Great Ideas for your Small Business: Promote with Prepaid Phone Cards Phone cards have been popular in europe since the mid-1980s when British Telecom first issued them to make it easier for customers to call home from Germany and France. But they took another ten years to take hold in America. “We in the United … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Host an Open House One of the best ways to acquaint customers and clients with your business is to arrange a visit. An open house combines a social event with the ability to do some serious one-to-one marketing. Of course, if you deal with toxic chemicals or dangerous machinery, … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Market Your Service-Based Business Selling your expertise—an intangible product—requires a much different approach from selling a product that sits on the shelf. Some professionals, like doctors and lawyers, are limited by professional ethics to marketing their services through specific channels. If you’re a consultant, you have more options. One … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Publish a Newsletter In this age of instant information on the Internet, it’s comforting to know that there is still a vibrant market for old-fashioned printed newsletters. There are about 5,000 subscription newsletters and thousands more for free, according to industry experts. Newsletters cover everything from fly fishing and … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Hire a Mascot or a Celebrity Brenny watt didn’t set out to find a mascot for her small store, but she ended up with a famous cat. “One day, a stray cat wandered in, and we started to feed her,” said Watt. “Then one night, we accidentally locked her … Read more
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 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
