The more creative you are with your marketing for your small business, the further you can stretch your advertising budget. For a lot of small businesses, this can mean the difference between success and failure. If you are on a shoe-string start-up, you have to be even more creative.
Even though most of us feel uncomfortable doing it, the truth is that networking works. You should always work to develop your own personal business networks with your friends, associates, and clients. When you are starting, it may also help to join in an existing business network. Visit several business networking groups before choosing one that website that fits your needs. If you are friendly and enjoy helping other people, you may be surprised by how much a business networking group can help you.
What better than free? Giving something away for free is a marketing strategy that is almost guaranteed to generate a higher response rate. In order for this strategy to work, you should focus on customer retention and making money off of your clients in the long term. A successful burrito company found that printing a coupon for a free burrito attracted 10 times as many new customers as their previous coupon. Yes they were losing a little money every time someone redeem a coupon, but they retained and grew their business at a faster rate and that more than compensated for it. With a janitorial service business their are 100s of different ways to offer free services. Two of these include a free cleaning evaluation or $100 off the the first contract signed.
Online advertising is also a very effective way to create new business. Although the internet has been around for more than 13 years, it has only recently become a major player. The best part about it is that online advertising can be an affordable way to attract residual business without paying residual advertising costs. Once you get ranked for a particular keyword like "Portland Janitorial Service", there is a good chance you can keep making money off of the search traffic for a long time. At the very least, you should get ranked on Google maps for free and get a couple of customers to write reviews. I have found this to be very effective since businesses with customer reviews are ranked first.
Quantify the value of each lead, especially with paid advertising. It is very important to know if your advertising works. If it doesn't pull the plug and try something else. If a new add costs $200 a month and generates 4 leads, this type of advertising costs $50 a lead. Conversions are what you are really shooting for, but taking leads is a good way to know quicker whether or not a particular method will work.
A satisfied customer is one who will refer you to their friends and neighbors. Treat your customers as well as you can and ask for referrals often. If you have loyal customers you can survive tough economic times that your competitors may not be able. - 26221
Even though most of us feel uncomfortable doing it, the truth is that networking works. You should always work to develop your own personal business networks with your friends, associates, and clients. When you are starting, it may also help to join in an existing business network. Visit several business networking groups before choosing one that website that fits your needs. If you are friendly and enjoy helping other people, you may be surprised by how much a business networking group can help you.
What better than free? Giving something away for free is a marketing strategy that is almost guaranteed to generate a higher response rate. In order for this strategy to work, you should focus on customer retention and making money off of your clients in the long term. A successful burrito company found that printing a coupon for a free burrito attracted 10 times as many new customers as their previous coupon. Yes they were losing a little money every time someone redeem a coupon, but they retained and grew their business at a faster rate and that more than compensated for it. With a janitorial service business their are 100s of different ways to offer free services. Two of these include a free cleaning evaluation or $100 off the the first contract signed.
Online advertising is also a very effective way to create new business. Although the internet has been around for more than 13 years, it has only recently become a major player. The best part about it is that online advertising can be an affordable way to attract residual business without paying residual advertising costs. Once you get ranked for a particular keyword like "Portland Janitorial Service", there is a good chance you can keep making money off of the search traffic for a long time. At the very least, you should get ranked on Google maps for free and get a couple of customers to write reviews. I have found this to be very effective since businesses with customer reviews are ranked first.
Quantify the value of each lead, especially with paid advertising. It is very important to know if your advertising works. If it doesn't pull the plug and try something else. If a new add costs $200 a month and generates 4 leads, this type of advertising costs $50 a lead. Conversions are what you are really shooting for, but taking leads is a good way to know quicker whether or not a particular method will work.
A satisfied customer is one who will refer you to their friends and neighbors. Treat your customers as well as you can and ask for referrals often. If you have loyal customers you can survive tough economic times that your competitors may not be able. - 26221
About the Author:
Isaac Arnold is a successful business owner. Find out more about how to start a Janitorial Services by visiting his site.
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