How To Make Money With Your Own Referral Service Business
There are many different referral services you can run, either as a stand-aloneservice or together with other types.
Here are some businesses you can specialize in: plumbers, hair salons, automaintenance, child care, real estate agents, travel agents, lawyers, dentists,musicians and DJ's, printers, restaurants, even house sitters. Basically, anyhigh-competition business will appreciate a referral service.
How can you make money? If you provide the service free to consumers, you caneither charge a monthly or annual fee to business listed with your service, oryou can collect a commission on each successful referral. Or, depending on thetype of service you run, you can charge the consumer. For instance, if you arerunning a roommate referral service, both parties (the searcher and thepotential roommate) can be charged a fee.
This business will be a lot easier to run if you have a computer, but it's nottotally necessary. If you do have a computer, you can use a database program tostore information on the businesses or people you have listed. If you aren'tusing a computer, you can keep the information in a 3 x 5 card file. Otherwise,all you'll need to start are business cards, stationery, and a business phone. Identify the types of businesses you'll keep information on, then develop asurvey geared toward the type of the business they're in. Ask what types ofwork they specialize in, what their average charge is, how long they've been inbusiness, if they have customers who can give a testimonial for them (call thesepeople and get their permission before you use their testimonial - also, try tomake sure they're not just the businessperson's brother-in-law, that they'reactual customers who can give a real opinion), and other pertinent information.Get these surveys out to each of the businesses in the categories you'veselected, and keep their responses in your file.
Put together a flyer advertising your referral services. Then, distribute theflyers by: contacting your local "welcome wagon" service, offering them flyersto insert into their packages; posting them on grocery store and churchbulletin boards; leaving them on car windshields in mall parking lots; postingthem in laundry rooms at apartment buildings; and leaving them anywhere largegroups of people will see them.
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