UpFront - October/November 2008

Notice Me

Use a gimmick to attract attention--and customers--to your business

by Geoff Williams

In 2005, the beverage maker Snapple attempted to create the world’s largest ice pop made of its own product. The frozen bar--hoisted above Times Square in New York City--measured 25 feet tall and weighed 17.5 tons. But it melted much faster than expected, prompting panicked tourists to run as a sticky, sugary mess of strawberry-kiwi flavored fluid flooded the streets. That probably wasn’t the intended outcome, but at least it got people’s attention.

In this sluggish economy, concocting a gimmick for your business can mean the difference between no sales and new sales. Even better, gimmicks (unless you want to try to top Snapple’s efforts) don’t have to cost a lot of money to implement--which means if they don’t work, there’s no harm done. Here are three tips for creating the right gimmick for your small business:

1. Show customers that you feel their pain.
Many businesses have given out discounts to customers in the form of free gas cards, an idea that revolves around a gripe that everyone shares. But Cole Durbin, the owner of Padre’s Modern Mexican (www.padresmexican.com), a restaurant in Phoenix, actually came up with a unique way to show the public he understands his clientele’s problems beyond the pump.

During "Recession Happy Hour," Durbin offers a free drink to anyone who brings in a foreclosure notice. Inexpen-sive and clever--and the media noticed. CNN did a story on his business, and, well, we’re mentioning it, aren’t we?

2. Steal from the greats.
Provided you aren’t taking intellectual property--like another company’s logo--there’s nothing wrong with borrowing ideas that have worked for others and using them for your own marketing devices. But if you’re going to do that, advises Subscriber-Mail’s Jordan Ayan, borrow from the best. A huge fan of the late George Carlin, Ayan, who is founder and CEO of the e-mail marketing firm, wrote a white paper called "The Seven Dirty Words You Can’t Say in Subject Lines; Plus 100 Others You Shouldn’t Use Either." It turned out to be the most frequently downloaded article from his Web site, www.subscribermail.com.

3. Think personal, not professional.
Amy Maurer, who owns a media consultancy business in Washington, D.C., has an inexpensive marketing gimmick that she uses with her present and potential clients. She bakes cookies and hand-delivers them, insisting that it’s helped her triple her business clientele. "I think it immediately tells potential clients that I am different," Maurer says.

NFIB.com
For more tips on making your business stand out from the competition, check out the "Sales and Marketing" section of www.NFIB.com/toolsandtips.