Three Examples of Low-Cost Marketing Ideas with Big Results

Is it possible to brand an entire country for less than $200,000? Or, for less than $2,000, can you brand a person so successfully that they create headlines worldwide? Here are three cases of successful, yet cheap marketing stunts.

Some years ago I decided to analyze 50 random TV car commercials. First, I reviewed them and then cut each scene just at the point where the car shows how brilliantly it handles at fast speeds. I'm sure you know just what I'm talking about--the wide-open road in a glamorous location. Out of the 50 commercials I looked at, 48 contained a slight variation of just that scene. I then joined the cut moments together into one mega 90-second commercial. I kid you not: it looked as if it were a single commercial made by a single director using the same cameraman. At the end of the exercise, I looked to see which vehicle stood out amongst them. Sadly, there was not a single one.

Similarly, whenever I watch commercials on the international edition of CNN, I play a game with myself. I call it: "What Country Are They Promoting Now?" I try to guess which nation is being promoted before the answer's revealed at the end of the ad. Now, I've been watching these ads for years and yet, no matter how many times I've been exposed to the genre, I still manage to get a good half of them wrong. Yet, now and then, in our world of sameness, a person manages to get an idea for a promotion that stands out enough to spark conversations.

How a Harvard Dropout Raised $24 Million in a Recession [Video]

Since Alexa von Tobel dropped out of Harvard Business School to create LearnVest in late 2009, her personal finance startup has attracted more than 100,000 users and raised $24.5 million in funding


Venture Studio, in association with Mashable, is brought to you by Square1 Bank. The show is hosted by Dave Lerner, a 3x entrepreneur and angel investor.

9 Nagging Questions To Tune Out When Launching A Startup [Opinion]

So, you’ve decided to do the startup thing, and you’ve told a few people. Turns out everyone and their dog has an opinion about it, regardless of whether or not they’ve ever been in your shoes. Some are flat-out discouraging you, while others are congratulating you and asking some interesting questions you haven’t yet considered.

You’re quickly discovering that many people are coming along with you for the startup ride: your friends, family, business partners, investors, cofounders, employees, and more. And they’ve all got something to say.

Who should you listen to? How much of what they’re saying is true? What does it all mean?

5 Things Business Owners Can Learn from Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs died more than a month ago, and the media has gone through its two stages of grief: Deification, followed by a backlash to the deification.

The latter was hastened by the publication of Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs bio, which presented a warts-and-all version of the Apple founder that contrasted with the airbrushed image that emerged from obituaries.

By now, many are grappling with the contradictions of the more fleshed-out and realistic Steve Jobs, but also attempting to learn from the Steve Jobs story. Many might be wondering if it’s possible to emulate some of what Jobs achieved without the pettiness and obsessiveness. Of course, we’ll never know, but when reading over Isaacson’s bio and reviewing Jobs’ achievements, it is possible to pull out what seem to be transferable traits, ideas and attitudes. Below are five such attributes that any business owner can embrace, even if they don’t have Jobs’ one-in-a-billion eye for design or mercurial personality.

Current State of Funding [BAF Workshop Series]

At the Access to Funding Resources and Tools to Grow Your Business workshop held this past summer, the panel discusses the Current State of Funding for Small Businesses.

What is Crowd Funding? [BAF Workshop Series]

To get ready for the November 29th Workshop on New Marketing Techniques, we are posting videos from the summer mentee workshop; Access to Funding Resources and Tools to Grow Your Business.

In this first video, the panel discusses Crowd Funding and how it can be beneficial to start ups.

BAF MENTEE WORKSHOP SERIES

Join Us on Tuesday, November 29th for our next Mentee Workshop:

NEW MARKETING TECHNIQUES

Build Awareness and Attract New Customers!
Learn Hands-On, Practical Marketing Tips, Tools and Techniques for Small Business and Non Profits

Find Out How To:
- Develop a winning marketing strategy
- Tap the power of referrals
- Create a referral engine
- Create Social Media Strategy
- Think big and act small
- Put Strategy Before Tactics
- Utilize the Natural Marketing Advantages of Small Business
- Learn how any business can take advantage of Web 2.0 and emerging social media trends and tools by developing a strategy to integrate new media with existing marketing and business strategies

Speaking Panel To Be Announced

Location: AXA Advisors Building 1290 Avenue of the Americas
(Sixth Ave. between 51st and 52nd Streets)

You must be registered to participate. 
RSVP by November 21 to doreen@b-a-f.org or 516-883-0488