Promoting yourself

Tom Shay, nationally acclaimed writer, speaker and business coach, has tons of ideas to help you promote your business. His Web site is http://www.profitsplus.org/

Here are a couple marketing tips:

Public speaking: Many community organizations need speakers for their meetings. If you sell clothes, you can talk about fabric care and the colors and fashions for the coming season. If you sell auto parts, you can talk about how they can take care of their vehicle to maximize mileage. When you complete your presentation, you can give away samples, have a 'door prize' and leave your business card with attendees.


Advertise your employees: What is one of your biggest competitive advantages? It is likely that you would say it is your employees. So, why not make a point to remind your customers? In your print advertising you could include a picture of an individual with each ad. The copy in the advertisement could have an employee telling why they like a particular product. Your television advertisements could utilize employees as models or the voice of the commercial. Your employees could be the voice of your radio commercials. In the store you can put photos of the employees so that your customers can get to know them on a first name basis.