By PAUL TULENKO
Scripps Howard News Service
31-OCT-05
Not doing much marketing because it costs too much?
Consider new ways of finding customers:
Define Exactly What It Is You Do For Customers.
Write down just what you do for your customers. For example, if you are a graphic artist, you might say, "I do graphics!"
That's the wrong answer, because it does not answer the question, it tells HOW you do what you do. You must pin down the WHAT if you want success to come knocking at your door.
Examine a few of your recent jobs, and ask yourself questions like: "What were they looking for when they came to me?" and "What did I do, and did it solve their problem?"
The Next Step.
You have to find prospects. Where do prospective customers hang out? Typical hangouts include health clubs, associations and social clubs. Identify the hangouts. See if you can get to be a featured speaker at a meeting. You will have to tailor your talk, but you might be permitted to give a commercial for your products or services. You also should offer everyone present a simple brochure telling about your offering. Remember to include the definition of what it is you do, and don't forget the discount coupon.
Use The Post Office.
The post office has a new deal for small businesses. It will deliver your mail piece to every person in a defined area without you having to have a name and address on each piece and without having to buy an expensive permit. This program is in a trial basis, so ask your postal officials how you can participate. This particular marketing scheme will only work if you repeat it from three to seven times to the same group; but it is far less expensive than anything else you could do through the post office. Be sure to include a tear-off discount coupon as part of your mail piece.
Pat-My-Back Marketing
Consider teaming with someone in a related business. Agree to hand out literature and material for the other. Since the two of you are related in some manner, the chances of making a profitable contact for both of you are high, and the cost is minimal. Don't stop with one; team with several.
Trade Services.
Try this on your local newspaper, weekly news, TV or radio station, or cable company. Offer to trade services at regular rates. They publish your ad, and you do what it is you do for them. If it works, you will benefit big because you are really trading your wholesale service or product for their retail ad space. It's like getting a fat discount.
Cultivate a Center-of-Influence Person.
Somewhere in your town is a person or two who seem to know everybody. See if you can make a deal with such a person to refer people to you for a fee. If you can, you may have solved your marketing problem in one fell swoop.
Use Referral Fees.
Along the same lines as above, offer a referral fee (or discount) to present customers for each person referred to you who ends up becoming a customer.
(Paul Tulenko is a small-business consultant based in New Mexico. Additional tips and suggestions are available at www.tulenko.com or call (toll-free) 1-866-TULENKO.)
