Occasionally, offer your customers something free with an order. Give them a "buy three-get one free" deal. Maybe you have a bunch of some product sitting around that won't sell. Well, why not give one away with every order over $25 or $50, or whatever. Send them a free pen with your business name and website address on it with their order. Make them feel like they are important to you... because they are.

Consider putting out a newsletter. Get others, or experts in your field to write for it. Encourage people to pass your newsletter on to their friends. Bravenet has a great free email newsletter program you can sign up for. You can find a lot of places on Internet that offer free articles for you to publish in your newsletter. Here are a few to start with:

http://www.articlecity.com/index.shtml http://ezinearticles.com/ http://www.ideamarketers.com/library/mainarticle.cfm Be honest in your dealings with your customers. Be friendly. Send them a thank you email, and follow up with them at least once to see if they re satisfied. Offer them updates to your site, and to notify them of sales.

Offer them as many features as you can. Here are 2 gift certificate sites that will allow you to offer gift certificates to your customers:

http://www.giveanything.com/ www.GiftCertificates.com Always have your company name, physical address and your email address accessible to customer. It makes them feel more comfortable to know that you are a "real" business, and that they can write to you if they need to. Consider putting up your picture for them to see. This makes you real to them, and not just another faceless website. Do anything that you can think of to make your potential customer feel welcome, safe, and valued. It will really pay off in end.

9) Prepare persuasive messages.

Bringing those important target audiences around to one’s way of thinking depends heavily on quality of message prepared for each of them.

It’s not easy. The messages must disarm rumors with clear evidence of excellent design and construction quality, and seconded by credible third-party endorsements such as satisfied customers and top design consultants. They will impart a sense of credibility to company’s statements. Regular assessments of how opinion is currently running among target groups must be performed, constantly adjusting message and, finally, action-producing incentives for individuals to take desired actions must be identified and built into each message.

Those incentives might include very strength of company’s forthright position on quality issue, plans for expansion that hold promise of more jobs and taxes, or sponsorship of new furniture design shows on local cable channels.

10) Select most effective communications tactics and commence action

How will target audiences in various company locations actually be reached? Choices include face-to-face meetings, hand-placed feature articles and broadcast appearances, special consumer briefings, news releases, announcement luncheons, onsite media interviews, facility tours, promotional contests, brochures and a variety of other communications tactics.

Special events are especially effective in reaching target audiences with message. They are newsworthy by definition and include activities such as financial roadshows, awards ceremonies, trade conventions, celebrity appearances and open houses.

The effort can be accelerated, even amplified by carefully selecting most efficient tactics such as print or broadcast media, key podium presentations or top-level personal contacts because, when these tools communicate with each target audience, they must score direct bullseyes.

Equally important to success of action program will be selection and perceived credibility of actual spokespeople who deliver messages. They must speak with authority and conviction if meaningful media coverage is to be achieved.

11) Monitor progress and seek signs of improvement

Public relations counsel and staff must speak regularly with members of each target audience, monitor print and broadcast media for evidence of company’s messages or viewpoints, and conduct a variety of interactions with key customers, prospects and influentials.

Indicators that messages are moving opinion in company’s direction will start appearing. Indicators like comments in community business meetings, local newspaper editorials, e-mails from members of target audiences as well as public references by political figures and local celebrities. Now, action program should begin to gain and hold kind of public understanding and acceptance that will lead to desired shift in public behavior. Executed correctly – especially against reality of plunging sales -- we’re talking about nothing less than organization’s survival.

12) And end-game?

When changes in behaviors become truly apparent through increased showroom traffic, media reports, thought-leader comment, employee and community chatter and a variety of other feedback – in other words, clearly meeting original behavior modification goal -- public relations program can be deemed a success.

In end, a sound strategy combined with effective tactics leads directly to bottom line – altered perceptions, modified behaviors, a happy CEO and a public relations bullseye.

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