No matter how long you’ve been in your business or how smoothly you run it, you can be sure that at some point there will be challenges. That’s simply the nature of business. There are times when you’ll get off track, experience a downturn or hit a plateau. It doesn’t mean you have to stay there for long. Here are four tips on how you can revive your business with Bartercard and get back on the path to success.
1. Effective marketing
Business people often make the mistake of becoming complacent around marketing. They spend loads of cash at start-up and in the first ‘honeymoon’ period of the business, then taper off once the customers start rolling in. It can become a bit of a catch 22. You need to market so you can attract customers, but you need new customers so you can afford better marketing!
It’s not enough these days to simply have a website and some social media presence, and expect to be competitive. Depending on your business, you may need to invest in blogs, newsletters, email campaigns, events or direct mail-outs with time-sensitive offers, discounts or bonuses. You’ll also need that strong social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or LinkedIn – wherever your customers are.
It all costs money and takes time. The good news is, Bartercard can save you both! By working with Bartercard members who specialise in these services, you can retain your cash and spend your trade dollars instead of marketing that will help you get more customers.
2. Advertising
Most business owners know very little about advertising and what works best to attract new clients. What’s more, those savvy salespeople know it! Have you ever had a rep walk through your door and walk out half an hour later having signed you up to a ‘special advertising package?’ The problem with this approach is that no planning has gone into it on your part. It’s called the scattergun approach and it can be the death of your business.
How much better would it be to sit down with marketing specialists who can help you plan a campaign that will give you the most bang-for-your-buck (or trade dollar)? The Bartercard network has members in all areas of advertising, from magazines to television, radio to billboards. There are also copywriters and graphic designers who can carefully craft and present your message through flyers, brochures, and even online ads.
3. Networking
There’s nothing quite like networking to raise your profile, put you in front of potential clients and lead to referrals and testimonials. When you join Bartercard, you immediately have access to the world’s largest business-to-business trade exchange with over 24,000 member businesses across nine countries. This means you may never need to attend a networking meeting (outside of Bartercard) ever again! That would be great news for some busy businesspeople.
As a Bartercard member, you’ll be keen to network, as the more members you meet, the more potential you have to both save money and do business. Bartercard’s large, global referral network means you can promote your products and services to members locally, nationally and globally and remember this is new business on top of your existing business. And once you do business with a member, they’ll refer you to others, and potentially bring in cash clients as well.
On top of that, there are several, large networking organisations you can join through Bartercard using your trade dollars to pay your membership. That can add up to massive cash savings for your business.
4. Lead generation
Every business can do with more leads, but where to begin? You can purchase a list, employ a telemarketer to cold call, SEO your online presence or gather leads through social media. Again, it’s a lot of work and how many business owners have the time and skills to put together a lead-generation campaign?
Fortunately, Bartercard boasts several well-regarded experts in the field of lead generation. We even work with some of them ourselves! They have the know-how to set up, execute and manage your lead-generation campaigns, and most importantly track your results. The best part is you can pay for their services as a Bartercard member using your trade dollars.
Make Bartercard a part of your business today
There are many more ways to reinvigorate your business through Bartercard and you don’t need to wait for a down-turn to get your business working smarter, faster and better!
You can find more great tips at our helpful Bartercard blog, written specially to help you manage and grow your business, or contact Bartercard today for more great ideas to expand your business!
