How To Promote Your Home Business
Establishing a new home business can be difficult in and of itself from creating a business plan to obtaining proper financing. But what happens if you don't have any customers? What are the various options for promoting your new home business to help create new customers and drive sales without breaking the bank? The following are some of the most common and effective ideas for promoting your home business using traditional techniques and more creative options.
Word-of-Mouth
In an ideal scenario you would be able to attract new customers and increase sales based on word-of-mouth advertising only. Some businesses can do this, especially those which provide excellent customer service and develop close relationships with their clientele. One way to increase word-of-mouth promotion is to offer referral fees or discounts depending on your type of business. Even better is to encourage your customers to talk about your business to their friends about their wonderful experience buying your product or using your services.
Free Offers
A great way to increase your business's presence is to make free offers to existing and potential customers. Many businesses will offer free services or products for customers who sign up to a newsletter or enter their personal information into a promotional form. This allows a business to develop new relationships for the cost of a single product or a few hours of your time if you offer a service. Many times you can get other retailers to offer the product for free to use in your promotion as long as you mention who provided it. Everybody loves to get something for free and you may be surprised at the type of response you get.
Marketing Materials
Even though technology has made interacting with consumers easier to do, you may still find the need to incorporate more traditional marketing materials. Be sure to make or purchase business cards, flyers and brochures and have them available for new customers interested in your business or existing customers to reference your contact information. Regardless of who takes your marketing materials, the net effect is that your brand and name can spread from person-to-person with something tangible in hand.
Corporate Sponsorship
If you have a marketing budget, consider sponsoring a Little League team or offering a scholarship at area high schools. The key with sponsorships is a establish a fixed expense which can then be used as advertising throughout a Little League season or school year. For as little as $1,000, your business can be associated with youth organizations and community events. This acts not only as advertising for your home business but also gives back to the community by supporting children and students. This hopefully will generate increased customer traffic and sales as well as goodwill toward your home business.
Community Involvement
Being a part of the community is more than just sponsoring a high school student or softball team. It also includes interacting with other small businesses and being a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Community involvement goes a long way to increasing exposure for your home business and developing business ties which may come in handy. Business-to-business relationships and cross promotions are often the result of getting involved in your community. As a business, you get to know the people you serve and they get to know you.
Online Presence
While more traditional marketing techniques come in handy, it is almost impossible to operate a home business today without some sort of online presence. Creating a business web site allows customers to get more information about what you do outside of business hours. It can also provide an opportunity for them to contact you if they have questions. It is also recommended to create social accounts were existing and potential customers can follow you. The more followers you have the more potential customers you can target especially when offering discounts or free promotions.
