Saturday, August 4, 2012

Your Home Business - Promotion for Beginners on a Budget!

By John McCullough


So you've come up with a few extra income ideas by yourself, or pulled a few from the 'net that sounded interesting, and now you're anxious to get started making some money. But having the idea (and being able to implement it well) is only half the story. In order to make your extra income ideas pay, you need patrons, and in order to get them, you'll need to give some serious thought to marketingDeveloping one or more IDEAS to make extra money is only half the battle. If you're serious about the success of your endevors, then you need to spend more time studying marketing than you do in the creation of whatever product or service you plan to sell, especially in the beginning.

In order to put your ideas on a paying basis quickly, it's best to have a firm marketing plan, and to tackle the implementation of that plan in small, organized pieces. What you're looking for is concentrated, sustained, organized effort! That is what will build your clientele, so this piece is going to focus on some hands-on things you can do to get your name "out there" and start getting some exposure for you and the services you provide. This is the best way to see rapid results, and you need not only long term gains, but also strategies for producing quick results.

I'm going to make the assumption when proceeding from here that you've chosen one of the extra income ideas I outlined in previous articles. If you've developed something on your own, you'll need to tweak the specifics of this plan a bit, but in general terms, the ideas presented here will serve you just as well.

So how to get customers quickly? Quick profits validates your ideas, and inspires you to think bigger, both of which are good things, which is why we're focusing on this first.

The easiest way to get patrons of your own is to "borrow them from someone else with an established business! Look for businesses related to, but not directly competing with the services you provide. Locally owned and operated shops are better for this purpose than chain stores (which are typically less interested in making deals with young upstarts), but by all means, give it a shot!

For example, let's assume that you picked one or more of the extra income ideas from my list. All of these are technology based. It would be a natural fit, therefore, if you could get a local computer repair shop to display your business cards on their service desk counter. You'll also find that many local businesses have bulletin boards where you can post your business cards, but bear in mind that these are usually full to the point of overflowing, so if you place one here, you'll want to design something eye catching .

You can design business cards on the 'net at a variety of sites, and get them printed and shipped to you very cheaply. Carry a few with you wherever you go, and hand them out to anyone who seems interested in what you do. Be sure to put a basic listing of services you provide on the card, along with some means of getting ahold of you (preferably phone and e-mail).

Another thing you can do for a quick influx of clients is networking. If you're active in your church, often you can start by offering to do a few assignments for free, in exchange for some mention of your services on their website. Same goes for neighborhood associations, or any clubs you belong to. You're looking for concentrations of people! The more people who know what you do, the more customers you're likely to get, and that's what puts your extra income ideas on a paying basis. Using these two ideas, you can get the word out fast in your local area and start attracting your first customers!




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment