Are you a small business owner, maybe you’re just getting started, or want to increase exposure for your existing business, but aren’t sure where to start? Growing your business? Let’s do this together!
I recently had an email from someone, which of course got my mind going to “that sounds like a newsletter story!” Here’s what it said:
“I moved here in August of 2025 and received a letter from you, welcoming my husband and I to the community, which I thought was great and had a lot of good info in it. Thank you for that! I am emailing you today because I have a business that I run out of my home and since moving here business hasn’t been great. I lost a lot of business moving here and am trying to find ways to get my name out to the community. I was wondering if you have any info of ways that I could maybe get my name out there? Any ideas would be great. We don’t really know many people in this area and remember your letter, and to reach out if there were any questions. Sounds like you were a good place to start with your knowledge of this area. Thank you for any advice you can give! It is much appreciated!”
If you know me, or have been reading my newsletter long enough, you know everything about this outreach is speaking my language! Here are a few things that immediately came to mind, and I’ll be thinking more on next steps as a continuation of this story. Do you have ideas? Use my CONTACT FORM to be in touch.
WHAT’S IN A NAME
What is your business name? If you don’t yet have one, try out a few business names on friends and family and ask for honest feedback. You’d be surprised at what you get for responses. I’ve seen some questionable business names, names that are tough to remember, and names that wouldn’t immediately come to mind when a potential customer is thinking about the business. If you don’t have anyone else to run it by, or if you’re shy or don’t yet have the confidence to tell anyone you’re working on this top-secret project…contact me with a paragraph about your business and some potential names, and I’ll share my feedback with you. I am known for my candid and immediate feedback (my kids call it something else), and am happy to share my thoughts with you.
BUSINESS STRUCTURE AND SETUP
Make sure your business structure is legit – – with some combination of the following, depending on your industry, municipality, etc. Determine if you are required to register your business with your municipality. Any required permits in employees, insurance, if applicable. Set up an LLC if recommended by your trusted advisors. But these things are boring! Once you raise awareness of your business and you get more customers, then you won’t have time to make sure all administrative stuff is set up properly. Now is the time!
HIGH STANDARDS
Once you’re past the setup steps, my recommendation is to set the bar for yourself high. Focus on what you’re excellent at. If you’re amazing at dog grooming, find someone else who’s amazing at logo design.
Have a good quantity of stock photos related to your business. Don’t just grab photos off of Google–they will find you.
Running with the dog grooming example–If you’re not a great photographer, this might be something you can trade with someone – – maybe they have a dog that needs grooming and you have the need for photos. Cross-pollinate wherever you can!
CONTACT US!
Create a dedicated (and easy to remember!) email address for your business. I recommend Gmail because it’s so universal. At some point you might want to upgrade to a vanity email address related to your website, but you’re just getting started.
Use a cell phone with a different phone number from your personal phone so that you can so that potential customers can text you if that’s their preferred method of communication. You want to make it easy for them! *I have not yet researched to see if Google Voice is still a free option (I’ve heard they charge now)–and I’d welcome any reader feedback on what people use to avoid customers and telemarketers having your personal cell phone number.
YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Although I recommend having at least a simple website, you can put that off for later if you don’t already have one. You should purchase the domain name for your business for later – – and make it as easy to remember as possible. Anything too cutesy or creative might be tough for your potential customers to remember.
Find a social media class or seek help from a friend or colleague. Can’t find one? Ooooh, reach out and I’ll find someone to come in to my office and give us a primer on how to get started with social media for small businesses.
Create a Facebook business page, NOT a personal page. Keep your business name consistent across all platforms. This seems obvious but I’ve seen where a business is called one thing on their website URL but another on their social media. Consistency creates brand recognition, and every bit of consistency helps!
Create an Instagram account (named consistently) to hit the Instagram demographic. Follow similar businesses and see what types of posts they are doing to getting engagement. A word of personal advice—although it’s good to know what your competition is up to, don’t follow them exclusively because you’ll start to judge what you’re doing against what they are doing. It’s just human nature. Fill your social media feed with things that inspire you, not create any background noise for you.
Populate your social media with relevant and helpful information before inviting people to like or follow your business page. People move on quickly and you may only get one chance to make a great first impression. Create a social media calendar that you use for accountability with your posting.
YOU WANT GOOGLE TO LIKE YOU
Set up a Google business profile. Google has a lot of steps in the verification process, but stay the course and don’t lose your cool. It will be worth it in the long run. Google business profiles with associated business websites will probably attract more potential customers to your business. These potential customers want to verify your local legitimacy.
IDENTIFY YOUR BIGGEST FANS
Who are your biggest fans, those customers who will drive past other businesses like yours to get to your business? I remember one of my first real estate listings–the seller hired me because he trusted that I had a good moral compass and common sense–he knew I was brand new and inexperienced, but wanted to give me a shot at getting started in real estate. You need people like Mike Sunderland! Once you identify your future raving fans, explain to them you’re looking to elevate your business, in both quantity and quality, and it would mean so much to you if they would write a Google review about your business. They can only do this if you have a Google business page. My recommendation – – have at least 10 Google reviews before you start reaching out to the next level. *I have a goal of 100 Google reviews this year >>> feel free to write one now!
JOIN LOCAL GROUPS AND PAGES
Seek out and join local social media pages that have members who might be interested in your business. Often, these pages have rules set by the moderators–like that they allow business promotional posts on Mondays, for instance. Be ready! I recommend Canva as the easiest, free design tool I’ve ever used. You can soooo easily create graphics to be used on your social media, to create ads, flyers, signs, etc. If there’s a demand for it, I’m happy to host a Canva class.
GET INVOLVED IN THE LOCAL BUSINESS COMMUNITY
If you’re located in Princeton, I’m on the board of the recently formed Princeton Business Association.
If you’re in Westminster or Ashburnham, I’m happy to re-energize the Ash-West Business Community.
Consider joining a local Chamber of Commerce. Search for a Chamber of Commerce near you, right here!
EVENTS
Seek out opportunities to put your business in front of your likely customers. Look for fairs and town events that you can piggyback on to like local Touch A Truck events, National Night Out and others — you’d be surprised what you notice when you start looking– – someone else is doing the promotion for the event, you’ve just got to have a quality setup that attracts people and keeps them standing at your table or booth for long enough that you can have a memorable conversation with them, so that they come back to your business.
When I set up at this type of event, I always have a kids activity related to what I’m promoting. Coloring pages and word searches are usually a hit, as are sticker pages. I help with the marketing for a local car wash. When I’m set up at an event related to the car wash, I have car stickers sets, when I’m setting up for something related to real estate, I have house related sticker sets.
Donate prizes to local events where your likely customer demographic might attend.
If you’re doing events, you’ll need some kind of swag/giveaway, and you’ve got to make it something worth keeping. Think of your industry and what might be common sense as a giveaway considering your business. I promote my real estate business, Westminster’s Village Auto Wash and Labor Day Tennis, and Holden’s James Deignan of Engraved and Printed and Masterman’s in Auburn have an excellent selection of customizable promotional items.
In addition to a giveaway, I like to have a handout, usually a thick postcard, that summarizes the value proposition of the business I’m promoting. Again, I recommend Canva as the easiest, free design tool I’ve ever used.
Your budget might be tight, but there’s plenty of things you can do at little to no cost. I look forward to feedback and other helpful tips for this business owner. Creating some online clout for your business is very important – – because remember, if you want people to patronize your business, they need to see your business as professional and legitimate. Contact me using the form below to add your ideas to a future version of this story.
