6. ALIGN YOURSELF WITH A CHARITY AND FUND RAISING EVENTS:
Not only is this a rewarding experience for yourself, but by publicly being seen to assist a local charity, you are creating good will and once again exposing yourself to a wider market. Schools, hospitals, and charities are very welcoming of any assistance from the business community. Whether you make a small donation for their raffle, or co-host a fund raising event, the benefits and positive exposure can be enormous.

7. PRESS RELEASE:
The greatest advertising of all is the free type! Know what your angle is going to be and sell it in a fresh and interesting way to your local newspaper or an industry publication. Perhaps you are launching a new website, an innovative product you have developed or you are looking to gain even greater exposure for the charity event you are sponsoring. Either way, you must read our article on Your Press Release Kit before you go any further!

8. GREAT STREET SIGNAGE:
Can your clients find you easily? Could you gain greater passer by traffic if you improved your signage or had a special offer sandwich board at street level? This isn’t relevant for every small business, but if it applies to you, just remember to keep the signage consistent with your company stationery and other material.

9. YOUR CAR AS A BILLBOARD:
A female friend told me that if she sees a relevant or interesting web site address on a car while she’s in traffic, she makes a note of it and looks it up the SAME DAY when she returns home! How many of us are driving around day after day and not making use of our greatest and cheapest billboards, our own car!

Keep the information streamlined, for instance the phone number and website address should be very prominent. Also, if your business name doesn’t communicate what your business is about, then a few concise points will help. A catchy, fun tag line will also draw interest and be more memorable.

10. NEWSLETTER:
If you have been implementing the above promotional strategies, by now your data base must be growing, so why not utilise this and create a newsletter. This can range from an in-house simple A4 black and white photocopied sheet to a full colour multi page masterpiece.

They are a great vehicle to reach your target audience with specific information, news, articles and topics of interest that appeal directly to them. For more information, read our article Selling In Publications.

11. DEVELOP A LOYALTY PROGRAM:
A lot of businesses don’t work with their existing customer base because they are too busy chasing after new ones. However repeat business is still the best type because you don’t spend precious time looking for it, it just keeps coming back to you!

So why not reward them with a loyalty program that is relevant to your industry. For instance, a child’s play centre in my area provides regular visitors with a VIP card that gets marked every time you visit. On the fourth visit, you get a cappuccino for free. It isn’t a great outlay on their part, but it is very enticing to their budget conscious customer. Everyone loves something for nothing, and it’s a good reason to keep going back.

12. PARTY PLAN SELLING:
If you are selling a range of products and wondering how to reach a wider and more enthusiastic audience, party plan selling is a great option. Be warned, it’s not for the feint hearted – you go to the host’s venue (usually their home) and they provide the customer (anywhere from between 3 to 20) the food and the drinks. In return you then provide a sample range to look at and present a lively sales demonstration. To make it more appealing you generally have a host gift and offer a considerable discount to the host's order in relation to the sales and party bookings made at the party.

Party Plans selling is a form of selling that should not be underestimated. You potentially have a very captive and hungry-to-shop audience. If you want to research how the party plan experts do it, go to www.tupperware.com, www.marykay.com or www.nutrimetrics.com.au. Party plan selling is their main method of sales, and it has certainly worked for these companies!

13. SELLING PRODUCTS AT MARKETS
Another way to gain heightened exposure for your business and products is to sell at markets. Picking the right market for your product is critical to your success. Bric-a-brac and second hand goods markets are filled with bargain hunters and antique dealers. Trendy markets from affluent areas attract people with disposable income looking for fashionable and cutting edge items.

Do your research and really utilise the exposure. Increase your data base by having a competition, giving away one of your products. The people who will bother to stop and enter it will most likely view any special promotional material you send to them in the future in a favourable light.

14. PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS ON EBAY
Everyone is doing it, from second hand goods to jewellery, computers to antiques and larger items such as motor vehicles. If you have an online selling business it is imperative that you devote a portion of your business marketing to Ebay. It is the true worldwide online marketplace, with more than 114 million registered members around the world, in over 200 countries. Try and find another way to reach such an enormous market at the same cheap price as Ebay provides!

If you’re not doing it, you really should be. With each sales listing you can redirect visitors back to your website, so for more information, go to www.ebay.com.au or read our article Your Business and Ebay.

We hope that these marketing tips have really inspired you to promote your small business. If you have any other great ideas that you have utilised and that don’t break the bank, we would love to hear from you. (Particularly any actual accounts of how you turned your small business venture into a great success!)

I am currently writing a book on Promotions and Marketing for Small Business, and the more real life story contributions the better, and of course, it is just more free exposure for your venture! Email me direct at info@divinecreative.com.au.

Melissa Gawinek
Director
Divine Creative Design

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