Take everyone out to celebrate. You did it! You made your entrepreneurial dreams come true! Take a night to kick back and celebrate with those that helped you along the way. Have the whole team get together for a celebratory dinner and, hey, even make it the first expense on your new company tab. Give the group a souvenir to remember the night by … perhaps a laser-engraved pen with the company name on it.
Submit a release. Albeit a bit traditional, submitting a news release is a tried-and-true method of getting the word out about your new business venture. You may even consider hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony or something of the sort for local community leaders. If you choose to do so, make sure the local papers know as they might even show up to do a story!
Throw a grand opening. On the day of your opening, make it an occasion to celebrate. Try to get an ad in the paper or online about your grand opening, and make sure to go all out. Offer potential customers gift certificates with exclusive discounts to get them to try out your product and/or service. Have a giveaway where people can buy raffle tickets. Hand out promotional items like custom mugs or promo magnets with your company’s logo on it to everyone who stops by. Lastly, make sure to display banners and balloons outside your storefront to let people know where the party’s at!
Run a direct mail campaign. Sending out mail pieces to the community or people who have expressed interest in your startup is one of the most effective ways to announce a new business. Send out a postcard with a brief “elevator speech” about your business! Make sure to make the colors bold and any graphics visually appealing. Explain why you opened up your business, and thank your addressees for their support.
Take it online. And don’t be afraid to be obnoxious about it. If you have a website, make sure the grand opening announcement is ALL OVER the homepage, and casually mentioned throughout the rest of the site. Post it on all your business’ social media pages, as well as your personal ones. Connect with other business on social media whose customers may have an interest in your products/services (as long as they’re not competitors!) and post on their wall or tweet them with your announcement. Make sure online directories are updated with your business’ information (i.e. Yelp, Yahoo Local, Google Places, etc.).
Do you have a business opening in 2014? What other tactics do you have in mind to get the word out? We’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment below, or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.