I’m often asked, “How can I expand my business without a good customer base?” The answer is that you can’t! Growing your customer list is essential if you’re going to have a thriving business, and here of some of the ways to do it:
- Call former clients and get their email addresses to establish them on your mailing list. Always ask for referrals!
- When you find out that people are interested in your product or service, ask them if they would like to be included on your mailing list, which would give them in-depth information about your business.
- Place advertisements on websites related to your field of business, asking people to sign up for your mailing list to get email information or special offers.
- Associate yourself with community-based message boards, and try positioning yourself as a specialist in your field. Once people are convinced, they will sign up for your newsletters (you do have one, don’t you?), and they will be added to your list. (An easy way to create and send email newsletters is by using MailChimp.)
- You could create a subscription form to be filled out by people willing to join your list. Your newsletter should also have a subscription box, which would automatically add them, based on the page they subscribe from, to a particular mailing list.
- Write articles for local newspapers, even if you have to pay for the space. These would advertise your knowledge and awareness of your product or service, thereby attracting people to your website to sign up for your mailing list.
- Create a print newsletter that explains the details of your email newsletter and mailing list. This would let them know that they can sign up for one of the lists by sending an email to the website.
