Do you have a favorite website? (Besides this one, of course!)

Is there a company that you absolutely love doing business with?

I’m going to guess that it probably has something to do with the excellent service you receive, the outstanding quality of their products, and the exceptional value that you receive from them.

Am I right?

Get It Free:  The 30-Point Ideal Client Checklist

So how do you become that business for your clients?

First and foremost, you have to promote your business. You have to get people visiting your website and following you on social media before they can become raving fans… and paying customers.

Here are 10 ways to do just that…

Promotions

1.) Limited Trial Membership

This one is fairly obvious, but I’m including it just in case you haven’t done it yet. Allow potential clients to get a taste of what you have to offer, then give them a reason to stick around.

2.) Sell Gift Certificates

A lot of restaurants offer the ‘one for them, one for you’ deal, and you can do this, too. For example, “Buy someone a gift certificate for a year’s worth of [product/service] and get a free month for yourself!”

Be sure to stress to your audience why their friends and family need you in their lives.

3.) Exclusive Discounts

Come on, everyone loves a good discount, right? I used to work for a company that allowed us to offer clients 5% off a second item or 10% off their entire order if they bought three items. I cannot tell you how many people came to me planning to order just one product but left with three because of this deal.

Bonus: Offering exclusive discounts to subscribers is a great way to grow your email list!

Giveaways

4.) Raffle an Item or Service

What do people like more than getting a discount? Winning free stuff!

There are a ton of great ways to get people to enter your raffle. Ask them to subscribe to emails during a certain timeframe, have them comment on a specific post, or better yet, the trifecta: comment, like, and share a post or your page.

Each action would represent an entry into the raffle. You can also weight them accordingly: subscribe for 5 entries, like the page for 2 entries, tag a friend who might enjoy the site for 1 entry each, etc.

Make a big deal out of picking and announcing the winner – maybe even during a Facebook Live event!

5.) Free Gift With Purchase

Free giveaways are great for your clients, but free gifts with purchase are great for your clients AND for you. You make a sale and your client gets more value than they expected. That’s about as ‘win-win’ as it gets!

Get It Free:  The 30-Point Ideal Client Checklist

6.) Promotional eBook

Create a special, promotional eBook, then give it away free for a limited time. You can do a high-level view of your area of expertise, or pick a smaller, specific topic and do a deeper dive. Provide enough value for the eBook to be appreciated by your audience, but don’t give away all of your secrets.

As P.T. Barnum once said, “Always leave them wanting more!”

Contests

7.) Referrals

There are several great ways to host contests on your website or through your social media channels. Basically, you decide what the prize is going to be, then select how a winner will be determined.

One idea is through referrals. Set a time frame, and then challenge your audience to refer as many people as possible. It’s up to you whether or not those referrals need to buy something, join your email list, or simply like your page. Most referrals wins the prize!

8.) Featured Photo

This is a different type of contest that can drive visitors to your website or social media pages.

Advertise that you will be featuring a special guest on your site or page (just once or every month.) Ask your readers to submit a photo of themselves holding your product or with a quote about your service. Then pick your favorite and proudly display the winner.

9.) Submit Your Vote

Another way to get your readers involved is to ask them to vote on something. (And if you plan this correctly, you can get some valuable insight about these potential customers, too.)

For example, post a picture of two different products or service offerings and label them A and B. Then ask your audience to comment with which item they’d love to receive for free (or at a discount.) The winner is chosen at random, but in the meantime, you also get instant feedback about which item is more appealing.

The Bottom Line…

10.) Always Give More Than is Expected

No matter how you’re promoting, the best way to stand out is to always be the company or business owner who goes above and beyond what is expected. Sure, it might cost you a little bit of profit to sell something at a discount, but this is where you have to consider the lifetime value of a client.

I’m not saying to give away the farm, but you can definitely spare a few eggs here and there if it results in lifelong, loyal, paying customers.

P.S. Need help selecting a winner? There are websites that can help!

Random Name Picker – Type in a list of names and the site will randomly choose a winner.

Random Number Generator – Too many entries to list out? Use this site to pick a random number (you select the range), then count down that many responses to find your winner.

What do you do to promote like a rock star? Tell us about it in the comments section below!

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Marie McDowell

Copy Editor at Significantly Successful

Grammar Police, Document Doctor, Transcriptionist
I am a working mom with a degree in Business Administration. My career passions include hunting down pesky commas and exploring the dark underbelly of Microsoft Word. I live to edit and edit to live!

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