20 Great Ways to Market Your
Business Locally
By Stephanie Chandler
Whether your target audience is in your neighborhood or
across the world, you can use your local resources to
get the word out about your business. Your local
community is easily accessible and provides dozens of
opportunities for building a buzz about your product or
service. The following are twenty ideas to get you
started.
1.
Offer Your Product or Service as a Free Give
Away – For example, if you own a restaurant, you
could have your local Holiday Inn give away dinner gift
certificates for $10 to hotel guests during check-in. If
you own a car wash, you could have the local car
dealerships give away a certificate for a free wash with
all car purchases. Think about businesses that are
complimentary to yours and offer a promotion that is
easy for them to implement and that will benefit their
customers.
2.
Donate to Local Charities & Schools –
Offer your products, services, or gift certificates for
charity auctions and events. This will get you exposure
to everyone who attends the event and build loyalty with
members of the organization you are supporting- not to
mention a tax write-off!
3.
Leave Brochures, Fliers, and Business Cards
Everywhere – Many local businesses will allow you to
display your cards and brochures. Potential venues
include:
ü
Car washes
ü
Bookstores
ü
Coffee shops
ü
Apartment buildings (near mailboxes or in
laundry rooms)
ü
Churches
ü
Student centers
ü
Community centers
ü
Retirement centers
ü
Fitness centers
ü
Subways and bus depots
ü
Fraternities and Sororities
ü
Libraries
4.
Canvas Nearby Neighborhoods – Instead of
just leaving a flier, you could leave an inexpensive
item or tips booklet. One local Realtor stuck an
American flag on the lawns of everyone in our
neighborhood and then left her brochure on the
doorsteps. Not only did the neighborhood look wonderful
with all of those flags waving in the wind, but everyone
loves a patriotic theme. This is a great strategy for
all kinds of holidays: Independence Day, Veteran’s Day,
Memorial Day, etc. You could take this idea a step
further and do something similar for all of the major
holidays. You can find inexpensive novelty items in bulk
from
www.rinovelty or
www.orientaltrading.com.
5.
Hold a Contest – People love to get stuff
for free and contests are a great way to lure in new
customers. Make the prizes something people want, or
even just a gift certificate or shopping spree for your
business. Be sure to alert the media to your contest.
Here are some contest ideas:
ü
Have kids color pictures or submit stories
related to your business.
ü
Have customers submit funny business
slogans.
ü
Hold a poetry contest with a theme related
to your business.
ü
Have people submit their best solutions to
problems related to your business. For example, if you
own a garden center, people could submit their best
gardening tips. Take this a step further and publish the
entries in a booklet when the contest is over.
ü
Host a recipe contest if you have a
food-related business.
6.
Use Gift Certificates Creatively – Gift
certificates are great for business because they cost
you next to nothing, bring in cash, and often they are
not redeemed. Get your customers to buy gift
certificates by offering them a special bonus. For
example: Buy a gift certificate for $20 or more and
receive $5 off your next purchase with us. When the
customer purchases a gift certificate, you then give
them one worth $5 dated for use the following month
only. This means that your customer must return to you
the following month and if they do, will probably spend
more than the free $5 you’ve given them.
7.
In-Home Parties – Mary Kay, Tupperware,
and Pampered Chef are just a few of the companies who
generate big sales from small parties. This strategy
won’t work for all businesses, but if you have products
that would benefit from an in-home party, contact your
friends, family, and business associates and get the
party started.
8.
Join Local Trade Organizations – Many
organizations hold regular meetings and free seminars,
providing you with another opportunity to make valuable
contacts. Toastmasters (www.toastmasters.org)
has chapters all over the U.S. and there are probably
dozens of other organizations in your community to
choose from. Even if you don’t think your business can
benefit from networking, you might be surprised by the
connections you can make at these events.
9.
Join Everything – Even the PTA
(Parent/Teacher’s Association) can be a great place to
network. Join book clubs, writer’s groups, or any groups
of interest to you, even if they don’t directly relate
to your business. Get known by everyone. They will
associate you with your business as soon as they get to
know you and your mere presence at functions could serve
as a reminder and cause members to want to do business
with you.
10.
Use Networking to Build Alliances – The
secret to effective networking is to not just be on the
lookout for what business contacts can do for you, but
to consider what you can do for them. When you meet
someone new, ask questions and engage them in
conversation. Offer advice or ideas, build a
relationship and trust between you. Once you’ve
established a rapport, offer to meet for coffee or lunch
and see if you can brainstorm ways to work together.
11.
Set Up Shop at the Farmer’s Market – If
you have a food-related product or anything of interest
to the general public, the local farmer’s market is a
great place to not only generate sales, but to increase
exposure to your business. Visit
www.farmersmarket.com for a directory of these
events.
12.
Swap Coupons with a Complimentary Business
– Offer to give away their coupons with each purchase
while they give away your coupons with each purchase.
Each provides the other with coupons and runs the
promotion simultaneously. Make sure you print a special
run of coupons or give them some unique identifier
(printed on a special color of paper, for example) so
you can easily track the success of the promotion.
13.
Give Away Free Tips – Tips sheets or
booklets can be a fantastic marketing tool. Put together
a list of tips, similar to the tips you’re reading now.
Your tips could be as few as ten or as many as 100. For
example, a financial advisor could put together a tips
sheet called “Twenty Ways to Save on Tax Planning.” A
beauty salon could offer “Ten Tips for Ageless Skin.” A
child care center could give away “Twenty-five Tips for
Child Safety.”
Print your tips sheets or booklets and give them away as a
bonus with purchase or use them with your advertising.
If you offer something of real value, people will be
more likely to hang onto your list and refer to it over
and over again, thus you are providing a consistent
reminder of your business. Make sure your contact
information and logo are printed on the documents.
14.
Smile for the Cameras – Television news
programs like to host guests who have visual appeal. If
there is something you can demonstrate, or an
interesting presentation you can give, pitch your idea
to local news program producers (locate their contact
information from their websites). Watch your local
programs to see what kinds of stories they feature and
how you can tailor yours to meet their needs.
15.
Offer Something Wacky – One northern
California restaurant started a “Bald Tuesday”
promotion. You guessed it; anybody who was in a stage of
balding could eat there for free on Tuesdays. Not only
did this bring people in for a free meal, those patrons
brought along paying customers with full heads of hair.
And the biggest benefit of all? The media loved the
story and covered it in the local news. Soon the story
reached national news and the restaurant became the talk
of the nation. Think of something unique and unusual
that will bring people in—then be sure to alert the
media.
16.
Online Classified Ads – One fabulous venue
for getting the word out about your business is
www.craigslist.org. There is no charge for listing
your add in a variety of categories and Craigslist now
has a presence in most major cities. Ads are archived
for two weeks, so be sure to resubmit regularly. Try
different ads to see what works best. You can even offer
a discount or special offer for people who print the ad
and bring it to you.
17.
Record Audio CDs – It can be relatively
inexpensive to record a CD using your computer with a
recordable disk drive. You can put together and audio
presentation that your prospects can listen to in their
cars. Assemble a display and give them away. You can
also place them in the same types of venues where you
distribute fliers.
18.
Turn Your Customers into Billboards – Give
away your shirts, hats, and other gear or sell it at
cost. The big companies print their logos on everything
and get people to buy, so you can too. Make sure it’s
something of interest that people will want to wear. You
could put a fun image or phrase on the front of a shirt,
with your company logo and website address on the back.
Be creative!
19.
Make it Stick – Magnets are an inexpensive
way to leave a lasting impression. Print your business
card and logo on a magnet. Many people stick these on
their refrigerators and will remember it’s there when
it’s time to call a plumber, do their taxes, or order
supplies. These are especially effective for service
businesses. You can order these from
www.4imprint.com.
20.
Use Your License Plate – It only costs a
bit extra to order vanity plates from the DMV. If your
business name fits on a plate, put it on there. Be sure
to frame it with a vanity license plate frame.
Your
local community is a great place to build support and
recognition for your business so don’t miss out on this
valuable opportunity. By implementing even one of these
suggested marketing strategies, you could open new doors
for business opportunities.
About the Author:
Stephanie Chandler is an author of several business and marketing books
including "LEAP!
101 Ways to Grow Your Business" and “From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur:
Make Money with Books, eBooks and Information Products.” She is
also founder and CEO of
http://AuthorityPublishing.com, which
specializes in custom publishing and internet marketing
services, and
http://BusinessInfoGuide.com, a directory of
resources for entrepreneurs.
For author and speaker details, visit
http://StephanieChandler.com.
*This
article can be reprinted in full provided the author
resource box is included with the publication.
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