Creating a Magic Connection with Clients, Leads, and Business Associates Part I A few months ago, arriving at a client's office to begin a group meeting, I discovered that two women, who had committed to joining us for a series of meetings, had changed their minds. In less than two minutes, I convinced them to join us. Did I use some ... Deliverables in Professional Service Businesses - Part 1 While in traditional contract work (outsourced labour) we talk about tangible deliverables, that is, number of labouring hours, number of lbs or pages of reports or workbooks, number of Mbytes of files, etc., in consulting most of the deliverables are ... Working A Home Business Are you working a home business? Chances are you already know that you're really pulling "double duty". You probably work on your business while doing the laundry, corralling the kids, or fixing dinner... and let's not forget all the phone calls from ...
Cost-free Ways to Market your Business
Acquiring customers though does not have to cost the earth. There are cost-free ways that can be used by most companies to produce results. Here are some ideas...
Articles: Writing an article or having an article written about your company is one of the easiest ways to attract new customers.
If you're looking for a journalist to get interested in your company, writing a press release is the traditional way of grabbing their attention. The press release should focus on a newsworthy aspect of your operation, such as the launch of a new product, the establishment of a new business venture or an aspect of your business that has resonance with topical news coverage.
There are many free resources available to help and advise on how to write a press release. Once written, the release can be distributed by e-mail or fax to select media contacts. If you're looking to reach a wider audience why not try one of the free online press release distribution services?
Online Directory Links: For businesses looking for cost-free ways to advertise online, directory sites and portals offer a good starting point. No matter what your industry or specialism you'll find literally hundreds of directory and portal web sites that allow you to add a description of your business and web site link for free.
If you have the opportunity to list your web site then make sure you do. Search engines such as Google like to see links from other sites that point to yours - especially sites with whom you have a natural synergy. Get enough of these links in place from directories and you'll see a big improvement in your web site search engine ranking.
Joint Ventures: A tried and tested way to market your business, whether offline or online, is through the creation of business collaborations, strategic partnerships and joint ventures. By finding other companies whose products and services complement those of your own business, you could expand your operation quickly and without cost. This could be achieved through agreements to share customer lists, upsell a partner's product/service for a percentage of the profit or simply create a distribution network for your own products or services.
