If you are hesitant to begin marketing your business or aren’t sure you’ll have the time, you’re not alone. As a business owner myself, I know how hard it is to find time to network, plan a strategy, handle the sales and the customer service, along with all of the other hats required of a small business owner. But I’d like to give you some quick and easy marketing tips that you can begin implementing today and that will start getting you immediate results (hint: most of them are even free). Are you ready? Let’s get started:
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Take the first step in marketing your business with these 5 things
Ask your new customers how they heard of you.
This is a no-brainer way to begin tracking where your leads (and eventually your sales) originate. Many business owners think that it’s rude or intrusive to ask, but most people don’t mind answering this simple question, which provides valuable information for your marketing efforts.
- Start social media pages for your business. Many new customers or prospects “like’ or become a fan of a company’s social media pages as soon as they make a purchase (or in order to research their purchase). If you don’t have a social media page, even if it’s not active, you miss this opportunity to add to your fan base, and further communicate with your prospect. I’m not saying you need to spend hours a day on social media. Just add the page and see what happens.
- Put links to your website and social media pages in all outgoing email messages. Here I’m talking about your employee signatures. Are you still signing your signatures with “Your Name” and possibly your address or phone number? Why are you missing this opportunity to link them to your website and social media pages to further engage with them? This process is very simple to do within your company’s Gmail, Outlook or other email program, and should be required for all employees, not just the salespeople.
- Start an email list. Are you hesitant to add an email list sign-up form to your website because you are afraid you won’t get around to setting up the email newsletter? Again, this is a wasted opportunity to capture lead information at no cost. Believe it or not, email newsletter software is very easy to set up and is free or next to free, depending on the software service you use.
- Upsell other products/services at the point of sale. There are many ways to do this, but one recommendation I have is to include other services you offer on your receipts, company invoices or statements sent in the mail. Perhaps your customers weren’t aware of a related product or service you offer. Now they’ll know, and think of you when the time comes. Include a promotion or special offer for their next purchase, and now you’re talking!
I could keep going all day with marketing tips that are free or next to free, and require very little time to implement. Try just one of these five marketing tips today, and let me know how they work out for you.