New Business: The Lifeblood of Any Business
A business’s bottom-line success is determined by three things: procuring new business, encouraging repeat business and securing referral business. Yes, a quality product and outstanding service are essential. But many businesses with top-notch products and first-class service close their doors because they fudge their NRR approach; that is, they fail to get new business, repeat business and referral business
And here’s the kicker. A new client who enjoys a highly satisfied experience is more likely to return for a second helping and to actively broadcast their giddy elation to others. Simple, I know. Who would have thought, happy clients = more clients. Yet don’t miss the point: the lifeblood of any business lies in its new clients. In fact, the formula is more accurately stated as such: new happy clients = more clients.
So, how do we procure new business? There are only so many ways to skin a cat.
Getting New Clients Through the Door
1. Location, Location, Location
If no one can find you in a geographical dimension of time and space, well, let’s just say the words lost in space come to mind. The downside of course is that securing prime real estate usually costs the budget of a moon landing. While this is a crucial factor for retail and shop front stores, it isn’t a necessary component for home-based and service-related businesses or online stores.
2. Traditional Marketing (paid-for advertising)
Purchasing premium advertising in print or electronic media not only costs a body part or two, the return on investment (less than 3%) is utterly dreadful, especially for a small business that doesn’t have a brand name to ride on.
3. Networking Initiatives
Scratching another’s back to get your back scratched can be both personally rewarding and profitable. Finding symbiotic shoulder-niche players in your industry is worth the time and effort, but usually requires a heap of luck and lots of time and effort before the worth can be measured in take-to-the-bank returns.
4. Online Marketing (website, SEO and social media integration)
Think about it. Right at this very second, a potential client is looking for what you offer. And they’re not driving around looking for a street-corner store, or digging up last month’s newspaper to check your advert buried on page one hundred and three. And truth is, they’re not even asking their friends for referrals as much anymore. No, with a cup of coffee in hand, they’re opening the browser on their mobile and typing in a few keywords to google what they seek.
Actually, this fourth point could be phrased promotion, promotion, promotion. In ways that are unsettling alike the first point, if no one can find you online, well, the notion of being lost in cyberspace comes to mind.
The good news is that a valid online location doesn’t require a massive outlay of finances and your cyber door can always remain open.
Bottom-line? Work at #3, but master #4.
In future articles, I’ll show you the ins and outs. But for now, make a decision. Resolve to take charge of your business’s online marketing. And set an hour of time aside per week for the task. Remember, if you don’t schedule the time, you’ll never find the time.
New to Online Marketing?
If you’re new to the world of intentional online marketing, you can quickly feel overwhelmed. It’s almost as complex as learning a new language. But hang in there, you’ll learn geek-speak quicker than you think.
To orient yourself, you may want to read these articles as a quick crash course:
What is SEO (and How Search Engines Work)?
Which Search Engines should We Befriend?
How does Google’s Algorithm Updates affect SEO?
What’s Up with Google PageRank?
Am I Really on Google First Page?
Are First-page Guarantees Legit?
What do you mean by intentional online marketing?
Good question. I’m referring to a well-crafted comprehensive approach to building your online presence and influence. The truth is, if you have a website and you’re on social media, you’re already marketing yourself; you’re already portraying some image of your business. Sadly, without an intentional strategy, you may well be portraying something less than ideal. In many cases, a negative impression may be conveyed, and in cyberspace, the adage any attention is good attention does not hold true.
If you’d like help improving the SEO potential of your website, consider the Turbo package we offer.
Return to the home page for an outline of our services, or compare our pricing and packages here.
