No money for construction marketing? No problem.

Right now, in looking at the headline for this posting, I think of the used car dealer who advertises the "no money down" deal or (worse) "we'll get you out of your current lease and into the car of your dreams -- and make the payments for you for three months."

Of course, if you buy into that dealer's promise, you'll be stuck in an even greater financial trap with even higher financing costs for a car which will probably be worse than something you own now.  After all, you've got to pay all those credit costs plus, of course, the dealer's marketing expenses (and the dealer rightfully should earn a profit on the transaction.

But is there really a way you can achieve marketing success without spending any money.  Yes, if you have lots of time, resourcefulness, and you use some creativity coupled with common sense.  The key is to start with your current clients, make them so satisfied with your work that they are happy to refer others to you (and request additional work) and then parlay that goodwill into positive publicity, either in the conventional or social media.

Note I am not suggesting you passively "rely" on repeat and referral business.  You need to learn how to encourage it -- to systematically enhance your repeat and referral volume through initiatives where you measure your results. 

Of course, you can also squander money on junky stuff sold to you by telemarketers or by continuing Yellow Pages ads for which you have no measuring or tracking capacity. In this situation, the headline might read: "Too much money for construction marketing?  No results."