Seven ways to raise the profile of your business

When you are so busy working your business and giving the best possible service to your customers, it’s hard to take time out to think about marketing.  So it all goes on the back burner.  So to save you trouble of thinking about it:

Here are 7 things you can do right now to raise your profile and market your business:

1. Give your stuff away now and again

When things are free, they get talked about, and over time it generates customers. So let your customers and even your prospects sample your products or your service for free. It’s a great way to get rid of slow moving stock, so instead of sitting on the shelf until you have to fire sale it, get it out there working for you at a fraction of the cost of an advertisement and much more effective.  And if you are providing a service, then the odd free tip costs you nothing, and will gain you a lot.

2. Attend networking events

When you attend networking events in your community you make yourself one of the first people that come to mind when anyone looks for an expert in your field. That will very rarely be when you attend your first networking event.  Networking is about building relationships over time.  So get out there and swap cards like you have an endless supply, become liked and well known, and before long you will strike gold.

3. Volunteer and sponsor

There’s no better way to get known than by helping out in your community. It can be anything from sitting on committees, providing some product or service to a project or sponsoring an event or local sports teams or tournaments.  Choose carefully though because anything given for free needs to pay you a dividend somewhere down the track.  So where possible, you need to get maximum exposure for what you do, and that exposure needs to be directed to your target market. 

4. Be Helpful

Take time to be helpful and give of your time. Sometimes it feels painful, but you’ll find that customers love the experience.  Call unexpectedly on some of your prime customers for a coffee and a catch up – and in return they will love you to death by giving you more business, and referring others.

5. Communicate

Take time to communicate with your customers – by phone, by email, by mail, through a newslettter and in person. It keeps you top of mind. If you see something that reminds you of them, then send an email telling them. If you want to say thanks – take the time to send a thank you card.

6. Support a Cause

If you donate even a little of your sales to a cause for a time, your customers will appreciate that you are about more than making money, and they will recognise that by investing in your brand they are doing greater good.  It may only be for a day, or on certain products for a week.  It will give you good publicity and probably bring new customers to sample your service first hand – and that’s when it starts to pay dividends.

7. Create a Cool Giveaway

When thinking about what your company will give away make sure it’s something they won’t want to throw away or easily lose in their desk or bag. There are a lot of promotional products available, so consider what is right for your business. It might be as simple as a branded pencil, or a notepad. Whatever it is, make it yours. Own it and give it out as often as possible.

So there are 7 low cost, time effective and easy to implement strategies to market your business.  If you only try one of them it is better than doing nothing.  And when you find that it works, you may well be tempted to try more.

As always, if you need any help to start you off, or need to brainstorm some ideas, just give me a call.