Whether you are in the business of making pastries or in the business of proofreading legal documents, there is always a way to get noticed in your community. With some easy-to-apply ground rules, take a look at some ways in which you could start to expand your business.
Get Online
Getting set up on the internet is always a big help. When someone wants to search for a service like yours in a city or town like yours, they will often just type in the key words into a search engine. They will type “sewing” and “Milton” for example and see what comes up. You want your company name to be among those that come up in the search results. Get some help with building your website if online programming is not your thing. You could always pay your child or a friend’s child to help you with the development. There are lots of website templates to choose from online that provide the framework for the website’s design. There are sony vegas pro templates if you want to look modern and cool, but there are also more basic templates if that’s what you’re looking for. Spend an afternoon with someone who can help and get your presence recognized on the internet first.
Get Noticed
Do you have a sign up outside of your local shop? If it’s flat and facing the other side of the street, that’s great for those who are looking from that point of view. But what about people who are on the same side of the street as you? Consider a mounted wall sign that sticks out from the side of the building so your business is more noticeable. There are also those folding signs you can set outside on the street so your business logo is at street level. This type of sign is great for restaurants and coffee shops but even if your business is about custom hats, people’s eyes will still be drawn to the writing on the board. Many people will probably think it’s a food menu as they approach and read it out of curiousity. By the time they are finished reading your sign, they’ve realized that it’s not about food but instead about whatever it is that you’re promoting. Even if they feel a little disappointed that they didn’t read what they expected to, the point is that they read your sign.
There are also magnetic car signs your can put on your car doors or on the back. This way your company name will be noticed and recognized as a local character over time. Whether you’re driving to get some supplies or parked outside the office, your car will be advertising while you work.
Give Samples
This one could get tricky, depending on the business you’re in. If it’s food or wares, it may be easier to give out samples. If you work in a trade or in accounting for example, it will be more difficult to produce some sort of enticement sample. It’s easy to hand out cupcakes but not so easy to hand out tax paperwork. If you can’t hand out samples at local events, try posting your services with a prominent logo on one of the bulletin boards at your community center. You could also leave a flyer with a business card stapled to it in neighbor’s mailboxes. Don’t do that last one too often though, or it could have a negative effect of being considered junk mail.