Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Local Advertising and Marketing Ideas

I've spent the bulk of the last two years creating my on line presence. Now that I've gotten that going, and I feel it's headed in the right direction, I've turned my thoughts to how to get local business? How could this be done? It is totally different from what I've been trying to do. Over the past few days, I decided that to get my name out here locally, I had to get my product in front of people.

Those of you that know me, know that I'm a loud mouth, but I don't like to toot my own horn. So getting into some shops is last on my list....I still have to work up the courage for that. I know this will help my business tremendously, but it's still lower on my list.

One of the first things I did was create a brochure. I'm waiting to hear about a sale on color copying where I can get a mass amount printed, and then I'll hand them out wherever I go. Until then, I leave them in places such as doctor's offices, local eateries, the post office. I always carry some in my bag, and hand them out if people ask questions about my business. Next, I had a few t-shirts screen printed. I need to wear them more often, but I had them made! Then, I got major vinyl for my car. The whole rear view window is taken up by my logo and verbiage. Big and bold...WHAM..in your face. Has it worked? I dunno, it's only been on there for about 2 weeks. I haven't had anyone ask me for a card or tell me they saw my car, but eventually it will pay off, I know it. Lastly, I decided to donate some of my products to good causes. This past March, I heard someone at a local craft show asking a friend of mine for her donation, so I asked what it was for. She told me about the organization she was donating too, and said she did it yearly, it's to help people who have lost a loved one, they need raffle items for their yearly silent auction. I walked up to the lady in charge and offered to donate a few candles and a pair of earrings. Today I donated some more candles and a few pairs of earrings to the local Roller Derby team. They're having a match this Saturday and 100% of the proceeds benefit one of the local Animal Organizations (right up my alley). Tonight I am going to monthly bunco again at the Officer's Wives Club. The last time we were there, I volunteered to donate a few prizes, so I spent the day making cute little bunco earrings and I have a few more candles to give to them.

We'll see how all this pans out, but my goals for the summer while sales are slow are a) don't buy supplies unless absolutely necessary items (which means NO MORE BEADS!!)...we'll see how long this really lasts...and b) Market, Market, Advertise, Market!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good luck. It sounds like you are doing everything I have thought of.
; ) But I have not done a thing.. you are way ahead of me.