Step 4
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Step 1. Take Ten Minutes to Define What You Do (And Hopefully Like to Do) Best Step 2. Create the offer by thinking about your customer. What do they want to buy? Step 3. Target your natural market. What success stories are out there? Step 4.Test proven methods of advertising. Find the one that works best for your market. Step 5. Follow up with your customers via direct mail, email, fax, and telephone. Step 6. Look for endorsements from other businesses. When you research your market, did you find someone you could joint venture with? |
Test proven methods of advertising. All advertising is a test. Many people look to conventional advertising like:
when they begin selling Web sites and services. But is this where your customers are looking? Be sure you are looking in the right place. And don't just look for strangers. Most of all, don't give up or look to blame the form of advertising for either success or failure. All advertising is a test. The combination of your offer, your advertising, your headline, and the medium you choose to advertise in will yield results. It's too easy to blame it and never try again. Traditional forms of advertising rely on you reaching total strangers. The price is high and the value of your advertising declines quickly. A Sunday newspaper ad only has value for a week, a monthly magazine ad for a month. If you are going to advertise, test out different media. Don't spend more than $300 if you can avoid it. Keep your testing cheap. Don't fall for a fancy ad in some big magazine expecting a rush of customers. These ads invariably bring back little in return. Alternatives do exist. This is the time to start looking among your current clients, their vendors, associates, and others. Can they generate any leads for you? Where is your target market meeting:
I don't advocate print advertising for several reasons. It's expensive and it's difficult to succeed at in many markets. The Internet is very confusing to people. The most qualified clients are unlikely to rummage through classified ads. You want to reach the customers who can afford your services. It's all about the time and money you spend. Most people spend money on print advertising and wait for results. Others go out to where their customers are meeting and try to find that one opening that will make their business. One good customer with a legion of related businesses will bring the quickest profits and costs only your time. Be realistic with your target market. Can this person afford a $3,000 Web site? To optimize your advertising, you have to know if they can afford it. Go down to your library; look up what businesses earn and spend on advertisisng. Which are the niches that you will best sell? Retail, computers, cars, and information products have all sold well online. Get printed in newsletters and trade journals, where you target market is meeting. Create press releases towards a specific cause in your local area. I've created a tremendous business helping education online. You could teach a local school and invite the parents. Target the right high school and you could find parents who are looking for you. Above all, be smart. Give away a free report or consultation on first contact. You are introducing yourself to a customer, not selling burgers. Find an article or even your success story and let them read it. Help them absorb just where to go and plan on making it easy for them to work with you. Don't make your customers look for you; they are already out there, you just have to be smart enough to figure out where they are looking. |
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