5 Simple Ways Entrepreneurs Can Attract Customers To Their Business You have a great product or service and yet you seem unable to attract customers to your business and makeRead More
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]]>5 Simple Ways Entrepreneurs Can Attract Customers To Their Business
You have a great product or service and yet you seem unable to attract customers to your business and make a sale. Almost every new entrepreneur faces this challenge after they start off a small business.
And the root cause of this problem is often your inability to reach out to your customers.
The lack of advertising and marketing your product or service may be drawing you back from your customers. But for a small business, with limited funds, it is often difficult to allot a substantial amount for advertising and marketing.
In such a circumstance, what do you do? Simple; you just focus on the ways to do it right. Let’s take a look at some simple ways entrepreneurs can attract customers to their business:
Tip 1: Rely on word-of-mouth. This tried-and-tested option never fails! If you can build an army of satisfied customers, it will work much better than a couple of billboards or television ads. They are the best tools of advertisement you may find.
To turn a customers into satisfied customers, you have to work on the three premises:
• Offer a great product/service – the basic necessity for a successful business
• Ensure great customer service – remember, always serve with a smile
• Offer a reward for referral – the bigger the incentive, the better your opportunity
And soon you will have a good number of spokespersons at no added cost!
Tip 2: Involve and engage. When a prospect walks in, make sure you turn them into a customer. How do you do it? Interest them with an offer, give them a free sample, request them to enter a contest, and use any other means you can think of.
People love free stuff. They also love offers and discounts. And when they get something at no cost or maybe low cost, and are happy with it, they are sure to come back and pay for it. And they are sure to talk about your business to their contacts.
Tip 3: Build a website. If you aren’t online yet, you need to be – NOW! A website isn’t a luxury anymore; it’s a necessity. If you aren’t online, you are missing out attracting the prospective customers who stick to their PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, et al.
You don’t really need to invest thousands of dollars to ensure a web presence. Just make sure someone who knows how to do it right does it. Otherwise, you will be stuck with a site that doesn’t work for your business.
Tip 4: Connect on social media. When Mandie Miller started off her business Got What It Cakes, she built a website. But the business only picked up once her sister put up a Facebook page for it.
Lesson learned: While a website is essential for your business, no business can ignore the reach of social media these days. Create a page on Facebook, get an account on Twitter, or add images on Pinterest and Instagram – do whatever it takes to enhance your reach.
Tip 5: Get involved. While you will always have competitors, and you will always have to keep a lookout for them, you also need to focus on collaboration. Make a list of complementary businesses and promote each other to your respective clientele.
Also, don’t forget about the community; after all, you are a part of it. Give back. Charitable or environment-friendly work never goes unnoticed. And once you are part of something big, you’ll get people interested in what you do.
It is possible to get the attention of customers; you just need to know how to do it right.
1) Lean Customer Development by Cindy Alvarez | Listen to my interview with Cindy here
2) It’s Not The How Or The What But The Who by Claudio Fernandez-Araoz | Listen to my interview with Claudio here
3) A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger | Listen to my interview with Warren here
4) Traction – A Startup Guide To Getting Customers by Justin Mares | Listen to my interview with Justin here
5) The Seven Levels of Communication by Michael J. Maher | Listen to my interview with Michael here
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]]>A summary of things you should know about Traction according to Justin Mares Introduction In this episode Justin Mares shares his book Traction which is a guide for entrepreneurs andRead More
The post A Preview of Traction – A Startup Guide To Getting Customers with Justin Mares appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
]]>A summary of things you should know about Traction according to Justin Mares
In this episode Justin Mares shares his book Traction which is a guide for entrepreneurs and business owners who need help getting customers. The purpose of this book is to place business founders ahead of the competition no matter what kind of business they are running. If you are starting a business and do not have a ton of budget, this book is for you.
Our book, unlike any others out there, provides you with what we call the bull’s-eye framework which is a five step framework that helps companies determine what traction channels can work for them to acquire customers.
We provide the framework and the approach in the beginning of the book and then we do a deep dive on every potential channel that a startup could use to get traction, in the remaining 19 chapters of the book.
If you’re starting a company and don’t have a ton of budget, what you need to do is try and find a new platform or a new way to acquire users, that is not already saturated and really expensive.
In The first chapter we introduce to you that traction is now the most important thing that startups need to focus on. The next four chapters take you through the bulls-eye framework; a framework that helps founders, marketers and entrepreneurs figure out what channels makes sense for them and shows you how to run quick tests in each of the channels. We also talk about something that we call the traction split. Early stage companies fall into this trap where they think if they build a great product, people will naturally flock to them. We explain to you that early stage founders and companies should be spending half of their time on product development and the other half on traction.
After the introduction we take you through a deep dive into Viral Marketing, Public Relations, Unconventional PR, Search Engine Marketing, Social & Display Advertising, Offline Ads, Search Engine Optimization, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, Engineering as Marketing, Targeting Blogs, Business Development, Sales, Affiliate Programs, Existing Platforms, Trade Shows, Offline Events, Speaking Engagements and Community Building. After covering all of these channels we wrap with a conclusion with how to think about it, we provide more resources and give founders a cheat sheet for how they can think about, approach and get traction through whatever channel works best for them.
The purpose of the book is for this to be a must read for startup founders so that no matter what kind of company you’re starting, you pick this book up, you’re automatically ahead of most individuals and then you can find the type of business/traction channel that works for what you’re doing.
“The number one reason that they pass on entrepreneurs that they would otherwise like to back is that they don’t have a good distribution strategy.” –Marc Andreessen
“Most companies don’t fail to build a product, they fail to get traction.” – Justin Mares
I co-founded two companies, one was acquired and the other a bust. Most recently I was director of revenues at a company called Exceptional Cloud Services who got acquired by Rackspace about a year and a half ago now. I recently left Rackspace and now I’m launching Traction Book which is a startup guide to getting customers and that will be coming out August 26, 2014.
My co-author Gabriel Weinberg and I both noticed that today the challenge is not so much in building a product but that companies are struggling to get traction. The inspiration in writing the book was to provide startups with the framework and tools to focus on and get traction so that they can build successful companies.
The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
Buy Traction by Justin Mares on Amazon today
Visit TractionBook.com to subscribe and get the first chapter of Traction
Visit JustinMares.com to learn more about Justin and his blog
Visit GabrielWeinberg.com to learn more about Gabriel and his blog
Follow Justin Mares on Twitter
Download the full transcript here
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books: Lean Customer Development by Cindy Alvarez | Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal | Moving Targets by Gabriel Aluisy
Relevant advice and tips: 5 Simple Ways Entrepreneurs Can Attract Customers
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
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]]>Latest Books For Entrepreneurs in August 2014 The Entrepreneurs Library presents the latest books for entrepreneurs in August 2014. These books are brand new to the market and the authorsRead More
The post Latest Books For Entrepreneurs in August 2014 appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
]]>Latest Books For Entrepreneurs in August 2014
The Entrepreneurs Library presents the latest books for entrepreneurs in August 2014. These books are brand new to the market and the authors are in line to share their insights with me. Stay tuned this month for the release of the interviews with these great books and the authors.
The Art of Shouting Quietly: A Guide to Self-Promotion for Introverts and Other Quiet Souls by Pete Mosley
The Art Of Shouting Quietly is about helping people name the beasts that hold them back – and to systematically engage with and overcome them.
This book illustrates how this can be done – with insights into what the blocks actually are, how to take responsibility for them, and how to stop blaming others for your own lack of progress. Every reader, I’m sure, will find something in the content that they will relate strongly to in respect of the obstacles and challenges in their own life.
With a solid foundation beneath it, however, confidence becomes significantly harder to rock and easier to recover when it is shaken. These foundations have many components – many more than I list here – but here are the most important ones.
Learn more about Pete Mosley | Buy The Art of Shouting Quietly on Amazon
The Creative Problem Solver: 12 Smart Tools To Solve Any Business Challenge by Ian Atkinson
Every business faces problems, and yours is no exception. Using proven, innovative techniques from some major players in the business world, this is the go-to book for every professional who wants to find better answers to their business challenges.
With its 12 simple yet powerful tools, The Creative Problem Solver will arm you with all the skills you need to not only conquer your business conundrums, but to take your thinking to an inspiring new level so you can create exciting, game-changing outcomes from the problems you face.
Each problem-solving tool is practical, effective and clearly explained so you can quickly see it will help you to:
“Hugely practical, gives you powerful new ways to think… a godsend for cracking business challenges.” — Dean Lamble, Managing Director, SunLife
Learn more about Ian Atkinson | Buy The Creative Problem Solver on Amazon
Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
The number one traction mistake founders and employees make is not dedicating as much time to developing traction as they do developing product. This shortsighted approach has startups eventually trying random tactics — some ads, a blog post or two — in an unstructured way that will most likely fail.
We developed our traction framework called Bullseye with the help of the founders behind several of the biggest companies and organizations in the world like Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia), Alexis Ohanian (Reddit), Paul English (Kayak.com) and Alex Pachikov (Evernote). We interviewed over forty successful founders and researched countless more traction stories — pulling out the repeatable tactics and strategies they used to get traction.
Learn more about Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares | Buy Traction on Amazon
Dream Year by Ben Arment
What if someone could guide you, step-by-step, as you identify, plan, and launch your dream career—in just one year. That’s what Ben Arment does in his transformative coaching class, which has helped hundreds of people reinvent their lives to enjoy greater enthusiasm and fulfillment while also making a living.
Now he’s sharing his best insights, advice, and inspiring true stories in Dream Year. You’ll find out how people just like you are discovering (or rediscovering) what they were truly born to do, then following a proven process to make it real. And you’ll meet men and women such as . . .
There’s no dream too big to be beyond the power of the Dream Year process.
“The employee mind-set is disappearing like the factories where it was born. We’ll all expire if we wait for some force outside ourselves—business or government—to bring us jobs or teach us who we are or how we ought to live. Ben Arment’s Dream Year is a powerful launching pad for that mental reboot. Start here.” —Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art, Do the Work, and The Legend of Bagger Vance
Learn more about Ben Arment | Buy Dream Year on Amazon
The New Entrepreneurz: Changing the Way You Play Life by Ronen Gafni and Simcha Gluck
The New Entrepreneurz provides a game-changing game-based approach to molding your mind and developing a fresh entrepreneurial mentality that focuses on working smart & on collaborative winning.
Advocating not for simple change, but for total transformation, this revolutionary resource provides a powerful platform to shift the paradigm for all those interested in running a smart purpose driven business.
The book offers:
Ronen Gafni and Simcha Gluck take you on the adventures of The New Entrepreneurz through sharing their own unique story of FreshBiz. From the sleepless night that Ronen first conceived of the game-changing board game to the now international company impacting tens of thousands around the globe.
Learn more about Ronen Gafni and Simcha Gluck | Buy The New Entrepreneurz on Amazon
What are you reading this month? Feel free to comment below or engage with me on Facebook and Twitter.
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