2. Use Automation Tools for Marketing

Everybody knows that you need to be on social media these days. It is the best way to get the word out and market to potential customers.

But how can you tweet and update Facebook all day, every day?

Enter tools like Hootsuite. Hootsuite is my favorite because I can use it to pre-schedule tweets and status updates. I usually sit down every Sunday to plan out my week on social media.

Even when I’m sleeping, eating dinner with my family, or working on other projects, my content is being marketed to my networks.

There are other tools in addition to Hootsuite, such as Buffer and Tweetdeck. All of these tools have separate and different features that can help you market your content.

3. Hire an Intern

Interns are the best. By hiring an intern, you can get more work done while providing the intern with real-world experience in business and marketing.

Hiring an intern who is excited to work and ready to learn is a win-win situation for you and them.

If you hire an intern, you can employ them for three to twelve hours a week. They can help do research for marketing outlets, or they can spend time on your social media. Whatever you want, they can do.

Be careful not to take advantage of your intern. You can do this by coaching them through the work they are doing for you. Teach them the behind-the-scenes to your business, and give them other opportunities to contribute.

Interns are easy to find. You can find interns by asking on Facebook, emailing somebody with kids in high school or college, or just go to the local community college’s intern department.

How do you market your side business while sleeping? Share your tips below!

Photo by  DepositPhotos.


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Ryan Eggenberger is a blogger, author, and career coach. He writes on his blog at RyanEggenberger.com. Follow him on twitter at @RyanEggenberger.

Discussion

  1. Matt John Canty on the 31st August

    3 Ways to Market Your Side Business While You Sleep! Really Blogging, Getting an intern!? I would say these are strategies that take hours and hours and months and months of work not make money while you sleep. Of course they can but first you need to put in the massive amount of effort up front this you forgot to mention. Starting a blog is like joining a war its not easy to be successful and you should always work on your business before your blog!

    • Emily on the 2nd September

      I actually disagree. Blogging is something I have set up to mimic Facebook and Twitter posts. I make one post, and it goes up on all social media sites I’m involved in, so it takes little time. The blog is a great way to reach those who don’t social media, in addition to creating another place for people to find you, link you, etc. Some people do nothing but follow blogs. It also makes your appear well rounded to anyone scrutinizing, and it’s another way to “connect” with your audience. So big payoff for little work. It doesn’t have to be that you’re typing articles and essays, just little blips about what you’re working on or some behind the scenes stuff. People love that connection.
      Also, interns are PRICELESS. My interns send emails on my behalf, make calls for me, and generally make the footwork load way way easier. It takes little time for me to ask one to please research the best price on a type of material I need. It takes far more time for me to research it myself. Most interns are thrilled to be working in their field, and don’t mind some of the menial work in exchange for the inside look and experience it gives them. I make sure I teach them as I go, so it’s not all in big chunks, but in little bits. Again, not hours or months, but minutes. One phone call gets me an intern at the art school.
      Try it! 🙂

  2. Kathleen on the 4th September

    Hmmm…I have mixed feelings here. Although these are good tips, I think there are many side-business owners who blog about their business, yet aren’t able to effectively get their name “out there”. The social media channels help, but again there is the getting-out-there aspect.

    A great way to let people know of your blog, and hence your side business, is to participate on other blogs and forums to share your knowledge.

    In my opinion, I feel these tips are more suitable for the mid to larger sized business.

  3. Jerome on the 8th October

    I think the tips are useful, it all depends how you blog as to whether you get your name out there.

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