When 18 year old Bruce Lee arrived in America in 1959 he had several things working against him. He only had $100 in his pocket, barely spoke the language, and had no employment prospects. However, he did have an insatiable desire to bring his love of the martial arts to all Americans.
Determined to introduce Americans to his style of martial arts, Lee didn’t allow the lack of a marketing budget deter him getting his message out. In fact you may consider Bruce Lee a marketing pioneer in that he mastered the art of free demonstrations long before infomercials gained popularity!
With no resources to speak of Lee simply picked a wide open outdoor area where there was a lot of foot traffic and started working out and practicing his martial arts in public. Considering his appearance and workout routine, he quickly attracted attention. Over time, curious and even cynical passerbys turned into loyal students.
As fate would have it, one of his free public demonstrations was attended by a TV casting agent who directed him to his first acting job as Kato on The Green Latern. His acting career was under way and soon Bruce Lee would fulfill his dream of bringing martial arts to millions of Americans.
Are you on a tight marketing budget? Consider free demonstrations to let the world know how great your product is. Here are just 6 of the many no cost / low cost places where you can show an audience the value of your product or service.
1. Chamber of Commerce
Many local chambers of commerce offer their members the opportunity to give a presentation in front of other members.
2. Library
The public library will often have space available for you to use in order to host a presentation.
3. Trade show
Trade shows are an excellent forum for meeting and demonstrating your service to like-minded partners and customers.
4. YouTube video
Online videos allow you to not just tell your story, but show it. You can demonstrate your product or service via an online video to potentially millions of people.
5. Community fairs
Just like a trade show the local fair or community days event can put you in front of thousands of potential customers.
6. College
Some college professors invite business people in to their classrooms to give presentations about their unique business.
About The Guest Author: Mike Bowman is the publisher of The Quarter Roll Financial Entertainment Magazine. Mike’s goal is to first take the confusion and fear out of managing money and then make it fun and even entertaining through the stories printed in the magazine.
Kung Fu Photo via Shutterstock
