Three Ways to Make Your Small Business Stand Out to New Customers Right Now
We all go through peaks and valleys in any business. This virus has turned just about every business (except medical manufacturers and big box grocery stores) upside down.
How do we interest a consumer in our product or service if the outlook is so unknown for the moment?
It's important to note when you look at history of our country it can and does always recover from dire situations. I work with small businesses all the time building branding events and an image that project their message clearer through events, design, decor, (even how they present themselves) and make them approachable by the every day consumer or other businesses. In this I offer a potential bright side and options for getting ready to rebuild a foundation of your business in changing market and consumer.
1) Become familiar with trading and Bartering with other small business consumers.
The barter industry is a multi billion dollar industry. You can trade your services and products dollar for dollar with another small to medium business. Bartering with other businesses is a way that you save your cash that you do have in the bank for things like a house payment or lease payment and use your business service or product to get trade dollars. Once you have trade dollars to use in a trade market like ITEX you can utilize it with any world wide barter business member. There are thousands!
Businesses such as Plumbers, Roofers, Salons, Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Tickets, Business Coaches, SEO, IT, Art, Hotels, Transportation, Printers, Advertising Companies, Construction, Handymen, Marketing, Event Planners, and more ! Whats also great about this business while its always nice to have another business join you can refer trust worthy businesses that you may not have ever thought to work with had you not traded in the barter marketplace. Other small businesses are hurting just as much as you are and have a family or life expenses to support just like you. Therefore 10 times more likely to utilize your services especially if you can offer them an outstanding product or service by doing trade.
One of the barter networks I belong to is actually hosting an informational virtual meeting for those interested in learning how to increase cash flow in an unsure time and stabilize your own well being by utilizing one of the many ways they incentivize businesses to become part of it.
Trading For Cash Flow Virtual Meeting -Join URL:https://zoom.us/j/599020505
You can also find out more by going to www.itex.com or www.facebook.com/itex-mn
2) Get In Front Of That Camera!
Whether it be your phone or your laptop or iPad, practice without high expectations of yourself on being in front of the camera. I bet that free trade in offer of a new phone from one of the major phone companies is looking real good about now. And it should be! You don't need the best of the best tech but you should have a decently newer laptop, tablet, or phone that you can shoot with. Right now we are all being forced to be behind closed doors and the camera is our lifeline. However after this is done and people will have grown accustom to this way of life, you can be sure many more businesses will be using it as their main point of touching on customers and sales because consumers have found an even easier way to shop. It's not enough that Amazon has pictures, but now you can basically go through your Facebook or Instagram feed and watch an array of “infomercials” for businesses doing lives and posting zoom casts. So color that hair, learn to do that makeup, and look the part because now you can bet that you are being judged on your brand by the way you look more than ever before. Similar to flipping channels on a television, if you don't look part on the video or live, your potential consumer will keep scrolling until they find someone else they can identify and connect with.
3) Be consistent in your message and branding.
Making sure that your self image matches your brand and the potential customers you'd reach.
Things to think about is
How does your ideal customer dress?
What does your ideal customer like to eat?
Where do they purchase their everyday items from?
What music do they listen to?
You need to be looking, doing, eating, drinking, and listening to all of those things and "reporting" on it in your social media and in videos.
For more tips on how to improve your branding image through events, image consulting and design go to www.katminks.com or email me directly