Home Blog MarketingPromoting your business locally

Promoting your business locally

local

You have a (new) business and now you want to raise awareness in your local community about your brand, products and services. What to do? Well, search no more, we are here to give you some simple guidelines that will get your business going in no time:

1. Start with who you know

Print business cards that clearly feature your business, contact details, website address and at least one unique selling point (something that you do uniquely better than the competition - a reason for people to buy from you above anyone else.) Then make a list of 20 people you know. Go visit them and explain what makes your business so unique. Hand them the business cards to pass on.

2. Join Associations

It is a small investment, but it will yield huge returns. Join these organizations and start networking.

Chamber of Commerce

Join your local chamber of commerce, and that of surrounding counties. It will give you exposure to local business and a mention on their website. Start your search for your local Chamber of Commerce here. Be active in your Chamber of Commerce and remember that you get back what you put in.

Join Local Chapters

A Chapter or an Affiliate is an organized group of volunteers in different states throughout the United States that provide a local presence for a certain professional or interest group. Join professional chapters and look for chapters in your sphere of interest. It is a great way of meeting hands on people and educating them about your business. It is also a great way of giving back to the community.

Join the Better Business Bureau

Better_Business_Bureau_logo Set yourself apart from the competition by joining the Better Business Bureau and feature their logo on your promotional collateral. We've all been stung by dishonest businesses, and some of us will not do business with a company again unless they have been vetted by the Better Business Bureau.

Join Score

Score, The Service Corps of Retired Executives, is an organization where retired CEO's and Entrepreneurs give free advice to small businesses. Their advice will give you plenty of ammunition in dealing with the competition.

Join the SBA

The United States Small Business Administration is a one-top source of information, products and services for new and existing small-business owners. Here you can apply for start-up funds, secure loan guarantees and apply for venture capital. The SBA also sports a vast online research database, gives marketing and management advice, offers business-specific training workshops, publishes specialized reports and manuals and gives SME's access to international export markets worldwide.

3. Find local networking groups

Meetup.com

Meetup_logo Whether you are exclusively looking for business networks, or want to meet other like-minded people, meetup.com has a group for everyone. Simply enter your postcode, tell the site how far you want to travel, and it will list groups for you in order of proximity. Granted, groups aren't always as close as the site thinks they are, but the system works overall.

ToastMasters

ToastMasters doesn't only give you opportunities to network, it also helps you hone your social and presentations skills. A must for small business owners who are new to the world of commerce.

4. Local events

Search for local events related to your industry in local magazines and on sites like Upcoming, Meetup and When and attend. Ask around in your city and find out if there are any local trade shows or business showcases. If it is related to your industry or the industry your clients operate in, do the following three things: attend, attend, attend.

5. Social Networking

If you have accounts on LinkedIn and Facebook make sure to tell everyone about your new business, update all your info and ask your connections to recommend you or raise awareness about your brand to potential customers.

6. Team up with local business

Find local businesses that work in the same industry as you do and team up with them. We are web designers, so natural companies for us to affiliate with so that we can cross promote each other are Graphic Designers, Copy Writers, Printers, etc. You might be an architect, so you would seek affiliations with home builders, landscape architects, interior designers, etc. Just think: who targets the same customer group that you do? Are your services compatible? If the answer is yes on both accounts, you might want to affiliate yourself with them.

7. Leave behind promotional materials in your local neighborhoods

T Billboard_grocery_store his might not be a wise idea if your brand wants to be recognized for luxury, but it works for most businesses: Print some fliers with little tear-off tabs with your phone number and website. Make sure that your fliers focus on specific aspects of your business and are tailored to the audience in that location. Now leave these fliers behind in:

Grocery stores
Laundry mats
Post office rental places
Local supermarkets
etc.

Make sure you change the fliers every quarter (e.g. pick a theme based on each season).

8. Yellow Pages

Get your business listed in the Yellow Pages. Get a nice expanded listing or yellow page ad.

9. Give and you shall get

Get involved with local charities and local community. Make sure that you advertise your sponsorships, that is a fair quid pro quo and yes, every little bit helps. List the charities you support on the about page of your website. What you support says something about the character of your business.

10. B2B? Seek out new businesses

If you sell to businesses, it is worth your while to check out the public records in your county (for incorporation, assumed name application, etc.) You can then either choose to approach them via cold calling (more on that later) or direct mail (again, more on that later).

11. Word of Mouth

Word_of_mouth Getting your first customers is probably the hardest work you'll ever do. But when working with your first customers, don't forget that you are already marketing to the people they will talk to. Ignite your clients, treat them like royalty and they will recommend you to future clients.

12. Make it easy to be contacted

Make sure that your contact details are prominently featured on all your stationary and collateral materials. Now that you have a website, make sure you implement all the appropriate Calls to Action.

Measure success and failure

Measure what works and what doesn't work. You'll be investing a lot of effort in all of these different marketing tactics and if you keep following this blog, you'll be learning about many more ways to promote your business. Not all of them will be appropriate to market your product or service. So measure what returns you get on every activity and do more of what works.

Over to you

Did I forget anything? Do you have some questions? Or do you want to share your personal anecdotes about starting up and marketing for the first time? Please, share your thoughts with us in the comments below or in our forum, we'll be sure to respond.