I am looking for suggestions for building business after the first year -- primarily ways to market.
Background
We have spent the past 15 months getting to know the machine and our software. We have done a some one-off projects and have established a few on-going relationships with a couple of cabinet shops that have brought some repeat business. So far the web site has supported our existing customers but not brought in new customers.
Our business model is business-to-business. We provide CNC cutting and 2D & 3D carving. We have had some good weeks where we said if we had that workload every week we would be happy. We have had other weeks where no work came in. The business is debt-free so at least there is no cash drain due to debt financing.
Up to now our most effective marketing tool has been multiple personal visits to cabinet and sign shops. It seems that after 7-10 visits they will throw you a project.
What we want to do is expand our customer base so the work load and cash flow are a bit more even and in the positive direction. In our town there are about 80 cabinet shops though many purchase the cabinets from large manufacturers. We are a 4 hour drive away from several large cities: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Fargo, Omaha, Lincoln
Is direct mail worth my time?
Do we need to just stick with face-to-face?
What would you do if you were in our position?