|
|
| www.1001TopWords.com |
|
|
The Top 10 Wild and Wacky Ways to Market Yourself for Big Visibility
In today's competitive world of business, it takes moxie and pizazz to sell a great product, idea, or service. This list will provide you with ten unusual and creative marketing strategies which will help you to stand apart from the competition and to increase your visibility. 1. Celebrate the Wacky World Holidays with your Clients and/or Customers. Did you know that August 17 is Number 2 pencil day? Send your clients Number 2 pencils with your name and logo embossed on the pencils. What about Homemade Pudding Day on September 19? Send your clients and customers your favorite pudding recipe, and invite them to your business to sample a "taste." If you are the owner of a toy store or a children's clothing company, you may want to set aside November 18 to celebrate Micky Mouse's Birthday. Creative marketing is the future of big business, and celebrating offbeat holidays will allow your customers and clients to experience something unusual and will set you apart from your competition. For a list of non-traditional holidays, visit www.earthcalendar.net. 2. Add a Company Mascot to your Business. With the help of a few very clever cows, Chick-fil-A's unaided brand awareness has grown 81 percent, and its sales have increased nearly 120 percent since the mascot was added to the team in 1995. This attention-grabbing ploy, encouraging folks to "Eat Mor Chikin" has helped make this Atlanta-based company the third largest quick-service chicken restaurant company in the United States. 3. Throw a Gala for Hair Stylists in your Community. What do hair stylists do while they are working their magic? They TALK! By throwing a memorable event for the hair stylists in your community, you can reach thousands of potential clients through fantastic word of mouth. Host a breakfast, lunch, or dinner and roll out the red carpet for this crowd, and watch new customers and clients flock to your place of business. 4. Host a Game Night. Are you an investment advisor? Host a game night using the game "Cash Flow." Are you a Life Coach? Throw a party and play the game LIFE. Are you a cat groomer? How about a Cat-Opoly Night? For travel agents, try the game Route 66, taking your guests on a road trip across the country. Playing board games can create a rich and wonderful opportunity for interaction with potential customers, which can allow them to get to know you in a fun and non-threatening way and can create an opportunity for building rock solid strategic alliances. 5. Host a "Big Brain" Week-End. Want to learn from the experts? Borrow experts one time per year to develop a cutting-edge marketing plan for your company by hosting a "Big Brain" Week-End. If you cannot afford a full marketing staff, you can borrow key experts for a quarterly brainstorming session which can enhance product and service ideas for your company quickly. You can pay a small per diem and travel expenses and pick the brains of 6-8 people who really know their stuff. 6. Sponsor a Night Light Golf Tournament (a golf tournament held in the evening after the sun sets.) This grassroots approach can land you accounts, customers, and an amazing amount of visibility. Short on funds? Invite ten strategic alliance partners to help cover the costs. This collaborative effort will triple your visibility. 7. Put Yourself in the Dunking Booth! Carnivals and festivals are great fun for the entire family, and one of the hottest attractions at these events is The Dunking Booth. By volunteering to be the person "dunked," you will have all eyes on you, and folks will be talking about you for weeks, creating "buzz" around your name, your products, and your services. 8. Fly a Kite! Your company name, logo, and contact information on a wild and brightly colored kite can send your business to new "heights." Spend a windy day at the beach or in the park, and give away free kites to visitors. This approach can be valuable and can quickly expand your visibility. 9. Send Unusual Gifts and Freebies. Giving unusual gifts and freebies is another way to set yourself apart from the crowd. Are you in the middle of an ice storm? Send leis to your customers to brighten up their day. Do you have a customer who is recuperating from a broken leg? Send a movie on video, a box of popcorn, and a pack of M & M's. Do you have a customer with a new baby? Send a basket with bubble bath, herbal tea, a cooling eye mask, and a set of ear plugs (humor works!) 10. Design Two or Three Marketing Goals with No Purpose in Mind Other than to Amuse Yourself and Your Friends. Two of the biggest goals of marketing are to appear larger or more well known than you are at this moment and to have great fun! Gather your friends, and throw a Hula Hoop party, dress up for Halloween, or stand on the corner of town and interview folks with a question such as "If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?" Sound strange? You bet it does! Strange and mischievous approaches to marketing work, and people will stand up and take notice of what you have to offer. Cheers! About The Author Bea Fields, Southern Pines, NC, USA Bea Fields is an Executive Coach and a Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach. She is also a Consultant, Trainer, Public Speaker and author of the Five Star Leader e-course. Her area of expertise is that of Leadership Development and Marketing for Executives, Managers, Small Business Owners, and Political Leaders.
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
To Web or Not to Web? Do I need a web site? That is the question often asked by business owners. Doing it with Class! Doctors do it, hair dressers do it, and salespeople can do it too. How to Promote your business website using free online resources. There are many ways to promote your website for free online. Here are 10 highly effective strategies you can use right now. The M-Word It was a real eye-opener to hear the perceptions people have about what it means to market professional services, as well as the anxiety the "m-word" (marketing) conjures up. It reminded me that, just because professional service providers have a lot of expertise in their chosen field, it doesn't mean they have the same level of understanding about the business of growing a practice. Thinking About More Business Did you increase your business in the past 12 months? Don't discriminate between more new clients or old clients spending more money--count the increase either way. If you didn't, you really should be asking yourself why not. Quick and Instant Marketing Soup Everything happens Quickly and Instantly on the Internet. In the blink of an eye your easily transported around a whole planet. It's a smorgasbord !! The web site you just visited could be in Singapore, the e-mail your reading now could have come from Alaska. The Internet is just one big Soup Bowl of Information just waiting for you to come and gobble it up. Marketing and Advertising Techniques of Super Bowl Advertisers Each year, advertisers with super sized budgets sink millions of dollars into Super Bowl advertising. While most of us do not have a large enough budget to advertise on the Super Bowl, the commercials -- both past and present -- demonstrate several marketing techniques we can apply elsewhere. Marketing is More Important Than Expertise Being a master of your craft, skill, or talent doesn't ensure the success of your business. You can be the greatest at what you do, and if nobody knows about you, you're quickly out of business. Yes, it's important that you deliver a quality service. But it's even more important that you consistently and appropriately promote your business. Using a Marketing Calendar Template Owning a small business isn't easy, especially if you are running it alone. Between moving products, taking orders, paying bills, and taking care of family, it is easy to lose track of everything you need to do. Using a calendar template to organize and manage your marketing strategy will ensure you don't drop the ball with one of the most important parts of your business. The REAL Key To Successfully Marketing Any Product! The REAL key to successful marketing of any product is building relationships. The most successful tools for this strategy are forums, communities, coops and the new form of media desktop software, i.e. "Your Easy Street's" new Media Pilot. In order to properly build product sales, you must gain trust and understand the needs of the people you are selling to, or you'll get poor returns on your efforts and investments. Money Making Real Estate Marketing Ideas Real estate marketing is a lot simpler than most Realtors make it out to be. Some equate expensive products and services with quality. Marketing Apathy Solutions: 10 Solutions for Overcoming Apathy Beginning Today Are you suffering from feelings of indifference or a lack of concern when it comes to marketing your business? Do you lack the passion that's necessary to attract customers to your business? Promotional Bags: Your Company Details on Parade The trick to a good promotion is to attach your company details to something useful. Now, there is "private useful" like the promotional toothbrush you use in the privacy of your own bathroom, and there is "public useful" that you use out there where everyone sees you inadvertently parading the promotion. Attract Your Dream Customer Have you clearly defined your target audience? These are the prime buyers of your products or services. It is the people or organizations you are pursuing actively as customers. You don't need every customer in the world! You need the ones who are a good match for YOU. The more specific you are, the more effective your marketing campaign will be. D.A.N.C.E. With Me Recently, a client asked what he could do to help my business, but I wasn't ready with the answer. A lot of us probably miss these opportunities because we don't think through what we need and how to respond when someone offers to help promote us. Mortgage Marketing - Viral-Email, Referral Marketing Strategy This is a devastatingly powerful way to extend your marketing reach. For this to work right you need a website that promotes your business. Direct Mail Formats: How to Choose the Right One for Your Next Mailing Which pulls the best response, a postcard, a self-mailer or a letter? The answer, you'll be irritated to know, is clear. It depends. Encouraging Contact The small time promoter has to work hard and on a shoestring to get an audience of a few hundred people to fill a venue. Flyers, word-of-mouth and media name checks are some of the tools promoters use to fill small venues or club nights. Building a loyal following from grassroots is no easy task. Considering the amount of effort that can be required to fill even the smallest of venues it is surprising that very few promoters capitalise on their efforts and use the actual event to maximise the opportunity to encourage further audience contact. The Most Important Marketing Principles of All Time As you have probably experienced there is a lot of hype in the business and marketing world. New concepts, revolutionary methods and the like land in our in boxes every day. But I'm going to confirm something you probably already know - the fundamentals of marketing haven't changed for decades. Here's my summary of the marketing principles that have stood the test of time. Understanding Survey Software Features If you take a look at the features that different survey softwares offer, you will quickly realize that understanding all of them is no mean task. But it is very important that you do because only then you can choose the right survey software. It is important for one other reason, it determines your price. More features invariably means more dollars. So if you don't choose the right survey software, you might end up paying more for features you don't need.
|
| © Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |
