Be a Resource to Gain Clients and Customers

One of the best ways to market your business is simple: Be a resource to your potential clients and customers. There are many, many ways to do this that are very effective. Being a resource gives you more credibility than you get with a standard advertisement. It’s less blatant, less in-your-face, and actually provides value so your potential clients are more likely to pay attention, particularly if the information is relevant to them.

By being a resource, you’re basically providing information or some expertise related to a topic within your industry. It doesn’t have to be exactly the same thing that you get paid to do, but should be within the same general area, and it should be applicable to your client base. For example, this blog allows me to be a resource to my potential clients, because I provide relevant information and advice that my customers can use today to help build their business. 

Marketing and business are my expertise. It wouldn’t make sense for me to write articles on minimizing your insurance costs, because the people who are interested in reading an article like that are not my target client. If the reader of the insurance article would happen to also be a business owner, they’re not seeking out information on marketing at that moment. If they were, they’d be clicking on marketing articles instead of insurance articles. The key to being a resource to gain clients is to put relevant information in front of them at an appropriate time.

So how can you use this marketing tactic? Writing articles is an easy way to start, and it’s free. You can summarize what you already know about your industry into targeted articles and submit them to article directories all over the web. If you don’t have time to spend on that sort of thing, you can hire an expert, like Stringfellow Creative, to write and submit articles on your behalf, with your name as the author and a link to your website in the byline. It’s a totally hands-off way to conduct an effective marketing campaign.

Blogging is also an easy way to generate publicity for free. You can set up a WordPress blog just like this one, completely free. You’ll have to make an investment of time to keep your blog fresh and up to date with new content regularly, or you can hire a blogging expert, such as Stringfellow Creative, to keep it up to date for you. We have multiple blogging packages available to meet your specific needs, and we can assist in designing your blog as well.

Depending on your industry, it is often useful to offer free seminars in your community. With the ever-growing popularity of the internet and technology, it’s now easy to offer a seminar online to a global audience. Stringfellow Creative can assist with seminar production, marketing, and design. We can create your materials, design powerpoint presentations, and design online delivery systems.

Take advantage of any opportunities in your community to lend a helping hand. Yes, you might be giving out valuable information for free, but it will only build your reputation. Educational opportunities are abundant, you just have to seek them out. Network with other professionals – someone might be holding a panel discussion relevant to services you offer, and you could easily end up being a panel expert. Discussions like these frequently end up getting free media coverage. It’s a win-win situation.

Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. When you offer your knowledge as a resource to your clients, it’s an easy way to get free advertising, and it’s often more effective than traditional advertising. You’ll boost your reputation and your brand awareness, while at the same time saving your advertising budget.

What Motivates You?

I was just sitting at my laptop, trying to decide which of the many things on my seemingly endless to-do list I should tackle first. My mind wandered to my tendency to procrastinate certain tasks, and why? Some items on my list jump out at me and I dive right in and get them finished, but others seem to linger there for weeks at a time.

Apparently I have somehow categorized my list, mentally, in order of priority, using criteria that are not obvious to me at the moment. Suddenly, I realize the importance of being aware of what motivates you. I’ve always been the kind of person with internal motivation, yet now I find myself neglecting the items on my list that are important only to me and my own business. I have no problems completing work for my clients well ahead of schedule. To me, that sounds like external motivation.

So what is it that motivates you? Learning what motivates you to take action can be hugely helpful when you’re trying to reach a goal. Does money motivate you? Opportunity? Prestige? The simple fact that you don’t like lingering items on your to-do list? You want free time with no obligations hanging over your head? You don’t like to fail?

Whatever it is that motivates you, try to pinpoint exactly what it is. Then try to manipulate situations so that your motivating force is present and can help you reach your goals. If you’re motivated by having to answer to another person, let someone else in on your plans and ask them to hold you accountable. If you’re motivated by opportunity, set a goal to find a new opportunity – there are plenty around for the taking, despite what the media might have you believe. The best opportunities are those that are created out of a challenge.

What motivates you into action? I’d like to hear your ideas.

Take Calculated Risks for Growth

As a business owner, you’ve already had experience with taking risks. Starting a business is always a risk, because there’s no guarantee your business won’t fail. Even if you’ve been in business for awhile, you have to make an effort not to fall into the “play it safe” trap that we all get sucked into every now and then.

Playing it safe might seem like a good strategy, but if you really want your business to grow, you’ll have to learn to take calculated risks. There’s no need for you to have to shoot blindly in the dark, although for some, that’s their style, and that’s okay too. But if you learn to take calculated risks, you can minimize your chance of failing while still taking advantage of great opportunities.

So if presented with an opportunity, playing it totally safe might mean you’re missing a chance to achieve something really big. Evaluate your options and determine ways that you can still take advantage of an opportunity that has come your way while minimizing your risk. Analyze your worst-case scenario, and develop a plan to overcome that obstacle if the worst-case scenario were to become reality.

Sometimes the greatest opportunities come with the biggest amount of risk. While betting your last dollar might not be the best idea, there are smaller risks that you can take that will help your business grow. You’ll win some, and you’ll lose some, but you will most certainly achieve long-term growth. Best of all, you’ll become a stronger person for learning to overcome your fears and your obstacles.