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1, 2, 3, 4… Are Customers Knocking Down Your Door?
by Dana Victoria Sophia


Chances are, if you are reading this article, the answer is a resounding “No”. Pay close attention to the following ‘to do’ list, complete with tasks to begin, in order to generate more business, expand your clientele, and achieve business success:

1. Barter
with a potential client on a project or with another business owner on one of their projects that is overwhelming them. If they are satisfied with your services they will refer you to others and possibly pay for your services on the next project.

2. Start
an email or print newsletter. Create a mailing list of site visitors or potential customers. Be sure to include information about your practice in general, as well as interesting tidbits about your industry that are not well known. You may offer special prices exclusively for newsletter subscribers as well as a list of the upcoming events that you may be hosting or attending. You may sell advertising space in your newsletter to cover the costs of production.

3. Advertise
in local online and offline media that target your niche market. Whether it is an ad in the only newspaper in the country for Moms or a classified in a women entrepreneur’s directory, you will receive results from carefully selected placements. You need not advertise everywhere. Quality publications will provide you with the results that you want.

4. Create
an email signature with your company name, phone number, website address, email address, and a quick description of your company or brief highlight of your products/services. Include it in all of your emails and mailing list broadcasts.

5. Volunteer
your professional services or donate your products to charities and non-profit organizations that need your assistance but cannot afford them. They will, more often than not, be happy to mention what you have done for them to their board members, reception guests and staff.

6. Join
an online or offline networking group where you can learn from other women in your industry and on certain days promote your specials that your business may be having. Not only will you have a list of women that you can ask advice from but those trusting relationships will build a business referral system between all of you.

7. Host
an online business chat on a topic of great interest to members of your online and offline community. Send email invitations to all of your clients, potential clients, online friends, family and friends so that they may benefit from the expertise you have to offer to them complimentary.

8. Write
a bylined article using your expertise you have gained from your business and highlight something of interest in your industry; a topic of interest to readers of the publication or members of the website where you are submitting the article.

9. Partner
your website with another site in your industry or a network of sites that compliment your current site audience. Your site’s members will benefit from your partner’s content and vice versea.

10. List
your website in the major search engines and use keywords which will provide you with prominent placement in the search engines. You may also invest in the ‘pay per click’ keyword search engines, as well.

Once you start to implement some of the abovementioned tasks in order to generate more sales and expand your client base, it is important to remember that you must persistently promote yourself to your target market. Failure to continuously promote yourself, in one way or another each day, will hinder how far your business grows. Even after you obtain the amount of clients that you desire, remember to continue to promote your business to your target market for continued success.

 


About The Author: Dana Victoria Sophia, a small business consultant/coach and publicist to women entrepreneurs across the country, actively assists women in achieving their business goals through her website for small business coaching (www.DanaSophia.com) and her website for small business public relations (www.SophiaPR.com). She can be reached at (800)249-3346 or Dana@SophiaPR.com.