Make customers a birthday card! Guerrilla Ray Fisher of Keylock Mini Storage in Pinellas Park, Florida celebrates his tenants' birthdays with a card he creates himself. He prints a poem on the card and gets four cards out of each piece of 8 1/2 x 11 card stock. He goes to Kinkos to have the cards printed and cut.
Since sending the cards, Fisher has received a very positive response. One tenant even dropped by office just to say he really appreciated the card. Fisher started a file organized by month to pre-address the cards to make it easy to mail within a week of upcoming birthdays.
Any service business can profit from this personal touch.
A Sticky Success Story Guerrilla Mike Cohen informs us that no one ignores coupons from Captain Tony's Pizza in Cleveland, Ohio. That's because they are printed on Post-it notes and placed each month on every door in their delivery area. The typical response rate is 30%.
Cohen honors us by calling this promotional concept, Guerrilla Mail. He attributes the program's success to both the look and the feel of the coupon. It resembles the familiar UPS delivery notice and because it is sticky, recipients tend to post it on the fridge or by the phone where it acts as a constant reminder.
The Ice Cream Incentive Marketing Consultant and Coach Bob Janet e-mailed us after reading about a real estate agent who sent prospects home with a quart of ice cream on hot days. Janet's company used a variation on the old ice cream ploy. His sales staff would find out where customers lived and give them just enough time to get home with the melting ice cream. The representative would call them with an added incentive to buy from them (extra discount, special price on add on items, special financing, etc.)
The extra incentive always had a time limit of closing time that day. Janet reports that they made a lot of sales with that technique.
Beach Party Bingo Dusty Simmons owns a retail store in the Central Florida offering surf, skateboard, and beach suppies. Due to few exclusives and similar inventory among his competition, he had trouble differentiating his business. Simmons realized that he needed to implement Guerrilla tactics in order to get an edge.
Simmons created a Christmas Wish List of store items for kids of all ages to send to loved ones. Simmons also mailed out blank copies of the Wish List to folks on their mailing list who came in during the sign-up. Adult customers were invited to a special event: an after hours shopping spree with live music, snacks and drinks. Simmons reported a record sales day in those three hours.
Since the promotion, there has been much talk about that night, with customers who did not attend asking if Simmons is going to do it next year. His reply? "Of course, only better."
Talking House Speaks for Itself Guerrilla Scott Matthew, president of Realty Electronics Inc. of Fond du Lac, WI wrote to tell us about his Talking House(R). It's a small radio Transmitter that sits inside a location (such as residential real estate that is for sale). Prospects just tune in on their ordinary car radio, while parked out front, and hear a customized marketing message.
Besides real estate, Talking House can be used by restaurants announcing their specials of the day, banks promoting their CD rates at a drive-up window, or automobile dealers explaining low-interest leases. You name it, Talking House can say it.
For more infgormation, call 800-444-8255, fax 920-923-6222 or visit the Web site at http://www.TalkingHouse.com.
Marketing to the Disabled Guerrilla Kimberley Barreda runs Cripmedia, an organization offering marketing and advertising services to firms targeting the disabled community. Barreda reports that the disabled community is responsible for over $700,000,000 per year in consumer spending.
Barreda, a former professional actor, started the company when she was refused a commercial audition because she used a wheelchair. She realized that the disabled community was being ignored by advertisers. She created the 1998 Consumer With a Disability profile survey. Through a fusion marketing arrangement, Barreda obtained the authoring software from Questionmark Corporation in exchange for full credit.
The results will be published yearly and an on-going product war page will be featured on their site: http://www.cripworld.com.
Free Domain Name Registration Guerrilla Pat Messick of Bronxville, NY has cost saving suggestion for other online Guerrillas.
Messick found an advertiser supported web site offering free registration of domain names. Messick's ISP was going to charge $50.00 for the domain registration. The web address is www.register.com.
Messick has already referred a dozen friends to this site and is happy to spread the word.
Business card as pocket-sized bulletin board We hear many stories on using your business card as a marketing tool. Guerrilla Scott Miller of Aurora, Colorado has been paying attention.
Miller reports on the success of his new business cards. On the front cover of the folded card, Miller placed a catchy slogan. Inside he briefly lists his products and the method of sales (internet, home parties, mail order, by private consultation) on one side. On the other side he offers contact information including his web site and email address.
Miller noticed some blank space on the back of the card, and for the next card run he may add his vendors.
Add Memos to Your Marketing Frank Pipia, Jr. of Pipia-Graphics & Advertising, Inc. of Wauwatosa, WI has a timely reminder for all you busy Guerrillas.
Pipia suggests writing a brief personal note to each of your clients and prospects on a post-it or 1/4 page memo pad. Attach it to your business card and mail it off. Keep the message short and personal. Ask them how things are going. Thank them for their business or their interest. Mention any new products or services you are offering and how they might benefit. Finally, ask them to give you a call or offer to call them in order to chat soon.
Pipia claims that people will be gratified that you took the time to jot down a few personal lines. If you do this once a month you'll maintain a high profile. Even if they don't need your services presently, you'll be more likely to get their business in the future.
IMEDIAFAX is right on target Guerrilla Paul J. Krupin of Kennewick WA, has introduced an online news distribution service which faxes your business message to the media. Users create a proprietary media list from a vast selection of magazines, newspapers, syndicates, and broadcast stations. The service, IMEDIAFAX -- Internet to Media Fax on-line custom news distribution service, can be found at www.imediafax.com<.
Here's how it works:. Make your selection by clicking your mouse on the industry and classification, key editors, states, market area, or circulation. Then enter your news release and click to send. IMEDIAFAX news releases can contain graphics, letterheads, logos or pictures. The cost is 25 cents per faxed page.
According to Krupin, "media receiving news releases from IMEDIAFAX will be happy that the news releases are better targeted. This will result in less over-broadcasting." Another bonus is that there are no international phone or fax charges.
A Delicious Sales Ploy Guerrilla Walt Gibson of Dracut, MA passes along some wisdom from his days as a real estate agent.
A seasoned pro once advised him to keep an ice chest packed with quarts of ice cream on hot summer days. When qualified customers viewed the homes the agent would give them a quart of ice cream. According to Gibson, this gave the customer two alternatives: 1) Eat it and think about the house. or 2) Go home and put it in the freezer and think about the house. Either way the prospects probably wouldn't be viewing the competition's houses that day and would certainly remember the broker that gave them ice cream!
We wonder if the old pro kept hot chocolate on hand for snowy Winter days?
A tale of holiday cheer Guerrilla Dane Colby of Magical Landscapes in Whidbey Island, WA has a unique approach to competition. Because he lives in a tight and supportive community, Colby doesn't want to demean his competitors, believing that it removes all the joy from his work and gives a the industry a bad name. He points out that when encouraging customers to devote time and money to landscaping, his main competition is holidays, movies, sports, and television.
Colby works with his colleagues to insure that landscaping has a great reputation for service, fun and value. He sees marketing as a creative challenge to see who can bring clients the most value.
Colby reports that his approach is extremely fruitful in the friends, success and fun it generates, stating, "it is more enjoyable than being a solitary guerrilla. The success of my island and industry are prerequisites to my own success. We prosper together."
Ask and you shall receive San Antonio private investigator and Guerrilla marketer, Venetia Flowers publishes a newsletter called the "Tricky Marketing Ploy" handbook. She provides techniques like the following to drum up business and make invaluable contacts.
Flowers was interested in subletting space in a downtown building containing more than 100 law firms. After two years on the waiting list, she called all of the attorneys she had previously done business with or had met in the courthouse. She asked them if they knew if any of the firms might have space to sublet. Each lawyer offered four or five names. She made a contact list and starting calling. If the lawyers appeared busy, Flowers was brief but if they had the time, she spoke at length. Every single lawyer inquired about her business and many invited her to lunch or asked her to visit their office or send marketing materials. Eventually, Flowers acquired the names and numbers of 65 people in this building and 40 more prospects in other downtown office buildings. She now has a growing database of the most powerful attorneys in her city.
Flowers found that people were both willing to help and interested in her business. Can you think of a way to engage prospective customers in helping you?
Business Card Does Double Duty Carol Parenzan Smalley, owner of Small Business Consulting Services in Palmyra, PA has a great suggestion for a variation on the old business card. She's created a bookmark that folds to the size of a standard business card. The front of the card contains her business information. and the back of the card lists her services as well as free resource information with phone numbers, library sections, government agencies, and web sites (such as Guerrilla Marketing Online).
Smalley 's stationery letterhead compliments the bookmark, with her services listed down the left margin -- subtly advertising all of her services with each and every correspondence.
Finally, Smalley reduced her costs by utilizing a great guerrilla tool: bartering. A client designed her stationery package in exchange for a marketing plan that Smalley wrote. Good going!
Finding the Upside of Downsizing By keeping her ear to the fluctuations in her business community, Guerrilla Diane Ernsberger of Ree Design in Columbus, Ohio is able to drum up business.
Ernsberger runs a resume consulting and design business. She found that an effective way to initiate business was to offer her services to the human resources department of companies that are downsizing.
Many companies will pick up the costs of these services in order to help the obtain a new position and advance their careers.
Autoresponder or URL? When Guerrilla Jim Daniels of Smithfield, RI created his Web site, he made some changes to his classified ads. He replaced the autoresponders--which had allowed his prospects to receive sales letters almost instantly--with his URL in his classified ads. He assumed that people would prefer to visit the site and view the color, sound, and graphics.
When his response dropped, he realized that there are literally millions of people who use email but don't surf the web. So out went the URL address in favor of the autoresponders. Daniels also had an email newsletter so he decided to do a little more experimenting. There, his newsletter ads contained both the autoresponder address and the URL.
Finally he had the perfect mix. His total inquiries (autoresponders
plus page hits) went up by about 20% and remained there as
long as his ad contained both contact methods. Along with
these increased prospects came increased profits.
A valuable lesson learned.
Credits not Coupons Competition is fierce in Guerrilla Jack Barth's community of Orangeville, Southern Ontario. As proprietor of of Barth's Cleaning Centre, Barth takes precautions against competitive intereference when marketing to his customers.
Barth maintains his Guerrilla stance by opting to give customers a credit on their account rather than a coupon, which might be accepted by a competitor.
Barth sends customers and prospects personalized letters which can't be monitored by the competition. Even if a competitor intercepts a few letters they won't be able to estimate how many similar letters went out and when the letter's content was revised.
Cat Shoot captures community's concern Guerrilla Jim Valovic of Gloversville, N.Y. concocted a controversial but effective event that earned Van's Harley-Davidson a tremendous amount of publicity.
Van's advertisement for a "Cat Shoot" to be held at the store on June 1, brought calls from the media, Humane Society, SPCA, local police chief and even the Mayor, wanting to know what was going on. To all callers, they replied "show up on the first and find out."
The media jumped on it. Van's was on front pages of three major newspapers ("Cat Shoot for real or hoax?" blared the titles).What everyone saw on the day of the event was a six-foot high cartoon cat that they could shoot--with a paint ball gun at three shots for a dollar. Signs announced that all proceeds would go to the Humane Society.
Reporters and crews from print, radio and TV showed up and Van's got even more coverage.
Become a Marketing Matchmaker Guerrilla Dana Burke of Mind Your Business, has a terrific idea that can be used by anyone with a box of labels and some ingenuity.
Burke maintains a supply of her clients' and associates' business cards in her office and distributes them to likely customers. Using return address labels, she's created a sticker that says "Referred by Mind Your Business." Placed on the back of other people's business cards, the stickers remind the recipied his Web site, he made some changes to his classified ads. He replaced the autoresponders--which had allowed his prospects to receive sales letters almost instantly--with his URL in his classified ads. He assumed that people would prefer to visit the site and view the color, sound, and graphics.
When his response dropped, he realized that there are literally millions of people who use email but don't surf the web. So out went the URL address in favor of the autoresponders. Daniels also had an email newsletter so he decided to do a little more experimenting. There, his newsletter ads contained both the autoresponder address and the URL.
Finally he had the perfect mix. His total inquiries (autoresponders
plus page hits) went up by about 20% and remained there as
long as his ad contained both contact methods. Along with
these increased prospects came increased profits.
A valuable lesson learned.