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No customers, no business. For many small businesses, marketing and advertising is a huge problem. This article looks at 10 simple, cheap and highly effective ways that small businesses can market and advertise their products and services. If this has been a challenge for your business, you will certainly learn a lot from this article. For many small businesses, cost is a major barrier when it comes to marketing and advertising.
Many of the popular methods we know like radio, TV, magazines and newspapers are often too expensive for small businesses. Because most small businesses cannot find the customers they need to remain in business, many small businesses starve and die because they cannot sell enough products and services. Despite these difficulties, how come there are still a couple of businesses which start very small but are able to attract enough customers to remain in business?
My research has shown that these smart businesses and entrepreneurs use several taken-for-granted methods that many of us have learned to overlook.
Some of them are amazingly simple and will cost you nothing. Some of the others will cost you a little, but not enough to bore a hole in your pocket. Thanks to the internet, there are now more free, cheap and interesting advertising options for small businesses. Although some of the methods I will share with you shortly may work very well when used alone, we recommend that you combine different methods to get the best results. Here are the top ten ways to find new and more customers for your small business. This is definitely the oldest form of marketing and advertising used by businesses since the world began.
While it may bring slower results than radio or television, it still works very well. Because people are becoming increasingly suspicious of paid advertising, I still think word-of-mouth remains one of the most trusted methods in the world today. A satisfied customer is one of the most effective marketing and advertising tools a small business can ever have. Satisfied customers become foot soldiers, evangelists and advocates for your business. Word-of-mouth is so effective and powerful that many successful business rely solely on this method to advertise and market their products and services.
Network marketing businesses are a good example. So, how exactly can your small business grow an army of passionate customers who will use word-of-mouth advertising to your advantage? Most people buy products or services to solve a problem or satisfy a need. Nothing will make a customer happier and more satisfied than getting a product that makes a very challenging problem go away.
People like to buy products and services from businesses that treat them with respect. People love to be given attention and treated well and will always return to enjoy that beautiful experience again.
People hardly forget a great customer experience and will happily tell other people about it. Start a referral or reward program for your existing customers. The more people they refer to you, the more free products, services and discounts they will enjoy.
The reward should be large enough to trigger their interest and make them take action. I once helped a friend of mine create a loyalty and referral program for her barbershop and beauty salon business. The way it works is simple. All existing customers were registered and given a unique code. Whenever they spend money in the shop, it increases the total amount they have spent to date. If this total reaches a certain level, they are awarded certain discounts for all the services they pay for. There were four levels Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum with increasing rewards.
The results were amazing! Almost every customer was referring their family, friends, neighbours and total strangers to the salon to spend money under their code thereby increasing their totals and making them reach the Gold and Platinum levels faster. Giving away some of your products and services for free does three very positive and interesting things for your small business:. Second, it gives you a chance to prove the value of your product or service and show that it really works.
Third, it provides your future customers with a risk-free way to try out your products or service without spending any money.
And if customers find value in your products or services, they will be willing to pay money for it. He decides to put up a sign in front of his barbershop that reads: This reads like a sign that will definitely catch a lot of attention, right? From the outset, determine the number of people who will enjoy the free stuff or how many days the promo will last. Just like free stuff, discounts and deals work well too.
They are another creative and low cost way to attract more customers to your business. People often see discounts and deals as a huge opportunity to save money and enjoy a product or service for a whole lot less. In fact, discounts and deals usually influence customers to buy more products or services than they initially planned.
Offering deals and discounts are also a powerful way to publicise your brand. There are now a couple of deal websites in Africa that advertise great deals to deal-hungry customers on a daily basis. Every day, it advertises mouthwatering deals from several small businesses in several cities across Nigeria. For a small fee, small businesses can reach thousands of potential customers through the good discounts and deals they offer and websites like DealDey offer a great platform to do this.
Everybody loves to win. To enter for this contest, all the couples will have to do is submit a romantic poem about how they met each other. Can you imagine the kind of buzz this could create for your small business? Potential couples will start to talk about the contest and create free attention and buzz for you. Even though many of them will not win the grand prize, they will still be interested in finding out more about your products and services.
A word of caution though. Make sure you can comfortably afford the prize s you plan to give out. Draw out a reasonable budget and stick to it.
It makes no sense if the money you make from selling your products during the contest cannot cover the cost of running it. Small businesses need websites too, even if it has just a single page. As a result of the huge influence of the internet, our world is now more connected than ever before. Most people simply use the internet nowadays when they want to find a product or service. With the spread of mobile phones across many parts of Africa, it is easier and more effective to search Google for information rather than ask the nearest human being.
Owning your own website is no longer a luxury that only big companies enjoy.
The internet has now made it possible for everybody to enjoy the opportunity of getting found. You can get a website for free nowadays and www. With a Google email account, you can set up a single web page with a brief description of your business, products and services. More importantly, you should include your contact information physical address, telephone and email. A website is like your own billboard or newspaper advert.
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Wow what a Great Information about World Day its exceptionally pleasant educational post. I thought that referrals just fell into my lap, as they actually often did. That is not the case if I want my companies to grow. So, I followed the instructions, reluctantly, of course, and sent my most recent clients, an email along the lines of: Press enter to begin your search.
Hi [Name], How is [Company] doing? Partner with agencies Partnering with an agency is a great way to bring in new clients. Browse job boards This is really another no-brainer, and chances are you already use job boards. Start blogging Blogging is an amazing way to build relationships and become an expert consultant. Guest blog Find blogs that your prospective clients read and ask to guest post on them. Hiring a [your keyword here] Looking to hire a [your keyword here] Looking for a [your keyword here] hiring yourkeywordhere Be creative.
Productize your services Productized consulting is a powerful way to create recurring revenue and get new clients. Write a playbook A playbook is a great way to attract new clients, as it provides detail on your process, how you work and how you can help the client. Start coworking If you work from home, consider coworking at least once a week.
Always offer advice and help A long-term strategy to bring in new clients is to help people who are connected to your prospective clients. Utilize industry networking sites Almost every industry has networking sites that bring the community together. Get press To get press for your consultancy, you have to come up with a unique angle that would be appealing to reporters and their audience. Write a guide Similar to the SlideShare tactic above, write a guide on a specific topic that you have expertise in.
Make creative business cards Business cards can be an effective marketing tool, if executed properly. Have an SEO strategy Search engine optimization is a great long-term strategy to drive targeted traffic to your company website. Partner with non-competing firms I talked earlier about partnering with agencies. Join the discussion Comments. September 10, at Khizar I Hamid says: September 10, at 4: September 11, at 4: September 11, at 8: Davide Di Prossimo says: September 11, at 9: September 11, at September 11, at 1: September 11, at 2: September 11, at 5: September 11, at 6: September 12, at 5: September 12, at 6: Top 25 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week: September 12, — UpCity says: September 12, at 9: September 12, at September 12, at 1: September 12, at 3: September 12, at 4: September 13, at 9: September 13, at September 15, at 4: September 18, at 9: September 18, at September 19, at 5: October Best of the Web: Launch Your Learning says: October 3, at 8: October 17, at 2: November 6, at 3: November 14, at 5: November 15, at November 16, at 1: November 26, at 3: December 5, at 2: December 23, at 6: January 29, at 6: February 5, at 4: February 25, at 8: Muhammad Abdul basit Adil says: March 18, at 8: March 18, at 1: April 1, at 1: April 24, at 3: August 1, at 2: August 5, at 1: August 28, at December 5, at 7: December 16, at 3: December 21, at 1: January 6, at 1: January 10, at 8: February 21, at 9: February 24, at 9: March 25, at June 23, at 2: July 2, at 1: July 25, at 1: September 9, at 6: September 9, at 9: September 27, at Bryan Blue Show says: October 11, at 1: November 15, at 7: November 25, at 6: December 5, at 8: December 21, at 4: January 7, at January 11, at January 31, at 1: February 1, at 8: March 9, at 2: March 11, at March 23, at 3: March 28, at 3: April 30, at 2: May 19, at 8: May 25, at 8: May 25, at May 27, at 2: June 12, at 8: June 13, at 1: June 30, at 6: September 12, UpCity says: July 24, at 9: July 26, at 3: July 27, at 7: August 1, at August 11, at August 28, at 7: September 14, at 1: September 14, at 3: September 17, at 6: