The smartest people I know these days aren't debating whether or not we're in a recession -- they're taking action to counter the effects of a slowed economy on their business.
I recently contributed a chapter to Scott Aughtmon's excellent book How Your Business Can Survive and Prosper in a Recession. Here are three of my tips -- they're basic, and they work!
1. Get back in touch with old customers. You probably never thought of how much it cost you -- in cash, time, energy, and other expenditures -- to get your old customers in the first place. Don't feel bad; most business people don't think about that, either. But it's probably more than you would estimate. Many of those customers would buy from you again if you simply asked them. Extend an attractive offer and continue the relationship!
2. Make an extra effort to keep your current customers. Your competitors may be reaching out to steal your business. Hold on to what you've got. Go the extra mile with your current customers to keep them with you.
3. Offer prospective new customers a free sample. It's an idea as old as business itself. Does it work today? Yes. Eban Pagan has built an eight-figure (about $20 million a year) 21st-century Internet business with this strategy -- he starts out new customers by giving them valuable free content. Anyone in just about any business can find a way to make this idea work. Customers like it because it takes the burden of risk off of them.
In Scott's new book, I give seven more simple tips you can put to work for you right away.
Check out Scott's Web site at www.davidgarfinkel.com/recession-solutions for information about his book. He's gathered hard-core money-making advice from experts including Jay Conrad Levinson, Ted Nicholas, John Carlton, Laura Ries, Marlon Sanders, Yanik Silver and many others.
And I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised that you can get a free sample of what's in the book -- a six-page guide to getting more customers fast for your business -- on Scott's site.
David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter