Get More Customers!

Regardless of whether you’re selling products or services, the ultimate goal is to get more paying customers, right? Here are some of my best techniques for doing just that.

• Harvest customer names. Sure, you can rent mailing lists (which can be expensive and not very effective) and send out your offers blindly. But doesn’t it make more sense to try to get customers who are already in your arena, who have already expressed some interest in your materials? Make sure you’re harvesting those potential customers who are already in your space. If you’re doing a talk in person, for example, announce a business card raffle, and give away a free sample of your stuff in exchange for the opportunity to go home with everyone’s business card. Then do a follow-up mailing immediately, before they have a chance to forget where they signed up. I give away a free set of my Publishing Game books every time I do a talk—and return home with hundreds of business cards as a reward.
   
• Give something away. Similarly, the easiest way to get customer names on the web is to give something away for free. For example, if you go to http://www.PublishingGame.com and sign up, you’ll get a free Hot Contact sheet with the names, addresses, and emails of major talk show hosts, magazine editors, and reviewers. People like freebies---and are willing to give you their contact information in return.
   
• Pursue repeaters. It’s almost always easier to go after an existing customer for another sale than it is to try to get a new customer. So do frequent mailings to your list of satisfied customers. Tell them about your new products and services, and remind them of your existing products and services. For example, I usually do a mailing to my writing and publishing customers in November reminding them that PublishingGame.com offers holiday gift baskets for writers, including “Writers are Novel Lovers” coffee mugs, Publishing Game books, and an assortment of gourmet munchies, in prices ranging from $9.99 to $99. Customers who have been happy with my books and other products are likely to think, “What a great idea for a holiday gift!” and zoom on over to buy.
   
• Do an email newsletter. A regular email newsletter is the easiest way to stay in touch with your audience and your loyal customers. My Expertizing newsletter, for example, analyzes how to get major media attention for your products and services; since I’ve been quoted in over 100 publications in the past six months, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Life Magazine, people are interested in hearing my techniques. The newsletter currently goes to over 20,000 readers. (You can sign up for your own copy at http://www.Expertizing.com.) More than anything else I do, this newsletter is responsible for my business success. It sells my books, my all-day workshops, my audio CDs and kits, and my consulting services. It sells me all year long—without my having to spend a cent on advertising. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than that.

So go out there and get more customers! None of these techniques take much time, and the payback is great.

Fern Reiss is CEO of PublishingGame.com (www.PublishingGame.com) and Expertizing.com (www.Expertizing.com) and the author of the books, The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days, The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days, and The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days as well as several other award-winning books.  She is also the Director of the International Association of Writers (www.AssociationofWriters.com) providing publicity vehicles to writers worldwide. She also runs The Expertizing® Publicity Forum where you can pitch your book or business directly to journalists; more information at www.Expertizing.com/forum.htm.  Sign up for her complimentary newsletter at www.PublishingGame.com/signup.htm.

Copyright © 2011 Fern Reiss