Does anyone own a business? Can you answer some v quick questions for me?

[flowerybeanbag]

I am coming up with a plan to increase my client base. I am trundling along very well and have been for a while doing absolutely no marketing at all, and there has been and still is a steady trickle of enough to keep me busy, which is obviously great.

But that isn't a sustainable business model clearly , and I do want to take it further.

So I am looking into various marketing activities that might help me do that. Can I ask business owners a couple of very quick questions?

1. If you use any professional services, such as an accountant, bookkeeper, HR services, lawyers, PR/marketing, printers or anything like that, where did you find them? Where had you heard of them from and why did you choose them over other providers?

1. If I were to advertise, are there any websites/forums/trade publications/local publications/anything else you can think of that would effectively target you as a business owner? What do you look at and pay attention to?

Any answers will be hugely appreciated

What about business networking groups? They can be an opportunity to meet business owners and pitch your services.

Re marketing etc -- it may be worth contacting your local investment agency to see if they can give you support / advice.

You've probably already done the above but I'm mentioning them just in case!

Hi FloweryBB - just saw this, will post later with some thoughts as am currently making most of babyfree day

crawk I have started going to business networking meetings, have been to one and am booked in for two more. First one was really good but difficult to talk to more than a very few people, so although there were some on the lists I definitely would have wanted to talk to, I was sat near 3 or 4 who were really no help to me whatever, either from a potential client or a bounce-ideas-off point of view, although they were lovely. I think it's a case of going regularly and getting known, which I hope to do.

Haven't tried local investment agency yet, thanks for tip.

thanks mrsbaldwin, your thoughts would be much appreciated.

FloweryBB - have to confess I'm quite new to running a business. I'm lucky though as I've access to number of people who are established and successful.

Re increasing client base -- another piece of advice I was given is sit down with DH and write out list of everyone you know, who they work for / what they do. Get your siblings, parents, closest friends to do the same. Then go through the list and contact anyone who may be potential interest / need for what you do. You've got to be as brass-necked as that.

When I was told this I baulked at it as thought it was potentially an imposition but needs must and I've done it. So far it's paying off and no-one has taken offence - everyone's been really helpful and at the least put me in touch with other potential leads.

Re the networking groups I know what you mean but do think worth persevering as all about building up contacts and word of mouth.

Sorry but I haven't had chance to read through your website -- have you got testimonials from existing clients?

ggrr - should read properly before posting..

"....contact anyone who may be potential interest / need for what you do."

should read

"....contact anyone who may HAVE potential interest in / need for what you do."

See I would feel as though it might be an imposition doing that with the list of everyone crawk, although I can see it's very sensible. Maybe I'm being a bit too paranoid about not irritating people! I will certainly make a list and have a think about it depending on what it turns up.

Testimonials is another thing that's been on my list for a while and not done. I think every client I've finished a piece of work for has offered to do me one without even asking and I need to actually get them to do it!

Flowery - just saw the bit about partnering up with an accountancy firm for seminars.
Definately consider that, we have been doing breakfast ones - with a bank and a legal firm. You get to pitch to other people's client lists, plus you only have to fill 1/3 of the seminar. Plus you share costs. We are a bit further away than your area (Newmarket) although we have offices towards you aswell, but speak to your own accountant and see if they are interested.

The networking meetings are definitely worth it. We've found them a great way to win business so far.

One thing that we do that we haven't regretted is to be quite disciplined about dedicating a proportion of the working week to marketing, particularly as it isn't our favourite task.

We don't have a marketing strategy on paper but it is in our heads and we have been quite focussed on achieving what we've set out to do.

Our local Business Link have been quite helpful with marketing. Have you contacted them?

I honestly think a good accountant saves you his own fee, plus a lot more if they are doing their job properly. So a low-fee accountant isn't always the way to go.

My accountant is in the Highlands of Scotland and I'm in Herts.

chose accoutant word of mouth
thats about all we use as we do own book keeping
printer is a client - we swap favours

well said Swedes! (want a good more local one ?)

Loads of good advice here!

How about if I comment on the trade publications/media relations idea, as others on the thread have suggested other ways of making more sales.

The first thing to say is that anything to do with media is ever such a time-consuming undertaking - you will want to have a think about how long it might take you to write articles for magazines/blog posts etc, measured against the possible payoff. Put another way, is there an easier and quicker means of making some more sales than writing articles for Personnel Today (or whatever)?

For an expert consultant like you (as opposed to someone trying to shift units of a consumer product), media work will tend to have a cumulative effect rather than an immediate, direct one (although you may be able to count extra hits to your website after a column or article quoting you has appeared).

What I mean is this - that the future customer reading your column in trade mag X may not call you straight away. But when, six months later he suddenly finds he needs an HR person he may remember your name and shuffle through his pile of old mags until he finds you. Secondly, being a quoted media 'expert' adds credibility to your general vibe - but you will want to think about whether there are easier and quicker ways of being credible. Are you in fact credible enough already?

If you do decide to go down the trade mag route you will want to think about your target customers. Are you making most of your sales to inhouse HR directors or to CEOs and MDs who don't have any inhouse capability at all? If the latter then you could either have a look at some outlets aimed at generic small business or pick some sector mags eg publications aimed at owners of businesses in the leisure industry or other sectors where you have some form.

My key message - there are probably less costly (in terms of your person hours) ways for you to make more sales than via doing media stuff.

A book which I've found good:

How To Sell by Robert Ashton
tinyurl.com/mmfsrb

It has some useful things to say about word-of-mouth referrals.

And lastly, would I do paid-for advertising in trade journals? No, not really - the editorial route eg being a rentaquote for trade press is probably a better (ie cheaper) route than that, notwithstanding my comments above.

You can probably pick up enough work to keep you fully busy for now via all the other marketing activities people mention here - networking meetings, referrals etc.

Incidentally have you ever picked up any work via Mumsnet? I'm interested to know. I'd certainly call you for a quote if I was in a position to need HR help!

Thanks mrsbaldwin that's really helpful. Most of my clients are without any inhouse HR, so any advertising and probably articles as well would need to be publications either aimed generically at SMEs or at particular industries.

In terms of picking up work through MN, almost all my private clients have come through MN, either people I've started helping for free on here and who have then wanted me to do more for them in terms of drafting documents/grievances etc, or who have seen me on here, not come on here with a problem but found my contact details and come to me direct.

A couple of business clients originated through MN, people who are on here and in senior positions in small companies who have contacted me directly after coming across my advice, but most of my business clients have I think so far come through the various free business directories I'm signed up to.

I spent a large chunk of last night sorting out a BT tradespace for my business, which I hadn't done yet, after having seen some figures about how much it is used, so we'll see what that does. I've also put together a marketing plan for the next couple of months to get a lot of these other ideas going.

How interesting!

Mine is a bit different in the sense that whilst, like you, I'm a consultant selling specialist services I've got 100% of my work over the last 5 years by word-of-mouth, referrals etc. I've just started dipping my toe in the waters of selling cold. Luckily, being a PR person, I don't find it too bad calling up people I don't know or doing the follow-up sales call - years of talking to testy journos has immured me to embarrassment and rejection I think .

If you do decide to go the trade mags route and you don't need your clients to be particularly local then one idea is to offer something to one of the banks' free magazines (you know, the kind of thing you get through once a quarter if you have a business bank account). You could start with the bank you're with - and make sure somewhere in the article you say how much being with the bank has helped your business grow

Right - I have some work to do myself here - good luck!