51 WAYS TO GET MORE

CUSTOMERS
The Mini Ebook Guide
to Finding
New Customers.

Alex Stearn

Copyright © 2014 Alex Stearn

All rights reserved
 © 2014 by Alex Stearn
AMS Media and Publishing Ltd
Exterior cover , internal design and contents
© Alex Stearn
All rights reserved.
The rights to reproduce the work are reserved to the copyright holder.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission
of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews
and certain other non commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission
requests, write to the publisher, Alex Stearn.All the business names, product names
and brand names used in this book are trademarks, trade names or registered
trademarks of their respective owners and I am not associated with any product,
business entity or company. The views, opinions and strategies in this book are
purely those of the author.

Limit of Liability / Disclaimer of Warranty. While the publisher and author have used
their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties
with the respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book
specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a
particular purpose. No warranty maybe created or extended by sales representatives
or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be
suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate.
Neither the publisher or the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any
commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential,
or other damages.

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the
information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not
assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or
disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result
from negligence, accident, or any other cause. While every effort is made to ensure
that all the information in this book is accurate and up to date, we accept no
responsibility for keeping the information up to date or any liability for any failure to
do so.

Copyright © 2014 Alex Stearn

AMS Media and Publishing Ltd

All rights reserved

 BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR ON AMAZON

MAKE FACEBOOK WORK for your Business

Make Twitter Work for your Business

Make LinkedIn Work for your Business

Make Pinterest Work for your Business

Make Google + Work for your Business

Make YouTube Work for your Business

Make Tumblr Work for your Business

Make Social Media Work For Your Business

The complete series in one book!

The complete guide to marketing your business, generating new leads,
finding new customers and building your brand on Twitter,
LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube, Google,
+Facebook, Foursquare,Vine and Snapchat.
 INTRODUCTION
ONE OF THE biggest challenges any business has to face today is how
to get more customers. The key to success is to have a never ending
stream of customers but still many businesses are struggling. Even with
the internet and the access we have to the enormous pool of people
through social media there is huge competition for attention and a huge
number of businesses competing.

This little ebook is all about how to gain new customers and how to get
ahead of the competition but before diving into the different ways to get
more customers you will need to first check that you know exactly who
your target audience is and how you are going to best communicate your
brand message to them. The first two chapters are dedicated to defining
your brand and your target audience. If you are already sure you know
who your ideal customer is and what your brand message is then by all
means skip these sections but if not this is probably one of the most
important sections of this book and is will have the biggest contribution
to the success of your business.
 CHAPTER ONE
KNOW YOUR BRAND
WHETHER YOU ARE solepreneur, large corporation or an
organisation, your brand is one of the most important attributes of your
business. Your brand is what you want your prospects and customers to
respect, trust and fall in love with so they will buy and continue to buy
your products and services. Your brand is what is going to set you apart
from any other business and what will give your business the competitive
edge.

With the opportunities available today through social media and digital
marketing there has never been a better time for you to build your brand
and communicate your brand to your target audience. Your brand is the
main ingredient for success.

It may be that you have a well established brand already, maybe you have
not created your brand yet or it just needs some tweaking or fine tuning.
Maybe you are not exactly sure what your brand is, or maybe you feel it
needs a complete overhaul. Whatever your situation is, you need to know
that your brand is going to underpin your whole marketing campaign and
it needs to be strong, clear, well defined and consistent. Once defined
your business is going to create it, be it, communicate it, display it,
picture it, speak it, promote it and most of all be true to it. This chapter
is going to take you through everything you need know and do to define
and create your brand so you can get into the hearts and minds of your
target audience by communicating the right message and brand
experience.

3
51 Ways To Get More Customers

There are many definitions of the word brand but this is the one I like
best because it incorporates pretty much all the necessary information
you will need to help you to define your own brand.

Brand, the definition

Your brand is more than a name, symbol or logo, it is your commitment
and your promise to your customer. Your brand is the defined personality
of either yourself as an individual brand or your product, service,
company or organisation, it’s what sets you apart and differentiates your
business from your competition and any other business. Your brand is
created and influenced by your vision and everything you stand for
including; people, visuals, culture, style, perception, words, messages, PR,
opinions, news media, and especially, social media.

Why is your brand so important to your business?

Branding is important because it helps you and your business build and
create powerful and lasting relationships by communicating everything
you want to say about your product or service to your prospects and
customers. A strong brand encourages loyalty and will ultimately create a
strong customer base and increase your sales by doing the following:
• Demonstrating to your prospects and customers that you are
professional and committed to offering them what you promise.
• Making your business easily recognisable.
• Creating a clear distinction from your competition.
• Making your business memorable.
• Creating an emotional attachment with your audience.
• Helping to create trust.
• Helping to build customer loyalty and repeat custom.
• Creating a valuable asset which will be financially beneficial if you
sell your business.
• Creating a competitive advantage.
To do all the above you are going to have to find a way to get into the
hearts and minds of your customers so they will ultimately buy and
continue to buy your products or services. Before launching your
4
 Alex Stearn

campaign and setting up profiles, posting content and engaging, you will
need to have a clear picture of exactly what your brand is, or what you
want your brand to be. You will need to define exactly how your brand is
perceived now, how you want your brand to be perceived, where your
business fits into the market, who your target audience is and how you
want your business to develop in the future.

To do this you need a deep understanding of your business and the

people who are going to be most interested in your products and how
you are going to serve them. When it comes to defining your ideal target
audience you need to work out which of your products are the most
popular and which are the most profitable so you can focus your efforts
in finding and connecting with the right audience and then creating the
right brand experience for them.

Whether you are responsible for defining and creating and developing
your brand in-house, or you are employing a local branding and
marketing agency, you will need to carry out an analysis of your business
to define your brand. Completing the following exercise will help you to
define and find clarity about your brand:
• A factual description of what your business is and the purpose of
your business.
• Describe your product or service in one sentence ?
• List all your products and/or services.
• What are the benefits and features of all of your products?
• Which are your most profitable products/services?
• Which are your most popular products/services?
• Who are your ideal customers for each of your products or
services? (Consumer or business, age, gender, income,
occupation, education, stage in family life cycle.)
• Out of these customers who are the ones who are most likely to
buy your most profitable products?
• Is the market and demand large enough to provide you with the
number of customers you need to buy your most profitable
5
51 Ways To Get More Customers

products and achieve your financial goals?

• If your answer to the previous question is no then ask yourself
the same question for each of your other products.
• Who are your three main competitors? (Have a look at their
website and social accounts)
• If you are already in business then write down what your
customers are already saying about your business. What do think
they would say about how your product or service makes them
feel emotionally (you may need to ask your customers if you do
not already know). What qualities and words would you use to
describe the personality of your business as it is now. Here are
some examples of words you may wish to use: high cost, low
cost, high quality, value for money, expensive, cheap, excellent
customer service, friendly, professional, happy, serious,
innovative, eccentric, quiet, loud, beautiful, relaxing, motivating,
sincere, adventurous, amusing, charming, decisive, kind,
imaginative, proactive, intuitive, loving, trustworthy, extrovert,
vibrant, transparent, intelligent, creative, dynamic, resourceful.
• Now whether you are already in business or starting out write
down all the words to describe how you want and need your
brand to be perceived and what qualities you want to be
associated with your brand in order to match the needs and
expectations of your ideal customers. If you are already in
business hopefully this will be exactly the same from how you
perceive you are at the current time.
• What is the evidence that backs up what you have said about your
brand, this could be customer testimonials or any evidence about
product or service quality.
• What is the biggest opportunity for your business right now?
• What products are you thinking of introducing in the near
future?

6
 Alex Stearn

Work out what your USP is

Your unique selling point ( USP) is what differentiates your product from
other similar products. It is unlikely that you are going to be the only one
in a market with a product and therefore you need to find a way to stand
out from your competition.

Once you have defined your target audience then finding your USP is
going to be that much easier. When you know what is important to your
prospects you can work out the benefit which is most likely to jump out
and appeal to them the most. You need to ask
What special thing are you bringing to the market that is of real value?
What is your unique selling point? What solutions are your products
offering your customers that will meet their needs or solve their
problems?

7
 CHAPTER TWO
KNOW YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
YOUR MAIN AIM through the whole selling process is going to be to
connect, capture and convert your prospects through your website or
blog and any of the other sales channels that you choose to use. But it’s a
big world out there and not everyone is going to be interested in your
product or service and if you are going to try and sell to everyone then
you are probably going to be waisting 90% of your time.

Whatever your product or service is you have a market and an ideal

customer. Your customers are out there and in order to find them,
connect with them and sell to them you need to know exactly who they
are. Your first step therefore is to define your target audience and work
out who exactly it is that is going to be interested in your products. You
need to find out everything about them, what are their needs, what
motivates them, what they are interested in and what are their aspirations
and fears. Once you have this information you will know where to find
them and how to taylor every single message to them. Your target
audience is your most important commodity as they are your future
customers and ambassadors of your business. Every single one of them
is valuable and every single one of them can make a difference to your
business, this may be because they are actually going to buy your
products or simply spread the word about your products.

Defining your ideal customer

The following exercise is absolutely essential and your answers to the
questions will be the very information that is going to help you
communicate with your customer in the right way, by providing them
9
51 Ways To Get More Customers

with the right content and the correct brand experience. The best way to
is to create an imaginary person so you can build a clear picture by
finding out the following:

• Describe your ideal customer and include the following details,

are they a consumer or in business, their age, gender, income,
occupation, education, stage in family life cycle.
• Where do they live?
• What do they want most of all?
• What are their core values ?
• What is their preferred lifestyle?
• What do they do on a day to day basis?
• What are their hopes and aspirations?
• What important truth matters to them ?
• What motivates and inspires them?
• What sort of routines do they have?
• What are their day to day priorities?
• How do they have fun?
• What do they do in their spare time?
• What subjects are they interested in?
• Which books do they read?
• Which TV programmes do they watch?
• What magazines do they read?
• Who do they follow on social media?
• Who are their role models?
• What really makes them tick?
• What are their fears and frustrations?
• What are their suspicions?
• What are their insecurities?
• What are their typical worries?
• What is the perfect solution to their worries?
• What are their dreams?
• What do they need to make them feel happy and fulfilled?

10
 Alex Stearn

Big Questions
To answer the following questions you will need to imagine how it feels
to be your ideal customer or better still interview some of your current
customers.

• How do you feel when you find your product or service? What is
your initial emotional reaction ?
• What are the words that go through your head?
• How can I justify buying this product for myself ?
• Are you ready to buy immediately?
• Do you have any suspicions that the product may not be what it
says?
• What are those suspicions? And why do you have them?
• Do you need more convincing?
• What do you need to convince you that the product is right for
you?
• What do you feel when you have the product in your hand?

The reason why these are such big questions is because the answers to
them will establish whether or not you have correctly defined your ideal
customer and whether you have really understood their needs, desires
and fears. If you are imagining yourself as your ideal customer and you
are saying ‘yay’ and immediately buying the product or feeling relieved
that you have at long last found the solution to your problem, then you
have created the right customer persona. If not then you need to think
again.

It’s only when you have imagined yourself in the hearts and minds of
your target audience that you are going to be able to connect with them
on any emotional level. With the information from the above exercise
you will have everything you need to produce exactly the right content to
match the needs, desires and expectations of your ideal customer so that
you can create the right brand experience and sell your products. This
information is like gold.
11
 CHAPTER THREE
51 WAYS TO GET MORE CUSTOMERS

1. CREATE AN email opt in

Once of the biggest missed opportunities of any business is not having
an email list of prospects and customers. The fact is the majority of
people who visit your website are going to leave without buying anything.
 This doesn't necessarily mean that they have not interest in your product
either. There are many reasons why they may not be ready to make that
final decision to purchase. Maybe they are waiting for their next pay
cheque, perhaps they are planning to buy a gift sometime in the future or
they may want to shop around for prices. One of the biggest reasons is
that they have not heard of your business before and therefore do trust
enough to make the purchase.
 
So assuming that they are interested in the product or service you are
selling and they are going to buy this product from you or someone else
in the near future then you really want to improve your chances of
making them buy from you.  To make this happen then you need to
convince them to hand over their contact details so that you can continue
to stay in contact with them long after they have left your website so that
you can convince them that you are the best choice when it comes to
making that purchase.  Some statistics actually suggest that a prospect
needs to have seen or heard a marketing message at least seven times
before they decide to buy it. It may seem frustrating that your business is
not going to achieve overnight success but in order to succeed you need
to take the long view means which means not going after the immediate
sales but going after the sale however long it is going to take. As long as
13
51 Ways To Get More Customers

you accept this and start investing in future relationships with your
prospects then you are going to win.
 
The most effective way of doing this is though email, email is still the
single most effective method of converting prospects into customers.
 When someone signs up to your email list they are not only actively
giving you permission to stay contact with them but and they are also
likely to be interested in what you are offering and what you have to say.
Once you have their details you can stay in touch with them, build trust
and continue to communicate your brand message and credibility over
time. The great thing about email is when your subscriber opens your
email you have their complete attention for as long as they take to read it.
Even if they do not read every email you send they are likely to read
some and every time they read you have the opportunity to reinforce
your brand and build a relationship. When they eventually want to make
that purchase, then its far more likely they are going to buy from you. I
don't know about you but I buy from people I like and trust.

The first thing you need to do is set yourself up with a good email
service provider of which there are many to choose from:
www.aweber.com www.constantcontact.com www.mailchimp.com to
name a few. It’s important to use a system where you have a confirmed
opt-in, this is when the subscriber is sent an email to confirm their email
address. This confirms that you are gaining consent and legally protects
you, it also helps you to keep a clean list and it protects you from sending
emails to incorrect addresses. You can then automate your emails with an
auto responder and send out emails automatically over time. Most email
providers offer great custom service and will walk you through the set up.

2. Create your UFO

Well I hear you thinking, what have UFO’s got to do with getting
customers? Well in order to get your website visitor to hand over their
email address you need to capture them with a an ‘unbelievable FREE
offer’ (UFO). When your visitor arrives on your website you have
14
 Alex Stearn

approximately 3 seconds to interest them and capture their contact

details before they disappear into the ether. The only way you are going
to do this is by offering them something of incredible value.

The great thing about UFO's is they not only help to capture leads but
they also leave your prospect feeling incredibly happy and more likely to
buy from you. Choosing the right gift shows your prospect that you can
relate to them and that you know what their needs and wants are.
Offering a UFO is not only going to make you stand out from your
competitors but your prospect is also more likely to remember you for
giving them something that they really value.

So how are you going to find that one thing that your customers are
going to want so much that they are going to hand over their email
address to you? This is where the information in the previous section
about your target audience comes in handy. To find your UFO you need
to answer the following questions:
• Who exactly are your ideal customers.
• What are their needs and desires?
• What are the common problems that your ideal customers have
that need solving?
• What information do they want that is related to your product or
service.
• What else do you think they want that maybe of real value to
them.

A good idea here is to ask some of your existing customers these

question too, this will make your findings far more real and accurate.
Once you have the answers to these questions then you can start thinking
about what your UFO is going to be. You need to choose something that
is that is going to offer that solution to their common problem, that is
going to be really valuable to your ideal customer and show them that
you really care and relate to them.  Next you need to consider how your
audience will want to receive your offer, maybe an ebook, a report, a
15
51 Ways To Get More Customers

video course or some kind of coupon, money off offer or free trial.

Whatever you choose you need to deliver excellence here if you want to
impress your prospects and gain credibility and their trust.  If it's really
good then they are more likely to want to stay in contact and open your
subsequent emails.  However don't let trying to find the ultimate offer
stop you from getting started. Find and create the best possible offer you
can at this time and then you can always improve and develop your offer
over time or even change it. The sooner you start offering your UFO, the
quicker you will start generating leads and converting your prospects into
customers.

The next step is to promote your UFO. Once you have created your
UFO and you have set up your opt- in with your provider you will need
to promote your UFO. There are many ways you can do this but the
most important is to put your offer and sign up box on your website.
Obtaining your website visitor’s contact email has to be one of your main
priorities so you need to make sure you choose a prominent position to
place your UFO and your email sign up box. An email pop up can be a
very good idea but make sure you give your visitors more than a few
seconds to browse before it appears or this can be annoying and they are
likely to just close the box. Make sure you put your email sign up on
every page of your website as visitors will not always land on your
homepage.

4. Plan your email campaign

Once you have set up an email with your provider you now have to create
the best possible email headlines and content so your subscribers will
open and continue to open your emails. You need to keep your content
tailored to your audience by offering the information they are hungry for
and not just pushing your products all the time.

5. Add your Opt-in to Facebook

Facebook is a great place to capture leads but as with your website the
16
 Alex Stearn

majority of visitors will not return to your page after their initial visit.
You may also find it challenging to reach all your fans with Facebook’s
algorithm and the decrease in visibility of your posts in your fan’s
newsfeed. Therefore if you are using Facebook and have a business page
them your main priority has got to be to build your opt-in list so you can
keep in contact with them through email. Most email providers will have
an app so that you can create another page within Facebook so that you
can promote your offer and collect email addresses with a form.

6. Start a blog
It is a fact that businesses with blogs benefit from an increase in the
number of visitors to their website, increased leads, increase in inbound
links and increased sales. Blogging is one of the most beneficial tools that
any business has to get found online, to communicate expertise and
knowledge and to engage with prospects and customers. With a blog
businesses can share information about their business and about any
subject that may be of interest to their target market. You can easily set
up a blog on wordpress.org, Sqaurespace.com , Wix.com . One of the
best places to set up a free blog is on Tumblr which has it’s own built in
audience too. In my book ‘Make Tumblr Work for your Business’ there
are detailed instructions about how to do this

7. Use the Google Keywords Planner

The Google Keywords tool can be used help you decide which keywords
to use in your Adwords campaign and can also be used to decide on what
content to use on your website, your blog or on YouTube. By typing your
keywords into the tool you can find out how many searches are made per
month for particular keywords together with how much competition
there is for a particular word, subject or phrase. The best type of content
to produce is for phrases relating to your target audience’s interests and
which have the highest number of searches and lowest amount of
competition.

17
51 Ways To Get More Customers

8. Add your UFO to your blog or website

If you have a blog or are planning to create one then one of the main
goals will be to capture leads. Adding your UFO with your email sign up
is an effective way of capturing your prospects on your blog. Make sure
you use an eye catching graphic to promote your UFO.

9. Make sure your website design is clear, simple and easy to

navigate.
Make sure you have a clear objective in mind when designing your
website, make it clear what you are offering, highlight the benefits to your
customer, highlight your USP and have a clear call to action. Also be sure
to keep external links to a minimum and of course make sure your opt-in
sign up form is highly visible. If you feel that your current website is not
doing the job then take another look at it. Even a total redesign does not
have to be out of your reach financially. Many businesses make the
mistake of spending thousands on a website only find they do not to
have enough resources available to market and promote it properly.

10. Make sure your website is optimised for mobile

More and more people are using their smartphones to surf the web and
purchase items. There is nothing more annoying than a website that is
not optimised for mobile. This does not need to cost you huge amounts
of money either. There are lots of companies that offer inexpensive
websites which are optimised for mobile including Wix.com
Squarepace.com Webeden.com and more.

11. Optimize your website title.

Make sure that your website title communicates exactly the correct
message. This is what people will be reading when they find your website
in the search engine results. Try and make it appeal to your target
audience and make sure it is as inviting as possible and include relevant
keywords. Using the Google Keyword planner to search for phrases that
will appeal to your audience is a very good idea. Here you can check both
the number of searches per month and the amount of competition for a
18
 Alex Stearn

particular word or phrase.

12. Add clear contact information

Make it easy for your prospects to contact you by placing your contact
details where they will be easily seen. With the technology available you
can even add chat features so that as soon as your prospect arrives on
your site a chat form appears asking if you can be of any assistance.
Obviously you need the resources to be able to man this but it is an
incredibly powerful way of quickly building trust and showing how much
you value your website visitors by being available to answer any of their
questions immediately.

13. Create a presence on social media

To do this you need to know where your customers are spending most of
their time. It is more than likely they are going to be on Facebook but
you may find it easier to connect with more of your prospects on
another platform like Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Google+,
LinkedIn. When you start make sure you know how to use these social
platforms properly. The majority of businesses are still struggling to
make social media work for them and are either giving up altogether or
waisting valuable time and resources. Social media marketing can be a
game changer for business but needs planning and putting clear strategies
in place to benefit. Posting an endless stream of product photos is not
going to work. Above all be authentic and provide information and
content that your audience actually want.

14. Join social media groups and communities

If you are looking to connect with like minded people then joining
special groups on Facebook , Google+ or LinkedIn. This is where you
will often find the action. Be careful though not to join these groups with
the sole intention of shouting about your products and services. The best
groups are the ones centred around discussions and common interests.
You can easily see if a group is worthwhile joining by the number of
comments it’s post have. Some groups have thousands of members but
19
51 Ways To Get More Customers

little engagement. If you get involved with some good groups then over
time you can make great contacts, build lasting relationships, passion your
knowledge and learn too.

15. Local Networking

With the enormity of opportunity on the internet it is easy to discard
traditional forms of networking. However there is often no better way of
making real connections than in person. Local business networking event
can be a a really effective way of building new contacts. Contacting your
local chamber of commerce is a good place to start.

16. Stumbleupon
Stumbleupon is a kind of web search engine that helps it’s users to
discover and rate web content. Make sure you submit your website to
stumbleupon.

17. Create a competition

Competitions are one of the best ways to gain interest and new leads.
You can easily set up a competition on social media and on your website.
Make sure you offer prizes that are specific to your target audience’s
interests otherwise you will end up appealing to an audience who are not
actually interested in the products you have to offer.

18. Add you business to Google Places

Google places not only helps to get your business found across Google
your customers can not only leave reviews and +1 your business and
share your content across the web.

19. Create a SlidShare account

SlideShare boasts over 60 million visitors a month and its community is
predominantly professional and educational which makes it an incredibly
powerful platform for B2B’s. SlideShare is the worlds largest community
for sharing private and public presentations and helps discover people
through content and content through people. For members who sign up
20
 Alex Stearn

for one of the pro versions of SlideShare there is the ability to activate
the user friendly lead capture form. This allows you to obtain
information about your followers. You can also incorporate a system
where you can grow your opt-in list. Files can be uploaded in the
following formats, Keynote, Powerpoint, PDF or OpenOffice
presentations and it also supports videos and Webinars.

20. Run a Webinar

A Webinar is like an interactive online conference or workshop. Webinars
are a great way of interacting with your audience, building relationships
and building your opt-in. They can be used for presenting and training,
selling a programme or course, or answering questions from your
audience. They can be saved and listened to at a later date for anyone
who could not make the date and time. For affordable webinars check
out Webinarjam.com

21. Start a Google Adwords Campaign

Google Adwords lets you target people on the keywords they are
searching for and therefore you are not waisting your time and money
targeting people who are no actually looking for your products. However
as with all your other website visitors these visitors are also likely to be
browsing and the ones who do not immediately buy form you will
disappear unless you have a tempting offer and a sign up form to catch
them. You can also use Google Adwords with the sole intention of
sending prospects to a specific landing page with an offer to collect leads.
Leadpages.net and launcheffectapp.com are two companies that create
landing pages in minutes.

22. Add Social Plugins to your website

All the social networks let you add various different plugins to your
website. Adding these to your site can encourage visitors to follow you
and share your content. You can also put sharing bars on your site which
are really effective and these can be obtained form Sharethis.com and
addthis.com
21
51 Ways To Get More Customers

23. Add social buttons to your email signature

This is yet another way of picking up social media followers. Even if
theses people are already your customers having them join your social
networks will help spread the word about your business once they start
interacting and engaging with your posts.

24. Create great content for your social networks

There is no doubt about it, those who are winning at social media are
creating the best content on their networks. You no longer have to be a
designer or a photoshop genius as there are a wealth of apps and
websites which can help you edit images, create infographics and make
presentations. If you create content that appeals to your audience’s needs
then it is very likely to get shared which will increase your reach.

25. Set up a Pinterest Account

Pinterest has to be the most, exciting, delicious, beautiful and captivating
of all the social media platforms. When you initially set up your account,
if you haven’t already done so, it won’t surprise you that this was the
fastest site in history to cross the 10 million member mark.

The marketing possibilities and opportunities are endless and a dream

come true for businesses of all kinds because the typical person who is
using Pinterest not only shops but they also tend to be high spenders too.

26. Set up a Twitter Account

Twitter provides huge opportunities for any business to get their brand in
front of people they would never have had the opportunity of getting in
front of before. You can literally grow your followers from just a few to
many valuable contacts, influencers and prospects in just a time. However
like any social media platform it has to be used correctly and launching in
without a plan and information about your target audience is just going
to be a waste of time and resources.

22
 Alex Stearn

27. Promote your business on Instagram

As one of the fastest growing social networks, Instagram, is definitely a
platform that marketeers and business owners need to pay attention to.
Like Pinterest, Instagram has let businesses build their brands through
the power of the image and has given businesses the ability to build their
brand by connecting with their followers in an emotional and personal
way. Some businesses have literally been able to catapult their business
from little to well know in no time all. With a constant stream of photos
that personalise and represent their business’s personality they are now
able to connect with their prospective customers in a whole new way by
delivering a new visual experience and creating memorable brands.

28. Set up a blog on Tumblr

Tumblr offers an amazing platform for any business or brand to promote
themselves within the Tumblr’s huge and active community. Every user
has a dashboard where they can view the posts from the blogs they
follow and can interact by liking, commenting and reblogging. Tumblr
also gives brands the freedom and flexibility to customize their own blogs
in line with their branding and post their own content from their
dashboard including: text, images, quotes, audio, video and links.

29. Set up a YouTube Channel

As the second largest search engine YouTube is a very powerful platform
for generating leads and driving traffic to a website by helping consumers
find answers to their questions and search queries. Any business that
realises the huge potential available on YouTube to find new customers
and then creates a system to capture leads and convert them into paying
customers is going to be onto a winner.

30. Host A Google Hangout.

Google + Hangouts have really made anything possible in terms of
connecting and broadcasting live to individuals and groups of people on
video, and anyone with a verified account who has installed the plug-in
and has a webcam can stream Hangouts on Air live to YouTube, their
23
51 Ways To Get More Customers

Google+ profile and their website. This amazing technology has opened
up numerous opportunities for businesses to connect with their
customers and prospects. Hangouts on Air automatically get ranked and
creating a Hangout on Air is yet another way to get found more easily.
One of the best things about Hangouts on Air are they are incredibly
straightforward and you do not need any technical knowledge to run a
very professional looking meeting or presentation.

31. Create a presence on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is not only where senior executives are headhunted and serious
job seekers hang out, it is also where a great deal of business and
networking takes place. Research shows that a whopping 80% of
members influence buying decisions in their companies and also
members have more trust in business information they receive on
LinkedIn than on any other social networks. More and more businesses
are joining and seeing the additional benefits LinkedIn has to offer for
building their business. LinkedIn offers you the opportunity to promote
your brand and your company with company pages and showcase pages
not to mention LinkedIn groups which you can either create or join.

32. Implement a referral system

Having a referral system in place can be a highly effective way of
bringing new customers to your business. Rewards can be anything from
a free gift to a money off coupon. You can do this by telling your
customers face to face, offering a leaflet or flyer at your point of sale if
you have a shop premises or by sending an email.

33. Get free publicity with PR

PR does not only extend to printed publications but online publications
too . This can be a highly effective way of attracting attention from new
customers. When putting your press release together try and tie it in with
something of interest that may be going on in your industry or a current
event, this will be much more interesting for the reader and more likely to
be written about. If writing your own press release isn’t your thing don’t
24
 Alex Stearn

let it stop you, there are experts out there that can help you.

34. Publicise your reviews

Make sure you collect any positive reviews and make them as visible as
possible on your website. People are far more likely to believe what other
people say about your business than what you say about it.

35. Offer a free trial

This may not be relevant to all businesses but if you are in the service
industry or are selling an app or some kind of service on line then this is
highly effective. People are far more likely to take the plunge and try
something if they know they don’t have to pay for it. Once they have
tried and they love it they are very likely to sign up for good. It’ not on,y
online businesses that can benefit from this strategy. Fitness and well
being coaches can really benefit from giving free sessions too.

36. Create a Facebook offer

What better way to publicise a special offer then with a Facebook offer.
This could be anything form a money off coupon to a free trial.
Facebook offers are highly effective and they let you target not only your
fans but wider audiences too. They are also incredibly quick and easy to
administer.

37. Make lead generation your priority

Whatever you do and wherever you go make sure you make lead
generation your priority. Make sure you add a link to your website, blog
or landing page on any content you produce on social media.

38. Offer a special offer at point of sale

If you want to benefit form repeat custom then giving your customers an
incentive to return can really help to get them coming back again. This
could be in the form of a tent card on a dining table or a flyer or leaflet
with the bill.

25
51 Ways To Get More Customers

39. Centre your content on the needs of your customer.

Any copy or content about your business should be centred around your
customer and the benefits you are offering them and not about you.
Offering anything which is of value to your target audience is going to
help build a favourable image of your business.

40. Write an informative guide, white paper or ebook

People love informative guides which are going to help them in whatever
they do and creating a useful guide can be a very effective way of
generating leads too.

41. Create a podcast

Podcasts are very popular. People can listen to them on the go, in the car
or travelling to work walking the dog and they can help to build authority
and help to build your brand.

42. Advertise on Facebook

Facebook offers you the opportunity to reach a highly targeted audience.
Make sure you use good clear images and include a clear call to action,
you can create numerous different ads to test. Be sure your text in any
image is visible on mobile too.

43. Add video to your website

Videos can work as immediate relationship builders and ice breakers. You
can either use video to introduce yourself, your products, offer
demonstrations or customer testimonials. You can also support your
LinkedIn profile with an introduction video too, this is incredibly
powerful in building relationships on LinkedIn.

44. Comment on other videos and blogs

You can network and make new contacts by commenting on other
peoples content or video but it is not good practice to just post links of
your website in these comment areas.

26
 Alex Stearn

45. Be an expert on Quora

If you feel you are an expert on a particular subject Quora is a great place
to show your expertise by answering peoples questions you can also
generate leads.

46. Events, Conferences and Trade Shows

Attending conferences and trade shows can be great for making contacts
whether you are a visitor or an exhibitor. Make sure you follow up on all
your meetings with an email or letter and invite them to connect with
them on your social networks.

47. Add the Google +1 button

This allows you to keep track of the popularity of your site's pages and
to have your site show in search results for people who have chosen to
include +1 recommendations. Google + is a great platform and can help
enormously with getting your content out there. Even if you don’t have
the time to build an audience it’s still a good idea to set up an account for
the SEO benefits.

48. Use Hootsuite or another social media management tool

Hootsuite not only allows you to post your content to multiple networks
but also allows you to schedule that content. You can also view all the
activity on your networks in one place which makes managing your
campaigns and interacting with your followers so much easier.

49. Install the Hootlet chrome plugin

This genius little plugin helps you to quickly & easily share and schedule
content to your social networks from anywhere on the web. Even if the
content is not yours but you are giving your prospects what they want
then this is another way of building your brand and giving your audience
what they want.

50. Show an interest in others

Being authentic, showing an interest and genuinely caring about your
27
51 Ways To Get More Customers

customers and prospects goes a long way in business today. Virtually

anyone can set up a website or business online but if you really care
about your prospects, customers and social media followers, this will be
evident. This is one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd. Going
the extra mile, giving heaps of help, free content and value, listening and
engaging with your customers will always win.

51. Stick with it and play the long game

Very few businesses are successful overnight and the successful ones
realise this. Playing the long game and building your contacts and leads
over time is going to be far more effective than trying for overnight
success.

I really hope you have enjoyed this mini ebook. You may already know
many of the tips mentioned but even if you have picked up just a few
gems here then this little book has done its job! There are lots of ideas
here and of course you don’t have to implement them all but taking
action on even just a few will yield results. The most important thing is to
be clear what your marketing message is and that it is tailored to your
target audience and that you have a system in place to generate and
capture leads.

This mini book introduces many ways to gain customers but I have also
written a 9 book series, Make Social Media Work for your Business, each
book goes into great details about how you can make the major social
media platforms work for your business. Books include, Facebook,
Twitter, Google + , LinkedIn™, Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube and the
big one Make Social Media Work for your Business which covers all the
platform. All are available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.

We have also set up a group of Facebook ‘Make Social Media Work for
your Business’ The group is all about supporting each other in our social
media efforts and networking, building relationships and keeping up to
date with the latest in social media. Would love you to join us at https://
28
 Alex Stearn

www.facebook.com/groups/1503958379888288

Website: www.alexstearn.com
www.facebook.com/alexandrastearn
www.facebook.com/themarketingdirectory
www.twitter.com/alexstearncom
www.instagram.com/alexstearn
www.pinterest.com/alexstearn
www.instagram.com/alexstearn
www.twitter.com/alexstearncom
www.alexstearn.tumblr.com
www.linkedin.com/in/alexstearn
www.google.com/+alexstearn
www.youtube.com/alexstearn

29
 Make Facebook Work for your Business

Make Twitter Work for your Business

Make LinkedIn Work for your Business

Make Pinterest Work for your Business

Make Instagram Work for your Business

Make Google + Work for your Business

Make YouTube Work for your Business

Make Tumblr Work for your Business

Make Social Media Work For Your Business

The complete series in one book!

The complete guide to marketing your business, generating new
leads,
finding new customers and building your brand on Twitter,
LinkedIn,
Tumblr, Pinterest,Instagram, YouTube, Google,
+Facebook, Foursquare,Vine and Snapchat.