Eight Things You Can Do TODAY to Increase Business
Dec 21st, 2007 by admin
Don’t sit there scratching your head wondering what you can do to make a buck… Get busy! Entrepreneurs are always on the move, always thinking and always finding ways to increase business. Here are eight ideas that have worked tremendously for me in the past:
- Send a ‘Just checking in’ e-mail to five former clients/customers. This is a great way to introduce a new service or product.
- Mail a thank you card to five recent customers/clients. Place a handwritten note inside offering a discount for any future referrals they send your way.
- Join WikiAnswers (www.wiki.answers.com) and participate in answering questions related to your area of expertise. You have the ability to showcase your business or expertise on your bio (link to your home page, the pasting of your logo, etc.). Just remember that advertising in the answers is a violation of the posted Terms of Use.
- Establish a partnership or co-marketing arrangement with a complimentary business. Do your homework and make sure that any company you team up with is reliable.
- Canvass Craig’s List (www.craigslist.org) Jobs and Gigs listings. Again, do your homework. There are many scams out there so you need to be careful.
- If you’re a service provider, join a freelance site like Guru.com (www.guru.com) and start bidding on projects immediately.
- Sponsor a blog or two. Look for those that are relatively new, but showing steady traffic numbers. You can usually get a bargain deal.
- Create a newsletter to stay in touch with clients/customers. Electronic newsletters are much cheaper than their printed counterparts, and offer the beauty of same-day delivery. Make sure you include helpful tips and interesting information.
Thank you for the great suggestions. I know for many of the businesses I deal with their slowest time of the year is from January 15th until May 1st (unless they are an accountant or tax advisor!).
This is the perfect time to implement your ideas and get a more steady stream of income coming in. I just discovered your blog and look forward to more great ideas.
Thanks!!
I agree that small things are enough to differentiate you from a competitor and can often garner rewards far beyond your expectations.
When I was a Domino’s pizza manager, I was able to get Coca-cola at a seriously low price … so I stocked up on all that my little store could hold. I then coupled that with an unusual coupon. I observed that, on the way to taking the first late of the night and in the hour or so after the final one, service times would gradually decline and gradually restore. That’s the nature of the business … it’s built around ‘rushes’ that absorb your extra man-power. So I sent each customer in the hour before the first late and the hour after the last one a ‘manager special’ in which I acknowledged that we had probably met -their- service expectations but we hadn’t met -mine-. The postcard was good for two free Cokes with their next order of any size pizza.
Their response gave my crew and I the second highest award the company offered in my very first accounting period. During that time period a driver had ‘dishonored’ a late to one of our mystery shoppers. That should have knocked us out of the running. But we still got the award because that postcard, sent blindly, changed the reviewers mind about who they were dealing with.
That plaque means a LOT to the crew who were there when it was earned. And that level of service, obviously, means a lot to a customer.