Creative Biz Builders

Archive for the ‘Main’ Category

So you want to put together a little marketing for your business and you want to stand out above the rest?

Well then, put a little pride into what you do.  Make up samples that encourage others to visit your site, view your products and see the pride you put into it with what you are handing them.  As shown in the photo, we added a piece of candy,  a business card, and a little bit of ribbon to a crisp clear 3″x5″ bag.  Can we make these samples cheaper?  Probably.   But for the few extra dollars, we will probably gain a few extra customers because…. instead of giving a sample, it is like we are giving a gift!

Another great way to make colorful samples is to use a variety of colorful bags and put them all in a plastic container or basket. Let your potential customer take one themselves and it will be like choosing a free gift. Who doesn’t like that? You can also give these to customers who purchase items from you. Yes, it takes time to make them up but isn’t your customer and the sale worth it?

You have to put time and effort into your business to see the success.  What is the cost of making these samples?  Well, let’s say you want to make 100 samples with a high quality look.  Do you have to use gourmet candies?  No. You can use Chocolate Kisses or wrapped, hard candies,  or samples of your products.   Let’s use Kisses as an example.   For a marketing campaign of 100, you would need the following and your expenses would run you:

* 3 Bags of Hershey Kisses – approximately $10
* 1 Pack of 3″x5″ Cello Bags – $3.99
* 1 Curling Ribbon Surprise – $2.99
* 100 Business Cards – approximately $10

These costs are approximate, but you see that it doesn’t have to cost a lot, to make up some creative promotional packages that you can be proud of!

Next time, examples by business type!  Stay tuned!

Sylvia

What exactly is a business card? Your business card is one of the least expensive forms of advertising you possess!

Your business card is your introduction to everyone you meet. This is your opportunity to tell every person you come in contact with what you have to offer them in writing. You’ve heard the expression “get it in writing”. With your business card, you can give it to them in writing.

When deciding what to put on your business card, remember–you want to entice people not bore them. Stay away from fancy lacy fonts, they’re far too difficult to read. I have thrown away many cards where the font was too hard to read, or the print was too small. Don’t cram so much into this small space that each line runs together.

So what exactly should you put on your card? People want to know how to contact you, so your name, address, phone, fax and website if you have one are a must.. Many folks like to use a one liner describing their business. This is often called a tagline.

Make this line something that is a selling point for your business. If you own a cleaning business, what about the phrase “Queen of Clean?” If you own a lawn service, what about the phrase “A Green Thumb For Your Lawn?” Just one line that lets others know what you do.

Have you ever received a business card and turned it over? What do you see? Usually, it’s blank. There is so much you can do on the back of a business card!

You can hand write a personal note.
You can offer a discount (Refer A Friend? Volume discount?)
You can use this space for a small ad, if your goal is to sell something with your card.

Now, if you are like me, you will soon be looking at a box with 1000 cards in it and thinking you ordered too many. When I saw my first box, I imagined them on the shelf for the next 5 years collecting dust. What would I possibly do with 1000 business cards?

Following is a list of the many places you can leave your business cards:

1. On bulletin boards in stores and fast food establishments
2. On the sink counter in public restrooms
3. On the counter of ATM machines
4. In the shopping cart when you’re done using it at the grocery store
5. Inside the pages of library books for the next user to find
6. On the tables of fast food restaurants
7. Inside magazines at the Dr’s offices
8. In the pouch on the airplane seat in front of mine.

These are just a few suggestions. The idea is you want to get your card out there for others to see. Marketing in general is about your name being recognized.

In addition, hand out your business cards to anyone you meet during the day. If you’re at the grocery store and strike up a conversation with another shopper, hand her a business card before you leave. If you visit the park with your kids, hand business cards to all the other moms there.

When I used to mail my bill payments, I always stuck a business card in with my payment (I make online payments now). Whenever I write a thank you note to a customer, I add two business cards, one for them and one for a friend.

Make it a goal to hand out 100 cards per week and watch your business grow!

Promote Your Business With Style,
Sylvia

These creative ideas for marketing your business are free or low cost.   Written with direct sales consultants in mind, but with a little imagination, they can be used to promote any business!

1. Take a small zip close baggie (snack sizes work well) and include the following in it:  Your Business Card, Business Opportunity Mini Flyer (if applicable, a Piece of Candy such as hard candy or a lollipop, mini flyer of current specials, discount coupon (optional) etc.  Hand these out to the bank tellers, retail cashiers, at your kids sport events,  everywhere you go!
2. At hotels & motels, leave a mini catalog, business card & discount coupon for the maid!   Be creative when you leave tips for Hotel Maids, Waitresses, Waiters, Hair Dressers, etc.   Don’t just hand them your business card, make it memorable!  You can get cute little beaded change purses at your local dollar discount store!
3.  Print out flyers with your contact info (not your personal address), your website address & email address along with any current specials you are offering.  Then contact local area mobile home park offices, apartment complex rental offices, housing developments etc and ask them if you can leave fliers in their office or hang on their tenants doors. Give the office employees a free gift or discount on their personal orders to thank them.
4.  If you sell items for weddings, bridal showers, etc.  contact local area bridal supply stores, bridal gown stores, caterers, tuxedo rental centers, wedding dj’s etc. Ask them if you can leave your business cards & fliers about your business for them to give to their customers.   Offer store owners a free gift or a personal discount for helping you spread the word about your business.
5.   Don’t forget day care centers!  They are excellent places to contact and leave business cards and/or fliers at!   Print out a flyer and attach your business card & a discount coupon.
6.   A lot of churches hold a Spring and Fall Festivals.   Contact them about getting a table or a booth.  Often, this will cost you under $15.00 for a space!
Make sure you take products with you along with business opportunity fliers, plenty of catalogs, business cards etc.  Do a contest drawing at these types of events. Make up entry blanks that gather the customer’s info so that you can initiate contact with them again!
7.   Join your local area chamber of commerce.   They are always holding local business events that you can participate in.
8.   College Campuses! Dorms & Housing Students are always looking to spend money! A lot of college students are also looking for an extra income so target them with your business opportunity too, if you are a direct sales representative.  Drop off fliers and business cards at the College Student Center!  They usually have bulletin boards, tables and other things where you can leave your information at for FREE!
9.   Contact your local area Welcome Wagon or Welcome to the Neighborhood Group.   Ask them about you leaving mini catalogs, fliers, business cards, discount coupons, freebie mini gifts, etc with them.  They are always looking for additional items to place in their Welcome Bags!
10.   Contact your local area hospitals.   The majority of hospitals hand out New Mommy Diaper Bags filled with products, samples and other stuff for New Moms who just had a baby!  It’s FREE for you to add in your information!
11.   Contact your local medical offices, particularly Gynecology and OB Offices and Pediatric Offices and inquire about you leaving information with them.   This is a way for you to target Parents of Children with both the home party opportunity, the business opportunity and new customer sales.
12.   Donate a product to your local area radio station, they have numerous contests and they are always looking for sponsors.  Your donation can be written off as a tax deduction plus you will get FREE advertising & business exposure for your donation!
13.   Donate a product to your local area bingo halls! They are always looking for sponsors of their Bingo Prizes! Bingo is BIG in a lot of areas!
14.   Call your Chamber of Commerce and find out about Local Area Job Fairs. Get a booth and set up info about your fabulous business opportunity!
15. Call your Local Area Colleges and find out when their next job or employment fair is. A lot of times you can get a booth or table at a good price and you will get a lot of GREAT new recruit leads by participating in events like these.
16.    Contact local area car dealerships.   Ask if they will  hand out a small packet that you make up for FREE to their customers who come in to take a free test drive.
17.   Target your local area gyms.   Ask if they will  hand out a small packet that you make up for FREE to their customers.
18.    Network with others in your community who are in home business. Find out what events and activities that they participate in. They are usually “in the know” and can help you get started in networking in your community.
19.    Contact companies in your area to see if you can come in and set up a table in the employee lounge or cafeteria for an employee shopping break. These days a lot of companies will allow you to do this if you ask them!
20.   Does your local area TV cable company have a local information channel?   Inquire about advertising!   These ads will reach thousands of potential local buyers for you! I recommend you only use your website address for these types of advertising and not your personal at home address.
21.   Contact local small companies and shops to see if you can offer an exclusive discounts or freebie gift to their employees. Companies are always looking for a way to “treat” their employees to specials from the local surrounding community.
22.    Small Home Town Newspapers!   If you are going to do any type of newspaper advertising, inquire about getting your ads on specific pages in the newspaper that targets the group of people most likely to buy from you.
23.     Get a low cost outdoor banner printed up with your business information on it.    You can have these outdoor banners displayed at outdoor music/concert events, outdoor children’s sporting events, outdoor adult sport events, outdoor neighborhood block parties, outdoor community events, carnivals, fairs, etc.
24.   Take your business on the road during nice weather. Contact local area parks & community centers to see what their schedule of events are and inquire about setting up a booth or table.  This is a great way to network & market your business to those in your community.
25.   Community Clipper Coupon Packs & Sales Flyer Mailings. These days a lot of communities have mailings such as these, contact them and see how you can participate and advertise your business.
26.   Contact small local area businesses such as hair salons, massage parlors, boutiques, banks etc.  See if you can set up a table for 1 week with 3 of your best selling products on it along with some catalogs, fliers, coupons and your business card.  Keep a box or basket on the table for any customer orders which you can follow up on after you return back to pick up your display. Offer the store owner or manager a free gift for allowing you to do this.  You can also offer to donate a prize for a contest if they let you display the prize donated & get a copy of the contestants entry blanks after the promotion closes.
27. Contact local area pizza shops, diners, deli’s and coffee bagel shops to ask them about advertising on their paper placemats!   Customers do read those ads!
28.   Contact local area restaurants, bars and clubs and see about advertising on their paper beverage coasters!
29.   Local Television Stations are always holding on-air contests & website contests for their viewers, contact them about you donating a prize or gift certificate to sponsor one of their contests.   Great business exposure for you!
30.   Attend Local Area holiday shopping events & shows. Customers who are ready to spend holiday shopping money turn out for these events by the thousands!
31.    Hold a local area community Block Party at your home or local community center!   Families are always looking for something to do during the nice weather seasons!  Optional:   Attend your neighborhood block party and set up a table with your product offerings or samples. Get out there in your community and get your business seen!
32.   Get your business listed in your city’s telephone book yellow pages.  A lot of them also have a coupon section too.
33.  You can take this phone book advertising one step further by finding out what company makes the plastic vinyl phone book covers which have local business ads on them and get your business added to it!
34.    Get your business information printed up on pencils and hand them out to local colleges and technical schools for them to hand out to their adult students!   This keeps your business information in front of them!
35. Get a vehicle banner made for your automobile. I recommend the vinyl window clings or vinyl cling ones that stick to your automobile but don’t scratch or remove the paint. You can easily remove them when washing your vehicle!
What do you think?  Many of these ideas are inexpensive, but will go a long way to get your business noticed.

Do you have any tips that work for you?  If so, share them with us in the comments!

Promote Your Business With Style,

Sylvia

One of the best ways to increase our sales is to put a little bit of effort into the marketing and promotional materials we give our prospects and customers. The thought we put into our business is reflected by those materials, and our customers do notice. Here are 5 low-cost ways to promote your business with product presentation & creative business builders.

1. Business cards – make sure you have some! They should look professional & include (at the very minimum) your name, phone number and web site, if you have one. Including your address is recommended, as well as your email address.

Take this up a notch by putting your business card in a 3 x 5 cello sample bag with a piece of candy to make it pop! Here’s one idea:

2. Catalogs – If you can’t afford them, or catalogs don’t apply to you, try to print out fliers of your current specials or offers or something similar.

Now, take those up a notch too! Catalog bags are a great way to get lots of packets together in advance of vendor fairs, trade shows, deliveries, and prospect visits and for your shipping packages if you ship.

Make sure your catalogs or fliers have your Name, phone number, email address and an expiration date, if applicable. If you have an ordering web site, by all means, include it here. I don’t know about you, but my handwriting hasn’t improved with age. Labels would be a good low-cost investment here.

Inside the catalog bags, you can include your business card (even if you put them together as in the photo above), your current catalog, coupons and samples.

TIP: Do your best to include at least one sample for a current sale item in your catalog bag.   Customers want to see, smell, and touch what you’re selling. Including several samples can get expensive, so try starting out with 1 or two. These types of catalog bags, with samples in them, are called “lumpies!”

If you don’t sell for direct sales companies, but sell antiques, collectibles or other items ~ you could include a tea bag with a note to have a cup of tea on you. We’ll have more tips and ideas about that soon.

3. Labels – Labels are another inexpensive way to save time and make your catalog kits and other marketing materials look more professional. As I said above, my handwriting isn’t very good and I don’t like punishing my customers with it, so labels are a must for me.

4. Delivery Day – Delivery day is another time to shine! Some of the direct sales companies offer consultants brown paper delivery bags. yuck! I have been to some arts & crafts shows, etc where the seller handed me my purchases in those plastic grocery bags!!! Oy!

Never fear – you can deliver your items with style without spending a bundle. Put a smile on your customer’s face with more professional merchandise bags:

Now see there? Aren’t those much nicer than brown paper delivery bags? Notice how you can juuussst make out what’s inside this frosted merchandise bag? That builds the anticipation! Don’t forget to put your catalog bag in there too!

5. Thank Your Customers! Want your customers to remember you with a smile? Follow up with each customer! That’s right. After you make a delivery, it’s easy to get caught up in trying to make that next sales goal. But remember, your past customers can be your best customers! Follow up with them, make sure all was well with their last order–and ask for their next order!

Customers like to be appreciated, remembered and taken care of. That’s why I also suggest finding something special to *give* your customers, especially repeat customers.

You can give them a small gift on their birthdays, after a certain number or dollar amount of purchases, or even for holidays and special occasions. Just letting them know you’re thinking about them with an extra little gift will go a long way towards promoting your business.

Some ideas? There’s lots of promotional products out there of a useful nature that would fit the bill perfectly. Such as:

* Calendars for new years (with your business information printed on them of course!)
* Magnets (Include your business info)
* Keyrings
* Tea packets, bath packets, bookmarks
* Send a postcard for a special occasion or holiday

Get the idea?

Hope you enjoyed this post! Got some ideas to add? Post a comment! =) I’ll be back with more soon! Let me know what areas of promotion you’d like to hear more about. Vendor Shows? Home parties? Craft shows?

Have a Blessed Day!
Sylvia

All business building ~ all the time! It’s all about standing out from the crowd, you know, and we’re here to help you add some sizzle to your sales!

We’ve all seen them, the freebie giveaways–pens, mugs, mousepads, t-shirts, etc. with somebody’s business name, phone number and web site address on them. Usually they’re kinda “biz” looking too. That’s great for some businesses, but if you sell bath and body products, cosmetics, candles, home decor, greeting cakes, or even collectibles; you want to put some pizzaz in your promotional items, without looking too biz generic.

Many direct sales consultants and crafters also sell at trade shows and vendor fairs. How to stand out in the crowd of booths selling the same or related products? Well, you put some *snap* to your presentation, that’s how! Show ‘em you’re unique!

It’s easier than you think to dress up your promotions and present your products more attractively, even if you think you don’t have a creative bone in your body! We’re going to have fun with this! Questions are welcome and so are your pictures of what *you’ve* done for vendor fairs, etc.

Along with product presentation tips, we’ll also be sharing information on how to promote your business, whether you sell online or offline or both. We have lots of guest articles lined up with creative ways to promote your business.