Here’s a 5 minute focus to ensure that your business is as visible as possible. So, what options are available to ensure that your business is seen by your target market? Your marketing budget will often determine where to start. Here’s a few ideas:

  • In June 2010 there were 51.4 million internet users in the UK (source internetworldstats) so internet presence would be a good place to start
  • If you’re a confident internet user, you might consider creating your own website with wordpress – make sure that your website includes at the very least how to contact you, what you offer, and the benefits that your products/services offer your potential customers.
  • If you want someone to build your website for you, then you will need to do some research – ask to see previous work of the web designer, look at how well those websites rank in google, and read testimonials, or ask for recommendations.
  • If you don’t have budget for a website, and not confident to try building your own, how about creating a facebook page to promote your business – Facebook Pages offer lots of functionality and can even offer similar functionality to a website – take a look at The Social Accelerators for a fully pimped page to get some idea of the functionality that you can add to your Facebook fan page.
  • Other social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube are also perfect places to get your business seen. Don’t just use them to broadcast your special offers though, as you will lose more fans than you gain – offer interesting information about your industry/product/service – engage with your potential customers by striking up conversations.
  • If your business is local, then leafleting is still a powerful way to let your target market know that you exist
  • Network meetings are also a good place to promote your business
  • Find opportunities to speak about your area of expertise – there are often local groups that are in need of speakers.
  • Issue press releases about new products/services or even awards won.

If you want to spend more on your marketing, here’s a few other ideas:

  • Exhibit at industry trade shows, or local trade shows
  • Advertise on other websites or in magazines aimed at your target market
  • Radio still attracts a lot of listeners, so a good place to get heard
  • TV advertising is probably the most expensive of all forms of marketing, however, there is no denying it has a huge audience.

No matter what your business or budget, the important thing is to show your target market what you do, and how it benefits them, so I would urge you to regularly review how visible your business is.