222 Ways to Promote Your Small Business on a Budget

by Ron E. Gielgun

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0965761703
• ISBN13: 9780965761703
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Actium Pub Inc
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Number 223: Market YOU!

This book has some great tips, but when it comes to achieving corporate and community visibility, nothing replaces a *personal* publicity plan. To position your small business, you have to position YOURSELF. It's inexpensive and critical to your success in the marketplace. Bottom line is that people have to know who you are, what you stand for, and why they should do business with you.

The box idea works!

Let me tell you the box story: I received a strangely-shaped box from RPS. It was tall and looked like 3 or 4 posters could fit inside, rolled-up & standing upright. I opened it to find something wrapped in plain, brown Kraft paper. (NO -- I didn't order any porno or sleazy stuff! ) Inside were 2 books I had requested from Actium Publishing to review. The box thing was a suggested promotional idea straight from this book. Right on page 27, Gielgun, suggests that a package in an unusual shape will catch the eye of a customer and make them focus on what it is you're sending them. He suggests using an ice cream box & enclosing sales materials that might begin, "We just wanted to sweeten your day." You can get white cake & cookie boxes from bakery supply houses. Or gold boxes; that would be attention getting! How about those Chinese food take-out boxes? They're not expensive. "A New York based entrepreneur has sent half-envelopes to his potential customers. He cut regular # 10 envelopes in half and sent only one side (glue-sealed at the "open" end) to prospects. The reply rate to these bisected envelopes was 20% to 30% higher as compared with the whole ones." (p. 27) The box is the reason this book is being reviewed so soon. Once I got it open I just had to start thumbing through the book -- the bright red cover helps, too -- and ideas kept catching my eye. Next thing I knew, I'd gone though almost 2/3 of the book! From there, writing this review was easy. I'll never underestimate the power of provocative packaging again. Broken into 11 chapters, the tips are organized in areas such as: => mail order => trade shows & fairs => overseas => wholesale => cold calling => online => & more <br /> <br />When I say tips, don't think I mean 1 or 2 line descriptions. Each idea takes an entire page & many augment the main idea by providing multiple related suggestions. <br /> <br />The best way to show how the book works is to give some abridged examples. <br /> <br />IDEA --New Broom Sweeps Clean (p. 15) <br /> <br />"If your prospects are corporations, and if you want to get on their receptive side, contact the new, rather than long-time employees. Employees who have been with a company for many years tend to stick to work routines and practices which have proven to work for them, and are not very receptive to new ideas." <br /> <br />IDEA -- Find Yourself a Moniker (p. 28) <br /> <br />"For prospects & customers to remember you, the name of your business may not be enough. Develop a professional handle that would convey in a catchphrase the essence of your business. " Example: 'The Tune-Up Maestro' for a car repair shop. <br /> <br />This works because I can't forget a course (the Clinical Action Guide) I bought from Drew Eric Whitman, DRS -- 'Direct Response Surgeon'Ô. He even went so far as to have his sales materials carry a picture of him in surgical scrubs, masked, & holding a scalpel. <br

VERY HELPFUL

Not every idea in this book is right for everyone, but you'll always find several dozen ideas that'll work for you, and each one of these alone makes purchasing this book a worthwhile investment. Some of the suggestions in this book are so simple and make so much sense it made me wonder how come I never thought of them myself -- there are opportunities around us that we simply don't see until someone points them out to us.