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Text File | 1992-03-03 | 13KB | 352 lines

                     SMALL BUSINESS PROMOTER

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Volume 1 Issue 2                                   March 1992
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     This newsletter attempts to provide a steady stream of
promotional ideas for small businesses, usually at low cost.
They're designed to make money and get public attention for
your business.


SPECIAL MONTHS AND WEEKS IN MARCH (numbers indicate day of the month
event starts).

American Red Cross National Frozen Food Month
National Nutrition Month
National Pancake Week (1)
Return The Borrowed Book Week (1)
National "Talk With Your Teen About Sex" Month
Great American Meatout
National Procrastination Week (2)
National School Breakfast Week (2)
Girl Scout Week (6)
National Poision Prevention Week (15)
Art Week (22)

SPECIAL DAYS IN MARCH

Mardi Gras-New Orleans and other cities
Super Tuesday (March 10) 12 states have primaries or caucuses.
Friday the 13th
St. Patrick's Day (17)
Spring arrives (20)
National Teenagers Day (21)
National Goof Off Day (22)
National Organize Your Home Office Day (24)


GIVE YOUR PROFITS TO A CHARITY

     Restaurants know that tieing in with a charity is just good
business.  They give up some money which is tax deductible but
they gain much in community good will. This will pay off in
future business. Pick some occasion, get a good worthy charity
involved and you'll see.

     But you shouldn't have to do it all. Some restaurants donate
everything, food and drink with the charity providing for it's
incidentials, such as printing. Some also require that all the
money go to the charity, with no deductions for staff or
incidentials. This sounds like good policy.

     You can also tie in events with beer and liquor reps. Many
restaurants and clubs to 4-8 major events a year where various
brands are featured. Yaigermeister liquor has gained much
popularity with bar specials. This gives you a chance to invite
various volunteer groups involved in your promotions to build
additional good will.

     Don't hold this event on your best nights. In fact, make it
one of your worst. Members of the volunteer organization spread
the word to family and friends to attend.


STUNTS CAN BACKFIRE

    Stunts can be fun but they can also quickly go awry. To
promote the premier of the 30's Gangster movie, an Arlington
Texas AMC theater manager decided to fake a shootout in front of
the theater. High school drama students posed as gunmen with
phony machine guns.

     It was too good. People ran for cover. Arllington police
received six frantic phone calls.  The press played the story
up.  People might have been more skittish than normal because
of the recent mass murder at the Luby's in Kileen, Texas.


A REWARD FOR CHURCH

     Talk about a low cost promotion that promotes good will
and convinces people to stop in after church. I saw a Taco Bueno
with a sign that said 10% discount to those with church bulletin.


CUT THE CABLE

    Several times a year, Pidgons Furniture in Dallas/Ft. Worth
holds a promotion to sell it's satellites. Besides havin many
satellite representatives there, they also offer a pocket knife so
people can "cut the cable".  This is a good stab at cable companies.


GET NAKED AND LISTEN TO MUSIC

    This made the news a few months back. A Califonria
music store held its First Annual Nude Day by giving away
a free CD to the first 300 people to strip naked. They had
more than enou#h takers.


HOWL LIKE A WOLF

    In Truckee, Califonria....a female goldminer won the
"howl-like-a-wolf" contest.  That's how she and her husband
communicate when they're outdoors, she says. This disproves
what a lot of people think, that you can't keep in touch
without a cellular phone.

AN UGLY DOG CONTEST

     This is a great summertime promotion. You can make it part of
an existing event or a "stand alone" promotion. A possible problems
here.....the cleanup. You might make provisions to have someone
clean up afterwards.

PROMOTING EXOTIC FOODS

     Restaurants often don't know how to promote exotic foods,
such as alligator meat.  One way of course is to buy big
billboards, radio or tv spots or newspaper ads.  But for
most restaurants, unless it's a chain like Bennigan's, that's
out. The cost return just isn't sufficient.

     But there's another way which is talking up the
product. At a Florida retaurant, they give people who
try the alligator a badge. It says "Official gator taster-
Al E. Gator's, Orlando, Florida". Waiters wear the badges
and only give the badges to those who actually order
the alligator.


FREE FOOD AND A BEER TOO

     How does a bar on a limited budget increase business?
A lot of are turning to free food for their customers. It
does work if done correctly.

     A bar inside a surbuban Holiday Inn serves free shrimp on
Friday night from 6 to 7:30 pm. They have a good crowd then.  By
9 p.m., the place is dead.  There are other factors than the
food being removed that accounts for the fall off, of course.

     Many topless bars advertise free food in newspaper ads,
usually from 11 to 2. On Thanksiving day, some topless bars
advertise free turkey dinner.


CAR KISSING

     In Santa Fe, New Mexico, a woman kissed a car for 34
hours to win it.  Ten people started in the contest. The car
dealers sales manager said "She really wanted the car and hung
on for deal life."

     Rebecca Archuleta said she could have gone on much longer.
Car kissers got a 10 minute break each hour. The winner said her
plan was to use plenty of lip gloss and imagine she was kissing
her husband.


BRANDSTANDING

      A lot of brands have been able to tie in with an
annual event. Gaines sponsors canine frisbee catching events
around the country.

     This event gets media attention and is a people event.
People love their dogs. Events like that also promotes good will
for the product.

      Gaines goes after people who are fitness conscious. They hold
130 state and local contests and seven regional finals. The finals of
the Gaines Cycle Ashley Whippet Invitational finals are held in Washington.

      There is little here that can't be adapted to other products.
The basics are the same. The product's name should be prominently
displayed with the event. Events like this are lots of fun and they
build good will for all involved.


WAYNE'S WORLD

     A lot of rock oriented businesses might be able to tie
into this. The plot is about two #uys from with a local cable
access show. Both still live at home. There are a lot of good
promotional ideas to tie in.

     The stars of the movie appeared Mike Meyers (Wayne) and
Dana Carvey (Garth) on MTV for an hour special. The special
featured the pair's top 10 video babes, top ten bands who
sounded like diseases and top 10 male musicians who look
like women.

     Paramount ran a crossword puzzle. The answers were at
the bottom of the puzzle.  First 36 to redeem at the newspaper
won Wayne's World drumstick or other pries.


TAX TERROR TIME

    Many businesses take part in April 15th promotions. If
you make aspirin, Pepto Bismol or some similar stress oriented
product, you are a natural.

    Nihtclubs could throw a tax party. Have a bonded carrier
pickup the tax forms and take them to the post office.


THEY LOOK LIKE CREDIT CARDS

    Many businesses can use the plastic cards that look
like credit cards for promotional purposes. Many radio
stations The idea is that the user shows it and
gets a discount on services.

    It is even more impressive if the person's name is embossed
on the card. The Hard Rock Cafe recently send out cards that
resembled American Express Gold Card. Only this was labeled Hard
Rock Express. It's purpose, telling the receiver they are a
special friend of the Hard Rock and wouldn't have to stand
in line with the masses.

                     PARTY GAMES


     These games can be used at parties or appearances to
liven things up. Some may work well in nightclubs where kids are
not around.

     Blind Man's Poker: Hilarious nightclub stunt.  Girls are
given rolls of toilet paper to hold between their knees, guys
brooms or pool cues to hold between their knees. Then the guys
are blindfolded and are supposed to get the pole in the
toilet paper. Girls can shout things like lower, higher.

     Best Bumper Sticker: a simple sexist game. Bumper stickers
are put on the rear ends of attractive young women. They bounce
across the floor and the crowd applauds as to the young lady
with the "best bumper." The music is started and stopped.

     The Scavenger Hunt: asking people in the bar for things that
they have on them that are suggestive and fun. For example,
the first man with cotton balls receives a prize. Or ask for drivers
licensees of nearby towns. Or who has a tooth brush, an ID of a
nearby college, a ticket stub to a certain football game?

     Musical Chairs: Put a number of people out on the dance floor
and a fewer number of chairs...the music keeps stopping and each
time, a chair is withdrawn, everybody tries to sit down and the
person left...is out.  Finally, there are only two people left
and one chair.

     Wheel Of Cologne: You could have a wheel you spin
and have good perfume and cheap stuff. You could have some
in a bottle marked "PU Plano" or a name to take off on a local
town.

     Pass The Cucumber: Have two lines of people. They attempt
to hold the cucumber between their knees and pass it to the
next person in line. If they drop the cucumber, they have
to start all over again.


YOUR OWN HALL OF FAME

    Think up a name, print some certificates, possible get a
prize that makes it meaningful and you are in business. Tie in
with a supermarket and they can put the winners name in their
ads.


SALUTE A TEACHER

     Minyard Supermarkets in Dallas/Ft. Worth sponsors the
"outstanding teacher of the week" in association with KPLX-FM
(country).

     The teacher and their school each win a thousand dollars
and the kids win a pizza party. The supermarket features a picture
of the teacher at the top of it's full page ads and the station
includes the teacher's name in promos.

ELVIS

     Elvis is alive. We hear it over and over. So many promotions
and yet, apparently room for one more. A minor league soccer team, the
Tulsa Ambush offered a million dollars to Elvis if he showed up.

     They also promised fans $500 each and free jelly donuts for all.
At half-time, they had an Elvis look-alike contest.


ATTENTION DICKIE WEARERS

     Dickies has hired Charlie Daniels as it's spokeman. It's
offerin# a seven thousand dollar check for the "American
Worker Of the Year". The company is holding an essay contest.
The forms are attached to Dickie's clothes.


A LOW COST ART FAIR

      Have an art festival. The Book stop had an art festival
for small children. Esentially this is a low cost promotion,
just displaying the prints throughout the store.

      Prints all in one section of the store or throughout the
store.  This works because it involves the kids parents.


SAMPLE OUR FOOD

      Promoting different foods in a restaurant can keep people
comin# back and there are several techniques for doing this. Excotic
foods are a good example. In Orlando, Florida, at Al E. Gator's, they
promote the alligator vigorously. Waiters wear buttons that say
"official gator taster". People only get the buttons if they taste
the alligator.


WACKY PROMOS

    The right arm tanning contest in Ocean City New Jersey.
The contest included best freckles, best identical twins, and
"count dracula" contest to find the palest person.

    In Logan Utah a few years ago, one man ate a snake in an
attempt to win a motorcycle. But the winner was a woman who
doused herself in liquid cow manure and rolled in cornflakes.


DO SOMETHIN WITH GOLD

    Gold continues to be popular. A few years ago, a "Great Gold
Rush Matching Game" gave away a gold jeep, gold inots and cross
pens.


     Suggestions of promotions, and clippings are welcome. The
Small Business Promotor. Copyright 1992 Paul Bottoms.
Compuserve ID 76107,215. Genie P.BOTTOMS. Published monthly.
$50.00 yearly. Individual issues $5.00: printed or 5 1/4
floppy ASCII format. P.O. Box 24297, Fort Worth, TX 76124.
Please feel free to transfer to other bulletin board systems.