Never bite the hand that feeds you. Thats what they say right? Well, they are right; especially in business. If you’re a small business owner and are looking for a quick way to kill any chance you have at growing, by all means, bite that hand. But I believe it’s safe to say that all of us here have a little more sense then that right?

Word of mouth advertising is the very best form of marketing your company can have. There’s nothing like a happy client who is ready to tell their friends and family about your services or products. If you’ve been hired for a job or you just shipped out $1,000 worth of product to a client and they’re so excited that they actually bring in business for you, how is that not a good thing? It costs you ZERO dollars, which is awesome for all of us who bootstrap on a daily basis, and it is achieved by doing the most simple task imaginable; PROVIDE TOP QUALITY SERVICE!

How to gain your word of mouth momentum

As stated above, top quality service is the best way to make sure your name is spoke in many conversations your current client or customer will have. This is the easiest thing to do, yet so many people overlook it. If you’ve got a client who you know has a lot of friends who are in a similar field and would make for great customers, why would it be so hard to answer emails quicker or make a couple extra phone calls giving progress reports on your project.

What about reminding him or her that you’re thankful for their business and hope that you’re living up to their expectations? This sentence has gained me many referrals due to the fact that people LOVE to be appreciated. And once again for all of us bootstrappers, it’s free! Never underestimate the power of going the extra mile for someone you know has connections or could possibly benefit you in the future. Some business relationships are meant to build upon farther then others, so make sure you can spot the positive ones and grow with it; your bank account will thank you

You’re getting referrals; now what?

So you’ve got some referrals coming in from past clients and you’re business is starting to do very well. What do you do now? Most people I’ve talked to seem to just sit back, enjoy the business and keep moving forward. I do NOT recommend doing this. You’re overlooking another GREAT avenue to keep the word of mouth going; thanking your referrers.

There’s many different options you can go with when you’re thanking your referrers; hand written thank you letters, percentage of the sale, gift basket, personal gifts, and so on. No matter what you do, your referrer will be happy and will end up telling everyone about the gift they’re getting as well. When this happens, the clients they’re referring might get excited and want to refer you more customers so they can also get the free perks. It’s a chain reaction at this point and from one referral could potentially spawn 100 referrals and a small army of energetic people who are passionate about your product and love the perks they receive when they’re referring you clients.

I want to thank my readers

I wanted to take the last bit of this article to thank all of you; not for referring me clients or anything like that, but just for reading this website and commenting on my articles. It lets me know that I’m doing something worth while and helping at least one person grow their business with just that much less stress. So, thank you