Small Business Advice - Reach New Customers

-->

Three Ideas To Reach New Customers

Beware of the “Me and all my friends” mentality. In order to have a successful business, you must look outside your own circle of connections.  I have about 3,000 friends on Facebook… about 200 I know in town… but there is no way my circle of friends can sustain a business. Yours either.

Yes, I know… you have a network of friends and folks who frequent your business are considered friends as well… but that still isn’t enough to call your business a success. Unless you sell something that is needed frequently (food products for instance) you can’t count on the same people coming by week after week. And even if you do have a steady stream of regulars, you can’t count on them forever. If some of your regulars don’t make it in that month… you shouldn’t feel the sting on your bottom line. If you do… you’re not being smart about your business.

Jewelry booth at the Kyle Fair & Music Festival (2007)

As a small business, you should ALWAYS be looking for new customers. The best way to reach new customers is by being a good, solid business that people WANT to check out.  Make sure your house is in order. Do you make sure you provide a positive experience to each and every person who comes through your door? Do they WANT to come back? Would they tell others to swing by when asked if they know a place to get the product you sell?

The question remains, how do you reach people you don’t know? Where do you find new customers? Here’s three places you are likely to find new folks.

Word of Mouth

Cost: Free

This is the most powerful kind of promotion and it’s also sometimes the most dangerous. It’s powerful because people ask their trusted connections for advice on where to buy things. If your circle of friends tells their circle of friends about you… and then they tell their friends… you’ve got a good thing going.

How is this dangerous? Two reasons. First, People tend not to share good experiences and/or recommend things to others. Secondly, negative news travels faster than anything I’ve ever seen along the information highway. Want to test it? Post something positive about a local business on social media. You will likely get 4-5 replies and a handful of “likes.” Now, post about a negative experience on the same page…. And watch it BLOW UP.

As a journalist, I’ve written stories and features on a variety of subjects and also kept a personal blog. I have a rule that I guide myself by and that is to only talk positive. Personally, there is so much negativity in the world that I don’t believe I need to add to it. But, every now and then I have what I call “soapbox moments” or something I feel so strongly about that I feel I need to let the world know.  In 2009 I had an issue with a contact lens company that wouldn’t honor my coupon. I blogged about it. I have over 2,000 hits on it and 7 comments.  That was without posting it past my personal social media. It’s my 4^th most read post on my blog of 11 years (467 blog posts.. this will be 468).  

The point is…. Bad news travels MUCH faster than good news. So, make sure each customer walks out with good news to share. And there’s no fault in asking people to share about your business… and invite their friends to swing by.

Participate In Events

Cost: Moderate

Is there a 5k happening in your area? How about a Farmer’s Market? A festival or celebration? Community gathering? Events at schools or businesses that allow vendors? Be there. Especially if it’s free or has a low cost of entry to reach a great amount of people. Especially if you have a product that you can set up in a booth and sell.

But here’s the deal with events. They can be a great experience or a horrible waste of time. There’s a little “luck of the draw” when you participate. Make no mistake, though… they are what YOU make of it. If you sit in a chair and let people walk by you and when they stop you shrug and say “grab a flier if you want” you’re likely not going to have a positive experience… but it may not be the fault of the event… it may be because of your attitude.  On the other hand, if something is poorly attended and you are a shining light of positivity and have fun and make sure that everyone is aware of you and your product, you might gain a good amount of interest in your product and people may talk about you. 

Advertise

Cost: Medium - Heavy

Every facet of your business is advertising. Your storefront is advertising, your product labeling is advertising, the signs you post, the sticker you have on your car, the shirts you and/or your employees wear… all advertising.

But I’m more talking about the outward advertising here. I posted a recent blog with five ideas to promote your business for free – link – so I’ll stick to some that have a price tag to them.  Now… let’s note that you MUST have a strong message and action to go with your advertising or it doesn’t matter what you’re selling.

On a small scale, having fliers and cards to hand out is a good idea. ALWAYS have some handy. Make sure people you talk to about your business walk away with something in their hand that enables them to reach you and/or find your store when they’re ready to purchase something. Advertising collateral is key to marketing yourself.

Are you in a niche market? Is there a trade show for your product? If you sell pet products, there’s a Global Pet Expo coming up (link). If you sell decks, there are several woodworking trade shows coming up (link). If your product is perfect for a wedding party, check out the Bridal Shows coming up (link). There is likely a Trade Show on a scale you can afford to match your business and help you get introduced to new customers. Google “your business” and Trade Show to see if there’s something there for you. Oh, and make sure you have advertising collateral.

Do you have a commercial? You can either do it yourself or (I recommend) hire a professional to shoot a video about your product. Once you have a 15-second, 30-second, and 1-minute commercial shot, you can post it up to YouTube and share it via the Internet. Also, you have something you can take to Internet shows, websites, television stations and even radio (audio only of course) to help promote yourself. Dealing with buying media is a slippery slope though, so having someone who knows how to deal with salespeople in these positions is key to get the best deal possible for your money. 

This is a commercial for a small, local business in the town where I live. Lone Star Delights.

These three things are not the only way to get your word out and meet new customers, but they are all good starting points. This article is just an aide to hopefully get you to thinking outside your network of friends and into the world. Thanks for reading.

 About The Author:

Sean Claes has worked with Mom and Pop shops, International Corporations and the Music Industry on their branding, marketing, events and communications for more than 15 years. This article is just a sample of the observations he's made over the course of that time. For more information or to see how he might be able to help grow your business, contact him at seanclaesATseanclaesDOTcom.

Read more Small Business Advice via his Small Business Marketing page - link.

Week 15: Steps To Advertise on Radio

(This is Week 15 of my Fifty-Two Weeks of Music Do-It-Yourself advice)
 

Unlocking the Mystery of Radio Advertising

According to the Federal Communications Commission, there are 14,547 licensed radio stations in the United States as of September 2010 [source]. No matter how much you think you’re losing people to iPods, Satellite Radio, and CD Players, the number of people who actually listen to radio number more than the number of people who access any other kind of advertising (like print, TV, and billboard).

And radio is intrusive. It gives you sound… a voice… it enables you to provide a sonic version of who you are and what you stand for. Radio is also mobile, it’s playing at the store, in the car, and even streaming online.

Radio can be very effective, but you have to be very careful. You can easily spend a lot of money and be totally ineffective.

To be successful advertising in radio, you’ve got to drive many things home. It’s a mix of things you have no creative control over (listenership) and things you are totally in control of (message).

Before spending dollar one, you need to do some research. Here’s a few things to consider.

Repetition

In business this is called “frequency.” How many times is the listener going to listen to your commercial before they make a decision to remember the information?

The answer to that question is a little complicated. After hearing a commercial about 3-4 times, someone will be able to recall it. The trick is, getting that person to hear the commercial.

What Time Is It?

Consider your audience. If you are trying to get someone out after 10p, you should cater to those who are up at that time. I’m going to tell you something that not many people will. Buy night time (7p-midnight) or overnight (midnight – 6a). It’s cheaper and you reach people who are listening to the radio at the same time as they could be at your gig. Don’t let them talk you into spreading it out to run all day. Cluster your spots so they run in the same timeframe each night (this is called “rotation”). That way you increase your chance of the same person hearing the ad again.

Buy Bulk

If you are able to do this, buy a big chunk of radio all at once. The best deals are 52 weeks. Of course, you have to have the cash on hand to make it happen. If you’re a member of a group of indie musicians, perhaps you can pool resources. If you don’t have the money for that, know that you should run an ad for about 3-4 weeks for maximum effectiveness. And run the same ad. Don’t change the message. Even if you don’t get someone out to this particular show, there’s going to be a whole lot of new people who now know your band’s name.

Listenership

How many people are listening to that station at that time? Radio stations have actual data. Yes, they skew it to sell… and they’ll try and sell you the most ”important” times (which oddly enough is also the most expensive). If you visit http://www.arbitron.com you can get a list of radio stations in your area and their format (what they play). You can pick some of the lesser known stations for less expensive advertising. Remember, you’re not trying to reach a certain person, you’re trying to reach as many people as possible who might like your music. If you can reach more people on a lesser known station, do it.

Station Identification

If you were selling plumbing or shoes you wouldn’t have to think about this, but you’re selling your music. This is something that you need to think about. What is your music like? Does it fit into one particular genre? I’m willing to bet that you can find 2-3 radio stations that fans of your music may listen to (I counted 46 radio stations in Austin alone). Even if you are heavy metal, there’s a good change that the local pop/rock station could cater to your fans.

Now, if you’re metal, chances are you don’t want to advertise on a country station or easy listening. But don’t get too involved in this…if the guitars plug in and most of the music isn’t twangy, you can pretty much buy ads on any station.

How Long?

There are varying lengths of time you can buy an ad. I would suggest :15 or :30 seconds. Yes, you can buy fifteen seconds. Don’t let them tell you otherwise. You’re buying AIR. There is no preset compartment air fits in. Want to play with the sales rep? Get a quote for :30 second spots and when you have it at exactly the right price… tell them to split it into :15s and double your repetition and rotation. Yeah, they’ll get pissed. But you have the right. Warning, if you’re not spending a good chunk of change, they probably will not care about your business enough to play this game, so reserve this for a big buy… not a 2 week run.

What about the Ad?

If you didn’t notice, none of the above has ANYTHING to do with the show you’re promoting or the actual ad you’re writing. Who you reach is as important as what you say. If you write the best ad in the world and nobody hears it, did it work for you?

Now let’s get down to the ad itself. I’m not going to write it for you, but here are a few pointers.

Note: I can write your ad, but I’m not doing it for free. Contact me through the Outlaw Entertainment Group if you’re interested in that - http://www.outlawsite.com/).

Write It Yourself

The radio station may offer to let their writers take care of the script and record it using their people. They will make it seem like it’s part of the “deal.” Don’t do this. Not because they aren’t good writers (although most of them aren’t). It’s because they don’t know you, your band, or the important things you need to get across in your ad. They are not invested in you. They will write the most generic ad possible because they are just writing 30 seconds of words like they did for the furniture store and the car dealership before you.

Ever wonder why spots promoting a radio station are interesting? It’s something the writer is invested in. It’s something they know by heart, and something they believe in. You’re band is not that. Write your own ad.

Information to Include

Think about your ad itself. What information NEEDS to be in there, what information would be nice to have, and what information is just extra?

Basic information – Make sure you include these: club name, bands playing, date of gig, time doors open, and cost.

Would be nice – Website to go for more information and free downloads or to print out a discount coupon (something you can actually track)

Tracking?

No, this isn’t the order of songs on your album. This is how you can have hard proof that the ad worked. Put something in the ad that will enable you to see whether the ad worked. Like in the above paragraph. You can track if someone visits a Website and downloads a coupon or music. Likewise, saying “mention (Name of radio station) for $2 off at the door” and you’ll definitely know they heard it there. Use this to see if you wasted your money or spent it wisely.

Make it Interesting

You’re show is going to be a great time… right? Well, the ad should sell that. It shouldn’t sound like a typical radio ad that is selling shoes or alcohol. Make it memorable. If you’ve got a crazy loud member of the band, they are the spokesperson. The less they sound like they should be on radio the better. You’re trying to make people remember.

If you have to yell – “Kazzoo Zazzoo February 5 is gonna be a great night at the Red Eyed Fly, I’ll tell you what!” Make it happen. You’ll get people walking up to you show night asking what the heck Kazzoo Zazzoo means. You know what it means. They HEARD the ad.

And THAT is what you want to happen, right?

Good luck and Happy New Year.

Sean Claes is the owner of Austin's INsite Magazine and has been a freelance entertainment writer since 1996. For an introduction to his "52 Weeks of DIY Music Advice" visit this link - http://www.tinyurl.com/Claes52DIY. If you like what you read... please share. To visit Claes' homepage, go here - http://www.seanclaes.com/.