170465 Resource 149173 155860 149257 1180408916605 1180540270953 Controlled Small Business Marketing: Making a Positive Impact, Part 2

How you can be your own best marketing tool, leave a good impression and gain new customers

We’ve all heard how making a good impression can last a lifetime, and in the case of your business, it can certainly help you bring in new contacts and expand your business success. In the first part of this series we examined small but important ways you can present yourself positively and make good connections with clients. Here are additional ways you can be an excellent marketing tool for your own business: Look them in the eye. Whether you are having a conversation with a vendor, supplier or a customer, always make sure you look at them straight in the eye. It sounds obvious, but we can all think of situations when someone you just met was trying to carry on a conversation, check a cell phone text message and “work the room,” all at the same time. It can be annoying and leave a less-than-stellar impression. Give your customers the common courtesy of your full attention, and make them feel valued by focusing on them, and only them. Use discretion with new contacts. Have you ever met someone who is a new professional connection, given them your business card, and then suddenly received requests for political campaign contributions or endless sales pitches on your email, all from that one-time interaction? It tends to make a person feel a little used. Don’t make others feel “invaded” by abusing the information you gain from their business card or other professional literature. When someone has presented you with their business card, it serves as an invitation for further business discussions. As you develop a relationship and gain trust, you can then expand your interactions to other topics. Keep it personal. Sometimes it’s so easy to get in the habit of e-mails, text messages and voice mail, you forget that there are real people out there. Don’t forget to keep your interactions personal with your clients or potential customers. Make it a habit to sit down and send handwritten thank-you notes or appreciative comments when the opportunity arises. If you know that a potential client loves to go fishing and you run across a related article in the newspaper that he might enjoy, send it to him with a brief note. Building those personal relationships can lead to loyal, long-term clients. Simple gestures can go a long way in helping you present yourself and your business in a positive light. You don’t always need a huge advertising budget to make an impact. You can make a lasting impression on professionals in your community that will pay off in countless ways. 10 application/xml false best marketing tool business marketing gain new customers good impression making a positive impact marketing tool new customers positive impact small business small business marketing Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30; .NET CLR 1.1.4322) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 cmalmstrom false true false false true 189572 false false true false false false true 149173 blog blogsite/FreedomVoice/web