Creative Marketing Ideas
Here's some marketing ideas I've heard from other dear friends on Max In Common (my favorite place, lol) Click my link MAXimize Your Business to the right and check it out for yourself! Some of them I've thought of and some were generously given. Thinking outside the box is what makes being in a home business fun. Most of them are offline tactics but fun anyway.
1. Plaster your car with your business cards. Put a little magnet on the back and make your car stick out like a sore thumb. People won't help but notice a "decked out" car in the parking lot and they'll want to take one. Or attach a card holder with the cards in it and write on it "Take One" and then be sure to put it back in your car before you drive away.
2. Make up drop cards with an attention-grabber line or two with your website and phone number for people to call. Anywhere people go, they'll see it and take one and check it out, especially if a website is listed on it. Curiosity is a strong motivator to check something out. One place would be a MAC machine, countertops in places you frequent and the staff knows you. Or maybe the bathroom stalls with the card stuck on the back of the door, people do read in there right?
3. The Fish Bowl. Get a fish bowl type jar and use it as a raffle jar. You can raffle off your product, service, coupon, or a gift certificate for your business or the store's business where you're putting the jar. How many kids like ice cream? Raffle off a $10 gift certificate of your local ice cream store for free ice cream cones (up to $10 or whatever amount you choose) and then tailor your business products/services to meet the needs of parents with children.
4. Drop your business card in the envelope you send your bills in. Payment Processors are PEOPLE doing the work. (I had a lady call me and order 2 candle jars just from this idea).
5. Helium Balloons. This is a wacky idea I came up with while trying to figure out something fun to do with my kids. You can either use latex ballons with your business printed on it or use blank ones and attach your business card on a string. And let your kid(s) or your kid's class release them all and watch them take off. The kids' expressions are priceless. This could turn into a yearly event during the nice weather months and invite people, kids, friends, family over to join in the fun. People will go outside to see what's landed in their yard. A website listed and the curiosity takes over.
6. As for referrals. Start out by saying, "Hey, do you have a friend who can try this for me?" "I'd like to get their feedback on this since my own good experience is not enough". People will either say they do have a friend and give you their info, or they'll say "What about me? I can try it for ya!". Just tell them all you need a testimonial so you can add it to your website and they get to see their name in print with or without their link. You give something, they'll give back. If not, sweeten the deal.
7. Waitress/Waiters are people too! Every time you go out to dinner/lunch/breakfast give the waitress/waitor a sample of your product. Even though it's small, they are like the rest of us, hard working and love to be given something. A smiling waitress/waiter is a happy one for the rest of their shift. :-)
8. Kids are #1. If you do a tradeshow, appeal to the kids and you'll appeal to the parents and draw them in. Leave out a candy dish or a fun promo for them to carry around. Other kids will want to know where they got theirs and come to your table with their parents. OOOHH, more adults to tell your business to. Personally, I use wrapped Hershey's miniatures with my business name on it, website, and free drawing link. Parents will inspect the candy to make sure their child can eat it. Kids usually give the wrapper to their parents since they're told not to litter and because they don't want to hold the wrapper. Some kids forget they have pockets to put it in. LOL
9. T-shirts and hats. Let's face it, kids are too cute to pass up. Design a t-shirt with your business in a way that the phrase sounds like the kid is saying it. EX. - "My Mommy/Daddy has the best ______, ask her/him since I can't talk yet" or "I'm a _______ Kid, is yours?" ( I saw one shirt that said "Tap on my shoulder and see what happens" curiosity got the better of me and I did. He told me about his telecommunications business. How fitting, reach out and touch someone).
10. Magnets and toll booths. For every toll booth you go through, stick a few business magnets on it. And if there's someone in it, give them a sample!
And those are some ideas to try and see what works for you. Like I said, they're out of the box thinking and maybe way out in left field, BUT, they get you thinking don't they? That's the point! This type of fun thinking is what gets you noticed and branded to become a household name for your business. The more fun you're having, the more people who want to do what you're doing. My personal favorite Law - Law of Attraction. Why chase leads when they can be attracted to you? :-)
Have a great week and if these ideas work for you, let me know. I love a good story. :-)
1. Plaster your car with your business cards. Put a little magnet on the back and make your car stick out like a sore thumb. People won't help but notice a "decked out" car in the parking lot and they'll want to take one. Or attach a card holder with the cards in it and write on it "Take One" and then be sure to put it back in your car before you drive away.
2. Make up drop cards with an attention-grabber line or two with your website and phone number for people to call. Anywhere people go, they'll see it and take one and check it out, especially if a website is listed on it. Curiosity is a strong motivator to check something out. One place would be a MAC machine, countertops in places you frequent and the staff knows you. Or maybe the bathroom stalls with the card stuck on the back of the door, people do read in there right?
3. The Fish Bowl. Get a fish bowl type jar and use it as a raffle jar. You can raffle off your product, service, coupon, or a gift certificate for your business or the store's business where you're putting the jar. How many kids like ice cream? Raffle off a $10 gift certificate of your local ice cream store for free ice cream cones (up to $10 or whatever amount you choose) and then tailor your business products/services to meet the needs of parents with children.
4. Drop your business card in the envelope you send your bills in. Payment Processors are PEOPLE doing the work. (I had a lady call me and order 2 candle jars just from this idea).
5. Helium Balloons. This is a wacky idea I came up with while trying to figure out something fun to do with my kids. You can either use latex ballons with your business printed on it or use blank ones and attach your business card on a string. And let your kid(s) or your kid's class release them all and watch them take off. The kids' expressions are priceless. This could turn into a yearly event during the nice weather months and invite people, kids, friends, family over to join in the fun. People will go outside to see what's landed in their yard. A website listed and the curiosity takes over.
6. As for referrals. Start out by saying, "Hey, do you have a friend who can try this for me?" "I'd like to get their feedback on this since my own good experience is not enough". People will either say they do have a friend and give you their info, or they'll say "What about me? I can try it for ya!". Just tell them all you need a testimonial so you can add it to your website and they get to see their name in print with or without their link. You give something, they'll give back. If not, sweeten the deal.
7. Waitress/Waiters are people too! Every time you go out to dinner/lunch/breakfast give the waitress/waitor a sample of your product. Even though it's small, they are like the rest of us, hard working and love to be given something. A smiling waitress/waiter is a happy one for the rest of their shift. :-)
8. Kids are #1. If you do a tradeshow, appeal to the kids and you'll appeal to the parents and draw them in. Leave out a candy dish or a fun promo for them to carry around. Other kids will want to know where they got theirs and come to your table with their parents. OOOHH, more adults to tell your business to. Personally, I use wrapped Hershey's miniatures with my business name on it, website, and free drawing link. Parents will inspect the candy to make sure their child can eat it. Kids usually give the wrapper to their parents since they're told not to litter and because they don't want to hold the wrapper. Some kids forget they have pockets to put it in. LOL
9. T-shirts and hats. Let's face it, kids are too cute to pass up. Design a t-shirt with your business in a way that the phrase sounds like the kid is saying it. EX. - "My Mommy/Daddy has the best ______, ask her/him since I can't talk yet" or "I'm a _______ Kid, is yours?" ( I saw one shirt that said "Tap on my shoulder and see what happens" curiosity got the better of me and I did. He told me about his telecommunications business. How fitting, reach out and touch someone).
10. Magnets and toll booths. For every toll booth you go through, stick a few business magnets on it. And if there's someone in it, give them a sample!
And those are some ideas to try and see what works for you. Like I said, they're out of the box thinking and maybe way out in left field, BUT, they get you thinking don't they? That's the point! This type of fun thinking is what gets you noticed and branded to become a household name for your business. The more fun you're having, the more people who want to do what you're doing. My personal favorite Law - Law of Attraction. Why chase leads when they can be attracted to you? :-)
Have a great week and if these ideas work for you, let me know. I love a good story. :-)
posted by Mary Leedy @ 8:46 PM
1 Comments
