Running a business requires you to wear many hats, be in numerous
places at once, and keep multiple balls in the air. Not only must you
keep up with the rigorous demands of working 'in' your business, if your
goal is to build a solid, valuable business, you must also continuously
work 'on' your business.
Marketing is one of those things that
could be considered working on your business. In fact, marketing is
quite possibly the MOST important working on your business activity you
could be doing. This is mainly because without marketing, it's
extremely difficult to get new customers. Without marketing, it's
extremely difficult to get more business out of your existing customers.
In other words, without marketing you won't be in business for very
long.
So what kinds of things should you be doing to continually market your business and keep it moving along?
Here's a quick list to give you some things to think about:
1. Creating and sending out marketing campaigns (postcards, letters, flyers, etc.)
Marketing
is a year round activity. In order to keep a constant flow of
customers coming to your business, you need to be constantly presenting
prospects with your products or services. Sending postcards, letters,
or flyers is a great way to build name recognition that will keep a
steady stream of prospects flowing your way.
2. Creating and sending a newsletter, ezine, or other communication to your existing customers
The
biggest reason a large majority of customers leave a business is not
due to poor service, an error, or some other misunderstanding. Believe
it or not, the biggest reason customers leave a business results from
feelings of apathy. They just don't feel like the business would know
one way or another if they left or not.
In order to stop these
feelings of apathy from happening, you need to find some way to maintain
contact with your existing customers. A monthly newsletter or weekly
ezine are excellent ways to keep in contact and remind them how valuable
they are to your business.
3. Creating new 'widgets' or packages you can present to new or existing customers
One
key to building a solid, long-term business is to continually sell to
your customers. If all you're doing is finding new customers, you're
leaving boat loads of money on the table.
In order to keep selling
to your existing customers, it's critical you continually present them
with new products, services, and offers. Creating new 'widgets' out of
your existing offerings is a great way to repackage what you already
sell.
4. Putting together valuable offers for presenting these 'widgets' to your new or existing customers
You
need something to motivate your prospects and customer to buy and there
are few things more effective at this than presenting them with
valuable offers. Don't just list the services you offer. Present them
in a way that excites, interests, and motivates them to take action.
5. Writing articles to submit to local newspapers to enhance your status as the lawn care expert
People
love to work with experts because it's easy to put your trust in their
knowledge and experience. While you are most likely already an expert
in the services you provide, if no one knows it you'll have to work
twice as hard to demonstrate just how knowledgeable you are.
Writing
articles for your local newspaper or other publications is an excellent
way to quickly establish yourself as the local expert. The buying
public puts a lot of stock in what they read in the paper and when they
see your company name next to an article about your field of expertise,
you've bridged a gap with your prospects and customers that will make
selling your services infinitely easier.
6. Calling current customers to make sure they're satisfied with your service
As
sad as it is, customer service is almost non-existent in today's
marketplace. The simple act of picking up the phone to call your
customer and find out if they're satisfied will go a long ways towards
creating a lasting the relationship.
7. Meeting with other service providers, not competitors, about forming a joint venture
The
most difficult part of marketing is capturing the attention of
qualified prospects. All around you are businesses providing services
to the exact customers you're trying to reach. Getting in touch with
these other businesses about doing some cross-marketing is an excellent
way to effectively get in front of countless prospects that you may not
be able to reach otherwise.
8. Performing service or charity work in order to create some goodwill for your company's name
Just
as people love to work with experts, they also love to work with people
that are about more than just making money. Performing service or
charity work within your community is a powerful way to build a
reputation as a company that gives back to others. When your customers
and prospects see this, it builds goodwill that will carry over to
increased business and profits for you.
9. Learning about direct marketing in order to enhance your knowledge and ability to better market your business
Even
more important than providing your product or service is learning how
to market your business. With no new customers, you won't have anyone
to provide a product or service to. That's what makes learning HOW to
market your business vitally important to your ability to reach the
goals you've set.
Here's a list of 9 different things you could be
doing to help move your business forward. Each one of them
individually will surely create positive results. However, done
together the results will be phenomenal and you'll soon reap the
benefits of these working ON your business activities.
