1. Get Online & Get Optimized – find a reputable search engine optimization firm (that’s us by the way!) who can build your online presence so you can achieve a good organic traffic flow on a monthly basis. This will attract regular customers without you having to lift a finger. Look out for simple seo packages.

2. Write a Blog – often mentioned, but rarely explained. Blogs offer an opportunity for you to build a following amongst people who are interested in the subject matter. You’d be surprised just how many people will start to follow your stories if you write with some regularity. For example, a company offering surf tours in Japan could easily post a new surf video (preferably on which is impressive, humorous or scary!) every week on a blog. After a few months, individuals interested in surfing would be paying close attention to that company and what it was sharing. One or two might even book a tour!

3. Strive to Achieve Media Attention – good old print media like local newspapers is still a vital source of potential customers. The great thing about local newspapers is that big news is fairly rare! This means that your business making a donation to a local charity or sponsoring a local sports team will make the first few pages of the paper. This is a great opportunity to spread your name and the good word of your business.

4. Classified Ads – what are you selling? Chances are there’s a section for it, or something related to it, in local classified ads, online or offline. It’s vital to think outside the box and consider similar products your main customer will be looking at. Sell dog toys? Advertise under dog toys, dog’s beds and new puppies!

Finding customers is different to attracting customers. Finding customers is all about about actively seeking a customer or a group of customers. The methods explained below relate to engaging with potential customers on a one to one basis. Whilst this might not be practical if you sell bottles of lemonade, it can be incredibly effective if you sell lower volume, higher value products. For example, a student with $8,000 in their bank account looking for a round-the-world travel package. If you offer such a package, catch this guy near point of purchase and you could earn a sale.

The Gold:

1. Twitter – Twitter really is like Gold Dust. In January 2010 there were 75 million recorded users world wide, ‘tweeting’ over 4 billion times a quarter (April 2010). Amongst these billions of tweets are thousands of possible business leads. People “looking for a good plumber in the London area”, “wondering where to go in Italy this summer” and asking “what the best restaurant in Ulan Bator is”. Sure, no one has time to search tweets all day, but it’s nice to know the option is there if you have a spare few minutes. Once you’ve found a possible lead send them a short friendly message about your service.

2. LinkedIn – If you haven’t already, sign up to LinkedIn. You will not regret it. Emailing people out of the blue is quickly becoming one of the most ineffective ways of communication. Cold calling can be fractionally better. But, the future is in contact through social media. Add other users as friends – it breaks down that initial ’stranger barrier’, then send a message about your product or service. Compliment them on their product, service or website. Find relevant users in on-topic groups and discussions.

3. Facebook Groups – as the single most popular website in the world, Facebook is a very important resource to invest time in. Start a group about your product or service, invite all of your friends to join, ask them to invite all of their friends (incentives may be necessary). Start issuing monthly updates to members about latest offers and news (not too frequently otherwise people will feel spammed). Allow discussions on the group and engage with members if they have questions about the product. This is a popular and effective way to increase your brand strength and keep your products in people’s minds.

4. Forums – Join forums related to your product or service. Join in conversations and threads with relevant and intelligent input. Don’t spam, this is your company reputation on the line. Slowly introduce you product or service if the opportunity arises.

5. Blog Posts – Google has very kindly introduced a Blog Search feature which allows you to search the latest blog posts on the World Wide Web. This is ideal for searching for blogs related to your product or service. Engage with the author and any other users adding comments. Ensure that you add your website link to your comment tag so other users can see who this fountain of knowledge works for!

The packages we offer are all an essential part of any online marketing toolkit. Whilst press releases, newsletters and flashy websites are all very interesting, unless they target the inviduals who are willing to part with money for a product or service, they are useless.