Hey there @autodetailer253 .. With two clues, I found your FB page -- at least I assume that 253 in your screen name means area code 253, and there is a business with that exact name in Bonney Lake, WA. LOL. I looked you up because I wanted to see where you are located. As it turns out, you might be in the neighborhood of Tacoma, but it looks like you are maybe 30 minutes away? Honestly, that gives me all sorts of suggestions. Here goes.
First, there is no doubt in my mind that Greater Tacoma has business groups. In my city, we have the Covington Business Council, for example. It's a group of local businesses who get together, socialize, share ideas, host city and other leaders, etc. One of the biggest functions of the CBC is a directory of other businesses who might have resources or experiences that I can use in my own. When we were first starting out, for example, we found a local marketing firm that we still use today, a decade+ later. It's been my experience that this one relationship has proven to be the most valuable one. In fact, as we make plans to move and expand later this year, I plan to hire them again for a huge marketing blitz. Side benefit -- they always cut me a friends-and-famiily discount. We pay a membership fee every year to the CBC but the connections I've made there and the things I've learned there more than justify that nominal cost.
We don't do a lot of traditional advertising. But we've found that the one that gives us the biggest ROI is with our local online news source. We pay a few hundred dollars a month to ensure that we will be served to a given number of viewers who are provided our ad and a link to our website. I am always surprised to see that after the obvious Yelp/Google/FB referrals to my site, this news source consistently is our top performer. We used to pay less, for less visibility. But, as we grew, we decided it was worth the investment for broader visibility. That's the beauty of online advertising like this -- we can control our investment after we determine our visibility goals.
Then there is an organization called SCORE. They are basically a national business mentoring organization with local chapters across the country. Many of their resources are free. Some of their seminars and advanced assistance comes with a nominal fee. But they are available to help you navigate the tricky waters of growing your business intelligently, and each chapter is usually laser-focused on local and regional tips and tricks. I highly recommend them.
Finally, don't minimize the effect of a good referral program. Figure out something that doesn't break the bank and that offers a reward to both the person doing the referring and the person receiving the referral. This can be pretty informal with just a printed card. Or your could use a third-party app like Ice Cream Social which keeps track of a more organized program. That one is $19.95/month plus 5% every time a referral is converted to a customer. If you did do something like this, I'd highly recommend increasing your prices a little before implementing it, just to cover most of the cost of the program.
I hope some of that helps. Otherwise, as everyone else has said, don't hesitate to come back here and ask specific questions. That's why this Community exists!
Best,
Chip A.
Square Expert & Innovator and member of the Square Champions group. (But NOT a Square employee, just a seller like you)
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