In an earlier post I talked about communicating with your clients, and my last post discussed understanding your client-base. Now let’s tie everything together.

As a first step to growing your business I suggested starting with people who are “like” your best customers. What did I mean by that?

Let’s say that your best customers are single professionals between 25 & 35, who have been relocated to your geography and who have never owned a home. What type of information do you think would be of interest to them?

I suspect that these folks will not know many people in their new location, that they are looking for both friends and romance, do not know the local providers and have limited time at their disposal. So I would provide information about local activities, parks, restaurants, libraries, hot spots, clubs, shopping, mortgages, homeowner tips , and a listing of service providers – utility, tv, repair men, etc. In some cases the information may be as simple as a website address. I would also have a way for folks to provide me with “special” requests. As an example if they like jazz music, they could request information on local clubs where jazz is featured.

I would then insure that I can acquire and deliver information that responds to these needs. As examples I would have a pdf of local service providers that can be hosted on a website, emailed or mailed out. I’d have another pdf of local attractions that includes a brief description, website and other contact information. I would have sports schedules printed out – and a way for people to be able to request them. If my “best” customers like theater, I’d create another pdf focusing on the theater – local theaters, community theaters, etc. I would have a twitter account, so that I could tweet last minute information – like a rain delay or a venue change. All of my materials – whether they are online or in print – would include my website, email, phone & fax.

The intent is to insure that your clients – and others “like” your clients – know that in addition to your base knowledge of the local market, you understand their needs, can provide the information that they want, and are therefore the professional that they want to engage. The main message: Even when they do not need your specific services you are serving them – when they do they should call you.