The secret to getting new business

Aren’t we all looking for the secret to getting new business – new customers, new clients? I can let you in on the secret.

You’re not going to like it.

It involves work – hard work, and smart work.

Business doesn’t just walk in the door, though wouldn’t it be great if it did? No sense daydreaming, because it just doesn’t happen that way.

You have to make business happen, and the way you make business happen is to tell people that you want it.

Don’t assume because you have a business license, a shingle, a storefront, a website, a Facebook page, and whatever else, that the world is ready to beat down your door to give you money.

We know this all too well at Augusta Free Press. I’m not sure how many times I’ve heard from people who know me well, know that we do what we do for a living, something along the lines, I didn’t know you did that, be it them not knowing that we do website design, graphic design, video work, PR work, what you have you.

If AFP can get lost in the shuffle, and we’re plastered all over a news website that gets 4 million page views a month getting lost in the shuffle, anybody can get lost in the shuffle.

So now you’re ready for the secret.

• Talk to people. Use your website, your Facebook page, your email newsletters, to touch base with your customers and clients. Tout new products or services, new employees, a new client or project. Or maybe push a special offer if times or slow, or you anticipate that they could be slow.
• Talk to people. Set a regular schedule. Maybe for you it’s weekly, maybe it’s monthly. Set a schedule, and stick to it, even when it seems like things are going great.
• No, really. You need to talk to people. Like New Year’s resolutions, we’re all adept at saying we’re going to do things, having the best intentions, et cetera, doing it once or twice, then not following through. Set a plan, and follow through.

Hopefully I oversold how hard this is. Hard work, to me, is lifting boxes or laying cinderblock. This is more smart work.

Chris Graham is the president of Augusta Free Press LLC, a full-service marketing and design firm that offers website design, graphic design, video and audio production, public relations and advertising services to clients across the United States. More online at AFPBusiness.com.