Scott Ginsberg calls it the "Front Porch." I call it the Front Door.

The principle is the same, you need to be inviting people (i.e. customers or customers-to-be) in.

Retail businesses will sometimes put out a sandwich board to announce their existence; most do not. In a crowded marketplace, that is a recipe for failure.

You need to draw them in, to tempt their curiosity with something akin to the "free prize inside."

Or you at least need to be welcoming, with an open door or signage of some kind. So many businesses I pass have tinted windows. Good for keeping cool, bad for business.

You may not have a choice of tinting your windows, but you do have a choice on what you put OUTSIDE your business to bring people INSIDE your business.

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