How to Make Customers Think of Your Biz First!

A Customer Has to See Your Ad between 7 and 28 Times Before They Will Act.

I had a fabulous (and self-made rich!) business mentor for 3 1/2 years. One of the first pieces of advice he gave me was that I needed to advertise more. I said, "But I can't afford to." His reply was, "If potential clients don't know about you, how can you ever expect to grow?"

After months of haggling, I finally took his advice. Even though I had to scrounge for money to advertise more, over time, it paid off. And, that's where most small biz owners fall off the wagon. We look at the money going out faster than it's coming in and get nervous or give up. However, to grow in the long run, we have to spend money in the short run.

Most small business owners make the mistake of trying to make the sale when they haven't made themselves known to their customer base. In effect, they do not brand their business. What is branding? You know when you see the "swoop" that it's Nike; the big yellow "M" that it's McDonald's, etc. This is branding.

Why would you want to brand your business? Because branding leads to awareness, which leads to a relationship, which leads to trust, which leads to sales.

A favorite marketing method of mine is postcards. Obviously, I can't put every item my online store, EthnicHomeDecor.com, carries on a postcard. So, why do I even bother? Because, by showing a few popular items on the postcard, I get a prospect interested and aware of the existence of my business. Then, via the postcard, I invite the reader to "visit us online to see our complete line of ethnic home decor."

Once the visitor is on the site, I invite them to sign up to our mailing list via a subscriber box. Many of them do. In this way, I can begin to keep in touch with them via an e-zine, which offers sales, discounts, decorating tips, etc. Thus, a relationship is born.

Over time, the customers gets used to receiving my mailings. When they need any type of ethnic decor or ethnic gift, whose name do you think will immediately come to mind? Ethnic Vendors or Ethnic Home Decor, of course.

So, the initial cost to snag a customer who may later place a $500 order was only 23 cents (the cost to mail a postcard). Further, when a customer purchases from you once, they are 70-80% more likely to continue purchasing from you. The reason can be attributed to the fact below.

CONSUMER FACT: Most customers don't do much comparison shopping. Research suggests that many only check out an average of 1.2 brands before purchasing. So, if you're top of mind, you have an excellent chance of making the sale.

Don't expect a customer to buy from you the first time they visit your site or see your ad. As customers buy from those they know and trust, it is vital that you think long range about sales.

Your goal is to get customers to become aware of your business so that you can start to build a relationship with them. Then, when they need the type of product/service you offer, your business will be the first one they think of. This is why it's important to consistently market using offline and online methods.

Now, what is your next marketing move?

Yuwanda Black is the serial entrepreneur behind EntrepreDoer.biz. EntrepreDoer.biz offers help, hope and inspiration to small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs through articles, how-to e-books, workshops, consultations and a small business column. Questions/feedback welcomed at info@EntrepreDoer.biz.