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: 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: Give to Charity Even if you can’t write a big check, as a business owner you can raise your community pro- file by making personal contributions of goods or services to your favorite charities. In addition to benefiting others, your contribution might also help your business when it comes … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Market to the Gay Consumer About ten years ago, cush honda of san Diego became one of the first automobile dealerships to aggressively pursue the gay and lesbian community. “The first year we participated in the San Diego Gay Pride Parade was a little difficult,” admitted Frank Lechner, spokesman … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Look Big in Cyberspace One of the best things about the web is that even though you may operate a very small business, you can look huge and prosperous online. To do this, you should invest in a website that’s professionally designed, with tools that allow customers and clients … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Strike a Deal with a Giant Until 1997, anyone wanting sandra Nunnerley’s elegant, custom-designed furniture for their home or office had to have deep pockets as well as good taste. Long accustomed to serving the upscale market, with a single chair tagged at up to $10,000, Nunnerley said she … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Buy Prepaid Legal Insurance Did you know that 52 percent of all Americans have some sort of legal problem? And that one of every three people will need legal advice in the next twelve months? With attorneys charging an average of $175 per hour, legal bills can eat into … Read more
