27 Simple Marketing Strategies to Help You Get More Customers for Your Business

Promoting a business and getting enough customers is an on going challenge for small businesses, and that is why most businesses that were started our of curiousity without devicing enough strategies for this find it difficult to thrive.
Whether you're just starting out or have been in business for years, these proven marketing strategies will help your business find new customers without spending a fortune.
1. Plan Your Approach:
Define who your best prospects are, and then determine the best way to reach them (Your marketing tactics). Be as specific as possible.
2. If You Don't Have a Website: Get One SetUp. If you can't afford to have someone custom-design your website, put your site up using one of the companies like sitesell.com or homestead.com that provide templates and tools that make it easy to create a basic website.
3. Promote Your Website: Promote your website via your causiness card, Letterheads, brochure, website, and all your business documents.
4. Set Your Business Profile or Page up on Social Networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Be sure your business profile includes a good description, keywords and a link to your website. Look for groups or conversations that talk about your type of products or services and participate in the conversations, but don't spam them with constant promos for what you sell.
5. If You're Just Starting: Out and don't have a business card and business stationary, have them made up immediately. Your business card, letterhead and envelop tell prospective customers you are a professional who takes your business card and, letterhead and any handouts you create.
6. Get Your Business cards into the Hand of anyone who can Help You: In your search for new clients. Call your friends and relatives and tell them you have started a business. Visit them and leave a small stack of business cards to hand out to their friends.
7. Talk to All the Vendors from whom you Buy products or services: Give them your business card, and ask if they can use your products or service, or if they know anyone who can. If they have bulletin boards where business cards are displayed (printer often do, and so do some supermarkets, hairdressers, etc ask if yours can be added to the board.
8. Attend Meeting of Professional: Groups, and groups such as the chamber of commerce, rotary club, or civic associations. Have business cards in a pocket where they are easily reachable. Don't forget to ask what the people you speak with do, and to really listen to them. They'll be flattered by your interest, and better remember you because of it.
9. Pay for Membership in those Groups that Attract your Target Customers: If the group has a website and publishes list members on the site, make sure your name and website link get added. Once it is added double check to be sure your contact information is correct and your website link is not broken.
10. Become Actively Involved in 2 or 3 of there Groups: That will give you more opportunity to meet possible prospects. But remember: opportunists are quickly spotted for what they are, and get little business. While you won't want to become involved in many organizations that require a lot of your time, you can and should make real contributions to all of them by offering useful ideas and helping with projects when possible.
11. Look for Something Unusual about What you do, and Publicize it: Send out press releases to to local newspapers, radio stations, cable TV stations, magazines whose audiences are likely to be interested in buying what you sell. Be sure to post the press release services too, being sure to include links to your website. To increase your chance of having the material published, send along a photo (but not to radio stations) with your press release. Editors of printed publications are often in need of art (drawings or photos) to fill space and break up the gray look of a page of text.
12. Write an article that demonstrates your expertise in your field: Send it to noncompeting newspapers, magazines, and websites in your field that accept submissions from experts. Be sure your name, business name, phone number, and a reference to your product or service is included at the end of the article. If the editor can use the article you get your name print, and possibly get your contact information printed for free, too.
13. Publicize your Publicity: Whenever you do get publicity, gets permission from the publisher to reprint the article containing the publicity. Make photocopies and mail the copies out with sales letters or any other literature you use to market your product or service. The publicity clips lend credibility to the claims you make for your products or services.
14. Ask for work or leads: Contact nonprofit organizations, schools and colleges and even other business that have customers who may need your services.
15. Network with others who are doing the same type of work you are: Let them know you are available to handle thier work overloads. (But don't try to steal their customers. Word will get out and will get out, and will ruin your business reputation.)
16. Offer to be a speaker: Industry conferences, volunteer organizations, liberary and local business groups often need speakers for meetings. You'll benefit from the name recognition, contacts and publicity.
17. If your product or service is appropriate, give demonstration of it to whatever group or individuals might be interested. Or, teach others how to use some tool you use in your work.
18. Send out sales letters to everyone you think might be able to use what you sell: Be sure to describe your business in terms of how it can help the prospect. Learn to drop a business card in every letter you send out. Follow up periodically with postcard mailings.
19. If you use a car or truck in your business name and contact information professionally painted on the side of the vehicle: That way your means of transportation becomes a vehicle for advertising your business. If you don't want the business name painted on the vehicle, consider using magnetic signs.
20. Get on the telephone and make cold calls: These are calls to people who you would like to do business with. Briefly describe what you do and ask for an appointment to talk to them meet a need or solve a problem.
21. Get sample of your product or your work into as many hands as possible.
22. Offer a free, no obligation consultation to people you think could use your services. During such consultations offer some practical suggestions or ideas.
23. Learn to ask for referrals: Ask existing customers, prospects and casual acquaintances. When you get them, follow up on the leads.
24. Use other people to sell your product or service: Instead of (or in addition to) selling your products yourself, look for affiliates, resellers or people who will generate leads for you in return for a commission on sales. Be sure your pricing structure allows for the fees or commissions you will have to pay on any sales that are made.
25. Get together with businesses that serve the same market, but sell different products and services. Make arrangements to pass leads back and forth, or share mailings.
26. Have sales letters, flyers and other pertinent information printed and ready to go. Ask prospects who seem reluctant to buy from you: Would you like me to send information? Follow up promptly with a note and a letter that says, 'Here is the information you asked me to send.
27. Run a Contest: Make the prize something desirable and related to your business it could be a free gift basket of your products, for instance, or free services.
Courtecy: kelley Robertson www.robertsontraininggroup.com
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