Internet Marketing &
Business Promotion
How to Successfully Launch
a New Business
By Bob Leduc
Every
week I talk with business owners who tell me how excited
they are about their new product, service or business
opportunity. Usually, their comments include something
like, "Everybody needs it. I know I'm going to
make a lot of money with this."
They sincerely believe it will be easy to generate
hordes of customers standing in line to spend money.
I really hate bursting their bubble. But, it's not going
to happen that way.
Building a successful business is hard work. Most of
that work will be devoted to finding customers. Finding
customers will be your toughest job. You need a detailed
strategy to attract the number of paying customers required
to meet your financial goals.
By trial and error over many years, I've developed
a 5 step marketing strategy that enables me to launch
a new product or service profitably every time. You
can copy this system to launch your own new enterprise
or to revive a floundering business.
Step 1: Identify Your Target Market
The first step in developing your strategy is to isolate
the best target market for your product or service.
Your sales efforts will be most effective if you focus
on a group of prospects with common characteristics
and similar problems.
Start by defining on paper your ideal customer or client.
List all of the characteristics you expect to find in
good customers or clients. Be sure to include characteristics
that make your product or service valuable to them.
Then, use this list to identify a target market. Define
your target market in writing.
Step 2: Find Your Most Appealing Customer
Benefit
Exactly what is the most compelling problem you can
solve for prospects in your target market? Why is your
product or service the best solution to their problem?
Your answers to these 2 questions reveal the customer
benefit(s) to stress in your sales approach.
Step 3: Develop A Few Motivating Offers
Develop 2 or 3 offers that motivate prospects to take
buying action immediately. For example, can you use
a special discounted price offer with a deadline? Are
there bonuses you can add if prospects order or sign
up before the deadline? Can you combine both into a
"special price plus bonus" offer?
Decide which offer on your list is the most powerful
and use it in your sales material and/or your selling
presentation.
IMPORTANT: A special offer providing obvious value
always increases your sales volume. It's a proven way
to overcome buyer resistance and procrastination. A
special offer also provides a logical reason in the
buyer's mind to justify what may actually be an impulsive
decision to buy now.
Step 4: Decide How To Publicize Your
Business
How will you introduce yourself to prospects in this
market? Will you use classified or display ads in print
publications or on the Internet? Will you use direct
mail? Is broadcast media such as radio or TV appropriate
and cost-effective? What networking can you participate
in locally or on the Internet to draw attention to your
business? What other methods of promotion can you use?
Prioritize each method on your list and develop an
action plan with deadlines for implementing them.
Step 5: Establish A Plan To Promote
Customer Loyalty
Decide what you will do to cultivate customers so they
continue to do business with you and give you referrals.
For example, write or call your customers or clients
immediately after a transaction and thank them for their
business. Ask them if they're pleased with what they
received. Most will express their satisfaction. That's
the ideal time for you to follow up with a request for
referrals.
Don't be afraid to uncover an unhappy customer. When
you do, take whatever action you must to leave them
feeling good about you, even if your only recourse is
issuing a prompt refund. Most dissatisfied customers
won't take the trouble to contact you about their problem.
They'll just take their business elsewhere and tell
other people about their negative experience with you.
That will cost you a lot of future business.
I've used this 5 step process successfully many times.
It reduces risk by replacing guesswork with a proven
strategy that gets results. You can follow this system
to successfully launch a new enterprise or to revive
an existing business that isn't growing.
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About the Author
Bob Leduc is a Sales Consultant with 30 years experience
in generating low-cost leads. He recently wrote a manual
for small business owners, "How to Build Your Small
Business Fast With Simple Postcards", and several
other publications to help small businesses grow and
prosper. For more info: Email: BobLeduc@aol.com Subject:
"Postcards"
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