With businesses cutting back on various expenses and complaining about not having the money to advertise to try to bring in more, best-selling author Jill Lublin of Get Noticed…Get Referrals: Build Your Client Base and Your Business by Making a Name for Yourself offers 10 suggestions on how you can get the word out about your business… and all of them cost little or no money.
1. Be yourself. Build on your assets and your uniqueness because they are really what people want. Don't just be a copycat; find your own voice. Get noticed in your own way.
2. Work your business around your life, so it fits in your life, supports your life and reflects you. Too many people do the reverse.
3. Think of your clients, customers, referral sources, vendors and suppliers as your partners and friends—as people who want to help you. Never forget that they're people, not just business statistics, and that you cannot succeed without them.
4. Master the art of listening because when you listen, you truly learn. If you listen, people will want to share their knowledge with you, be with you and help you. They will consider you their friend and go to great lengths to help you.
5. Get your word out using the media… pitch yourself for radio shows and TV appearances, and send out newsworthy announcements about your business to your local newspapers and trade organizations.
6. Be generous. Make giving a central part of your life. Work hard and give your clients and customers more than they expect. Give people your time. Always show your appreciation and thanks, and reward those who help. Praise others, and give them the credit—and the spotlight.
7. Surround yourself with the most interesting, active and positive people. Hang around with experts, authorities and people who are smarter and more accomplished than you. Find ways to meet them and be with them because they will open amazing new doors for you.
8. Constantly strive for excellence and do everything in the best possible way. Build a reputation for continually doing outstanding work and everyone will want to be with and work with you.
9. Always ask, “Can I do it better, more interestingly, or more inventively?” Challenge yourself to go beyond your prior accomplishments and to always surpass your best.
10. Never compromise your integrity. Stand by your values, but don't preach. Always be truthful, honest, fair, understanding and humane. Deliver what you promised when you promised.
Follow these suggestions and you will be noticed. None of these tips will cost you even a dime, but the rewards you will reap much prosperity and success.
Jill Lublin (www.jilllublin.com) authored the best-selling book Get Noticed…Get Referrals: Build Your Client Base and Your Business by Making a Name for Yourself (McGraw-Hill, 2008). She is also the co-author of two other national bestselling books, Networking Magic and Guerrilla Publicity. As the CEO of the strategic consulting firm, Promising Promotion, Jill has trained companies in innovative techniques to improve bottom-line results.