Where To Get Started?
Are you ready to grow your business in Toledo?
Whether you are just starting, or looking for new ways to grow your business this guide is for you. This guide will be focused on growing service based businesses. We will put out more guides in the future on growing other types of businesses. So.. let’s get to it. Where do you start?
Social Media
This answer should be obvious. Every business should have and use social media. There are a lot of benefits to having social media profiles set up (even if you don’t use them often). Social media is a free way to bring in more business. It is also one of the easiest things you can do to start.
Most social media gurus will tell you that you need to be on every social media platform and post a million times a week. If you have the time, great.. Do that. But what we have found is that when first starting, it isn’t smart to be on every social media platform. You should focus your efforts on one or two platforms. When business owners split their effort into too many platforms we have found that the content suffers and they get discouraged with not seeing results. When you learn to get really good at one or two platforms you will be more effective than trying to be good at all of them. After you start to get great results you can add a new social media platform and cross promote your new platforms.
This leads us to an important question. Which platforms should you be on? Every business and every market is different. So there isn’t a one size fits all approach to this. For most service based businesses they find Facebook and or Instagram to be pretty effective. The reason for this is that the content is easier to make, they can leverage their power base, and they can take advantage of local community groups. Don’t look to everyone else to see what platform is going to be best for you. Take a look at your network and your tech savviness and make a decision based on what you think you can handle.
Online Listings
For service based businesses online listings should not be ignored. The best place to be listed online is Google Business Profile. When you have a Google Business Profile that is optimized (and linked to a great website), you can generate thousands of dollars in revenue a month just from your listing.
Generating thousands a month off of Google Business Profile can take some work, but as long as you get reviews, post, and continue to improve your profile, you can make it happen. We would also like to note that having an optimized website can help your Google Business Profile ranks significantly better.
In addition to being listed on Google Business Profile you should also look to other industry specific listing websites. Some of them have great free ways to bring in new customers. Being listed on these websites can also provide a valuable backlink to your site. Get listed on as many relevant listing sites as you can.
Grow Your Business With A Website
One of our favorite ways to grow service based businesses is through web design.
Now when it comes to growing your business with web design we don’t mean just throwing a website up on Wix. When you have a website that is optimized with SEO and CRO you can bring in traffic organically and convert that traffic into sales. This can be a game changer for your business. Imagine showing up for “your service near me”. When most people are looking for a professional service, they go to Google. We can help you show up when they are searching for you.
Web design is one of the few things that we recommend investing in when you are just starting out. The reason for this is that it can be very difficult to build a website yourself that actually brings in leads. Can you build one yourself? Sure.. But getting that site to rank is another ball game.
To get your site to rank you may have to pour hundreds of hours into studying web design, SEO, and CRO. In addition to pouring hundreds of hours into studying it, you will have to experiment to figure out what works best in your market and in your industry. This takes a lot of time. Why not jump start the process by hiring a professional from the start? A professional web designer can be a crucial tool to growing your business.
Want to hire a Toledo web designer? We offer the best web design services to Toledo and the surrounding areas. We would be happy to meet you in person and help you develop a customized strategy to help you dominate against your competition.
Networking
Networking is a tool that every business can benefit from. Networking has a lot of benefits. When networking you can start to spread word of mouth for your business. You can potentially get new customers. You can also meet people who can help guide you in growing your business.
Different areas have different types of networking groups that you can attend. If you live in a smaller city joining your chamber of commerce can be a great place to start networking. If you live in a larger city you should be able to find free networking events online. Just do a search for networking events in your city.
When networking make sure that you don’t just focus on trying to sell people your services. Actually form relationships with people. If you can sell your service organically go ahead and do it. The connections you make will help you get customers in the long run.
Cold Outreach
Cold outreach is a great approach to bring on commercial or recurring clients. Most industries have some type of service that they can offer to both residential and commercial clients. If you have a service that you can offer to commercial clients it is smart to have a personal cold outreach approach.
Who makes a good commercial client? Every industry is different. Do a Google search for “commercial clients (your industry)” and you will find some ideas.
After you have ideas on who to target, start to reach out to them. You can reach out to potential commercial clients through social media, email, text, phone call, and stopping by their office. Find the approach that is going to work for you and get started.
Paid Advertising
There are a lot of different ways to do paid advertising for your business. You can do a commercial, radio ad, newspaper ad, billboard, or online advertising. Our favorite way to advertise is online. When first getting started online advertising is often the best way to advertise your business.
The reason for this is that you can track everything. You see exactly what you are getting (when set up properly). You will be able to see how many people see your ad and how many turn into leads. It is the most effective way to run ads and track your ROI. When using traditional advertising it can be very difficult to gauge whether or not those sources are producing leads. It is very difficult to track.
When generating leads for service based businesses we have two favorite platforms. Google and Meta. When someone is searching for a professional service one of the first things they do is go to Google. Showing up when they are searching is an effective way to bring in leads. Meta is one of the most popular social media platforms. They have some of the best ad formats to generate leads. Some of the newer social media platforms do not have the best formats for lead generation specifically.
When setting up ads on either Google or Facebook you need to know what you are doing. You can waste thousands of dollars if you set up ads improperly or ineffectively. Having a pro to help can be a game changer. We run ads for a lot of different service based businesses. We know what methods work the best and what to avoid to prevent you from wasting ad spend. If you want to try online advertising contact us for a free consultation.
Print Advertising
Print advertising is the last thing on our list because it usually takes the longest to work and is difficult to gauge the ROI. People can sit on your flyers or business cards for months or years before they choose to give you a call. Just because it takes a while doesn’t mean we think you should not use it. We just think that you should invest in other sources first.
When doing print advertising make sure that your print materials look great. They should be printed on high quality material and have great graphics. If you put it on cheap material it will give a bad impression of your brand.
When doing print advertising you also need to do it in large numbers to be effective. Don’t put out 100 door hangers thinking that you are going to make a ton of money. You need to consistently put out your print advertising if you want it to work.
What Works The Fastest?
When working with businesses on growth we have seen crazy awesome results through web design, SEO, and online advertising. Focusing on marketing your business online is often the fastest way to grow your business. It isn’t the only way, but it is the fastest.
Being able to bring in leads organically can be one of the greatest tools your business has. Imagine being able to sit on your couch relaxing while people are filling out your lead forms or calling you (without spending money on ads). With the right amount of work, your business can be completely sustained by organic traffic.
When business is slow, being able to have reliable lead generation sources can be a major stress reliever. Instead of relying on unpredictable traditional marketing sources, online ads can give you some predictability to your lead generation.
Looking For More?
We run the best web design and digital marketing business in Toledo. Growing your business can be tough to do alone. Partner with us to speed up the process. We have 23+ years of experience in helping small businesses grow. Contact us to get a free consultation.