I see self-employed people and small business owners struggle with what is referred to as how to get your business name out there in the market place. People cannot buy your products or services if they have not heard of you no matter how good you are. There are multiple ways to get your business name out there such as advertising, networking, social media, referrals and recruiting sales people. Let’s explore some effective and affordable ways to get your business name out there.

First, the best form of advertising for any business is “word of mouth” advertising. Your best clients and customers using your product and service and telling their friends and family about your business is priceless. Every business wants these sources. The best way to receive great word of mouth advertising is doing a great job. Going above and beyond your clients expectations so they want to talk about you in a great way to their friends and family. Making your clients raving fans is crucial to your business growth.

Next form of “word of mouth” advertising is through networking. There are a lot of misnomers about networking. I find most business and sales people are clueless when it comes to effective networking. Knowing which networker you are is important to correct your issues. A fantastic way to learn effective networking is to join a local BNI group. Not only is BNI a great place to pass and receive referrals to grow your business, but BNI does a great job educating the proper and effective ways to network. There is a right way and a wrong way to do most everything and networking is no different.

Last, learn to use social media properly. Too many people see the word “media” and miss the word “social”. This is a huge mistake to get your business name out there in the market place for the wrong reasons. Would you walk into the neighborhood block party with your friends and their friends, gather everyone around and start presenting your new product portfolio before having your first hotdog? Of course not, so why would you start spewing on Facebook with how great you and your products are on a social page? The key word here is “social”. Why is it that some people think the “social” aspect doesn’t apply, just because it’s on a computer? You need to be as creative online as you would be at a party. Be helpful when posting not salesy, if that is a word.

The bottom line to getting your name out there is making sure that your name has a positive meaning or you will do more damage to your business than not being known. I wrote a book that goes into greater detail about this concept of self-branding called Methods to Mastering Sales, Save Your Fork, Your Best Sales Are Yet to Come, available on Amazon. If you want to grow your business, I believe it is money well spent.

Good luck and start getting your business name out there today!

“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well”. –Jeff Bezos

Image by Stuart Miles at www.freedigitalphotos.net

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Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, grandfather of 2, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, employee benefit specialist, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger, author and team leader with over 30 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.