

Ask HN: Marketing offline on a bootstrapped budget? - dmillar

I'm bootstrapping my startup. Once I am launched my overhead will be minimal (&#60; $200/mo) not counting my time. Although it won't cost much to run the business initially, I am concerned about marketing offline on a bootstrapped budget.<p>I do have some money set aside for this sort of thing. However, my product is focused toward health care providers who are used to schmoozy sales reps with huge expense accounts. I feel that my target customer isn't spending a whole lot of time online looking for my sort of products and that I need to really focus on marketing offline.<p>Once I am launched, I plan on hitting the pavement and personally visiting my target client. However, in my experience, doctors are busy and rarely take unsolicited meetings, so I am not sure how effective this will be.<p>I have a lot of confidence in my idea (duh!), and feel that it is especially relevant given the recent press on the Obama healthcare overhaul and using IT to decrease healthcare expenses.<p>Advertising in trade journals seems like a good option, but it is also expensive. What are some ideas that can help me gain attention offline?
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ScottWhigham
I wish I could help but, for $200 per month, I don't know that there is
anything other than some guerilla marketing techniques that would fit.

How about this: You agree to buy breakfast for the staff at a doctor's
office/building in exchange for the chance to glad-hand. $50 per meeting means
four meetings. You do that enough and you're bound to meet some good people.

Other than that, I'd invest my $200 in my time/travel and attend trade shows,
buy business cards, and try to do as much networking as I could with local
organizations. Some cost money to join/attend so that would eat your budget
but it might lead you to wealthy individuals who like what you're doing. Don't
shy away from entrepreneurship organizations either - join the heck out of
those since there are tons of ex-doctors as well as friends of doctors.

I don't know - good luck.

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dmillar
Oops, I guess I wasn't clear. $200/mo is the amount it will cost me per month
to run the business (hosting, merchant expenses, etc.). Marketing is not
included in this.

I can spend more on marketing, but don't have the huge coffers that some of
our VC funded friends have access to.

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ScottWhigham
Ok - sorry about the confusion.

Still - those ideas are fair?

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olefoo
Is your service a complement to anything your prospects are already buying?
Can you piggyback your efforts on someone else's sales machine?

If your product is consumed online, are there any social networks that have
high concentrations of prospects? (facebook groups, must read twitter people,
etc.)

The absolute best marketing is that which lets your prospects see that your
product solves a problem for them.

