Essentials New Business Owners Must Know

Every business needs the same things to become successful: a good plan, a good product, and good people who can make things happen. Simply put, so long as you have a product or service that is in demand, you should experience a steady supply of revenue.

Business is all about buying and selling, marketing and promoting, and beating the other guy or girl.

For your business to be truly successful, you will have to attract more than just a one-time sale. You’ll want consistent repeat business, meaning that the customer did not cost you anything to acquire. Repeat business can eventually create a residual income, becoming dependable enough that you can actually work it into your budget.

So how do you get your business in front of potential customers?

1. Diverse advertising.Try utilizing various avenues of advertising to get your business noticed. Using both online and offline methods will work best.
2. Nighttime radio. The cost of advertising is minimal, and the audience size is often deceptively large. Though you might not be up at 3 in the morning, many people are.
3. Yellow pages. Though probably obvious, you may not realize the full potential of your advertisement. Did you know that 73% of the people who check the yellow pages contact a merchant, and 45% make a purchase? Those are pretty high numbers, and that traffic is highly targeted.
4. Website/Internet. You need a good website. This is the face that you will show your online customers, and you want it to be a good one. They are relatively inexpensive, and marketing one is also quite inexpensive. You can begin by purchasing inexpensive hosting at Host Monster. Put your websites address on all print materials, and spend some time trying to generate organic traffic by submitting your website to the various search engines.
5. Direct mail. Direct mail gets results, no matter what anyone tells you. The key to success with direct mail is to get someone to actually read your pitch. Try having the envelopes hand addressed, or including an attention grabbing headline on the envelope. If you are selling insect repellent, for example, you might have a headline like “bugs bite, but our prices sure don’t!” This is somewhat witty and catchy, and many people may feel inclined to read the resulting pitch.
6. Coupons. People love a good deal. If your product is worthwhile, you will experience a good conversion rate from promotional customers to full-priced customers. Don’t be worried if your growth is slow but steady. Remember that slow growth is better than no growth, and any money made is still profit. Your initial focus should be on a good product and good service- worry about larger details, such as TV Advertising campaigns or public relations staff when you need to, not because you can.

Most of all, enjoy your new business. Success is only success if you enjoy it when it happens!

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Recommended Downloads:

• Free Business Cards.
• Free Business Plan Template.