The US Small Business Administration has stated that most new business owners frequently ignore prospective clients in their own neighborhoods. These new business owners concentrate on costly marketing techniques more fitting for big companies with matching advertising budgets.
Let us take a closer look at this dilemma by discussing simple ways to get clients for a new home based business without using pricey advertising methods.
1. Check out social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook. You should also do searches on Yahoo Groups, and visit Google and use their "groups" search function. Email or call members of groups you are already affiliated with, whether they are on- or offline. Check if there is an established group where you can meet with fellow business owners to swap basic information.
2. Whether you host or attend an event, make a point of working the room. The whole point is developing leads, or skills to help you. Collect business cards, flyers and other promotional materials from attendees, so you can keep them posted about upcoming events, but do not forget to drop off similar materials of your own. Do not just collect business cards; take time to make personal interaction.
3. Be willing to cooperate and share information with your competitors. Competition tends to produce suspicions that if you give away your information, people will use it and cause you to lose income or status. You will make money once you provide good customer service, have a good quality product or service, and genuinely care about the business you are in.
4. Promotional items are great advertising tools that can help your business reach out to the target consumers and invite them to your brand. Make sure the promotional gifts you use are of a high quality, and that they are relevant to the product you sell, so that customers are easily reminded of your company. Remember, they promote the company because your logo is printed on them.
5. Converse with people you know: associates, relatives, neighbors; hit the pavement, spread the word to everybody you know, particularly those who like your business and the products you have to offer, as an valuable means of generating business. Even a simple walk around your neighborhood is a great way to meet people in an informal setting and allows you to sell your product without really selling it.
6. Remember to offer value. You should offer your business contacts a way to help them, if you want them to help you. Give them contacts and resources and keep the relationship reciprocal. Make sure to follow through on your promises; if you offer to send something, like an article or referral, do so within a week of meeting. Refer your contacts: for example, if one of them is building a website, offer up contact information for a great graphic designer you know.
By Kent Levi
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