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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

How to let people know you are in business - Part 3

This is an ongoing thread about how to be noticed once you get into a business opportunity (second income) for yourself. A few days ago, I continued the conversation about talking with people about your business. In this post, I would like to explore other avenues of getting noticed without spending a lot of money.

Everyone knows that advertising will get you noticed...mostly, but if you just start up in business for yourself, there is a high probability that you do not have a lot of cash to throw into an advertising budget. If you do, then great, otherwise, I would like to provide some other ideas on how to get your business noticed without a huge expenditure.

If you have started a home-based business, you want people to know you are actively in business. Another way to get noticed is to print up your own business cards. That way, when you start a conversation with someone, and then need to leave, you can provide them with your business card and some basic information for them to get in contact with you. You do not need to go to a formal Printer to have your first set of cards made up. You can purchase business card blanks (in 8 1/2 x 11) that can be printed at home. You can even use a basic word processing program like Microsoft Word to create those first cards.

On your cards, be sure to have your name and phone number that you can be reached at. You may want to include some type of picture or logo (if you have one) on your card, but don't go overboard. This card is a first impression for the person you are handing it to, you want it to be neat, not cluttered, and easy to read (even for us old folks). Only hand out the cards if the person you are talking to is genuinely interested in your opportunity. I have found that if you just hand out cards willy nilly, those same cards tend to get thrown out, which then became a waste of your time and materials. You may also have on the card a website to get more information on the business you are in, and an e-mail address. Keep in mind, there are still a lot of people out there that are not necessarily computer savvy. They may prefer a phone conversation to an e-mail conversation. On the flip side, I have met some that would much rather communicate through e-mail than talk on the phone. Again, be sensitive to the people you are talking with.

I do not recommend that you put your home address on the card unless you are willing to host anyone and everyone winding up to your home. If you have a shop at the house, then that would be different, but personally, I would rather give my home information out only to very specific people. You really don't know where your business card will end up, you don't want just anyone picking up a card that may have been discarded and then have that person appear at your home. (Just a word of caution)

Another way to advertise is to print up (again from home) some basic flyers about your business and what it can do for prospective clients. You can go into your local grocery stores and get the blessing from management to place your flyer (or flyers) on the community bulletin board. You would be amazed with how many people read those flyers. If you do that, be sure to go back on at least a weekly basis to be sure your flyer is still there. You cannot assume that the flyer will always be in the same spot. Be sure to provide a means for people to take the information, they will probably not want to write everything down, so you may want to create some type of tear-off at the bottom of the flyer so people can tear-off your name and number to contact you at a later time.

Depending on your business, try to submit flyers to the stores that may benefit from your services. If you are involved somehow with motorcycles, then go to the local motorcycle shops and ask to post your flyers. Usually, the management has a community board or kiosk for information and flyers. Again, be sure to check periodically if you need to add more flyers. You may also talk to those same local businesses about what you have to offer, perhaps they can also send you in the right direction, or offer someone who would be interested in your services. You never know what can happen if you don't talk to people.

In the next few days I will cover some other ideas on inexpensive advertising... until then...

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