Get New Business - Guest Post

Here's another Guest Post by Jeff Thomas. It's titled Creative Ways To Get More Customers, which is information we can all use, but this is not just for business. Your Rugby Club could also use these techniques to get more exposure, players, fans, and supporters. Give them a try. Thanks Jeff!


Creative Ways To Get More Customers

In today’s economic climate, it can be tough to find new customers, and retain the ones you’ve already got. Everyone’s watching their pennies, which means that small business owners have to get creative when it comes to getting feet in the door.

Fortunately, there are several low-cost ways to get more customers. Let’s take a look:
Publish Articles In Local Magazines

Many publications, especially trade magazines or Chamber of Commerce newsletters, welcome submissions from local businesses. This is a great way to add to your credibility and get your name out there.

What can you write about? Well, anything that has to do with your business! Make sure you give readers information that can truly help them, however. No one wants to read about your next sale, or how great your customer service is.

Remember, give first. You’ll get the benefits later on.

Put On A Workshop

Putting on free workshops for your customers is a great way to get them in your store. After all, people love learning new things, and they love it even more when it’s free.

For instance, if you own a stationary shop you could teach customers how to design great wedding invitations. Or if you own a sports store, you could teach people how to care for their sports equipment during the wintertime.

Again, focus on giving your customers good, useful information. Don’t pitch your business or try to sell stuff during the workshop! This will be a major turnoff, and they won’t want to come back. Give first. You’ll get later.

Think About Your Location

If your business lease is about to expire, then you can get more customers by strategically locating your business.

For instance, if you own a bakery that also makes wedding cakes you would benefit by locating next to a flower shop or stationary store. Restaurants do great by shopping malls or sports venues, and consignment shops might do great close to a higher priced retail boutique.
By strategically locating your business close to another in roughly the same field you can take advantage of the extra foot traffic.

Create A Unique Contest

This strategy can be a huge hit with your local community, especially if you get the newspaper on board to advertise it.

Businesses have long used contests to drive business. After all, how many times has Purina run the “Cutest Dog” contest? Or Gerber the “Cutest Baby”contest?

Well, why not run your own contest, but with a twist? If you own a pet shop, why not hold an “Ugliest Dog” contest? Or a “World’s Ugliest Blouse” contest if you’re a consignment shop?
Have a sense of humor, and think up something really quirky. People will sit up and take notice, which means more PR for business.

Guest post by Jeff Thomas from Ideal Computer Systems. Ideal is the leading provider for dealer management software for the motorcycle, snowmobile and Powersports industries

Giving Back - A Guest Post

Today is a big day for Let's Talk Business! We have our very first Guest Blogger. Jeff Thomas of Ideal Computer Systems, Inc. wrote the following article titled The Benefits of Investing in Your Community. It is a timely article because during the last interview I did for my upcoming book the gentleman I spoke with talked about how his company donates resources to the city and state Civil Defense organizations and why that's good business.

Here at Let's Talk Business! we (meaning me, since we is me) don't try to sell you anything or endorse any products or services for personal or monetary gain. This article fits in well with the focus of this blog so I am happily posting it. Plus, Wendy over at Your Scrumhalf Connection has several guest bloggers and interns and if I can make any small progress in making my blog as good as hers, I'll give it a try. Thanks Jeff.

Here's Jeff's article:

The Benefits of Investing In Your Community

We’ve all seen them: the small print shop that is sponsoring this summer’s Little League team, the bakery that donated bread and muffins for the town’s Walk for Breast Cancer, or the record shop that puts on free concerts every weekend for local teens.

As a small business owner, you’re in a unique position to really give back to the community you live in. Sure it feels great to do something good for your town. But can it pay off?

The good news here is that yes, it can, in several different ways. If you go about it the right way.
One of the greatest benefits to being involved with your community is that people will start to recognize your business. And in their minds, your business name will be tied directly in with the good feeling of charity. The two concepts, your business and goodwill, are directly linked. When it comes to name recognition and customer loyalty, this is a very good thing.

Another benefit to investing in your community is the sense of satisfaction you get from doing it. You can’t measure the feeling of giving back in dollars and cents, but it’s amazing the boost it can give not only to you, but to your employees as well.

Many large companies, like Google and Tom’s of Maine, give their employees one paid day per month to volunteer however they like. This is a huge perk in those companies, and the employees say it’s a big morale booster.

If you want to make sure your customers know about your involvement then make sure you advertise it. If you send out a monthly newsletter, then showcase what you did and include plenty of pictures.

Another way you can highlight your efforts is to call your local paper. For example, many businesses will donate a portion of their sales for a month to a local charity, and newspapers love to run these features. This is free publicity for your business.

If you become involved in a larger event, then make sure your business name is displayed as prominently as possible. Invest in banners and t-shirts, and have plenty of brochures on hand to pass out to people.

Community involvement is a great way to give back, feel great about what you’re doing, and get some publicity for your business in the bargain. And don’t forget, most of the time you can write off your expenses as a tax deduction.

Guest post by Jeff Thomas of Ideal Computer Systems Inc. http://www.idealcomputersystems.com/