A lot of small services businesses struggle with marketing and acquiring new customers. If that sounds like you, then below are a few tips to try out:
– Find local industry events or meetups that you can participate in and network with other professionals in your area of expertise. You may be able to pick up projects and establish a local reputation that way.
– Sign up for speaking opportunities at relevant local events, meetups, and conferences. Your presentation shouldn’t be a sales pitch, but an “expert” presentation that establishes you as the go-to person in your area of focus and then include a brief sales followup to those that are interested in learning more.
– how does your website rank in organic Google search results? Write content for your website that is geared to pulling in traffic from people who are looking for folks like you – identify the long-tail keywords, and write a page for your site for each such keyword (without keyword stuffing or other black-hat stuff).
– Use LinkedIn: participate in relevant LinkedIn groups, connect to the people you already know in your field & that will give you access to other prospects also. Post updates about your company (customer case study or testimonial, info about your services, etc), keeping it “real” not spammy.
– Do you do any email marketing? You should be collecting emails on your website (offer a white paper or other information in return for their email address & use a double-opt-in form). Then have a regular customer newsletter.
– Get written up in some articles in your industry: write a press release on a newsworthy event about your company (eg, a new offering, etc), submit it through a press release site like PRWeb, and then reach out individually to journalists and bloggers in your industry – you can usually find contact information online. Just look for recent articles related to your space then reach out to those same folks. Focus on the respected publications, blogs and sites in your industry.
These are just a few ideas that can be useful for small service businesses. If you’re looking for some more specific ideas for your business, then check out our marketing coaching services at http://www.kazooassociates.com/coaching.php
Happy Marketing!