20 Practical Ways To Promote Your Business

One very important aspect of a business is the promotion. When we promote a business, we try to make it appeal to the people we are targeting to sell it to. We make it look wonderful in the eye of the potential customer. And very often, people are convinced by the wonderful pictures we show them and they eventually choose to give the product, a try.

However, our success in convincing potential customers is not found just in the advertisement we do. There is a lot more we do, that makes the potential customer, want what we offer. This in all is called marketing.
 

Every good product has a great potential to flourish when well marketed. In my post titled “Three Pillars of a Successful Business” I mentioned that one of the three pillars that make a business is MARKETING. In marketing, you are producing a quality PRODUCT, in an attractive PACKAGE, for an affordable PRICE, at the best PLACE for easiest access by the customer, doing everything possible to make it appeal to the customer, by PROMOTING it. When all these are in place, success is next on the line.
 
Therefore, for you to successfully market your business, you need to be able to give it all the promotion it needs. In this post, I bring to you a comprehensive package of practical things you can do, to promote your business in a way that will make it win the market and give birth to success. They are:
 

WORK ON THE FIRST CONTACT POINTS

When you start a business, you give it a name, design a logo for it, get a site of operation or office space, do a sign post for it, a complimentary card and maybe a newsletter or handbill. These are what I call, the first contacts. Very often, these are the first things people see about your business and whatever they see, gives them their first impressions, which you may never be able to change. So;
 
1.    Choose a name for your business that is not obvious but let it be simple to pronounce. Let your name create curiosity in the mind of anyone who hears it. Let it cause people to want to come and know your business the more. See my post on “Ten Qualities of A Good Business Name” for more.
 
2.    Design a logo that will represent what you stand for and leave a great and memorable impression in the minds of members of the public. However be simple. Simple logos like those of Mercedes, Coca Cola, Nike, Adidas, Toyota, Puma, Google, Yahoo, HP, Dell, Ford, Facebook and so on have stood the test of time. Let it not be cluttered. Let it be simple but really creative and attractive. 
 
3.    Situate your business in a suitable place. Depending on the type of business you do, you have to situate it where it is suitable for the kind of operation you carry out as well as give the customer easy access to it, without constituting any environmental havoc. 

For example, while a restaurant business will need a clean cozy internal environment that is capable of getting one relaxed and an external environment that has high people traffic, a poultry business will need to be kept far away from the public for health reasons, but must be located such that the traders can easily access it. Make sure wherever you operate your business, looks wonderful.
 
4.    Do a sign post if necessary and make it conspicuous and beautiful, but not crowded with too much. Let the writings be visible from a good distance and make sure it is posted in a way that makes it visible. You don’t always have to include a picture of what you do, on it. However, it is not a bad idea, if it does not over crowd the post.
 
5.    Print complementary cards for your business and brochures for your business and make sure they carry your name, logo, the things you do, where you are situated, how you can be contacted, and some of your products. Give them to your workers, family, friends, colleagues, business partners, and so on and let them give them to others.
 

BUILD A WONDERFUL BUSINESS IMAGE

Your business image has to do with the impression people have about it. It is about what people think about the business. It doesn’t matter if what they think is true, their opinion is more important than yours. To build a wonderful business image, you need to:
 
6.    Create a good working environment for those working on the business. Cultivate love, trust, friendship, team spirit, and deal with conflicts and intimidation such that everyone feels like an owner of the business. See my post on “How to create an exciting environment for your business” for more on this.
 
7.    Create a good business relationship with the public. The first people who will try to patronize what you do are those around where you do your business. They may eventually turn out to be the first persons to promote and market the business, if they are well treated. You need to honor them. If possible, get your workers from the environment where your business operates.
 
8.    Provide standard quality products and services to customers. Customers are after quality and standard. You should never have a reason for giving them anything less. They need high standard products with high standard services. This will promote your business. See my post on “Four Things That Will Keep Your Customers” for more.
 
9.    Deliver your goods and services at the right time without any disappointment. Time of delivery is also part of your service quality but because of how crucial it is, I decide to make it a separate point. You will be killing your business if you cannot be reliable enough to deliver your products when needed just at the time expected. Work on this and let your customers know you for timely delivery.
 

BE CREATIVE IN PROMOTING YOUR BUSINESS

I tell people that the highest thing that most businesses lack today is creativity. When you are creative, your business is never stagnant. So to, is your purse. There are many ways to be creative in promoting your business. These are just a few.
 
10.    Saturate the environment with your brand image. Place your name and logo on your business stationary, business cards, calendars, T-shirts, email signatures, brochures, merchandising materials, etc. Give these things out to
 
11.    Build an online presence for your business/product. You could create a dynamic website for your business or market it on websites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, or run a blog for it, or go to popular and interactive websites like football and fashion websites, and make comments that promote your business. However, be intentional about marketing your business on these sites. 

If you have a Facebook page, saturate it with images of your products and business, and cause friends on these sites to join you promote your business. You could also go for banner ads and employ search engine optimization techniques.
 
12.     Attend business and network meetings and introduce yourself by the name of your business. In fact, get to a point where your family and friends would easily remember the name of your business than your name.
 
13.    From time to time, during some particular seasons, organize exhibitions and promotion programs to exhibit your products and give them out cheaper than normal. If you are into hair-cut business, try something like organizing a back-to-school special service during the back-to-school period of the year. Provide cheaper services for one week.
 
14.    Utilize the bill boards on the roads. It is not always as expensive as you expect, buying free space on them.
 
15.    Use print and audiovisual media to advertise your business. Make sure your adverts are humorous enough but are on point. Adverts play on the psychology of people a lot.
 
16.    Get 1000 phone numbers of potential customers, from friends and families as well as co-workers. Send bulk sms to them once a month. You could also get so many emails and send mails to them about your business. You will be surprised that you will increase your sales drastically.
 
17.    Offer to speak in seminars, on areas you are knowledgeable about and don’t miss the opportunity to introduce yourself by your business identity, if you are allowed to introduce yourself. Take permission from the organizers, to spend the first 3-5 minutes of your time, talking about your business/products and if possible, show case a few. You could also organize your own seminars.
 
18.    Do a good video of your business/product and put it up on You Tube.
 
19.    Use other people’s businesses to promote yours. For example, if you sell cosmetic products and you know a saloon that has a high customer base, get there and negotiate a small deal with them, to place posters of your products in their shop while you pay something little each month for it.
 
20.    Organize and promote activities that people love. Anything that you are sure will pull a crowd. Sports contests are very good. Although you may spend some little money, it will be worthwhile. During such programs display your products and talk about them. Give them out at promotional rates. This will go a long way to promote your business.
 
By now, I am sure you can see how opportunities to market your business, abound everywhere around you. You have no reason to be stagnant in business. Make use of the opportunities and you will be swimming in wealth.