Five years ago I started my first business. My background and training were in manufacturing, chemistry and management. The management experience was certainly helpful in launching a new business, but the other areas really didn't lend much to helping me get done everything I needed to do.

As the owner, I was responsible for hiring, firing, billing, marketing, following up on sales leads, managing & training my employees, scheduling, submitting all of the proper paperwork for payroll, bookkeeping, accounting, etc... This can be very overwhelming for a person who is launching a business for the first time with very few resources. To manage all of these tasks, I immediately outsourced the day-to-day bookkeeping tasks, hired an accountant, and outsourced the payroll administration. These were all things that I was not adequately skilled to do and knew that it would be well worth my time to pay for outsourcing.

I have never had a job in the sales field, so the next BIG hurdle for me was to find a way to generate leads and turn those leads into clients. My company is a small cleaning service that started with me and one employee. My intent was always to be the manager of the company -- not the cleaning lady! So, I had to develop skills that did not come naturally to me. I also had to develop a strategy.

My first attempt at developing leads was a total and utter flop. I engaged in a $4000 direct mail campaign. Direct mail can range in price from $1500 to tens of thousands of dollars for a professionally executed campaign. The company that I contacted to help me in this quest developed my logo and created the mail pieces that would go out to specific demographics. My call back rate on this mailer was less than 1% and the number of resulting clients I could count on one hand. Needless to say, I was very disappointed and a little bit desperate, because this was my entire advertising budget.

Since then I have learned a lot. First, to get your business name recognized, you will need to have a presence in the community. It may take a while to brand your product or service, but in the long run it pays off. In the beginning of my first business I did this by joining networking groups. You can check your local papers in the business section to see what is available in your area. Some groups charge annual fees or dues, others charge per the function. What worked for me was the type of networking group in which you developed relationships and those who were in those groups felt comfortable giving you referrals. Please note I did say referrals. Unlike the direct mail piece where the callers were looking for a bargain, the relationship referrals were people who wanted someone they could trust. My closing rate on referrals was about 90%. And the referrals almost always continued using our service on a long-term basis.

As I said, it took me a while to brand my business. I used the logo that was developed for me because it was very well done and memorable. I kept the colors that were used in my original direct mail campaign - black and gold. Down the road, I developed a website and about 6 months ago I hired a firm to redevelop my website that did a fantastic job utilizing my branding strategy. Eventually, I bought uniform shirts, aprons, bags with our name and logo. All of our print material displays our logo. I meet more people at networking meetings that remember meeting me because of my striking business card. So the effect is apparent what a good branding campaign can do for your.

Another wonderful way to create a presence in the community is to promote your business through PR announcements. You can do this yourself by looking at the different announcements you see in your local business news or you can hire a PR firm to do this for you. A lot of professionals in sales and business owners read that information because they like to be informed about what is going on in their business community.

If your business has employees, consider sponsoring an event. Some events want monetary sponsors, but some events need workers which they will consider as an in-kind sponsorship. There are always schools, professional associations, and other non-profit groups looking for this type of relationship with business. A business associate of mine owns a senior care business. Each year she sponsors "Senior Santa" program which provides personal care and non-prescription health products to the Senior Citizens in the area. This is a wonderful way to give to the community plus the local papers pick up the story free of charge to help promote the event.

If print advertising seems to be the best route for you, check out some of the new or smaller local magazines instead of the newspaper. I have placed business card sized ads in a fairly well distributed magazine for just over $100 a month. Always check to see if the publication requires a certain commitment (3 months, 6 months, 1 year) before making a decision. If you're on a budget, you can get a better price by going for a longer term sometimes, but it may be better for you to go month to month if you are unsure about your available budget. The publication I advertised in had prices ranging from $125 - $95 per month. I got a mid-rate for a 3 month commitment which fit in my budget well.

The last thing I would recommend for new businesses is to get a web presence as soon as possible. My first company is a cleaning company and for about the first year, I kept telling people "I don't need a website because I don't sell anything on the web." That was a true statement, but what I was overlooking was the fact that people like to know something about a company before they use them and just about everyone will go to the computer and punch in your company name to visit your website if they are considering doing business with you. Having a website lends credibility to any business. It shows prospective customers that you want to share your company information with them.