While the value of using social media to gain clients is a steady drumbeat these days, don’t discount the power of handing out business cards to your favorite customers, says Annie Tsai, the author of The Small Business Online Marketing Handbook: Converting Online Conversations to Offline Sales. “Asking for the referral is often the most difficult part of building a referral program,” she says. “However, you need to educate your customers on how they can help support your business — especially in the beginning.”

Even if you don’t establish a formal referral program, you can use business cards as an easy conversation starter. Says Tsai: “Simply hand the customer three business cards at the point of sale and say, ‘I’d really appreciate it if you could let a few friends know about the great service you received today.’”

Staff Writer

Editorial

Read more posts written by Staff

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.

Read more about