James DeLapa ⋅ San Diego, CA Small Business Plans ⋅ 8 years experience

Hi Martin,

If you are looking to get the word out on your business, you should do some research to find out where your core demographic "lives" and put yourself in front of them.

You can do this online or in person depending on the nature of your business. If your product/service is going to be sold locally, put your name out around town! Tell everyone you know about your service, especially service professionals like barbers and dentists who see tons of diverse clients regularly. Word of mouth is powerful for local business especially when you provide a great customer experience. When you receive customers, make sure they promote your business to others!

If you are looking to promote your business online, there are many ways to become a part of the conversation for your industry. One of the easiest ways to reach out to bloggers and thought leaders in your industry to promote your business online. If you have a website, you can offer guest blog posts or contributions that link back to your website. The more places you are accessible online, the better. Offer knowledge about your services in places people may be seeking answers, and over time, you will start to build a reputation as an authority.

Please reach out if you have any questions - I am here to help!

Sincerely,

James
https://www.smallbusinessplans.com/

Bob Molluro ⋅ Wilmington, DE Benchmark Consulting Services ltd. ⋅ 30 years experience

Martin great to hear that you are promoting your business and that you are a small business entrepreneur. Since one of your strategies is social media let me offer some guidance on what you may want to consider.
1) By now you know everything is dependent on having a high quality list of qualified prospects. Many people gloss over this or have no idea what this really entails.
2) I have been a follower of Fran Kern , a guru Marketing genius who unlike most people who have told you they make a fortune with online marketing , Frank has actually done it. (feel free to check him out)
3) Frank's first rule in developing prospects online is R.I.A. -Results in Advance. Said differently before you can ask a person to buy from you you must first build trust, have credibility and add value.
4) This is easier said than done. When I looked back on all my false starts on internet marketing it always boiled down to the technical minutia to get it across the finish line.
5) Recently I came across a solution. A turn key system that will help you develop your qualified list and the support via a Virtual Assistant who knows the system and can provide all the detailed info. In fact the person who does the details for you.
If interested check out this webinar: https://123employee.isrefer.com/go/sscr/a12472/
Currently they are helping me to put up my Blog
www.smallbusinessstrategies.co
I am totally shocked by how inexpensive this system is and what you actually get for your money. I just wish I knew about this seven years ago.
This is worth and hour of your time to at least check out your current thinking. Good luck.

Glen Alleman ⋅ Longmont, CO Niwot Ridge LLC ⋅ 30 years experience

Martin,

Is there a Chamber of Commerce in your area? That's one place to start. Social media is fine, but as John mentions depends on the business domain.
As well see if there are MeetUp groups in your area. https://www.meetup.com/ is a place to start. Like MeetUp check to seek if there are business roundtables. We have several of those here in Denver Metro Area

Kristin Garcia ⋅ Norman, OK The University of Oklahoma, Tom Love Innovation Hub ⋅ 15 years experience

Hello Martin, I'm curious to know who your market and audience is. Once I see that information, I can provide me details for additional guidance. Looks like from the advice above, there's a variety of directions you could take.

Cynthia Tomei ⋅ Geneva, IL Valley Industrial Association ⋅ 10 years experience

Hello Martin,

Thank you for your service. Looks like you've received some great feedback already. Depending on the nature of your small business, connect with either your local Chamber of Commerce or any local associations focused on the industry you're in and network! Also, SCORE is a great suggestion as well as checking out the Small Business Development Centers of a local community college.

Good Luck,
Cindy Tomei

Jennifer Polhemus ⋅ Santa Monica, CA Precision Research (self-employed) ⋅ 25 years experience

Think of your customers/clients as "partners" -- each receiving something of value, & thinking of the partner's needs when making your business decisions. Be generous, genuine, & grateful at all times. Keep up the good work!

Ed Roddy ⋅ Lynden, WA Whatcom Educational Credit Union ⋅ 30 years experience

Thanks for your bravery in starting a small business! It's the backbone of our economy. My suggestion is to look for a networking group you could join. One organization you might want to search out is Business Networking International (BNI). I think it's important for you to be a group of like minded business owners interested in growing their business and sharing their experiences.

Muzzamil Shaukat ⋅ Brooklyn, NY ⋅ 2 years experience

Hi Martin,

Social Media is a great way to spread awareness about your business. If you have got a little bit of budget, I would suggest you to do Google Advertisement. Google is a great to get leads, customers, and/or to just spread awareness of your business. However, you should start with a very little money with Google Ads since you might be new to it and I don't want you to waste your money on it. But once you get good at, I promise you that you will have more customers and leads than you can possibly handle. If you have a offline(brick-n-mortar) business, I would suggest you to use google ads to target people who are in your city or same zip code because obviously you don't want to target people who are not even same state or same country as you.

YouTube videos are a great way to get your business out to the masses. YouTube get millions and billions of visitors everyday and millions of people watch videos on YouTube. The best part is that you don't have to pay a single penny to make your videos go viral. You can absolutely try YouTube Paid ads but to put your videos in front of people, you don't have to spend a single penny as long as you know how to do YouTube SEO which is very easy to learn. All you have to do is make videos about your business or you explaining your business, and just post it on YouTube. If you want quicker and excellent results, I would suggest you to first try paid ads. After you have gotten familiar with YouTube algorithm, you can switch to free method where you just videos and make them go viral.

SEO is another excellent, probably the easiest, and free way to get your business to the masses. However, it does have a very long learning curve. You will obviously have to learn SEO, but once you learn SEO, you will for sure get a lot of paying customers.

It would been very helpful if you have explained what your business is about and what do you offer specifically so I could better explain how you can get your business to the masses.

There are many other ways to spread awareness about your business such as Direct-Mail Marketing, Banner Advertisements, and Solo Ads.

It's really depends on you and your business what method will work the best.

Good Luck!

michael convey ⋅ Longboat Key, FL JH Williams Oil Co ⋅ 42 years experience

Thank you for your service to our country.

I worked as an executive in the petroleum industry in positions of management, sales and marketing. From there I went into my own business for ten years, and then sold my business to a larger company and worked for them for ten years. My marketing experience assisted me in growing my business.

Obviously, you have already recognized the importance of social media and marketing. I think networking is very important in developing and expanding your business. Having a customer, employee and/or vendor recommend you goes a long way, when trying to secure prospects. Linkedin is a great source to use when trying to potential customers. There are many different and creative ways to build a business through networking with peers, vendors and potential customers. Using coop advertising programs from your vendors is another way to increase your business. I was a distributor for BP and Citgo gasoline, and both of those companies had terrific programs for those selling their products. From ad mats, radio, direct mail, telemarketing and tv commercials to monetary assistance, it was always available and very effective in increasing my exposure to potential customers while simultaneously reducing my cost.

Best of luck and Happy Thanksgiving

Mike Convey

Michael Apt ⋅ Bend, OR MJ Enterprises ⋅ 23 years experience

My answer may be a little outside the box, but that's where the leverage is.

You are going into business to make a profit, probably to provide a product or service.

The best and most durable trick to making a profit is owning land even with a mortgage, until interest rates rise appreciably.

Therefore, to create a successful business, presuming you are not cash rich, you need money. If you haven't a cash source, you have time. Use time to make money. I will tell you a true story which I followed, and how it worked in the 1950s, the 1960s, and the 2000s.

This couple bought a humble home in Southern California, within just a few years, the usual boom-bust economy and real estate market and inflation made their equity balloon such they could move to a small Oregon town, where land, home, prices were comparatively low, and buy land outright. Just a few well placed acres near a highway, few miles from town, with the equity from selling in the Southern California market.

They bought junk cars, made one into a tow truck, almost dragging their first cars to the business, which was also the home. They bought a USFS office for nothing (perhaps were paid to tear it down) and moved it onto that property which was essentially a mechanic shop and wrecking yard, with continual new inventory via the tow truck.

By the way, they DID build that...

If you are in life for the long haul, your business goal is success AND helping others, you may note taking the long view does ensure success more than any other move.

Surely, you know the world changed since the 1960s, every twitch, move, plan, action, imputes a permit which may, even often, vanquishes any profitability, and keeps you up at night wondering if you are now a criminal because you haven't a law degree to see where the potholes are.

However, in the 2000s, yours truly did the same, found a piece of land highly undervalued, even on a dirt road, and rode out almost two decades. The land doubled in value, doubled again, but the limits, taxes, penalties for doing anything with it, increased, along with ever more discretion neutered by what unaffected neighbors wanted to do with my land (not do, more accurately) atop a very hefty, politically loaded, land use zoning scheme. Honestly applied, the zoning was fair, decades ago.

The land still protected my life plan. I can let myself eat steak sometimes, have a hobby, even involvement with local, national politics for the good of all.

For three generations, this worked, because inflation seems a sure thing. We (America) require inflation (against my protestations) because if our dollar becomes too strong, other nations win, however contradictory it seems, the idea of keeping the dollar (our currency) stable has gone out the window. A ...Plan... to have 2 percent inflation means if you save 100,000 dollars over ten years, it is only worth 80,000 dollars at the end. By my measure, inflation is 3 percent average. See how your business plan can be augmented or leached until dry without accounting for this mechanism?

Any kind of effort to have a business, mostly any kind, must take into account this continuum, and is forwarded hopefully to aid in your goals. Consider, or refine your business type, to one which fits inside a bedroom, perhaps your garage, at least initially, like building an on ramp to a freeway. Stretch out your long term business plan so no loan costs burden you. Stealth is not illegal.

Deepak Thakral ⋅ Cupertino, CA Chartboost Inc. ⋅ 18 years experience

Hello Martin,

I used to be an executive at Yellowpages.com so I have extensive experience in the local small & medium business space and building products to help them market their business online. It will be good to understand what type of small business you are running so my advice can be more specific. Here are some suggestions that will take you a couple of hours but will help get your business to the masses:

1. Create a free listing online at the major websites including Yelp, Yellowpages.com, Yahoo, Google. Each of them are visited by tens of millions of users each day looking for local services in your neighborhood and your listing will show up in their search results.

2. Create a Facebook Page for your business and LinkedIn Profile. You can also market your FB page by doing FB advertising. This will reach thousands of people that are interested in your small business services.

3. Create a website and blog post that talks about the services you offer. Be clear about your value proposition and what needs your business is able to provide for your target customer base.

4. Direct Mail - this is one of the most cost effective ways of making sure that your flyers (1 pager) reaches households via US mail. Its cheap but very high readability and brand awareness and response rates via phone calls back to your business or visiting your website.

I am happy to help provide more information if you would like.

William Smith ⋅ Suffern, NY Right Management ⋅ 25 years experience

Hi Martin,

You should contact your local chapter of SCORE. This is a national organization that assists small buisness owners in a variety of area's at no cost. The organization is made up of volunteers with a variety of backgrounds in the buisness world.

Best of Luck.

Bill Smith

Brian Richardson ⋅ Columbus, IN U.S. Army, Sergeant ⋅ 8 years served

Hi Martin,
As you complete your business plan and value proposition (a very key part to the plan) you'll start to discover WHERE those masses are. So getting involved in their communities will be helpful. Don't waste time and resources trying to market to "everyone, everywhere". Find a niche you can fill and really dig in.

Find out what pains you are solving or gains you are creating and how your product fits between that and your customers. That, too, will help you develop your marketing direction.

If you have specific questions, feel free to reach out to me.

Brian Richardson
www.thecompanyproject.com

Frank Bilski ⋅ Carteret, NJ Intertek ⋅ 28 years experience

Develop a marketing plan in which your business creates a need for consumers. As mentioned above a solid business plan which includes marketing is essential for success. Depending on your business, trade shows are a good vehicle to reach the public. There are costs involved so you can not be the booth that everyone walks past because it does not catch their interest.

John Green ⋅ Cary, NC Information Technology ⋅ 40 years experience

Do you have a business plan ? What is written in your business plan about your target market ? What does your business plan say about how you will market your product or service ?

https://www.score.org/business-plan-resources

Trying to run a business without a plan is like driving a car with your eyes closed.

John Karp ⋅ Freeport, ME Bourgeois Guitars ⋅ 33 years experience

Depends somewhat on your industry but in general, content, content, content on social media- and meaningful content.

Sub 4 minute videos are a huge trend right now as well as live streaming pieces.

Hope these help-