It has always been a struggle to find your first customers, to appeal to the popular demands while keeping your ideas and innovations intact. Most of the time in real life, especially in business, textbook knowledge doesn’t get you very far. You have to get down in the field, swim the murky waters, and use the trial-and-error methods to find out what works best for your project.
In case you have a side project which you have been meaning to start-up for a long time, and have finally managed the courage to do so, then you have already made a small achievement. However, your success will depend on whether or not you could gain customers. This is because the only customers or clients can get you revenues which will yield you profits.
Most people believe that to launch any side project start-up, you need sufficient capital, which is true. A start-up idea might occur to many people but they may not have the capital to invest in it. Therefore, if you already have your resources, then you are already well ahead.
Now, it seems that the best way to attract clients or customers is an advertisement, which could be a great way definitely, but let’s take a look at other ways as well:
CONDUCT YOUR OWN SURVEY ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMERS
It is really important that you understand your potential customers or who are the people who need your service most. You may conduct your own survey using people you already know, or you have contact with. Ask them various questions about what are the qualities or features they are looking for in similar products. Whether they are satisfied with what they get or not, how could the products be improved to have a better customer experience; these are the things you may focus on in your survey. Remember, interaction with your potential clients is what will benefit you in your business.
USE SOCIAL MEDIA
Another thing most entrepreneurs miss out on is the use of social media to gain customers. When you start your business, it always helps to have a social media existence where customers can post their complaints or reviews. This will help you to create better versions or fix any shortcomings from your sides. After all, everyone loves it when their opinion is being taken into account or given a thought. Your customers will be more likely to recommend your product or services to others if they find their opinions are taken into account as well.
CREATE YOUR WEBPAGE AND SEND EMAILS
You may create an email id meant for promotional purposes only. Once your webpage is set up and ready you may ask your views to subscribe to your emails. Now, why would anyone willingly sign up for your emails if they think you are going to spam them with promotional contents?
This is where you have to work on. Build your webpage such that it also contains important information, which might promote your service subtly. Use words that have motivational content and the viewers can learn something from them. Educating your customers is important when you want them to use your products more. Moreover, your webpage should be easy to navigate and users should be able to get the information they want without hassle. For this, you might want to take the help of professional designers who provide graphic design services to companies. Designing for websites may sound very easy, but it is not a kind of work you should leave to amateurs. Draftss is a company which provides unlimited graphic design packages, especially for small businesses and start-ups. You might check them out too!
When you send your emails to your subscribed viewers, make sure you send them emails that have quality content. You may also carry forward your survey of customer preferences through the emails themselves.
Thus, you may use these hacks to get your first 100 users for your start-up side project. Make sure you talk to your customers and treat them politely! All the best.
