You’ve started your business. Things are going well. But you know it hasn’t yet reached its potential. What’s holding you back?
Customers. You need more of them. And sooner would be better than later!
Your situation is not atypical. Many businesses, especially those that are small or in startup mode, wrestle with getting customers. They lack the budget and brand recognition to have clients coming to them. That means they need to get creative about attracting prospects, which is easy to say, much harder to do.
Before you can invest in marketing, you may need to do some grassroots promoting to get things rolling. Here are three items you can use to begin building your brand and gaining visibility.
1. Website — A professional website is a necessity. Every prospect you meet and even those you don’t will want to check you out online. Having a website helps legitimize your company.
Fortunately, your website doesn’t have to be huge, and it doesn’t need to be glitzy. But it must accurately present your products or services in a way that customers understand. You need some basics such as what you’re selling and what problem it solves.
A basic website should include the following pages written by a professional copywriter:
2. Handout – A professional brochure is best, but a simple handout, even if it’s only in digital form, can work too. It can be a one-sheet in PDF form that includes your name and contact information as well as your website URL. Then it should have a brief paragraph or two about what you’re selling.
Feel free to supplement that information with bullets that spell out a few compelling details, such as those unique qualities you have that compel someone to choose to do business with you over your competitor.
3. Sales Letter – A well-crafted sales letter is a great way to introduce your company and generate leads. To be effective, it should describe a problem and then explain how your product or service solves that problem.
Keep it brief, no more than three paragraphs. And make sure you focus on the benefits you provide. Have a single call to action, which can be the offer of something like a free report, a demo, a meeting or a free quote.
Don’t expect the sales letter to do the whole job of generating sales. In most cases, it’s not enough, especially when your company is new and your brand unknown. Instead, use your sales letter to generate qualified leads that you can then pursue further.
To create these three items you don’t need to hire an expensive digital marketing firm or ad agency. You can choose to work with freelancers. Because their overhead is usually less than a full service agency, their rates tend to be more affordable.
If you need a good starting point, consider a freelance copywriter for hire. Most are also skilled in project management. They also probably have a curated network of skilled freelancers and can steer you toward freelance web designers, programmers and graphic designers offering professional services.
Freelancers can be great resources as well because of their diverse experience. Freelance copywriters, for example, likely have experience writing for numerous types of businesses in a variety of industries. You’ll benefit from their general marketing knowledge and business acumen in addition to the specified services they provide.
They can help you size up the competition and determine how to differentiate your business. They can help you prioritize your marketing expenditures so you do things in the right order and maximize the return. They can help you set goals and prioritize tasks. They can even help you anticipate and perhaps prevent problems.
They can provide concrete examples of what others have done, taking some of the guesswork out of the equation for you. And they can help you get the most bang for your buck by creating a marketing piece and repurposing it into additional materials, such as writing one article and turning it into multiple blog posts and lead-generating emails.
To get the ball rolling, consider this easy three-step process for getting a copywriter for hire:
The sooner you get started, the sooner your business will begin reaping the rewards of marketing!
Susan Greene is a Florida copywriter for hire. Based in Orlando, Florida, she and her team work with clients around the U.S. and the world to produce high quality marketing materials that build brands and generate sales.
Wow! Sounds great! I’d call that a wrap. Thank you so much for bearing with me. This was well worth the effort. Really sends the message home – POW!
Corey Hooper
President
Creators Bounty
Lighthouse Point, Florida