When it comes to growing your business, there is one thing you must never stop doing. You have to continually expose your product, service or ideas. And sometimes you have to think outside the box.
There is no limit to the different ways you can get your offer out to others who need to see or hear it. Think about it — TV and radio commercials, newspaper anid magazine ads, on the Internet, flyers and talking to other people.
A lot of people spend big bucks on advertising, but they overlook one form of exposure that is absolutely free. This form of exposure will help you build your business, meet new clients and recruit new staff for your company.
Let’s say you are opening a restaurant. You got financing to start up your restaurant. The money pays for everything you need to begin operating — equipment, tables, chairs, tablecloths, silverware, menus and signs. It pays for all the initial food and uniforms for your staff. But by the time you open, you have spent all your money on equipment and staff, and you have no money left for advertising.
What are you going to do? How will you let people know your restaurant even exists? Most people think, "Well, I hope people will find it." No! People won’t just happen to wander in one day. You will go out of business if you do not find a way to bring people through your front door. What would you do?
You would have to talk to everyone you know and let them know about your restaurant. If you picked up the phone and called everyone — family, extended family, past co-workers, old high school friends, church members, old bosses, the plumber, the family doctor and dentist, mechanic, hairdressers, manicurists, friends, acquaintances from your kids’ school, teachers — you would gain an enormous amount of business.
There is a ton of missed business because people do not promote their product or service to their own list of resources. But those who do use this form of exposure often have a huge number of new and returning customers… And it’s free!
A friend of mine used this form of exposure in a very strategic way. She is a manicurist who needed to expand her business. When she first started, she exposed her business every day. Once she got a healthy clientele, she did what most people do and stopped exposing. And as her clientele dwindled, she blamed the economy.
I met with her one day, and I told her, "Brenda, you can use the economy as an excuse and go broke like everyone else out there, or you can get back to exposing your business aggressively." We brainstormed several ways she could expose her business and bring in new clients.
Brenda called a bank manager (because banks typically have lots of female employees) and offered a free manicure as an incentive for the employee who got the most accounts, loan applications or department referrals. The branch manager loved it because this incentive was great for the bank, and it did not cost them a dime!
Brenda got her name out to that entire bank branch and brought in brand new clients, all from one phone call. As a result, Brenda increased her income by $1500 in the first 30 days.
How are you exposing your business today? If you are not continually building your client base, seeking new referrals and increasing your exposure, your business will not grow. You should constantly be adding to your list of resources, meeting new people and building new relationships. You should always be thinking about different ways you can attract new clients you would normally not have access to, just like Brenda did.
You can begin to activate your list of resources and increase your exposure today by sharing this message with your friends, family and co-workers. Sometimes getting out of a rut in business is as simple as doing something a little differently, and this may be just the change someone needs today! Just share this link on Facebook and Twitter.
I would also love to hear your ideas of how to increase exposure for your business. Leave your comments below!
Join me Wednesday night for The Spiritual Equipping Broadcast at 8 pm ET/8 pm CT! It’s sure to be a power-packed hour, and you won’t want to miss it!
In great faith,
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