Build Business Fast - with business cards

The best advertising I have ever done cost me about a nickel per person. It's called a business card.

I moved to ten different cities in ten years and it never took me more than 6 months to develop a clientele large enough to live off of. The trick is not to over think who you are going to give your cards to. Give them out freely, make up any excuse to start a conversation with a stranger and give them your card before it is over.

It is really a numbers game. You need 1000 people to sit in your chair to build your business. You will likely keep 25% of the new clients (75% will drift away for a variety of reasons having nothing to do with your ability). You need 250 + clients coming to see you ona 4 to 6 week rotating schedule (that's 8 clients a day (1 per hour) 5 days a week (40 hours of work 40 clients) returning every 4 weeks for haircuts or color = a minimum of 160 clients but if they only return every 6 weeks that's 240 clients to keep you busy).

It can take as long or as little time to get those 1000 people to sit in your chair as you allow it to. In order to get those 1000 people you have to meet and give your card to approximately 100,000 people. I know you say that's impossible, but it really isn't if you think of all the people you meet, and if you are making a point of handing out your card to everyone you come into contact with you and easily accomplish this in 3 to six months.

Why do I say 100,000? Because you are going to get an average of 1% response to your advertising, in this case handing out your business cards. 1% of 100,000 is, guess what, 1000 people. Maybe you can see how the math works.

This is just a fact of advertising, and you can leverage how quickly your card finds it's way into the hands of those 100,000 by asking your clients to give cards to their friends, going places where there are lots of people (i.e. clubs, civic meetings, concerts, parties, etc.), speaking in front of various groups, doing demonstrations for women's groups, etc.

However the more direct the contact the higher your response rate will be. That is to say if you personally hand out your cards your response (people who actually sit in your chair) may be 3 or 4 percent, while the response rate of those people who get your card secondhand may only be .25% which is where we get the 1% average.

I always got a good response when I was handing out cards, and I handed them out to everyone. Especially well dressed, well coiffed, women. I was actually picking my clientele to be more upscale.

Are you going to run into resistance? Of course you are. you are going to meet people who will refuse to take your card, who call you names, and who even threaten to call the police; but you can't be bothered by that. This isn't personal and you can't afford to take it that way. Your goal is to build your business, rejection is just a temporary setback, stay focused on the goal and keep handing out cards.

It's really pretty simple, if you're tired of waiting for your business to to walk through the door, I suggest you start handing out your business cards to everyone you meet and watch your business grow.

pro-salon.com
Dallas, Texas 75248
phone: 469-441-8771