SIX sweet and simple ways to attract new clients. with. attract new clients with. kindness. kindness

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1 SIX sweet and simple ways to attract new clients attract new clients with with kindness kindness Place your message here. For maximum impact, use two or three sentences. A little publication

2 ONE say thank you First things first, let s be grateful. Gratitude is the foundation of all success and exercising gratitude gives you a super attractive vibe. People will want to be around your business and you! maybe without even knowing why. It ll just feel good. Sit quietly and think of your dearest supporters. They may be friends, loyal clients, old bosses and teachers, your mother. Write down their names on a sheet of paper and post it up somewhere you can see it. Next, choose some eco-friendly stationery. It doesn t have to be fancy, although it should make you feel good to write on it. Each morning, for as many days as it takes, before you open the cash register or login to check , you re going to find a sunny nook to spend a few minutes thinking about one of the people on your list and you ll write her or him a letter. It doesn t have to be eloquent or long just sincere. Why are you grateful for this person? What kindness do you remember? As an extra treat, you could drop in a lottery ticket or a gift card for a coffee. (Wouldn t you like to get that in the mail?) Being appreciative of what you already have naturally leads to having more.

3 TWO make a donation Is there a cause that s dear to your heart that s also dear to your clients hearts? Use your business to support it. There are lots of ways to make a donation. You could give your goods or services to a non-profit in need. You could volunteer your time. You could offer a non-profit space in your newsletter. You could coordinate a clothing, toy or food drive and invite your clients to participate. People want to help each other we just don t always know how. Put a product or service on sale for a day, or week or month, and let your clients know that all proceeds (or a percentage) will be supporting a certain organization. Instead of giving out mugs or calendars as holiday or thank-you gifts, why not make a donation in honour of your clients? Another option is to let your clients choose the giving: and both offer gift certificates. Don t keep it a secret. Tell your clients what you re doing and invite them in. Create something good, and they ll want to tell others. Make people feel proud to do business with you.

4 THREE sing praises Thanks to the advent of social media, the Internet is chock full of places to say nice things about other people. Go make somebody feel really good. Seek out your suppliers and clients online. If they have a Facebook page, become a fan. Really like them? Write a positive review. Follow them on Twitter, if you have an account, and tweet about them. When they have a sale or other good news to share, if it would be of interest to your own fans and followers, spread the word. Are you on LinkedIn? Write a recommendation for everyone who s impressed you. If you don t yet have a LinkedIn account, it s worth signing up just for this feature. (While you re there, connect your Twitter and Facebook pages so that your profile gets automatically updated a handy time-saver.) Gigpark.com is another place to recommend businesses. Look for the businesses you love and type a few kind words. Never write with the expectation of having the favour returned and you ll delight in how often it happens. Kindness begets kindness.

5 FOUR check your prices Do not do some crazy discount. No, none of that. But do take a good long look at your offerings and their price points. How accessible are you? Do you give prospective clients a safe way to try you out? And do you give loyal customers opportunities to have even more of you? This is a kindness. Being a thoughtful entrepreneur is all about understanding needs and meeting them. What could you offer for free that would help prospects to know you and to improve their lives in some way? It might be a short YouTube video or a brief consultation. What would the next step be a longer service or a lower-priced product? What s at the mid -point? And what s your most extravagantly wonderful offering? Is it a retreat somewhere exotic? A personal shopping experience? You get the idea. Think big. And think small and medium. Make room for everybody in your business without de-valuing yourself. The best clients don t want deals so much as they want value and high quality. They want to feel good about their purchase.

6 FIVE presents! Business cards and brochures are handy things, but they re also kinda dull. Always seek to delight. Rethink your marketing materials. If you re attending a networking event or tradeshow, you ll want to give something so those quick meetings can turn into longer relationships. Make it something they won t want to recycle. Instead of a business card, make a magnet. Something beautiful, something inspiring. Maybe a wonderful quote or a work of art with your URL as a small footer? Forget what old-school branders may say about it; it doesn t always have to be your logo. Instead of a brochure, make bookmarks. Again, make them gorgeous. Make them something you would want to slip into a book. Or get more creative. Make your own tea bags. Bake cookies and include the recipe. Have all-natural incense made, if that s what your crowd is into. Whenever you print a marketing communications piece, print the least number you need and always use an environmentally-responsible printer and environmentallyresponsible paper. (If there s space, include the logos on your design to help promote such practices.)

7 SIX be beautiful What does beauty have to do with building your business? A whole lot. Beauty is, well, attractive. Long thought to be a nice-to-have, economists and socialists are learning that beauty sells. A recent Martin Prosperity research paper studied how people choose where to live and found, across the board, aesthetic appeal was as important as economic security and good schools. Now connect the dots to your business. If your website or business card or photography doesn't make you feel proud, how likely is it that you ll share them? How likely is it that they ll wow your prospects? How inviting is your space if you, yourself, don t like how it looks? Beauty isn t frivolous it s about demonstrating care, and there isn t an industry out there where that isn t important to clients. So, how can you get more beautiful? Clean your space. Paint. Set fresh flowers on your counter or desk. If you don t like your website, invest in getting it right. If you don t have the funds for that right now, consider taking your website down and relying on your Facebook page. Hate your business cards? Recycle them and when you re out, ask others for their cards instead of giving out yours. Hire a professional photographer to shoot you and your business. Often, great photography not only tells your story best but it can also beautify a questionable layout. Make beauty a priority. Be generous with loveliness. There is enough mediocrity already. If you re going to make something, make it beautiful.

8 about our author Carrie Klassen has lots of ideas about attracting clients with kindness she s devoted an entire business to it: Pink Elephant Communications. But those aren t all her ideas. Nope, she could go on about generosity and passion and openness and clarity. She likes quirkiness too. These, dear people, are the qualities of excellent marketing, and excellent businesses. attract new clients with If you d like to learn more, you can stop by marketing goodies too. and especially You ll find kindness free stuff and pay-what-you-can stuff and some more luxurious To get in touch directly, you can write Carrie at carrie@pinkelephantcommunications.com If you d prefer a more random meeting, do frequent the coffee houses of east Toronto, Place your message here. For maximum impact, use two or three Riverdale farm, the galleries of the Distillery sentences. District, and live performances of indie rock and opera (but not rock opera). A little publication