As the owner of a new business, one of your major concerns is achieving growth with low or zero-cost strategies. Such strategies are:
1. Establishing Useful Connections
Sometimes, help may come out of the blue. Don’t miss opportunities to talk about your business to your acquaintances. Attend business events that foster professional connections. In this way, you build a useful network. Consider how one person you meet at an event may need to connect with another one you already know; when you give help that is not expected, people will be grateful and will want to help you in return. Who knows? One of your acquaintances may even lead to a business alliance in the future.
2. Offering Giveaways and Discounts
Giveaways are a great way to advertise your services or products; you can easily entice your target customers by offering something for free, and they will hopefully find it a thrilling experience. Also, don’t forget to tend to your existing customers by offering discounts: Your open-handed approach will make them want to come back to you for more.
3. Emulation
Investigate what other successful companies have done to achieve and sustain growth, and emulate them. If you do not target the same niche, they may even be happy to offer advice, as long as you ask for it. Once you identify a particular approach that has proved to be successful, don’t hesitate to ‘steal’ it and adapt it to suit your own business.
4. Use of Online Tools
Today, 90% of customers will research you online before deciding to buy from you; so an online business profile and tools are indispensable:
a. WordPress
WordPress is a free website and blog posting platform, on which you can choose from a wide range of plugins and templates to design your website the way you want, without the need to hire a professional. It is a real revolution in the area of website creation.
b. Skype
Skype enables you to easily communicate with customers via a phone call or text message, while you also have the option to see your interlocutor via a webcam. You can interview potential employees, set up virtual meetings, and send documents. All these services are offered free of charge.
c. Newsletters
You can easily set up an email newsletter by using a template and sending your message to multiple recipients, as the process is automated; it’s a good idea to send messages twice a week in order to keep the interest of your existing customers alive. Obviously, the content you provide should be as attractive as possible to your readers.
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