Okay, the hardest part of this writing this article was coming up with a title that resonated with you my audience, but also conveyed what I was going to talk about. Last week, I mentioned the importance of landing one percent of the local community as customers or clients for your business. Sharing how that could positively change the trajectory of your companies revenue stream. Today, I want to go even further in detail regarding one percent rule that I have created.
Stop Looking Outside
Stop listening to these influencers and experts who say you need to be dominating the world. It’s great they are known worldwide for their business they also have a vast team of people working for them. It’s just you and I working on our businesses to make fetch happen. There is money to be made in your local community. The reason I am so focused on the one percent rule in 2017 and beyond is because everyone is trying to think big when they should be thinking small. Living in Killeen, I have an industry that will be getting paid twice a month. Allowing streams of cash flow to circulating in this community constantly. Money is to made right where I am versus putting extra time and money in with people I will never see in person. As we discussed before building trust in small business is essential in your companies growth and retention.
Google Need To Know Information
Right now, I want you to Google your town population and breakdown of race, age and marital status. Next take the time to learn their disposable income in your town. Last year, a client and I sat down to do this same thing because her business thrived on local growth. She learned that the average annually disposable income in her city was $30,000. That is $2,500 monthly that people have to spare when it comes to living after all expenses are taken care of. You’re now thinking omg if I could bring that in monthly or more I could make $35,000 or more yearly all off of others extra income. This is why it is important to fill out your target audience demographic and keep it in mind when doing your marketing.
Marketing Made Easy
One of the greatest things about marketing to your one percent local audience is, you are a part of that demographic. You are shopping where they shop, eating where they eat and much more. You have inside knowledge on audience no matter the size of your town. You can always take a huge city such as; Chicago or Atlanta and break it down by the suburbs within the larger city if you must. As everyone knows when you are marketing you are not trying to land everyone you are tapping into a select few of people. Focus your efforts on reaching the one percent of your local audience that will connect with your business through your marketing tactics.
Visual Imagery Lands Sales
Creating the visual imagery that stimulates the customer’s mindset when it comes to running Facebook ads or creating first purchase cards to pass out to people shopping is what is going to land you the sales. Most people put in 50% of the effort and want 100% of the benefits when it comes to their success. Maximize your return on investment by taking the time to design your advertising that will attract your customer or clients specifically using a tool such as; Facebook. You can hire someone to design your ad visually and the copy that you use. Personally I would suggest A/B testing two different ads. Then fine tuning the one who provides you more clicks and sales. First purchase cards can be designed by yourself or hiring someone. Just make sure they are nice looking. Then during the week and weekends take a minimum of one hour to pass them out at busy locations in your city.
Have What They Need
Okay, you have found the one percent of local customer you want to attract and currently working on your marketing and visuals for them. Here is the biggest aspect of it all, do you have what they need? If you’re a product based business here are a couple questions you should ask yourself:
- Do you have the inventory levels to accommodate sales?
- Are you going to offer free local pickup?
- Will you implement events such as; truck shows or pop-up shops to establish in person interaction?
- What is the ideal sales transaction per customer?
- How I will handle transactions will it be cash, credit or online payment?
If you’re a service based business here are a couple questions you should ask yourself:
- Will I have open office hours?
- Where will I meet my clients, if I have no office space?
- How I will handle transactions or invoicing system for in person?
- Are there ways for you to have clients pay upfront with contract to get cash flow coming in sooner for projects?
This year, I want you to think small when it comes to your company growth when it comes to customer acquisition and retention plans. Obtaining one percent of your local audience is not hard if you put in the work to do so.