Marketing with zero dollars is very hard. It sounds like you have a client that is regularly needing your services, at least for now. I would suggest dedicating a percentage of your net profits toward marketing. I usually suggest 20-30%. Consider marketing to be an investment that should bring in a return at least 2x the investment.

I would suggest you pick up a copy of "Guerrilla Marketing" by Jay Conrad Levinson. Price: US$15.

Now lets start with defining your main goals. You actually have two main goals at this point:

1. To Attract Quality Prospects (aka folks interested in your services)

2. To turn these prospects into clients.

The next step is to define your target market(s). That is, identify who is most likely to buy your products & services.

Next, distill your offering so it is simple and clear on what you do and how you help your clients.

Remember this. People don't buy drills. They buy holes. The president of Black & Decker said that in his book I think.

People don't want to buy IT services. They don't want to buy life insurance or movie tickets or drills. They want the benefits that come from buying insurance or movie tickets or the drill. They want to feel like their family will be taken care of if something happens to them. They want a sci-fi/romantic/dramatic experience. They want a hole.

What about your IT services? What do your clients get when they use your products or services? What kind of pains are you alleviating? What kind of fears are you addressing? What kind of desires are you fulfilling?

So to recap, by this point you should have a brief description of who is most likely to buy your services and ideas on what are their pains, fears & desires that you can help address.

Our first goal is to attract quality prospects -

The first thing that has to happen for you to attract more prospects is to be front of more prospects. This can mean classifieds in the newspaper, business magazines, attending a networking event, a tradeshow or calling your prospects. You can also setup alliances with local businesses, banks, etc to send you folks who might need your services. Dont pick a method.

Pick 7 different methods which you will use to get infront of your target market. And only focus on your target market. Getting in front of folks who are not most likely to buy your products and services will do you little or no good.

Next construct a creative message that embodies how you address your clients pains, fears and desires. When talking to a potential clients, focus on the needs of the client and not what you do. Remember, no one, and I mean no one wants to buy IT services. They want the benefits. Focus on the benefits.

If you want me to continue, do what I have outlined here so far:
* define you target market
* list what benefits you offer to your clients
* select the 7 methods you will use to get in front of prospects
* write out a creative message that does what I said it should even if its not perfect.

Post your answers here in this forum and I'll come back and finish off how you can use this to attract more prospects and turn them into highly-profitable long-term clients.