Ways to Find Customers 3

What other ways do home and small businesses find customers?

Home and small businesses find customers in every imaginable way. Here are just a few:

• sending out personalized or mass mailings
  
• getting listed in the Yellow Pages and other directories
  
• using sales representatives
  
• calling prospects on the phone
  
• making personal visits to prospects' offices or homes
  
• using print or broadcast advertising
  
• exhibiting at and attending trade shows
  
• bidding on contracts from government organizations
  
• getting publicity in trade or other media
  
• speaking at meetings, on panels, etc.
  
• partnering with large corporations or becoming a certified developer, trainer, etc.
  
• participating in cooperative advertising programs with major manufacturers
  
• doing cooperative advertising with noncompeting small businesses
  
• getting products "advertised" in (included in) large mail order catalogs
  
• answering questions on online message boards, newsgroups, or chat rooms
  
• buying pay per click advertising on search engines
  
• buying ads in email newsletters
  
• subcontracting or freelancing for larger businesses in the same field
  
• getting major distributors to take on and sell products
  
• getting products reviewed in publications
  
• getting certified by regulatory agencies
  
• being a member of one or more professional societies
  
• hanging up a sign in an area where business signs are permitted
  
• displaying wares (flowers, vegetables, antiques) on lawns, on sidewalks, or any other way visible to passersby
  
• selling at flea markets
  
• selling at juried craft shows
  
• selling products on consignment
  
• giving lessons (art, pottery, etc) in a store or home and selling related products and supplies
  
• having an open house to sell products
  
• offering people free merchandise if they agree to host a "party" for their friends at which you sell your merchandise
  
• sending promotional newsletters to targeted customers
  
• getting work shown at galleries, banks, or restaurants
  
• having the business name professionally lettered onto the business car or van
  
• exchanging mailing lists with businesses that sell to the same customers but don't compete with you
  
• selling to federal, state, or local governments

Will networking and word-of-mouth advertising be enough to get customers or should I advertise, too?

Some small businesses never use traditional advertising; others would have few customers if they didn't advertise. Generally, businesses that sell consumer goods and services and require a high volume of sales tend to be the ones that benefit most from traditional advertising. Businesses that sell creative or consulting services to other businesses tend to benefit the least from traditional advertising.

Thus, car repair, catering, resume preparation, rental services, tutoring services, pizza parlors, hair and nail care salons, appliance parts stores, and similar businesses usually need to advertise regularly using the Yellow Pages, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, local cable TV, the Internet or community mailers. Businesses selling creative services (writing or artwork, for instance), consulting services, programming services, or similar intangible services to businesses generally derive little benefit from traditional advertising, though they sometimes do well with direct mail.

Still other businesses find that their customers come from a combination of paid advertising and word of mouth. Barbara Robbie got the first customers for her gown-rental service by placing a very small ad in a popular weekly newspaper for 4 weeks as a trial. That ad brought her inquiries and customers, so she repeated it, and then she placed the same ad in a second weekly newspaper in the same community.

If you think your business will benefit from paid advertising, proceed slowly. Test small ads to find out which ads work best in which media. Doing so will help you avoid costly advertising mistakes and allow you to grow your business at a pace you can control.

How do I find my first customer?

Usually you find your first customers the same way you will find the rest of your customers: through personal contacts, ads, mailings, and so on. If you've researched your market before going into business, finding likely prospects for what you sell should be relatively easy. What some new businesses have trouble doing, however, is converting prospects to customers; in other words, convincing potential customers to actually purchase goods or services. Most often that difficulty occurs because the owner lacks self-confidence or dislikes selling.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |