Great Ideas for your Small Business: Free Up Your Sales Force “Most salespeople love to sell but hate to generate their own leads,” said the co-owner of a financial planning firm in Orlando. “So we invest a great deal of time and money for telemarketers to generate leads. This frees the salesmen to do what … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Put Your Company Name on Everything When they first started making “rack Sacks,” plastic bag holders, Exhifix Inc. didn’t have much money to spend on advertising. That’s why they printed their company name and phone number on every product. As a result, it became very easy for people to … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Put a Pig in Your Window Iris fuller, founder and president of Fillamento in San Francisco, cried for two hours after attending a retailing seminar by Peter Glen. They were tears of joy and inspiration. “He made such a difference in the way we do what we do,” said … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Produce an Infomercial If you think marketing your product via an infomercial is a quick and easy way to make mil- lions—think again. Industry experts say only one product in twenty actually hits the big time. Although consumers bought more than $1.5 billion worth of products via infomercials in … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Design a Great Sign for Your Business When you don’t have a lot of money to spend, your sign becomes a magnet for business. It’s a perpetual advertisement. Lloyd Miller, with Canterbury Travel Inc. in Winter Park, Florida, uses a clever sign to lure customers. “I own a travel … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Give It Away No matter what kind of business you’re in, “free” is the most powerful word in your marketing vocabulary. Offering potential clients or customers a no-charge deal is an excellent way to gain new business. For example, Sprint signed up thousands of new customers by offering small … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Set Up a Strong Referral Network Unlike the folks at big companies, small business owners are usually eager to help each other out by making referrals. Entrepreneurs really believe that “what goes around, comes around.” While many referrals are made informally by word-of- mouth, some entrepreneurs take it a … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Use Food as a Selling Tool Food is a powerful sales tool. everyone needs to eat, so take advantage of tasty treats whenever you can. This is a simple idea that really works. Bright Star Resorts, which rents vacation homes and condominiums in Central Florida, hosts a monthly barbecue … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Do Good for Your Community One of the easiest ways to draw attention to your business is to do something good for your community. Small business owners across the country are coming up with terrific ways to contribute and make a positive impression at the same time. You don’t … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Use Coupons to Attract Customers On a balmy spring evening, i took myself out to the local movie theater. Standing outside the door was a young man in a Häagen-Dazs apron. He was passing out coupons offering a “double feature”—a free scoop of ice cream when you bought one … Read more
