5 More Ways to Get Customers as a Small Business

In our last post, we discussed 5 ways to attract customers as a small business (link to post). It may not surprise you to learn that there are many more methods business owners can use to find clients, even when they’re first starting out. Our first post was more focused on the digital marketing side of things, including search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO). Today’s post features some other more creative ways of getting your brand out there.

1. Form Great Partnerships

Free

When you’re starting your business and excited about earning a paycheck, the word volunteer might not be the first thing you’re excited to read, but volunteering at strategic places on your off hours can be an excellent way to find customers.

For example, if you teach a skill that could be useful outside of your business location, consider volunteering your time somewhere potential students might be. If you teach an instrument, volunteer to teach group music once a week at a school in return for sending the kids home with information about your private services. If you’re opening a STEM center, volunteer to host a science hour at an elementary school or learning center. Just be careful not to give so much of your time away that you’re undervalued or don’t have any energy left to put into your main business.

2. Volunteer

Free

When you’re starting your business and excited about earning a paycheck, the word volunteer might not be the first thing you’re excited to read, but volunteering at strategic places on your off hours can be an excellent way to find customers.

For example, if you teach a skill that could be useful outside of your business location, consider volunteering your time somewhere potential students might be. If you teach an instrument, volunteer to teach group music once a week at a school in return for sending the kids home with information about your private services. If you’re opening a STEM center, volunteer to host a science hour at an elementary school or learning center. Just be careful not to give so much of your time away that you’re undervalued or don’t have any energy left to put into your main business.

3. Build Authority

Free

As you work on building brand awareness, make sure you’re also building authority. This can come in the form of blogging, creating a YouTube channel, creating Instagram and TikTok videos, or hosting a podcast. There’s something to be said for each of these methods of authority building, but the common denominator is that as you put yourself and your business out there, you’re also setting yourself apart from your competitors.

If you’re a good writer, add a blog to your website and blog about something related to your business that’s also a value-add for your readers. As a bonus, it’s great for SEO and will help your potential customers find you as they google their questions. Run a wedding planning biz? Why not write a blog with all things weddings: best hidden gem venues, best ways to cater on a budget, and top things to avoid when planning a wedding. If you’re opening your own tattoo parlor, write a collection of posts answering people’s most common questions about getting a tattoo. I know I’d be googling stuff about pain management and would be more likely to go to a tattoo artist who offered some great advice about the topic.

The utility of posting videos, whether it be on YouTube or in more bite-sized amounts on Instagram and TikTok, is undeniable. There are some topics that can just be better conveyed via video than in writing, not to mention that with people’s increasingly short attention span, video seems to be not just the way of the future, but the way of the present. As with blogging, post some value-add content. Run a personal training business? Put up some videos teaching your favorite ab exercises or your go-to workout when you only have 7 minutes. Don’t forget to keyword and/or hashtag your videos so that people searching for what you do can find you. More on that topic in other posts.

4. Become a Vendor for Other Businesses and Institutions

This can mean any number of things. If you’re in California and in the education business, becoming a vendor for the homeschool charter network is a great option. You’ll need to do some paperwork for each charter school you request to be a vendor with, but the extra boost you’ll get in business is well worth it. Homeschool charter students will be able to use the funds they get from their program to pay for your services, not to mention that you’ll get listed in each school’s vendor database.

But it isn’t just homeschool charters that this applies to. If you’re a florist, make a list of local wedding planners to contact and reach out. If you’re in landscaping, introduce yourself to some home contracting business owners.

5. Reconnect With Old Customers or Anyone Else Who Might Like What You Do

If you don’t have any former customers, reach out to people who might be interested. Own a swim school that offers infant swim lessons? Reach out to your mom friend to see if anyone in her network might be looking for swimming lessons. It doesn’t, and really shouldn’t, be a hard sale with this crowd, and please, please don’t trick them into getting together with you just to make this sale. In more than one instance, I’ve had former friends reach out to me under the guise of wanting to reconnect, only to try to make a sale, and I can’t tell you how turned off I was. Any chance I may have had to be interested in their product was washed away by the fact that I felt slightly hurt and used.

If we’re talking former customers, reach out with something genuine. Share a photo with them that popped up in your memories, whether it be your little guitar student performing at her first recital 3 years ago or a fun photo from the party you catered a while back. At best, you’ll reach out to someone who’s planning to throw another party she needs catered who now remembers you exist, and at worst, the photo will just makeyour former customer smile and continue on with her day. It’s a gesture that takes about 30 seconds, and there’s absolutely no downside.

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