How to Drum Up Business Fast There was a great thread a few weeks ago about using thank you notes to bring in more business in a flash and I thought I'd share a few ideas of what has worked for me. When you need new business now, the best place to go really IS your current and past clients because you don't need to re-sell them on working with you. They know you're good and like your work and just need a reason to hire you again or a reminder that you're there. And ezines are great, but let's face it, we're all probably opening fewer and fewer of them these days as our mail boxes get stuffed to the gills. I have tried the thank you note thing and that can work--the one downside is that they have to actually look up your email or phone number to contact you. So you can still sit on their to-do list a little while. So I'll often reach out by email instead--a personal message from me to them that does at least one of the following things...
Sometimes they just say thanks or we exchange a few emails about whatever it is I sent and that's that. But you'd be surprised how often, they say, "I've been thinking about contacting you..." And because it's an email, it's easy for them to do--all they have to do is hit reply! It doesn't matter how long ago the client was either. I recently had a client respond who I hadn't worked with in several years and who hadn't responded to a few other efforts to reach out. But she'd sent me an email mentioning her new site a few months before and when I finally got a chance to look at it, I mentioned that something was confusing. I actually wasn't even trolling for a project, just trying to be helpful. But she replied three days later asking me to redo the copy for the home page and more projects are in the works. I also sent a thank you note to another client I haven't worked with since last year, and she emailed and called me a week later to find out if I was interested in being included for an RFP they'll be putting out soon. So how do I find things to write them about?
(Note: I only reach out to those clients I liked working with. LOL) Anyway, I hope some of these ideas that have helped me out of a cash crunch a number of times in the past 8 years can help someone else do the same! |
Re: How to Drum Up Business Fast That was an AWESOME Post! Thank you for that! It really just outlines what people should be doing instead of pitching their business to someone up front! Keep Rocking! :) |
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I forgot to say one other thing I do when they do have more work is send them an invoice with a link to either my shopping cart or paypal (it depends on the client) so I get make sure the money is in my account quickly. I've also (if it hasn't been too long since I worked with them) just ask them if they'd like to charge the same card as before. That way I don't even have to wait for them to do it! |
Re: How to Drum Up Business Fast Excellent post, Tracy, and very workable by anybody. I was actually thinking about revisiting some of my older clients the other day and now I have a great formula to do so. Google alerts are a hidden gem as I've often used them to mention snippets of info in niches I'm into in blogs and social media alerts - so nice to connect the dots here in another way. Thanks again!! V |
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Re: How to Drum Up Business Fast I like your tip about mentioning something the competitions is doing. Good business owners like to see what the competitors are doing. And good competitors like to stay on top and out in front of their competition. So this leaves them with the question in their head? 'hmmm I wonder if I should be doing that' |
Re: How to Drum Up Business Fast Important point about this is to do it with sincerity... If you are doing it with obvious ulterior motives, it will anger people... But if you do it with the mindset of just keeping the door open, more doors will open... |
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