The following strategies can be immensely satisfying as you start to see instant results for your marketing efforts. The response from your prospects and clients will let you know which of the following free and low-cost ideas is right for your business:

1. Make customer service a priority
Provide exceptional customer service that will keep your clients coming back and sending you referrals. Follow up by phone or email with people you meet within 24 hours.

2. Add value
Giving away value that will serve your clients and prospects is a great way to bond your relationships. You can be creative in thinking about what clients would really like from you over and above the time they spend with you.

3. Expand your database
Creating a targeted list of people who would like to hear from you is the #1 thing you need to do to promote your expertise and expand the reach of your business. Treat every encounter you have as a chance to expand your network.

4. Keep in touch
Design a 'keep-in-touch' strategy. On average, it takes at least seven contacts before people are ready to do business with you. You need to regularly send items like a tips list, a book review, an article, an interview, or a checklist to clients and prospects to keep your services in their minds.

5. Ask for testimonials
Clients are very happy to say nice things about you if you ask them. Place their comments in a prominent place in all your promotional materials (with their permission, of course); at your web site, in your brochure, in your ezine.

6. Write and submit articles
Send articles to print publications, online article directories, and specific online sites that your target market would read.

7. Write testimonials and comments for others
Writing testimonials for people you do business with, or for authors whose books you have read, may get you noticed if they put your comment at their website or in their ezine.

8. Send a press release
Sending a press release makes good business sense. You can create a list of media contacts that you could use many times. Write your press release and connect it to a current event in the news or to a holiday season to get noticed.

Choose to take action on any of these ideas to expand on your current marketing strategies and promote your expertise for free.