The best way to get potential customers or investors is through marketing your business and getting your name out there, However marketing your business doesn’t always have to be the most expensive it just has to be effective and impressive grabbing your customers attention fast.

Promotional gear

Businesses tend to overlook promotional gear when it comes to marketing but trust me people love freebies. When a new customer joins your business you should consider giving them a freebie to simply say “Welcome to the family!” it’s even better when the freebie is related to the products that are related to your products or services. E.g. if you own computer repairs store consider giving new clients a USB with the stores logo on there its good branding and it’s a good way of later reminding the client about your services and also sharing your great service with others.

List your business on directories

Listing your business on local directories is a great way of marketing and getting your name out there and most directories are free to get listed on. You need to be able to sell your business in a few words, give your contact details and of course your website so potential customers can see more of what your business is about.

Social media

The power that social media has right now is growing by the day. Social media can immensely influence the growth or the closing down of the business. Use it but don’t abuse it as a marketing strategy. Start a page for your business, share your specials and new products with clients allow them to also interact and share their compliments and complaints about the business. There’s a bit of market research in the mix.

Customer service

The best way to get the word out about your business is word of mouth of course! Your customers are the best way to have people in the community talking about your business and recommending your services to others. Best way to get word of mouth is to give your customers the best service you can to keep them satisfied and coming back.

Ask for referrals

Another great idea is asking your customers for referrals. You can always give your customers a freebie when they bring in a new customer for you, that new customer then also brings in someone you and the train continues. It’s good marketing and gets the family growing quicker.  

A website

The internet is your friend, use it! (This does not apply to your human friends please, you need them!) Developing sites nowadays can cost you almost nothing if you use the right resources so there’s really no excuse for not having a website. Get a website and regularly update it as the business grows, it’s great thing to have a website but it’s useless to customers if you don’t update.

Network

Rival businesses aren’t always a bad thing to have in business. You should network with business that are in a similar business that you are in they can be of great use. You can help each other in more cases than none. Maybe when you’re out of a certain product you can refer your customer to the next best rival and they could do the same. If they are the better rival you can business advice from them and understand how they got to where they are today.

Get the attention of the press

Once again word of mouth! Get your business on radio news, newspapers etc. Get the best means of sharing information in your hands. Also request for an interview on radio stations and get your employees out there talking about your business.