As a business owner, you know that the only way to stay in business is to be constantly growing your business. There is never time to sit back and think “oh yes, I have enough customers and enough loads,” because as soon as you do that, something unexpected happens. Your best customer’s son-in-law’s brother opens a brokerage and takes all your business. A steady shipper in Atlanta files for bankruptcy. You just never know what the future holds, so you have to invest time and money into marketing and growing at all times. Here are 2 things you can do right now to grab some customers from the online world and keep your freight brokerage business healthy and well.
1. Do you have a website? These days, not having an online presence for your business is the equivalent to having a boarded-up storefront. It tells customers that you are not legitmate, trustworthy and reliable. It projects an image of a fly-by-night operation that is out of touch with the industry. Your website tells your current and potential customers your story – who you are, what you do, why they should hire you. Fortunately, services like EZFreightWebsites.com make it really easy and affordable to have a website completely customized to your business in just a few minutes. There are many template websites specific to the transportation industry to choose from, you plug in your info and instantly have an online live website. This is a great option for those that don’t have a lot of time or money to spend on hiring a web design firm to create a custom website from scratch.
2. Social Media is another easy option that you can use today to get in front of your future customers. Applications like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat are relatively simple, deliver your message instantly and can help develop better customer relationships by the two-way communication that these programs encourage. Be sure to respond to comments or questions on your posts professionally and promptly (including any of those dreaded customer complaints). Not sure where to start? Check out this excellent article from Logistic Dynamics which gives some basic step-by-step advice on getting a business page up and running on Facebook. http://www.logisticdynamics.com/how-top-freight-brokers-leverage-facebook-to-grow-their-business/
One of the greatest benefits of the internet is that information is transferred instantly. We no longer have to wait to create a postcard or brochure, get it printed, gather a mailing list, purchase postage, take the marketing pieces to the post office and wait several days for the postal service to deliver. A website is up 24 hours/day, 7 days a week telling your story and social media engagement provides that immediate gratification that everyone seems to want these days.
Try these 2 things right now. Trust me, it doesn’t take long, your business will benefit and you might find it actually kind of fun, too.
