The simplest way to get more customers for your small business

I call today’s idea the fish where the fish are hack.

Just this morning, I heard a small suburban cafe advertising on a statewide radio station. Now, unless that cafe is absolutely exceptional (and if it is, then why are they advertising?!) I’m guessing most people who hear their ad will never visit the cafe. That’s a huge amount of wasted audience that the cafe is paying for!

So, if you want to make every dollar of your marketing budget count, then here’s my 3-steps to fishing where the fish are:

1. Identify where your ideal clients seek information. If you have a pet-sitting business, ask your local vet or pet groomer if they’ll display your brochures. Maybe you’re a landscape architect? Offer to do a display at the local nursery. Or maybe you organise kids birthday parties? Then place chalk-stencilled ads on the footpath outside schools.
   
2. Once you’ve identified where your prospects are, then create engaging messaging that will get their attention.
   
3. Go all in, and launch your campaign. No more tip-toeing around the edges, just go all in.

Pro-Tip: If you don’t get the response you were hoping for … then don’t stop completely. Tweak things. Try a new headline for your brochure. A different location in the nursery. A different colored chalk for your stencil ad.

That’s my 3-steps to fishing where the fish are.

To help you bring this low-cost marketing idea to life, here’s a little marketing inspiration in my popular marketing book for small business owners – The Boomerang Effect.

So, what have you got to lose?