There is no doubt that referrals from satisfied clients is an excellent vehicle to grow your business. However, relying on others to build your business is a common mistake that entrepreneurs often make. Don’t get us wrong, satisfied clients that rave and boast about you and what your business has to offer is priceless. However, if you would like to bring in new clientele, these new clients need to be able to find you and it’s up to you to make yourself visible.
When you place well-thought-out strategies into action, you open the door for new clients to find you that might not have known you or your business existed. In order for a you as a business owner to thrive, grow and share your gifts and business with the world, you must have a plan. We cannot stress the importance of being proactive and creating a strategy on how your potential clients will be able to find you. Not only creating and integrating strategies, but to review these strategies often so that you have an idea of what has and hasn’t worked for you marketing-wise.
There are many avenues for businesses to market themselves and get their services and products noticed.
BTW, a marketing strategy does not need to cost a small fortune and it can be a lot easier than you may think if you take it slow and pace yourself and you can do it yourself at first. Down the road after you have created a marketing budget, you can hire someone who has experience to take marketing off of your plate so you can focus on your business and do what you do best.
Marketing Platforms:
- Facebook – Business profile
- Social Media Advertising Budget – This is a must have to be successful on any social media platform!
- Blogging
- Guest Blogging
- Paid advertising in local newspapers and trade papers
- Hootsuite
- Youtube
- Blogtalk Radio
- Newsletter List subscriptions such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact
- Website (a must or at least a blog site for the time being)
- Business cards
Here are some tips that may help you to execute your strategy:
- Start slow with 1 or 2 platforms and if you feel comfortable, expand to 3+ platforms if you feel comfortable with how things are running.
- There are many fabulous resources online in blogs and on Youtube that can help you get started on social media.
- Set up a schedule of how frequently you are able to post new content and stick with that plan. You are aiming for content that is juicy and informative and not just posting just to put something out there. A well-thought-out blog, Tweet or video is much more effective than randomly putting something together.
- Know your numbers! Document your numbers before you put your plan into action, during and afterward your campaign.
- Work with one campaign at a time. If you have several different marketing strategies in place, it will be challenging to decipher which ones are most effective and which ones weren’t.
- Join a business-oriented mastermind group where you can learn and share with like-minded business people such as yourself.
The most important part of any marketing plan is consistency!
Hopefully reading this article has planted some seeds and helped you to get motivated to get your strategies organized and put into action. From experience, we can tell you that it is rare, extremely rare for a business to expand, grow and thrive without an effective and strong marketing campaign in place.
Boss’maste’ (The Boss Lady in me bows to the Boss Lady in you)
~ Laurie and Kelly ~
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