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by Sarah J. Doyle
It makes no difference if you have an internet site, brick and mortar
store, or a work at home business, it is a fact that none will succeed
if nobody knows you're there.
Advertising IS the key to success; however advertising doesn't have to
cost a fortune! Of course, the big display ads cost advertisers many thousands
of dollars, and "pay per click" advertising on search engines
can add up to big dollars very quickly if you're not carefully targeting
proper key words.
There are many ways that we can promote our businesses literally for
PENNIES, that can rake in THOUSANDS of dollars in sales. Listed below
are just a few ideas that work well, and I'm sure you'll be able to come
up with additional ideas once you start working with these.
MINI-FLYERS are an ultra cheap form of advertising. Mini-flyers can be
made 4, 6 or 8 to a regular sheet of paper that tells about your home
business, store or website, and would include your business name, URL
for website, phone number and brief information about your business. Make
copies of this page on brightly colored paper, then cut them apart. The
mini-flyers can then be put into each of your bills as you pay them. Think
about it, the clerks who open bills all day surely get bored with the
job, so when they open your envelope and your brightly colored mini-flyer
falls out, what do you think happens? Of course, the clerk will pick it
up and look at it. They may also hand it around to others in the office.
This one simple addition to your bills could bring in lots of new business!
FREE AD ON YOUR ENVELOPES. You can either use labels, or glue or tape
one of your "mini-flyers" on the back or front of each envelope
and package you mail out. There is no way of knowing how much "free"
advertising these mini-flyers will generate - after all, you're mailing
the letters and packages anyway, so why not take advantage of that and
give your advertisement a "free ride"?
ENCLOSE SALES LITERATURE in all outgoing orders. If you already have
a business where you send out orders, NEVER send out a "naked"
package! If you simply enclosed the customer's order and receipt and mail
the package, you're missing out on one of the very best sales tools available!
Any additional sales literature you can enclose in the package (other
items you offer for sale, information on another website to visit, etc)
could bring you extra sales. It is a well known fact that if a customer
buys from you one time, they're more likely to buy again and again, if
they are satisfied with your service and products that they bought in
the beginning.
BUSINESS CARDS are one of the cheapest methods of advertising that I
know of. Many times, people will have 1,000 or more business cards made,
then put them on a shelf and never use more than a dozen or so. If you
have a business or website and don't have business cards - GET THEM! Hand
out the business cards to prospective customers, leave one on the table
at the restaurant when you go out to eat. Many restaurants and other businesses
have a location where you can put a small business card holder with several
of your cards in it for future customers to see and pick up as they pay
their bill.
MAGNETIC CAR SIGNS can be one of the cheapest forms of advertising around.
Your "one time" purchase cost will give you years of advertising,
and will move to every part of town as you do your errands, etc. Always
try to park your car at the end of a row of cars and walk the extra few
feet to the store simply because the car sign will then be seen by everyone
driving by as well as all those coming into the store parking lot.
SCREEN PRINTED SHIRTS. This also is a "one time" purchase that
will last for years, and will be read by people wherever you are walking
- through stores, standing in line at a check out register, etc. These
don't have to be fancy, just "to the point" so people reading
them will know what they represent. I saw one a few days ago that simply
had a pair of glasses on it (the symbol of the website) and the words
"Specterweb.com" --- everybody knows to put the http:// in front
and in this case I wrote it down just so I could go there and see what
it was (and this will work the same way for you). You can make enough
of these shirts for you to wear, or perhaps some of your family might
want a "free" shirt (they will be advertising your website when
wearing it), or you always have the option of selling or giving them to
customers as a free gift for placing an order.
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