Advertising
Ten Quick and Easy Ways to Get Your Business Noticed!
The successful owner may not be overly intelligent, have a cutting edge business idea, or the latest technology infused in his business.
The successful owner doesn’t have to be too creative or even a great writer. Sure, all these qualities are great if you possess them, but they aren’t prerequisites for creating a profitable business.
Often, the successful small business owner is simply the guy that knows where he wants his business to go and he executes his plan consistently over time without a lot of distraction. He has extreme focus!
Here are ten not very creative ideas to try in your business if you want to be noticed as standing apart from the crowd:
1. Use frequent press releases.
This is one of the most underutilized strategies that pays big dividends that I know.
Get good at crafting and distributing press releases and you will have more traffic than most web sites ever dreamed of.
Send releases whenever you have news. (Here’s a secret: you can create news about your business and products whenever you want if you know how to be interesting and relevant without being “salesy.”)
2. Offer something that is unique and valuable at your web site that can’t be found anywhere else.
This doesn’t have to be a big deal (like a personally authored book). It might be a small report or a free coupon for a nice discount on one of your products. By making it something unique, pertinent in the niche, and as seen by your prospects as having great value, you will have a scarce resource that none of your competitors can offer to the niche prospects.
3. Offer a free series of short articles or “how to” instructions in your niche.
Again, it’s best if you create these so they are unique to your business. Load them into a sequential autoresponder and send them to prospects, subscribers, and your current customer list.
You can keep in contact, brand your business as giving great value for the money, and capture the name, contact information, and attention of your site visitors with these articles.
4. Offer to personally respond to the questions or wants of each customer.
Only a few will ever take you up on the offer, but all your prospects will see your willingness to give them personal attention. None or few of your competitors will treat prospects as important and worth personal attention.
5. Develop a valuable and unique give away product.
You can create your own, or find one online, or hire someone to create it for you – much like #2 above – but this time – offer it to the subscribers of a newsletter in your niche. Keep distribution to those who join your business marketing list.
In exchange for their contact information (so you can send it to them); you will be offering something of value that will endear the prospect to your company.
6. Lots of people like to participate in contests.
Develop your own and capture the names and emails of those who want to play.
You can offer gifts in the niche, cash prizes, or give other premiums that you buy or develop.
7. Create a “review site” in your niche.
This is most likely a separate web site from that of your business (although it doesn’t have to be.)
You will position yourself as an expert in reviewing the products or web sites related to things in your niche.
Of course, your own products and services can be reviewed, rated (highly), and recommended as well.
8. Create a “directory site” or portal in your niche.
This might be an index or listing site of the products and businesses in your niche. You can position it as a place of learning and a repository of useful niche information . . . something like a “gateway” into the niche for those who want help or assistance.
Your own business and products are listed along with all the others. Directory sites take on the appearance of “objective” and impartial and can boost the credibility of your business if listed.
There is software that makes creating such sites a snap.
You can also have others contact you for inclusion of their site for a fee.
9. Write a blog about your industry.
It can either be a part of your business web site or not, as long as it offers your own products and links to all your business ideas.
In the blog, you will write entries about the wants and problems of your customers in the niche and simply recommend your own products as solutions to your customer’s needs.
10. Create RSS feeds at your blog and on your web site.
The exposure you can get through this method without a lot of extra work on your part is well worth the effort. It will be especially valuable if you have a content rich web site and blog.
The search engines will send you traffic and the feeds will offer your content to many other sites and customers in the niche.
Sure, these 10 strategies are not new ideas. But they are ways that will help to get your business and products noticed by your potential customers.
The sad fact is, as powerful as these strategies are, there are few business owners that will take the time to utilize them and profit handsomely from them.
To your online business success!
Steve Browne
www.stevebrownedirect.com