How To Build A Business Marketing List - 3 List Building Secrets

How many times have you contacted potential clients and only been told that they don’t have the need for your service at the moment but will call you in future if they do?

Chances are these promised calls are seldom materialized.

It can be demoralizing when your constant marketing efforts yield no results. If that’s the case, don’t take it too personal. The reality is people may simply forget about you after your initial contact with them.

Maybe they are not convinced that you can help them. Or maybe they have someone else in mind… There could be millions of reasons why people don’t hire you on the spot. The bottom line is – they are not ready.

But don’t give up yet - if you can somehow keep a regular contact with them, you may be surprised at how many people will end up requesting for your services.

Having a quality business marketing list helps you reach out to more potential clients in less time. It also makes your marketing effort more targeted. Often a quality business marketing list translates into more sales and more income. It’s practically your gold mine.

List building is not as difficult as you may think, but it does require some consistent hardwork on your part.

1- Know who should be on your list

This may seem like a no-brainer but many translators don’t understand this – if you try to target everyone and anyone, you’ll likely end up with very poor results. It’s like shooting in the dark. You need to narrow down your target market. If you don’t, you’ll have a real hard time coming up with a consistent marketing message.

When you just start out, you need to rely on the support from the people around you such as your family and your friends. After all, they are the ones who would really love to see you succeed. Other than that your list should focus on people in the following categories:

• Your past and current clients

• people who expressed interest in your service but do not need it at the time

• small business who are offering other services to your target market

• authors and web designers

• consultants

• businesses who are trying to reach potential clients who speak a different language than English

2- Know where to find contact names

Building a business marketing list takes time and effort, but most of all it takes careful planning. You may collect contact names through these channels:

• Go to the library and search for business, professional directories and newsletter directories etc.

• Join professional associations

• Regularly attend networking events

• Communicate with your target market online through blogging, forum discussion etc.

• Wherever and whenever possible

3- Define your unique marketing message

It’s important to listen to your target market and create a unique marketing message that speaks to their concerns. In addition to an email marketing plan (see email marketing strategy), you have to take every opportunity to send out your message. If that message resonates with people, your services will be selling fast.

If you just follow what other translators are doing, you are going to get lost soon. With tons of competition out there at any given moment, you need to stand out from the crowd. Try to offer something new in addition to regular translation service.

How about virtual assistance services helping businesses with daily administrative work including translation? How about helping a gardener come up with a tips book in other language version and market to a broader base of clients?

There is so much you can do if you do your research and keep an open mind about different service models.

Many translators complain about the ridiculous financial compensations offered on various freelance websites for their valuable services. But as a translator, you are the one that’s responsible for sending the message out there. You have to convince people on your business marketing list that your service is valuable.

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