Increase Your Referrals X 5 More

So you’ve already multiplied the number of referrals you get by five from my previous post, right? Perfect. Here are five more ways to increase your referrals:

1) Be Nice: simple enough. Without getting too metaphysical, understand that business works in karmic circles just like life. Nice guys don’t finish last when it comes to referral generation.

2) Give Referrals: being nice might not be good enough. You also have to give to receive. The more referrals you give, the more you will get. Networking groups like BNI and Le Tip have successfully leveraged this concept for decades. When you give a referral, something special happens. Not only do you look good, but the recipient of the referral will undoubtedly look for opportunities to return the favor.

3) Join and Participate in Local Organizations: this strategy is part of my recommendation to connect locally. Notice that I say “join and participate.” Joining isn’t enough. You must participate as well to generate referrals. Plug into your local Chamber of Commerce, Leads Groups, Associations and more. And don’t sit on the sidelines…get in there and play!

4) Create an Affiliate Program: generally conducted on-line to leverage technology, affiliate programs are an excellent source of referrals. Essentially you are paying commission-only salespeople to find customers for you. They post links to your website on their blog, website or emails. If a customer clicks through an affiliate link and purchases something on your site, the affiliate receives a percentage of the sale. Amazon has built a significant portion of their overall business with affiliates. This type of program can be done on a small or a large scale. Check out Commission Junction for more information.

5) Be Unique: if you are one of a kind, customers will find you. If you are unique, special and different there is nowhere else to turn. Since customers will not be able to find your product or service anywhere else, people will refer business your way easily and often.

Chew on these ideas for a bit. Generating referrals is not a daunting task, but it can be if you want to do all things all at once. Pick one or two ideas from today’s post or the previous post and focus on that intently. Master that, then tackle the next.

Even by mastering one, you will see your business move to the next level.