Opening a new business can be very fun, and stressful at the same time. The major thing that is on every new business owners mind is "When I open are they going to come?" Getting the word out on your new business is a large task and there are some things you need to start working on at least 3 months prior to opening the doors.

The reason I say 3 months is that you want to start creating talk about your new business, and you want people to know its coming. Now depending on what type of business your opening will determine if you need to start marketing earlier then 3 months or not. You don't want to build up so much hype about your business 6 months out and then loose steam on marketing it and have people forget your opening date.

Were going to give you some very easy steps to insure that people will be able to find your business and with doing this during a 3 month time period you will still have plenty of time to over see what you have to do to make sure your dream opens with out a hitch.

So lets say we have 3 months until the opening date of your business. Its very important that these things get done. Sometimes you look at these things before you even think of putting your business plan into motion but just in case you have had this dream and you dove right in, here is what you need to do.

Month 1
A. Research your competition- See what your competition is doing in the area as far as price point, promotions, and what other services they offer. You need to figure out how your going to make sure you stand out from your competition. Pick 3 major points on why your different and focus on them.

B. Join Your Local Chamber- Now some business people think that their business is too small to join their local chamber of commerce and they are just flat out wrong. Chamber of Commerce is a great way to start networking and introducing your business to decision makers of other companies. Remember Networking is KEY to any business's success. Joining a Chamber usually won't cost you that much. Most chambers have a fee structure that goes by how many employees you have or a flat fee for the type of business your opening. They are also a great tool in helping you with ideas on how to promote your business, not to mention most chambers will do a ribbon cutting ceremony for new business's that belong to their chamber which is a great way to showcase your business.

C. Build Suspense- Depending on your business or services you will want to start creating suspense. Do a mailing to local business's with a post card that will have your logo, the services or product your offering, but do not put your business name down. Just say more information to come soon. This will build suspense on your new venture. Depending on your budget you might want to run some ads with what you put on your post card in your local news papers.

Month 2

Ok now you have pretty much started suspense with your area on your new business, and if you joined the chamber you should have a list of companies and contacts that you can start reaching out too.

A. Marketing Manager- You need to decide if your going to have one person that does nothing but sales and marketing or is it going to be up to you? Or are you going to have it be your business managers duty? Either way you need to hire, or get the person involved now.  Make sure this person understands your business's mission statement, and what your vision for the business. This is very important because this is going to be the front line person that is responsible for building your business.

B. Website- Are you going to have a website? I strongly recommend in this day and age that all business's have a website of some form. If your going to have a website you need to get this up and going now. It takes lots of time and effort in making a good quality website not to mention marketing it.

C. Yellow Pages- Every business needs to be listed in the phone book. This is still one major way that when people are looking to purchase something, they either go online to the yellow pages or pick up their local phone book. Now don't get carried away with all the Yellow Page phone books that are out there. You want to pick your cities major phone book and advertise in that. If you want other phone books that is totally up too you but not a must.

D. Prepare For a Grand Opening- Some business's really miss the bus with this one. They either plan a Grand Opening too late in the game, usually after the store or business has been opened for 3 months or so. This is too late. You want to start preparing for one now, if your going to do promotions, offerings, how long you want to run the grand opening etc. Once you get this done, then you need to start making a list of people that you want to invite to your first day of the Grand Opening. Lets say your business is open Monday through Friday 9-5. Well for the first day of your Grand Opening why not have an evening open house that you invite key people from your community too. Remember the best form of marketing is still word of mouth. Mail out those invitation at least 1 month prior to the date that you want to have this open house and your Grand Opening should be at least with in your first month of operation.

Month 3

Now your really under pressure and there are so many things to do to make sure that your business opens successfully. This is also the time to let the cat out of the bag about your business.

A. Online Directories- Whether your going to have a website or not, you need to start submitting your information to online directories so your business will at least show up in online searches. Over 70% of people today start there research online. There are over 2,000 directories out there with more coming every day. I am not saying its important to be on all of them but its important to be on the major ones such as Yahoo, Google, Yelp, Merchant Circle just to name a few. Just do a query on free online business directories.  Make sure to put your website URL if you have one, business address, phone number, hours of operation, business description, etc.

B. Sales Calls- Depending on what type of business your starting you want to get out in the public eye to let them know what your doing. Lets use a bakery for example. You go out to local business's and pass out fliers with your store name, logo, address, list of services, etc. If your opening a bakery make some of your special goodies and pass them out to the local business's. Give them a taste of what  your going to be offering. Make sure that you don't get lazy with this, and only hit a few places. You really want to canvass your area to get the excitement going and the word out.

C. News Paper Ads or Radio - Now advertising in your local newspaper and radio can be very expensive sometimes, but when your opening a new business you might want to consider doing this form of advertising for your opening. Make sure your news paper ads run the Sunday before you open. Sunday newspapers are read by more readers because of the coupons and specials from retailers. Some people get their news paper on Sunday only. Radio can be very simple by doing a few 15 sec radio spots about your business. It does not have to be fancy, and long. Run these a week prior to opening and make sure to ask the Radio station what there demographics are. If your business caters to 40-60 year old males you do not want to advertise on a station that their main demographic is 18 to 24 year old woman.

With these simple steps you will be amazed that people will know your business is opening and what your all about. Marketing efforts should be consistent and ongoing in order to build any business. This is why I strongly suggest that all business's make yearly marketing plans.

Good Luck ! Remember you can't be successful overnight, it takes time and hard work. If  you don't try you will never know.