5 Ways to Explode Business Growth | Out of the Box Ideas
Everyone who owns a business is looking for one thing when they start out: visibility. You have a product and the personnel in place to sell it, but now you just need people to know who you are. How are you supposed to do that in a marketplace that is growing by the second? Nearly half a million people open up a brand new business every single month, so the competition for high-quality keywords, valuable leads, and ultimately, revenue, is only going to increase.
If you’re looking for a few ways to make your business make a quick splash in the minds of consumers, here are some sure-fire tips to do precisely that.
1. Run a Contest
One of the best ways to get a ton of qualified leads and attention to your business in a hurry is to run a contest. Whether you’re giving away merchandise, a service, or cold hard cash, people are always looking for free stuff. After a contest, more people will be reached through third-party friends that are engaging in your post.
Make sure that whatever you offer appeals to your target base. Don’t offer cat products if your business sells window cleaning services. The key here is virality: you want people to share your content with others in hopes that their friends will be interested as well. If you do this on social media, the process is more straightforward: one share equals one entry. With this formula, you should attract a ton of attention in no time.
2. Contact the Press
Reporters are always looking for a story, so if your business has a unique angle, — whether in terms of its creation or the product you’re offering — reach out to local or even national news media to see if they would be interested in doing a story. You can even contact sites like Help a Reporter Out to contact reporters more directly. One company was able to harness a few news outlets to parlay their brand new business venture into thousands of dollars of revenue almost overnight.
3. Utilize Guerilla Marketing
Do you have a talent for drawing with chalk? Maybe you are really into claymation videos in your spare time (or know of someone who does)? Regardless, you can use these skills to help draw attention to your business by embracing something called “Guerilla Marketing,” which is a more subtle form of marketing than traditional advertisements. Guerilla marketing relies on word of mouth or surprise to help a brand go viral. Place a unique drawing somewhere in town or create a video that will get people asking what it’s about, and they should share it with their friends. You’ll get visibility based on curiosity alone.
4. Pay for a Shout-Out
This tactic is a new spin on a time-honored advertising tradition: endorsements. Look in your industry to find someone with a large audience or find a celebrity that has an audience in your niche and pay them for a short shoutout on their social media profiles and website. Even a small shoutout could net you thousands of views and hundreds of orders very quickly.
5. Utilize Affiliates
One of the quickest ways to build your own audience is to borrow someone else’s audience. Affiliates act much the same way that influencers do, instead, you’re paying them for every sale that they make over a longer period of time than simply giving them money up front. The process is simple: they mention your product on their blog somehow and they get a commission from every sale that goes through their link. These can stay up for years at a time, but a well-connected affiliate program can extend your reach significantly.
You don’t need to spend a ton of money in order to make a splash with your new business, but you do have to be willing to think outside the box and get a little creative. With a little patience, however, and a dash of luck, you should be able to give your business a significant boost over the competition.
