Write Newsletters

Effective newsletters are a good way to stay in touch with your clients. Whether they are e-newsletters or hard-copy, monthly or quarterly, newsletters help you establish a brand, develop expertise, and stay in touch.

Press Releases

Let the local press know about some of your clients' success stories. For a quick primer on press releases, visit wikihow.com/Write-a-Press-Release. Visit marketingsource.com/pressrelease/releaseformat.html for a nice sample template.

Website & Online Video

Whatever marketing activities you choose to do, put this on the top of your list. A good website will outline your core services, who you are and who you help, and attract visitors from your target market. There are countless examples to see. Simply Google "Service Business (Your State)" and hundreds of websites will come up. It doesn't have to be an incredibly high-tech site to make a difference, but it does need to be optimized for search engines and you should make a habit of using your other marketing efforts to drive traffic to your site. When creating your website, consider adding video content. Some business owners make entirely new presentations using PowerPoint while others simply use video from a recent seminar. In my opinion putting an informative video on your site (either about your business, about a current trend, or both) is the best way for people to get an idea of what type of business owner you are.

Write Books

Writing a book or two is another way to make yourself stand out from the crowd. Several service business owners have taken their books and created presentations from them. This is a nice situation because they get revenue from book sales and clients become interested in their businesses. It is easier now than ever before to get a book published. If you don't have the time to hire an agent and/or market your book to the publishing houses, you can self-publish or even write an e-book.

We've now covered several marketing activities that can draw prospects to your business. While they are also great ways to stay in front of your current clients, there are additional marketing strategies that can help solidify your relationship with people who already do business with you. My next articles will focus on marketing ideas for client retention.