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With promotional items there are standards: t-shirts, mugs, note
cubes, calendars, magnets and keychains. Then, there is the
really creative. Sometimes with a specific campaign, you may
want to go above and beyond and really start a buzz about your
company.

This is not to say that creativity always costs more money. In
fact, a really cheap promotional item can go a long way if the
right message is attached. For example, the first idea stems
from a friend of mine who worked at a career school. She is ever
so quirky and wanted to create a fun item for an upcoming career
fair.

Backscratchers Whose back doesn’t itch? That’s when Donna came
up with the idea to get backscratchers printed with this saying:
“Itchin’ for a new career?” and then the school’s name. Her boss
through she was brilliant and approved the item. The idea was
fun and simple, and it worked. People circled around the
gymnasium carrying bags full of literature and actively
scratching their backs. It helped that her booth also was giving
away some bigger items that required people to fill out entry
blanks, which kept people at the table longer. The item caught
on, that everyone wanted one, even those from competing schools
and businesses.

This idea can be applied to any type of industry: Mortgage/Real
Estate- “Itchin’ for a new home?” Car- “Itchin for a new car?”
Lawn care- “Itchin’ for greener grass?”

The list is endless- just insert your product after itchin’!

Chocolate Bars There are many candy companies that will print
any message you’d like on a candy bar. Unlike other items, this
is one that will not last long. However, the item is still
memorable. Try putting the message, “The sweet smell of
success….” on it and tie it in to what you are offering. They
actually will get to taste is as well, which could also be a way
to write your message. (“Are you tasting success?”) Either way,
this is something that everyone will enjoy and is sure to get a
call of thanks. (Just make sure they aren’t allergic!)

Umbrellas You will be graciously thanked for saving a hairstyle
and new blouse when one of your clients remembers that the
umbrella you gave her is under your seat. This is one item that
is sure to save the day, as well as keep your logo literally in
front of dozens or hundreds of people- depending on where the
user is walking! Or perhaps one of your clients will keep it in
his golf bag, and if it rains while on the course, other golfers
will get a peak at your message as well. Some promotional items
fair well just sitting somewhere, but an umbrella is something
that can be used for years to come. I once got an umbrella for
signing up for a newspaper subscription- and this was one of
those nice big golf umbrellas- and I still have it! (It had the
paper’s name and comic strip characters all over it.) Umbrellas
fan out to be pretty big, which means ample space to display
your logo and message! There are mini-fold up umbrellas up to
larger golf umbrellas. (And, there are even hat umbrellas!) An
umbrella is also a form of protection, so companies with a
protection-theme (insurance, security, healthcare, etc.) could
get extra mileage out of this.

These are just three unique ideas that maybe you never thought
of. There are many more creative ideas out there to make your
promotional item be effective and stand out from the rest!

About the author:
Cindy Carrera is a freelance author who’s written numerous
articles about PR including: href="http://www.corporate-promotional-gifts.com/">business
promotional items, href="http://www.corporate-promotional-gifts.com/custom-promotion
al-products.html">custom promotional products and href="http://www.corporate-promotional-gifts.com/wholesale-promot
ional-items.html">wholesale promotional items.

Author : Cindy Carrera
Site : www.goarticles.com

People are known to shop on impulse- buying an item just because
it is on sale, or purchasing something because it looks great in
the store. When shopping for promotional items, you really can’t
succumb to impulses. Instead, you must carefully decide on an
item that will help meet your objectives.

A career school admissions representative who worked with the
high school market once wanted to buy magnets to give to people.
Although magnets were in the budget, they would not really do
the job of spreading the word among other high school students,
as the magnets would be at home on the fridge where maybe a
handful of other students would see. A better idea was to give
out day planners (only to enrolled students) that they could
carry to school everyday where hundreds of classmates could see.
“Oh- that’s where I’m going to school after graduation” they
would say when asked about the school’s name on the planner.
Rachel, the rep, was hurt that the magnets she liked did not get
ordered. But, Rachel does not have a marketing background and
she didn’t understand that these items served another purpose.

So, when ordering your items before you even browse the pages of
catalogs or websites, you want to have some objectives in mind.
You would not want to invest money in an item that doesn’t match
the tactic. Think about these:

-Do you want to stimulate trade show traffic? -Do you want to
use these as sales aids? -Are these going to be premiums? -Are
you introducing a new product/service? -Do you want to thank
current customers? -Are these for an event giveaway? -Are these
to motivate employees? -Are you trying to gain back lost
business? -Are you trying to improve customer service? -Are
these going to be used as gifts? -Are you using them to
supplement a direct mail campaign?

These are just a few questions you will want to ask yourself. If
you are looking to supplement a general direct mail campaign,
you will want to keep postage costs in mind. Perhaps mailing a
magnet, sticker, pocket calendar, pen or pencil would be
something good to use. You would not want to mail a t-shirt or
mug- that would be very pricey for the response rate of direct
mail! If you are doing a campaign to target past customers or
are just doing a smaller-gauge mailing, perhaps something a
little bigger would work.

On the flipside, if you are looking at motivating employees,
thanking customers, buying gifts or building premiums chances
are you will want to budget more money per item. However, there
is likely to be fewer items ordered. I don’t think a pen would
be ample to thank someone for years of service! Items for these
categories would fall under desk supplies, plaques, acrylic
awards, clocks, engraved items and more.

If you are using these items or sales purposes, perhaps if you
have traveling sales people, you will want something that will
be left behind to keep your name top of mind. Things like a note
cube or coffee mug are things that can sit on a decision-makers
desk for a long time.

If you are looking to promote your business at an event, such as
a concert or festival, passing out t-shirts could be a great
idea. You can easily tie t-shirts up in knots and throw them to
the crowds. Lower ticket items for events could be things like
pens, pencils, keychains, magnets, calendars, tape measures and
more.

Finally, cost is something to keep in mind too. You don’t want
to spend the same amount on a prospect as you would on a loyal
customer. Use this as a suggestion: Under $5- Prospect $5-$25-
Reward Over $25- Loyalty

The important thing here is that promotional items should not be
ordered just because you like it. The item should clearly be in
the plan to help meet your business objectives.

About the author:
Cindy Carrera is a freelance author who’s written numerous
articles about PR including: href="http://www.corporate-promotional-gifts.com/">business
promotional items, href="http://www.corporate-promotional-gifts.com/custom-promotion
al-products.html">custom promotional products and href="http://www.corporate-promotional-gifts.com/wholesale-promot
ional-items.html">wholesale promotional items.

Author : Cindy Carrera
Site : www.goarticles.com

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence and scientific brain
research showing that human emotions and the unconscious plays a
major role in consumer selection of products and services.

As our multi cultural society matures; it becomes evident that
those companies and individual who want to advantage themselves
in sales and marketing must understand the perception and mind
of other cultural groups. That will require a better
understanding of your conscious and unconscious mind – how
memory, experience, and associated emotions exert a force on the
thinking and buying behaviors of consumers.

According to Gerald Zaltman, Professor of Marketing at Harvard
Business School: as much as 95 percent of consumers’ thinking
occurs in their unconscious minds. Much thinking surfaces
through metaphors and consumers’ memories which are much more
malleable than previously thought— which is why “confidence”
adds great persuasive power. Artificial confidence does not
work, but authentic confidence will decisively engender a
winning edge every time when a salesperson truly believes in
his/her products and services.

Fostering a shift in sales and marketing will require a deeper
understanding of how pervasive the unconscious mind of the
consumer works. Breaking into new ground requires breaking out
of traditional thinking about features and benefits selling. You
need to enter into the mental activity of unconscious thoughts,
feelings, memories, intentions, metaphors and just how they
direct consumers’ attention, influence perception and manipulate
their decisions and actions. 6 key strategic solutions for sales
and marketing.

1. Metaphor making in the mind of the consumer is a powerful
fundamental that helps them make sense of information received.
When eliciting information from a potential client. I asked him
what success felt like. His metaphor was; “Success feels like
the power of driving a Porsche down the highway at top speed.”
Tying his metaphor to several service benefits closed the sale
securely. Understanding and having collected a large range of
metaphors consumers’ use to think about you, your services and
products enable you to sculpt a more effecting communication
strategy and increase the potential of a purchase.

2. Improve your mental outlook about you, your products and
services. “You Are The Message.” Eliminate negative clues by
preparing yourself with the confidence of a winner. Use friendly
language and genuine enthusiasm; reflecting energy, trust and
openness will open up the consumer when probing for their
thinking and core metaphors. Assertive and outgoing
personalities, regardless of ethnic background, will outpace
those people whose characteristics display shy and timid
behaviors.

3. Design your office, retail store layout, waiting rooms, ads
and brochures that reflect the Metaphors of your market. Example
of how one Doctors office focused on outpatients care as being
more nurturing and responsive. Patients view rooms with chairs
lined up in rows as boring, frustrating and long waits. The
office was rearranged to promote friendliness and privacy and
was supplied with several TV’s and a computer. The results were
a decline in waiting time complaints and patients felt they were
receiving a better quality of care, referral rates increased
more that 18 percent and patient cancellations decreased by 23
percent.

4. Build into your oral and written marketing/sales
communications stories using metaphors gathered from your
market.

5. Probing the mind of your customer/client requires you
uncovering the metaphors they use when thinking about purchasing
your products and services. Once you have uncovered their
metaphors you can identify some or most of the important and
hidden drivers of your customer/client buying behaviors.

6. Develop an organizational climate and a workplace attitude
that strengthens sales and marketing creativity. This requires
breaking into more boxes and not applying the metaphor that
suggests you step out of the box. Breaking into more boxes
enables you to gather gleaning new knowledge and will help pry
you loose of conventional thinking. How you think is more
important and will produce more productive and innovational
ideas than what you think.

About the author:
Don L. Price – Professional Speaker, Sales, Marketing & High
Performance Mental Fitness Coach, International Speaker,
Consultant and Author of Secrets of Personal Marketing
Power-Strategies for Achieving Greater Personal & Business
Success. donprice@donlprice.com http://www.donlprice.com

Author : Don L. Price
Site : www.goarticles.com

Trade show booths are one of the best direct contact systems
with end consumers. The face to face meeting opportunity with
customers can provide some excellent results provided you have a
good communication strategy in place. Keep in mind that there
are at least a hundred other advertisers at the same trade show
vying for the attention of the consumer, you have a small window
to make an impression on the persons mind. Here are some tried
and tested strategies to implement to maximize your on-the-floor
communication:

Be crisp: Don’t make the mistake of beating around the bush
while communicating at the trade show either verbally or
visually. No one has the time to listen to a sales person
rambling on (and if someone does listen to long sermons at
tradeshows, he probably has no where else to go to). You need
put across your message selling the product or service in hand
in a direct manner. Your booth display should have the message
in readable format with meaningful graphics. Meaningless
graphics are the biggest turn-offs for the trade show veteran.

For example, use graphics and text on the display which
communicates directly about your products and services. Avoid
using generic graphics. If you are not sure of what to put
there, take professional help. It is also advised that you get
display design done by professional agencies rather than
in-house team. This may be a bit more expensive, but if you get
a re-usable variety, the costs are going to be well justified.

Know the demographics: Most trade show organizers give
information about last year’s demographics of visitors. These
inputs can form an important ingredient in your communication
strategy as you get to know the visitors before they visit your
booth and prepare your pitch accordingly. Sometimes, it might
also be a good idea to break the tradition and have a strategy
which might not be so obvious. For example, if you most of the
visitors are the serious management level people, you might like
to feature a basketball loop on that trade booth to appeal to
their playful mindset rather than a serious looking demo. Such a
strategy can make you look different as well as have a great
recall value. Your company also wins the image of being a fun
company.

Don’t compromise on literature: Many organizations begin cost
cutting measures at trade show by giving a low quality hand
outs. People who frequent trade shows are recognize such
companies from a distance. It is advised that you develop cost
effective communication material especially for trade shows so
that you can save costs without looking cheap. The disadvantage
of cheap handouts is that though you can get the satisfaction of
giving it out, no one is really going to read it much less file
it for later reference.

Fish Bowl still works: Sometimes we may not be able to attend to
each and every person who passes the trade show booth. The old
fashioned ‘drop your visiting card in the fish bowl for a
prize’, is still a good communication strategy. The value of
contacts via the fish bowl, however, can only be determined by a
strong follow up right after the exhibition.

The above mentioned strategies are not unique to any particular
kind of trade show and can be implemented easily with any event,
for any industry. There are of course a number of other
strategies which work wonders in a trade show and we will surely
cover it in our next article.

About the author:
Patty Stripes is an editor for The Trade Show Booth, check out
her latest articles about using a href="http://www.the-trade-show-booth.com/">trade show exhibit
booth, href="http://www.the-trade-show-booth.com/used-trade-show-display
.html">used trade show display and advantages of a
compelling href="http://www.the-trade-show-booth.com/trade-show-booth-design
.html">trade show booth design

Author : Patty Stripes
Site : www.goarticles.com

Since the arrival of digital printing, tremendous printing
innovations followed. These innovations offer numerous
advantages. Printing was given extra power to capture the
precision and mystery of pictures and letters which vivid
colors, crispier texts, and the ability to deliver clearer
pictures. This is the exact reason why variable data printing, a
printing process made possible by digital printing has greatly
increased its fame.

If you are one of those customers who wanted ‘personal touch’ in
your printing needs, then, you can have your fulfillment when
you turn to variable data printing for a valuable solution. This
type of printing produces incredible clear color prints.

Variable data printing is a kind of digital printing that
customizes the printed documents that are especially made for
target individuals. A document is designed for that purpose.
Then, images, graphics and texts are changed according to the
client’s preference to create unique separate messages. By using
variable data printing you can send a document to an individual
according to your preference that you’ll think will best suit
him. Variable data printing printed materials can do the talking
for you. With it, you can attract your prospect individual in
order to elicit positive feedback in connection with your
business.

Variable data printing is best for postcards, flyers, brochures,
business cards, labels, tags, barcodes and the likes. This type
of printing is oftentimes done by business inclined individuals
and marketing people to effectuate a custom-tailored marketing
or advertising material. The customized results are comparable
to the output of exorbitant offset printing.

With the increasing personalized and customized digital printing
demand, printers have designed affordable and quality
personalization software and packages to suit your budget and
printing needs. Excellent direct mailing services, superb mail
merge and Microsoft word mail merge and other variable data
printing functions are also made available.

One thing that you must secure though is an expert and reputable
printer. An expert and reputable printer will help you feel
better about your printing job. It will help you in your choice
of paper and ink that are compatible with the printing process
you are into. A good catch printer delivers your materials safe
and sound, fast and efficient. Thus, you receive it on time with
no hassles at all. A high-performance printer can save you from
potential printing troubles. Therefore, you can use your
precious time in other important matters because your printing
job is rest assured!

About the author:
For additional information and comments about the article you
may log on to: href="http://www.digitalroom.com/Variable-Data.html">Digital
Variable Data Printing

Author : Maricon Williams
Site : www.goarticles.com

With the increase in number of tradeshows being held across the
world, it has become imperative to check the trade shows’
credentials before you commit participation. Here are some quick
tips on checks to ensure that you are not heading for a dud
trade show:

1. Check previous history and years of experience including
backing by any large industrial groups: This is the most obvious
way to research on the event planners. Trade shows backed by
large organizations would have greater availability of resources
and marketing skills.

2. Demographics of previous trade shows: Did the last show done
by the trade show provider have a decent show of visitors? Is
the trade show provider boasting about the numbers on its
marketing material or hiding it in some obscure corner for the
number crunchers? Did the trade show provider have a
professional organization draw up the demographics of the
visitors? Do the demographics fit your requirement? Answers to
these queries should help you decide if you should use this
trade show as a sales and marketing vehicle for your company.

3. If there is a conference, who are the speakers? You should
have at least heard of a few of the speakers or their
organizations if they are speaking in the conference. A quick
check should also be done to see if the speakers also have a
booth at the tradeshow. Tradeshow booth providers usually give
out speaker slots as an added incentive to exhibitors and you
might like to avoid such events as they are not very genuine.

4. What is the timing of the trade show? Is it just time filler
for the conference? If this is true, I would suggest that you
avoid this trade event like the plague. The event planners are
just putting in the booths as time filler and the trade show is
not likely to be heavily promoted either. So just don’t waste
your marketing budget on such as event. You will all notice that
such time filler exhibitions usually have very few booths in the
first place and are located outside the exit area of the
conference hall to catch the attendees as they dash off towards
food and nature’s call.

5. What is the total number of booths and what is the occupancy
rate a few weeks before the show? The thumb rule is that a trade
show can have about 5 to 10 percent of empty stands about 2
weeks before the event which eventually gets filled in my last
minute confirmations or by sponsors. If the numbers are higher
that this, you should check the official reason given by the
exhibitors to ensure that you don’t end up participating in a
show which has too many empty stands.

6. Is the tradeshow provider offering a ‘desperate’ discount and
doing unusual number of follow ups? If you get an offer for a
trade show booth which is just too good to believe then it is
probably too good to believe. ‘Desperate’ discounts are offered
by event planners as a last ditch attempt to sell all booths as
you should only participate is such tradeshows if you have
unique reason to do so.

7. Testimonials and repeat number of participants year after
year is another good way to check on the trade show. If you see
a large number of repeat participants over a number of years, it
is a good way to determine the quality of the event.

Quality of location and association with service providers also
help in getting to know the seriousness with which the trade
show providers approach their work. I hope this article is also
read by trade show providers to realize what exhibitors look out
for!

About the author:
Patty Stripes is an editor for The Trade Show Booth, check out
her latest articles about using a href="http://www.the-trade-show-booth.com/">trade show exhibit
booth, href="http://www.the-trade-show-booth.com/used-trade-show-display
.html">used trade show display and advantages of a
compelling href="http://www.the-trade-show-booth.com/trade-show-booth-design
.html">trade show booth design

Author : Patty Stripes
Site : www.goarticles.com

Success of a product, service or event can be traced from its
marketing triumph. From this we can deduce that marketing is
playing an important role in order for a thing to be made known
to public and amass popularity as well as marketability.

Marketing efforts, thus, must be strengthen to achieve the
much-desired increase on investments. But how can we do this?

Printing, which is a common medium for marketing, is
experiencing its metamorphosis. In due time, it can spread its
wings and soar to high level of demands more than it is having
nowadays. Printing continues to evolve to offer better,
efficient and affordable printing services. One of its
remarkable innovations is variable data printing. It is a unique
printing process that allows a client to have mass reproductions
which are personalized. Variable data printing is primarily used
to have a single document edited and modified according to the
specific needs and tastes of its recipients. Simply, you get
what your target group wants for their print.

Variable data printing’s magnetic charm can grab just anybody’s
attention and linger on it. As a result it increases target
market’s retention and consequently persuades to seize customer
loyalty. Effectiveness in communication leads to increased
response rate thus triumphant marketing and sales. Variable data
printing is best for target marketing campaigns and customizing
print materials to persuade individuals as well as target
groups. You can use variable information printing with printed
pieces, like direct mail or letters, books, invitations,
catalogs, promotions, newsletters, flyers and brochures.

Printing companies has provided us with different types of
printing and its accompanying results. And every time it
introduces an innovation, it will surely be a hit. If your
printed marketing materials are your concern, you can rely on
variable data printing to accomplish the thing for you.

Flexibility and accessibility of marketing materials are the
factors that made variable data printing stand out from the rest
of printing processes. Another compelling factor is the minimal
expense that you will be achieving. Now, you can have quality,
durable, personalized and effective marketing material at a
lesser expense. Printing companies are also offering fast
turnarounds. That’s the beauty unfolding from its so called
desired metamorphosis!

Numerous studies have been made to connect success of marketing
strategies with the sales of products and services. One thing
though is proven – that more focused, informative and persuasive
communication with potential customers make better use of
printing budget nonetheless, grabs greater fulfilling results!

About the author:
For additional information and comments about the article you
may log on to: href="http://www.digitalroom.com/Variable-Data.html">Digital
Variable Data Printing

Author : Maricon Williams
Site : www.goarticles.com

We are easily convinced with the truth when we see it happening
or we experience its magnanimity. Same is true with marketing
techniques and strategies. We only appreciate it after we are
sure that it did something amazing to augment sales and the
likes. This is the reason why there are endless struggles aiming
at business triumphs.

In connection with digital printing, these struggles led to
powerful innovations like variable data printing. Variable data
printing has already proven its ‘might’. Nonetheless, that
‘might’ continue to charm advertisers as well as ordinary
people. People are captivated by its personalized marketing
campaign which is tailored to cater to the needs of the target.

There are various kinds of producing a print material. The first
one is the static. This is the same as mass production where a
document printed is same with the entire bulk. The second type
is called personalized. A piece of document printed is not
exactly the same with the rest. This is because it caters to
different kinds of persons thus, having different wants. The
third on is the versioned. It is where the segmented versions
are created.

Variable data printing printing enables ‘mass customization’ of
printing materials. It can print different deviations from a
single document. Mass customization differs from mass production
in a way that the latter reproduces the same material in large
quantities while the former reproduces large quantities of said
material but of different specifications. Thus, it appears to be
personalized and can reach out to various types of target.
Variable data printing offers a wide-range of choices and
specifications involving text, images and graphics in order to
have individual separate documents coming from just one
document.

Variable data printing helps you meet your objectives and
achieve your business endeavor. It lends a hand to dramatically
boost your marketing campaigns, build solid customer
relationships and finally to bring you back your valuable
resources. You might be amazed how it can turn your investments
into a strikingly booming business.

A lot of people have tried variable data printing and they were
amazed by the results. Now, they keep on coming back to have
their succeeding materials printed by the same type.

Fulfillment, client satisfaction and a great percentage of
increase in sales – these are what they have got from variable
data printing. Now, they can candidly say that they have chosen
the right choice!

You too can be enthralled by its outstanding aftermath…See for
yourself and experience an overwhelming positive change in
connection with your marketing projects!

About the author:
For additional information and comments about the article you
may log on to: href="http://www.digitalroom.com/Variable-Data.html">Digital
Variable Data Printing

Author : Maricon Williams
Site : www.goarticles.com

For sure, nobody wants a mediocre product or service if only
they are given the power to grab the best that they can have.
Rational as we are, we want everything to be perfect, desirable
and systematic. Nevertheless, what stops us from desiring the
best is the high-cost of the products and services. This is the
reason why a great number of our populace settles for so-so
stuffs. Along with the commodity inflation, comes all sorts of
‘negative increase’. And we find it hard to cope up…

As a result, people are trying so hard to make both ends meet in
order to survive. As much as possible, we try to deviate from
costly products and services. Afterwards, we think that we are
losing much because of devastating inflations.

Most of us believe that expensive products and services are
superb and high-quality. But this is not always the case. There
are expensive stuffs that are not worth their price. They will
only leave you disappointed. On the other hand, there are
products and services which are affordable or reasonably priced
that give total customer satisfaction. An example of which is
variable data printing.

Variable data printing is an innovative type of printing made
possible by digital printing. With it, mass customization and
reproduction is guaranteed. Instead of bulks of plain and static
documents, you can have same bulks with customized messages.
Customization includes different applications of text, images
and graphics in order to come up with a specific look from a
document. Variable data printing made customization more
creative, personal and affordable.

Advertisers and printing fanatics know for a fact that the
quality of their materials contributes much to the success of
every endeavor. This is the reason why it should be secured and
guaranteed by the printer or printing press doing it. One way of
securing it is to have the right printing process. In cases of
postcards, labels, flyers, brochures, tags and the likes, the
best process is variable data printing. With it, printing with
an increased volume and intricacy is made easy. It also reaches
out to the personalized needs and tastes of the recipients. Not
only that, it comes in an affordable price that will not spoil
your budget.

Aside from the printing process, you can look for a printing
press that won’t charge you a fortune. Select a reliable and
trustworthy printer to guide you choose. You can ask them what
materials to use because they are expert on the matter. By that,
you can be sure that you will be getting high-quality products
at a reasonable price.

We need not be limited with our choices and desires because of
money constraint. We can do something about it!

About the author:
For additional information and comments about the article you
may log on to: 4 Color
Digital Printing and Color Poster Printing Services

Author : Maricon Williams
Site : www.goarticles.com

So you’ve spent an enormous amount on advertising in the media
and got very little response — or maybe you were scared enough
by the prices that you never put the ads there to begin with.
You’re annoyed at how expensive it is to get even the simplest
and smallest ad in front of anyone, and how useless the whole
thing seems to be. That’s because media advertising, in the
main, isn’t designed to cater to home businesses. No, if you
want to get ahead as a home business, you’re going to have to do
the advertising yourself.

What is Guerrilla Marketing?

Guerrilla marketing is a way of advertising when you have an
almost non-existent budget. Instead of thinking of your business
as a smaller version of a big one, you have to realise the
situation you’re in, and behave accordingly to maximise your
profits while minimising your marketing costs. Essentially,
you’re going to try to do anything to get publicity.

Telemarketing.

Don’t worry, I’m not talking about telemarketing of the nasty
call centre variety here. It’s B2B (business to business)
telemarketing you want to be doing — basically, phoning up
local businesses and making yourself known. You’ll be surprised
at just how effective this can be, since businesses tend to
appreciate the effort you’ve made to contact them and offer your
services far more than a customer does if a business phones them
at home.

Direct Mail.

It shouldn’t be too difficult to get hold of a mailing list that
covers your whole area — ask your local post office if you’re
unsure, as they’ll often be able to help with bulk mail
campaigns. Alternatively, if you don’t even want to pay for
delivery, you could hire a few local teenagers to go round
putting your letters in people’s mailboxes. This will work best
if you keep your message to one small page or even just a
business card, so that people will keep it if they’re interested
and call you in their own time.

Outdoor Leafleting.

Another effective guerrilla marketing technique, at least for
some kinds of business, is to hang around outside giving out
leaflets to passers-by. This gives you an opportunity to ‘meet
and greet’ people, and lets you do some free targeted
advertising by choosing your location carefully. If you do odd
jobs in people’s houses, for example, you could stand outside
the DIY store, handing out leaflets that say ‘Why Do It
Yourself? I’ll assemble and install everything you buy today for
only $50!’ If you custom build and sell your own computers, you
could stand outside a big-box computer store with this leaflet:
‘Get your computer tailor-made, for half the price of [big
store]‘. You get the idea.

Free Gifts.

You’d be surprised just how effective it can be to stand around
handing out free gifts. If you do something that relates to
children, then hand out balloons to them in the mall. You’ll
make some kids’ days, and your name and perhaps website address
will be written there on the balloon for all to see. Free pens
are a very effective thing to give away if you provide a more
serious business service — people are always short of pens, so
they’ll keep your pen in their bag and be reminded of your
business each time they use it. Even better, the cost of getting
thousands of balloons or pens printed with whatever you want is
almost nil.

Attack the Competitor.

Nasty as it might sound, hardcore guerrilla marketers regard
their competitor as their sworn enemy, and will do anything to
bring them down so that they can replace them in the
marketplace. A little disturbingly, this can be quite simple to
do — fake a few letters complaining about a business to a local
newspaper, and you might find that they follow through and do a
feature on it without even checking the story out.

In the end, with guerrilla marketing, there are endless ideas –
it’s all about being inventive, and having the guts (and the
patience) to try them out. When you get your first customer
without buying a single media ad, it’ll all be worth it.

About the author:
Karen Walker assists entrepreneurs, network marketers, and
independent professionals grow their business to their first
million within 5 years so that they may live the life they want,
fulfill their passions, and achieve their dreams! Visit her
informational sites:

Cash Flow Quest | href="http://www.income-directory.com">Income Directory

Author : Karen Walker
Site : www.goarticles.com