The initial steps of starting a business are complete. You have chosen a product and/or service to offer, identified the target audience you want to reach, picked a location to sell your goods, and hired employees whose main job is to sell those products and/or service to customers.

Now comes the tough part. You need to attract people to your store to purchase what you have to offer.

Promote Your Existence

Your first major task is to let people know that you exist and you’re open for business. Here is some start up ideas you can do yourself.

  • A small ad in the local paper and a flyer that you can create and have your employees hand out is a great way to start inviting people to check out your store. Adding a coupon in the ad and flyer for a discount on a purchase should encourage visits. Make the first few days after you open a fun celebration with food, drinks, and decorations. Host a raffle where people can enter to win prizes like a big discount on a product or a meal at a local restaurant. The entry form should ask for the customer’s home address and phone number, their birthday, their children’s birthdays, their wedding anniversary, and email address. This information can later be used to build a customer database.
  • Develop a dialog. Use the database to develop a dialog with your prospective clients. Alert them to new products that come into the store and special sales events. Invite them to visit the store to pick up birthday and anniversary presents. Encourage possible customers to communicate back to you with suggestions on products they want you to offer or ideas that improve customer service.
  • Have a referral program. Offer discounts or free product or service to clients who refer friends to your business.
  • Create a bond with customers. Capture their loyalty with little things that show that you value your customers. For example, reward them every year on their anniversary of becoming a customer.

Sustain Your Promotional Efforts

All of this is a good start, but you have to sustain your promotion. You want to be assured that your customer base grows. Here are some ideas.

  • Hire a marketing agency or consultant. Once your business is established, decide whether or not you need to hire a marketing agency or consultant to sustain a promotional strategy.
  • Create a website. There are firms that will develop a site for free and then host it for a fee. Obviously, the website includes a description of your business and lists and describes the goods or services you offer. It also assists in gathering new customers to your business. For example, people who are looking for the products or service you provide often use Internet search engines like Google. If you are present on the Internet, a Google search could land you on a list of businesses that offer the products or service searched for. Your business will appear higher on that list depending on the Internet tricks you use on your website. The higher you are on the list, the greater the numbers of potential customers who visit your site.
  • Create a presence on social networks. Create a page on Facebook and other social media networks. This permits you to market your business to millions of people.