Book Offers Marketing Tips to Fledgling Firms
If you want to attract business to a new restaurant, try passing out coupons for two free dinners to the owner of every beauty salon in the neighborhood.
Why?
Because if the food is good and if the beauticians like the eatery’s ambiance, their word-of-mouth recommendations will outweigh any amount of advertising, says Jay Conrad Levinson, a veteran advertising executive and author of “Guerrilla Marketing Attack,” recently published by Houghton Mifflin.
Levinson, formerly with two big advertising firms, J. Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett Advertising, said in an interview that he wrote the book because he couldn’t find a good marketing book for his smaller clients. He presents more than 100 free, cheap but effective marketing ideas for small businesses.
Many small business owners mistakenly view money spent on marketing techniques as an expense, rather than as an investment in the success of their companies, Levinson said.
While advertising lets the world know what your company has to offer, Levinson’s marketing tips are designed to encourage customer loyalty and promote subsequent sales.
“The single most important thing is commitment to a marketing plan,” Levinson said. “Most small businesses start with a theme, a format, and select a medium, but if they don’t get miracle results in two or three months, they change everything.”
Because this leads to confusion, he urges small business owners to be patient, saying that a mediocre marketing plan with a commitment works better than a brilliant marketing plan with a short-term approach.
For example, he points to the initial failure of his “Marlboro Man” cowboy campaign for the cigarettes. After the first year of advertising, Marlboro still ranked No. 30 in U.S. cigarette sales. But the parent firm, Philip Morris, stuck with the campaign and today Marlboro is the top-selling cigarette in America.
While newspaper ads, fliers or low-cost cable television commercials can be used to attract customers, Levinson said, the business owner’s goal should be to get people to come back and recommend the business to their friends, neighbors and relatives.
Saying “thank you” is a simple way to make an impression on a new customer. Levinson suggests sending a personal thank-you letter to every customer within 48 hours of the sale--especially for major purchases such as a car or appliance.
He also suggests that business owners give gifts--perhaps personalized coffee mugs with the customer’s name on one side and the name of the business on the other.
“Newsletters are another great way to stay in touch with your customers,” Levinson said. A newsletter doesn’t have to be fancy. A simple, one-page sheet is enough to keep in touch. And between newsletters, he suggests, send out post cards to remind customers of sales and other items of interest.
When it comes to mailings, Levinson cautions against sending anything that appears to be junk mail because so many people automatically throw it out. Instead, he offers several off-beat ways to get people to open your letter. His favorite is to buy a variety of stamps worth 25 cents, rather than just one boring stamp. “It is impossible to ignore an envelope with eight stamps on it,” Levinson said with a laugh. If possible, he also suggests shipping your brochures to a foreign country and having someone mail them back to customers so they will feature an unusual, eye-catching postmark.
To attract initial requests for information, he recommends placing an inexpensive classified ad with one bit of information about your company or product. The ad should also include information about how to obtain a free brochure.
With this technique, you not only build a mailing list of potential customers but can target your marketing to people who already have some interest in what you are selling. Once the request for information arrives, Levinson advises, respond immediately by sending back a fact-filled brochure accompanied by a personal letter.
Levinson said he also loves catalogues, even if they are simple, four-page, black-and-white ones. Gift certificates are another low-cost marketing trick to attract new business or reward loyal customers.
According to a recent survey, Levinson said, Americans value their time more than anything else.
“You should knock yourself out to be a convenient company with which to do business,” he said. “Stay open long hours, accept all credit cards, have an 800 toll-free number.”
On the subject of telephones, Levinson said he likes the new concept of “marketing on hold.” There are companies that produce taped information about your company, mixed in with easy-listening music to be played for customers on hold. He said he expects more and more small businesses to take advantage of this tool in the future.
Local cable television shows have also become an attractive marketing tool for small businesses. Levinson suggests hiring professionals to produce a 30-minute videotape about your company. He said many cable stations will sell you time to air the show. The tapes usually feature 24 minutes of basic information about your company or service--in documentary form--and six minutes of commercials.
“Television advertising used to be totally unheard of for small business, but it is now affordable,” Levinson said. In fact, he said, one of his Sacramento clients recently switched from radio to cable television advertising because it was cheaper.
Picking a Spot
“Location! Location! Location!” is the subject of a workshop Thursday aimed at helping small business owners choose the best locations for their businesses. The 8 a.m.-to-noon session is sponsored by the Small Business Administration and the South Gate Chamber of Commerce.
Topics to be covered include how to select a shopping center or mall and how traffic patterns or neighboring businesses will affect your business. The cost is $5. For information, call the South Gate Chamber of Commerce, (213) 578-7261. The chamber office is at 3350 Tweedy Blvd., South Gate.
‘Five Fatal Errors’
“Leadership Skills for Women” is the theme of a daylong seminar scheduled Wednesday by Lois Frankel, a Los Angeles psychotherapist and management consultant. Frankel said she will ask participants to do a personal inventory to see what mistakes they are making in dealing with colleagues. “I call these the five fatal errors,” she said.
Some of the errors include asking questions when you really want to make a statement, asking permission when it is unnecessary, using lengthy preambles before getting to the point and apologizing for things that require no apology.
The session will run from 8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza near Los Angeles International Airport. The cost is $165, with discounts for multiple registrations and nonprofit organizations. For information and reservations, call (818) 761-8883.
Working as a Team
A special seminar designed to teach teamwork in the office is being offered March 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the First Friends Church, 2540 E. Orange Grove Blvd. in Pasadena. The workshop, taught by Inez Smith, is designed to help secretaries and bosses work as a team.
It was originally set up to help pastors and their secretaries but is applicable to running any small business. Subjects to be covered include how to delegate responsibility, how to organize and run an office and ways to develop peak performance. The fee of $35 a person includes lunch and course materials. For information, call (818) 796-3372.
