“Want to make money? Start a business”. That’s probably the most common financial advice you saw on the internet. So, you picked your favourite item to sell and started posting on your WhatsApp status.
Six months later, you’re dealing with “promise and fail” customers, and dispatch riders that shoot your blood pressure to twice what it’s meant to be. You’re quietly asking yourself where all the millions you were promised are.
Making more money in business means selling to more people, which implies that you need to get people interested in what you have to give. While that sounds simple, convincing people to part with their money is unarguably one of the most difficult things to do. Finding new customers for your business is even harder.
Research has shown that humans don’t like to be sold to, especially at first contact. How then do you make your money? How do you get people to see you, trust you, and buy from you when you’re getting a cold shoulder before you’ve opened your mouth?
In this article, you’ll learn cheap, easy steps you can implement in your business to increase your leads and sales. If this is something you’d like to know, keep reading.
Here are 8 Secrets on How To Attract Customers:
Table of Contents
1. Be Consistent:
You’re probably thinking “The same useless advice again. Is that not what I’ve been doing since?”. It seems like a small, insignificant thing, but the truth is nobody will know what you do unless you tell them over and over.
If you’re posting your clothes for sale on Monday and the next time people see your business post is Thursday, you automatically seem less serious than the person that posts every day. Be as consistent as possible on your advertisement channel. This way, nobody will forget what you do.
2. Good Sales Copy:
Most times, when you look through business posts, what you see is, “Please come and buy from me, I sell so and so”. Generally, that kind of message or “copy”, as it’s called in marketing, will be ignored because as we’ve previously established, nobody likes being sold to. You need to come up with creative ways to make people feel like you’re helping, rather than selling to them. Invest in a good copywriter or content marketer, or you could learn the skill for yourself.
3. Make Offers and Discounts:
Yes, you want your bank account balance to look like your phone number as quickly as possible, but remember that you need to start small.
Giving out free stuff is the easiest way to get people to trust you. It convinces them to try out your product with little to no risk on their part. Consequently, they see the value you have to offer and will be more willing to part with their money next time.
The key to making offers attractive is to emphasize the scarcity of your offer. Say something like “20% off for first 5 people only” or “Free delivery for all purchases during this Easter period”. Make your offer urgent, and people will come rushing.
4. Utilize Social Media:
The power of social media can’t be overemphasized. Your social media should portray your brand. Don’t say you’re a graphic designer when you meet people meanwhile there’s nothing remotely related to design on any of your social media pages.
Social media is the easiest, cheapest way to reach strangers. Some of your biggest clients are your LinkedIn connections or your Twitter followers. Be consistent and intentional about your business on your social media pages.
Be sure to focus on the social platform your ideal buyer will typically be found. Also, use the language and tone of the platform you’re posting on. Don’t use the fun, cool kid Instagram diction on the more professional LinkedIn.
5. Websites:
Websites? Isn’t that for the big boys and girls in business? Absolutely not! Anybody and everybody can own a website. It doesn’t have to be complex with a lot of web pages.
A website is your personal advertisement sign on the internet. Hence, it should have your most important information regarding your business, like your contact address, what you’re about, your social media handles, and FAQs (frequently asked questions).
The benefits of owning a website are endless. Most people just go to Google when they want information. Assuming you were in a new city, say London, and you needed a good restaurant, you would probably just type “Best restaurant in London”. Google will show you restaurants with websites.
Owning a website is a good way to take advantage of search engines when publicizing your business.
6. Networking and Partnerships:
No man is an island. You can’t reach the success you’re looking for all by yourself. Reach out to fellow business owners and connect with them. Offer help to them, do a favour or two for someone, and refer someone to another business owner. You’ll receive the energy you put out.
Volunteering is a good way to network and put yourself out there. Offering your services or goods to help organize an event and attending the event are among the fastest ways to get attention for your business.
Moreover, people naturally get emotionally attached to businesses that help the community in some way. Volunteering gets your business public love and support.
7. Referral Contests:
This is very popular among WhatsApp vendors. Humans naturally have a competitive streak, especially when there’s a prize attached.
To be able to sell, you need to have people to sell to. Get others to source new contacts for you and reward them for it. Point out that you’ll be rewarding only a few contenders to get their best efforts.
Make sure you can afford the rewards you promise. Don’t take on bad debt trying to put a contest together.
8. Pay for Ads:
Online advertising is one powerful method of attracting customers that small business owners often overlook. Think about it, an ad on YouTube or a pop-up on your google search result has snagged your attention at some point.
Incurring extra costs is always a cause for concern for small business owners, but most of these online ads are not expensive at all. The average cost per click for most platforms is $2, so keep this budget in mind to help you grow. You could run ads on any platform of your choice, there is no limit to this.
However, ads will be more effective if you have a landing page to direct your leads to. Unless you choose to advertise on WhatsApp, having a website will yield more results from online advertising, than running ads without one.
Conclusion:
Contrary to popular belief, owning a business does not turn you into an ATM overnight. Entrepreneurship has its ups and downs, just like everything in life.
When done right though, it is sure to make you good money. Be consistent, advertise aggressively and deliver value. You won’t lack customers with this formula.
Need help with marketing? Contact Oparawhite Global to take your business to the next level with digital solutions. Don’t forget to share this article, and leave a comment below if you found it helpful!
