Recently I read about three young men in California who wanted to start a small business together. They decided that opening a "fast food" business was a good choice starting with a single location and expanding to three locations when the timing was feasible with each partner managing his own location. One guy had a grandmother who baked delicious home-made OVER-SIZED biscuits and they decided her biscuit recipe would form the main item on their menu. They also decided to offer four choices of their biscuits - 1) an over-sized biscuit with butter only for .99 cents, 2 & 3) an over-sized biscuit topped with a ham salad OR chicken salad mixture for $1.49, 4) an over-sized biscuit topped with a small piece of steak and home-made gravy for $1.95. The only other items on the menu were limited to coffee, tea and soft-drinks. Soon they had everyday long line-ups of customers who were seduced by the wonderful aroma of baking biscuits which the guys vented out onto the sidewalk. Within less than 5 years each partner had his own location and each was a millionaire. Please remember: small businesses should always be kept simple.
Oh, life can be so good while you're sales prospecting!
What follows is an exception:
Early last year an automobile sales representative who is located in a large North American city, asked me how he could find more sales prospects and sell more cars. He said that he was tired of spending huge amounts of time at the dealership along with his fellow sales reps with everyone waiting to pounce on the next prospect through the door. I asked him to give me a day or two to think about it and I'll get back to him. Here's what I suggested to him:
Contact local tow truck operators and ask them to call you on your cell just before they go out to an auto breakdown (a breakdown - NOT an accident). I suggested he tell the tow truck operators to call ONLY when the vehicle in question is at least 3 years old. Also, when they call they are to give you the make and model of the vehicle as well as the year and of course the location of the vehicle breakdown. Offer to pay the tow truck operator $5.00 for each lead which is an any easy way for them to earn cash for making a 1 minute call to you. I told the rep that when he gets the call to rush over to the breakdown site, introduce himself to the owner of the broken down vehicle and ask if the vehicle owner and his/her passengers would like a FREE drive in his late model demonstrator to the repair shop, thereby, saving the vehicle owner the expense of a cab and would allow the vehicle owner to follow immediately behind the tow truck to the repair shop. Also, I said that he should - if possible - have vehicle owner drive the sales demonstrator, thereby, taking a "test-drive".
I cautioned the rep that he MUST LIMIT any business related conversation to a brief, simple "elevator speech". I recommended that at an appropriate time during the drive to the repair shop, to hand the vehicle owner his business card and then say:
"I want to very briefly mention that should you discover that the repair bill for your car is more than you're willing to pay or that it's now time to consider getting a new car that's under full warranty, please call me and I promise you that I'll fight to get you the very best deal that I can. Please hold onto my card. Now, that's enough about business". Then change the topic from business to everyday life by saying something appropriate such as "did you catch the big game last night, the weather is certainly beautiful today isn't, etc.".
Here's how our guy now spends his work day: He now goes to the dealership ONLY to write up the frequent sales originating from the "good deeds" he has done by offering a FREE drive to STRANDED vehicle owners. Also, he likes to spend part of his day reading the newspaper in the local coffee shop, or on nice days sitting on a park bench soaking in the sun and fresh air while waiting for his cell to ring with a call from a tow truck operator. And ring it does ... 4 to 5 times a day!
Life is meant to be lived and business should ALWAYS be kept SIMPLE! Is it time that you got creative with your sales prospecting regardless of whatever the product/service is that you now sell?
Simple Solutions Work Best
I'm a big believer in seeking simple solutions before throwing time and money at a problem.
Here are three examples:
A small 3 floor high hotel located in a southern US city had only one elevator and the owners decided to add a second elevator. Architects were invited in to discuss the project. A hotel worker happened to over hear the hotel owners discussing the project and heard that the hotel would need to be closed for 10 months during construction because a hole for the new elevator shaft would need to be made in the second floor. The hotel worker told the owners that they would likely lose their staff who couldn't go 10 months without a job. The worker asked why couldn't the shaft for the new elevator be located on the OUTSIDE wall instead of making a hole through the 2nd floor? The owners said they hadn't thought of that and checked with the architects who said that could be done, would save considerable construction costs and the hotel could remain open during construction. A simple solution to a big problem.
A second example: A school board in England discovered that a "bottleneck" was created by the students crowding the hallways when they rushed to leave at the end of the school day. This was considered to be a serious safety issue. The school board budgeted several million dollars to widen the hallways. An architect was invited in to discuss the project. The architect said that although his firm would like to have the project, why didn't the school board simply buy four alarm bells (each with a different bell sound) and release the students 5 minutes apart? The school board adopted this quick, simple solution costing less than $1,000. instead of spending millions in construction costs and disrupting school activity.
A third example: Many years ago, a large company that manufactures shampoo wanted their customers to use up their shampoo more quickly and buy more. Company executives and representatives of a large advertising agency met and various ideas were discussed. Most present at the meeting believed that the solution would be to run a multi-million dollar national advertising campaign offering the general public millions of dollars worth of free samples. Before the meeting finished all present were asked for their ideas. Sitting off to the side was a new junior employee who was asked what she would do. Her answer: CHANGE the instructions printed on the shampoo label FROM "Wet hair - Apply shampoo - Rinse" TO "Wet hair - Apply shampoo - Rinse - REPEAT". And her simple solution is still used today by shampoo manufacturers.
Here are three examples:
A small 3 floor high hotel located in a southern US city had only one elevator and the owners decided to add a second elevator. Architects were invited in to discuss the project. A hotel worker happened to over hear the hotel owners discussing the project and heard that the hotel would need to be closed for 10 months during construction because a hole for the new elevator shaft would need to be made in the second floor. The hotel worker told the owners that they would likely lose their staff who couldn't go 10 months without a job. The worker asked why couldn't the shaft for the new elevator be located on the OUTSIDE wall instead of making a hole through the 2nd floor? The owners said they hadn't thought of that and checked with the architects who said that could be done, would save considerable construction costs and the hotel could remain open during construction. A simple solution to a big problem.
A second example: A school board in England discovered that a "bottleneck" was created by the students crowding the hallways when they rushed to leave at the end of the school day. This was considered to be a serious safety issue. The school board budgeted several million dollars to widen the hallways. An architect was invited in to discuss the project. The architect said that although his firm would like to have the project, why didn't the school board simply buy four alarm bells (each with a different bell sound) and release the students 5 minutes apart? The school board adopted this quick, simple solution costing less than $1,000. instead of spending millions in construction costs and disrupting school activity.
A third example: Many years ago, a large company that manufactures shampoo wanted their customers to use up their shampoo more quickly and buy more. Company executives and representatives of a large advertising agency met and various ideas were discussed. Most present at the meeting believed that the solution would be to run a multi-million dollar national advertising campaign offering the general public millions of dollars worth of free samples. Before the meeting finished all present were asked for their ideas. Sitting off to the side was a new junior employee who was asked what she would do. Her answer: CHANGE the instructions printed on the shampoo label FROM "Wet hair - Apply shampoo - Rinse" TO "Wet hair - Apply shampoo - Rinse - REPEAT". And her simple solution is still used today by shampoo manufacturers.
Your Own Self-Storage Cash Generator
Did you know that the self storage industry is one of the fastest growing industries in North America?
I know of a one-person business owner who lives in a large city, spends only 64 hours per year working in his part-time business (he works only 4 Saturdays in May and 4 Saturdays in November). He nets almost $20,000. per year after expenses. This is a business model almost anyone could implement and one that could be expanded into numerous cities. His business is storing ski related equipment for skiers during the off season. He rents a storage area in a self storage facility for $60.00 per month during the months May through November each year. His rental expense is $60.00 X 7 months for a total of $420.00 per year. He charges his customers $99.00 per 7 month storage period payable in advance. He has 200 customers. Therefore, his revenue is $19,800.00 less the $420.00 storage fee leaving him with $19,380.00. His customers must deliver their skis and payment to him at the storage facility on one of the 4 Saturdays in May and must return to pick up their skis on one of the 4 Saturdays in November. It is important to mention that the customer is responsible to deliver his/her skis to our guy securely wrapped and identified with their contact information. He simply places the customer's "package" as received into the storage unit. That's it! Does this simple business model give you any other ideas. For example: could you store Christmas decorations, artificial trees, hockey gear, winter tires, etc. as well as skis?
I know of a one-person business owner who lives in a large city, spends only 64 hours per year working in his part-time business (he works only 4 Saturdays in May and 4 Saturdays in November). He nets almost $20,000. per year after expenses. This is a business model almost anyone could implement and one that could be expanded into numerous cities. His business is storing ski related equipment for skiers during the off season. He rents a storage area in a self storage facility for $60.00 per month during the months May through November each year. His rental expense is $60.00 X 7 months for a total of $420.00 per year. He charges his customers $99.00 per 7 month storage period payable in advance. He has 200 customers. Therefore, his revenue is $19,800.00 less the $420.00 storage fee leaving him with $19,380.00. His customers must deliver their skis and payment to him at the storage facility on one of the 4 Saturdays in May and must return to pick up their skis on one of the 4 Saturdays in November. It is important to mention that the customer is responsible to deliver his/her skis to our guy securely wrapped and identified with their contact information. He simply places the customer's "package" as received into the storage unit. That's it! Does this simple business model give you any other ideas. For example: could you store Christmas decorations, artificial trees, hockey gear, winter tires, etc. as well as skis?
The Power of Focused Thinking
One day - as the story goes - Henry was giving some business associates a tour of his factory. When the group arrived at the production line, men were hard at work ... all except one who was sitting back in a comfortable chair, smoking his pipe and watching the activity. One of Henry's associates commented about the man just sitting in the chair while others were hard at work. Henry's reply was simply "Oh, that's old Bill".
About two hours later - when the group was leaving - they again passed by the same area where "old Bill" was still sitting back smoking his pipe. Another associate mentioned that old Bill must be a production foreman to be sitting back watching while others were working. Henry replied "No, old Bill isn't a foreman, but he is one of my most valuable workers. In fact, my other workers get paid $5.00 per day and I pay old Bill $10.00 per day ... about $2,500. per year". One of the group asked Henry "when does he do any work"? Henry replied "he's working right now". "You see, I pay old Bill TO THINK. And over the last few years old Bill has suggested ways to reduce our production costs a few cents here, a few cents there. In fact, his suggestions have saved us as much as $2.00 per car and because we sell over one million cars per year old Bill has saved us over TWO MILLION DOLLARS per year. That's why I pay old Bill twice as much as the other workers ($2,500. per year)."
What do you think? (no pun intended) Did Henry Ford get a good return on his investment in old Bill. Maybe, you don't sell a million of anything per year, however, you most certainly will profit from regularly taking the time to do some focused thinking.
Cleaning Up the Cash!
Two new clients - a loving couple - who were soon to retire approached me and said they wanted to create a simple business that would allow them to travel throughout North and South America. They were especially interested in rain forests. I said leave it with me a day or two and I'll put together a simple business based on "rain forests", that would provide them the opportunity to travel.
I did some research within my extensive collections of business ideas and did some online research. Here's what I proposed to this couple.
In short, I suggested they market bars of body soap that could be manufactured from common ingredients readily found in the rain forest. And guests staying in hotels throughout North and South America should be the primary target for new customers. I suggested that the soap be produced in two sizes. One should be the small size that are traditionally provided to hotel guests and the second size should be the full soap bar size normally purchased for home use.
I suggested an inexpensive cardboard "table-tent" be created that described the rain forest connection. The table-tent would be placed on top of the dresser of every room in the hotels that purchased the small bars for use by their guests. The table-tent would also advise the hotel guests that if they liked the "rain forest" soap, full size bars could be purchased downstairs in the hotel gift shop (makes a great gift for oneself and loved ones!).
This concept tied in with my client's desire to travel and their love of rain forests. Every hotel they stayed in while traveling became an additional prospective marketing channel for their soap. And - as I initially pointed out to my clients - it would be very difficult for a hotel manager to refuse to listen to a sales pitch from a paying guest ... which they happily found to be true.
Business doesn't need to be complicated.
A Sales Referral System Like No Other
I know of an owner of a small automobile dealership who very much wanted to put in place a sales referral system. However, his funds were limited. The low-cost solution was simply to "publicly" thank his customer for his/her purchase.
Here's the sales referral system that he implemented.
A few days after the purchase, the dealer would have delivered to the customer, a helium-filled balloon and a thank-you card delivered to the customer's place of work. And because helium-filled balloons must be anchored - otherwise they float up and away - the customer would have to tie the balloon's string to the back of his/her office chair, workbench, etc. The customer's co-workers naturally would be curious and ask about the balloon. This opened up an opportunity for the customer to talk about his/her new car, the auto dealership, etc.
I'm told that the dealership enjoyed about a 50% increase in sales within the very first year using this simple referral system. And all from "publicly" thanking the customer by presenting him/her a helium-filled balloon and a thank-you card costing the dealer less than $10.00.
Of course, it's not necessary to be the owner of an automobile dealership to implement this system nor even to sell vehicles. This could be done by an one-person business owner, independent sales rep. etc. selling almost anything.
Why not go for it!
What Some May Have You Believe.
Some who profit from providing business related services such as web page design, PR, trademark registration, logo creation, etc. may have you believe that their service will "brand" your product. While providing valuable product recognition, promotion and trademark protection, those services simply will not "brand your product". Why? The answer is found in how branding a product initially began and what is really required to brand your product.
In the United States in the late 1800's the railway began reaching thousands of communities both large and small. Manufacturers used the railway as a relatively inexpensive way to get their products to their customers - the general store retailers. The product was shipped in bulk in wooden barrels because general stores weren't designed to be self-serve. Rather, the customer would tell the store clerk what she/he wanted and the clerk would retrieve the product from the applicable wooden barrel. Manufacturers needed a quick and easy way for railroad employees handling their barrels to identify which barrels were theirs to ensure their product reached the intended destination. The solution: use a hot branding iron similar to those used to brand livestock and brand the manufacturers name (or initials) right into the side of the wooden barrel.
For example, Proctor and Gamble might fill a wooden shipping barrel with unwrapped bars of Ivory Soap and using their branding iron stamp "Ivory Soap - P&G" on the side of the barrel. Over time, the general store owners became very confident with the QUALITY of Ivory Soap that came to them in barrels branded with "Ivory Soap - P&G" and realized that the brand really offered "a promise of consistent quality" ... meaning that Proctor and Gamble was "promising" them that the QUALITY in the current shipment will be the same high quality as the previous shipments. Store owners then began ordering the soap with the "Ivory Soap - P&G" brand.
Therefore, regardless what others may try to have you believe, branding a product can be summed up in just two words ... "a promise". And if expected product quality (or customer experience) isn't consistently offered and maintained, then a fancy web page, PR, a trademark or logo isn't going to cut it for you in the long term.
60 Million Dollars in Sales!
Most one-person business owners who I've associated with over the years know that I'm a big believer in investing "creativity" rather than investing hard-earned dollars into marketing efforts.
Here's how a one-person business owner who sells life insurance structured his sales prospecting and sold more than 60 million dollars worth of life insurance in just several months.
First, he researched and made a list of the names of 100 CEOs working in large companies located in and around his city.
Secondly, he contacted 3 semi-famous former baseball players and told them that he was creating a special gift consisting of 3 autographed baseballs to be given to only 100 CEOs in his city. He invited each player to sign 100 baseballs and he would pay them one dollar per signed baseball. The former players accepted his offer and each signed 100 baseballs.
Thirdly, he contacted a small local one-person woodworking business owner and ordered a simple but attractive wooden display each to hold 3 baseballs. Essentially, it was just a block of wood with 3 indentations across the top that the baseballs "nested" in. Each display cost $3.50
Next he ordered 300 baseballs @ .50 cents.
And then he had 100 NAMEPLATES - engraved with the name of each CEO - attached by the woodworker to each wooden display. Each engraved nameplate cost .75 cents
Let's calculate his investment:
300 baseballs @ .50 cents ($150.)
300 autographed baseballs @ $1.00 ($300.)
100 wooden displays @ $3.50 ($350.)
100 engraved nameplates @ .75 cents ($75.)
His total investment = $ 875.00 ($8.75 per completed display)
When he received the signed baseballs and the 100 wooden displays (with the nameplates already attached), he put ONLY ONE baseball into each wooden display.
Using his computer software, he created 100 letters each personally addressed to the 100 CEOs. The letter stated that enclosed was a FREE monogrammed gift consisting of ONE autographed baseball. Should the CEO be willing to meet with the sender to review his/her life insurance needs then he (the insurance rep) would bring a SECOND signed baseball to their meeting. And, then when the insurance rep returned later with the insurance proposal he would bring the THIRD signed baseball, thereby, completing the CEOs monogrammed display.
After the letter was printed off his computer, the insurance rep hand-delivered the letter and one wooden display (containing the first baseball) to the CEOs personal receptionist and waited for a response from the CEOs. It's important to mention that direct mail marketing usually pulls a response of only 1 to 2 percent. This pulled an amazing 92% response. Only 8 CEOs passed on his offer to meet. And, when it was all said and done, our guy had SOLD MORE THAN $60 MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF LIFE INSURANCE, all within a few short months.
Does this give you any creative marketing ideas?
"Repackage" Your Biz Idea
During my more than 32 years in sales, marketing and general business, I've found that how an idea is packaged (presented) is the key to marketplace acceptance. Consider the following story.
A young monk approached the Elder monk in charge of the abby and requested that he may obtain permission to smoke while praying.
"Absolutely not" stated the Elder monk. "You may not smoke while you're praying".
The young monk knowing the importance of repackaging a concept to gain acceptance then asked the Elder monk,
"Would it be permissible to pray while smoking".
"Certainly came the reply. You may pray at any time. In fact, I insist upon it".
Enough said.
You Asked ...
A question frequently asked by my new Clients is: How can I compete in the crowded marketplace when my competitors have products with features/benefits almost identical to mine?
The answer simply put, is to continue to promote your product's features/benefits AND create a positive "buying experience" for your customers. Creating such a buying experience will require you to analyze the processes, systems and procedures that you currently use in your business. Even the smallest procedure should be reviewed.
Consider the following tale of two candy stores.
Two candy stores were located beside each other across from a school. Every day at recess and lunchtime the children would visit the candy stores to buy their favorite candy. Each store sold similar and sometimes identical candy. Each store sold 1/4 lb of candy for 50 cents.
Amazing, one store enjoyed having more than 70 percent of the children buy at their store, leaving less than 30 percent to buy at the other store. Why the vast difference in market share? The answer lies in the "buying experience" created by the store owner who captured 70 percent of the local market. What was this "buying experience" you might ask? It had to do with how the customer was served.
In the successful candy store the child would choose which candy he/she wanted to buy. The sales clerk would then drop the selected candy onto the weigh scale ONE PIECE AT A TIME UNTIL 1/4 lb WAS REACHED. In the other candy store the sales clerk would simply drop a large scoop of candy onto the weigh scale and would then REMOVE candy from the scale until 1/4 lb was reached. And to the customer seeing candy being added to their purchase was a much more positive and satisfying "buying experience" than seeing candy removed.
And now you know the secret to how you can stand apart from your competition.
Loyalty Programs - Big, Big Profits (Biz Idea)
I've always been fascinated with Loyalty Programs business models. Few other business concepts offer higher profit margins. Here's a simple example of one such business model to consider should you decide to cash in.
1. You negotiate an arrangement with a retailer who agrees to issue to his/her customers one (1) loyalty program point for each $20.00 increment they spend with the retailer.
2. The retailer agrees to pay you a nominal $1.00 (5%) of the $20.00 paid by customer for each point issued. This $1.00 is your service fee to manage the program and to pay for the wholesale cost of the premium the customer receives when he/she redeems their loyalty program points.
3. Now let's crunch some numbers. We'll use a toaster oven as an example of a premium a customer can get when redeeming his/her loyalty points.
Toaster Oven = 600 Points (requires the customer to redeem 600 Loyalty Program Points)
The Retailer receives $12,000.00 in sales revenue (600 X $20.00 - the amount spent by the customer to obtain 600 points). The Retailer's sales revenue is reduced to $11,400.00 after paying your program service fee for the 600 Points.
You receive $600.00 (600 X $1.00) to manage the Program and provide the premium, in this example the toaster oven.
Your wholesale cost for the toaster oven = approximately $23.00
You pay out $23.00 (the wholesale cost of the toaster oven)
You keep $577.00 ($600 - $23.00)
Now to get a real sense of the huge profits to be made, simply multiply the $577.00 times hundreds or even thousands of customers. And the truly amazing thing is, some customers may never redeem their points which means you get to keep the entire $600.00
Selling "how - to" Courses (Biz Idea)
I know of a man who buys discounted hard covered books in lots of 30 - 50 for $2.00 - $10.00 each. These books are "how-to" non-fiction type books that provide in-depth information about a variety of popular subjects.
He then does the following to create "home-study courses" that he sells for huge profits in his one-person mail-order business.
a) He reads the book and creates - chapter-by-chapter - a list of questions and he notes the page numbers of where the answers appear within the book.
b) He organizes his questions into a "True or False" self-correcting test format. (after each question he simply shows the letter "T" or "F" plus the page number of WHERE each answer can be found).
c) He removes the cover from each book. He separates the chapters using a sharp knife. He then puts a simple card stock cover that he copies down at the local copy centre over EACH individual chapter.
d) He advertises his "study-at-home, how-to courses" in various weekly newspapers and sells them for a very healthy profit.
Quality Sales Referrals
Sales representatives know it's very important to obtain sales referrals from customers. However, sometimes the best connected customers hesitate to give referrals to sales reps.
Here's how one insurance rep solved "the problem" and fills his sales appointment book for the first 2 months of each year.
Thoughout each year he keeps careful records of those customers who didn't give him sales referrals. Then, during the first two weeks of December he calls on each customer at his/her home and delivers a small gift. When invited into the customer's livingroom he looks around searching for holiday greeting cards. When he spies some cards he comments about how beautiful the cards are and goes over and picks up several. He reads inside the name of the sender and then diplomatically goes into "referral qualification mode" asking if the sender is a close friend of the customer, the sender's occupation, etc. In this way during December he obtains many sales referrals he otherwise wouldn't have.
Caution ... it's hot! (Biz Idea)
When you buy your morning coffee do you usually receive a "hot coffee" sleeve on your paper cup? Although, putting a cardboard sleeve on hot coffee cups is a common practice followed by many large franchised chains, it is less so with the small independent cafes. Instead, the small guys and gals usually "double cup" to protect their customer's hands. Those who follow this practice of double cupping using expensive cups instead of the cheaper cardboard sleeves frequently do so because they simply don't have the sleeves.
Here's how one young man filled "a need" and you can too!
1. He made simple written agreements with the owners of small cafes that they would use (distribute) the cardboard sleeves if our guy supplied the sleeves to them at no charge.
2. He called on medium-to-large local companies, auto dealerships, retailers, taxi companies, etc. and sold advertising on the sleeves.
It's important to remember that after the customer drinks the coffee the sleeve can easily be slipped off the cup and retained. This opens up lots of advertising and promotion potential for the advertisers. One advertiser may only want their company logo printed on their sleeve. Other advertisers may want their sleeve to essentially serve as a coupon that must be returned to the advertiser to receive a specific discount or other benefit, etc. I guess by now you can see that the advertising options are almost unlimited.
How is the guy doing who I referred to earlier? You decide. The last time I checked he was doing over EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS per year in sales. Yes, there's huge money to be had when you combine a need (or want) with creative marketing. I should mention that if I were to implement this program, instead of providing the sleeves for free to the café owners, I would charge him/her the wholesale cost of the sleeve including the printing plus 10 percent. Then, I would keep the entire advertising revenue for myself. This is a perfect one-person business. Go for it!
You Asked ...
Some of my readers have asked me to share my opinion as to what is the most important thing a one-person business owner MUST DO when selling his/her products and services. My answer is that if I was limited to suggesting only one answer, it would have to be this: you must always ASK FOR THE ORDER. It's been my experience that many individuals have a reluctance to ask the prospect to buy from them. The ONLY way you can reasonably expect to make sufficient sales of your product or service is to ALWAYS ask for the order.
Please consider the following story:
A young man was standing on the street corner of a large city. Standing beside him was a pile of hard-covered books. The young man would ask everyone who was passing by close to him: "Sir, would you like to buy a book? How about you Miss, would you like to buy a book? How about you Sir, wanna buy a book?
One day a well dressed older man approached our young man and asked: "What are you doing"? Our young man answered: "I have these books and as people walk by I ask EACH one if he/she would like to buy a book. Some buy my books while others say no. My friends call me a book salesman."
The older man said: "You can't sell books that way and son this is your lucky day. I happen to be the President of the largest book publishing company in North America. Two years ago we hired - at great expense - a team of experts to create a powerful sales system designed to sell books. Next week we will begin sales training classes based on the system created by those experts. And because you look like a nice young man I'm going to enroll you in that course and when you graduate you'll probably earn $40.000 per year".
To this, our young man replied: "I'm already now earning $70,000 per year. Sir, would you like to buy a book? How about you Miss, would you like to buy a book? How about you Sir, wanna buy a book"?
Enough said.
A Lesson in Creative Marketing.
Some would say that the secret to marketing success for one-person business owners is to be creative. And I agree. In fact, with the addition of creativity, almost anything can be sold at a profit. Please consider the following story.
A few years ago, a one-person business owner fulfilled his lifetime dream of purchasing a small farm. After moving in, he decided that he wanted to buy a donkey. He did some research and discovered that he could expect to pay about $100.00 for a donkey. He asked around and found a farmer selling a donkey who was located about 5 miles down the road from our guy's farm. He visited the farmer, paid $100.00 and the farmer said he would deliver the donkey the very next afternoon.
The next day the farmer arrived and said: "I have some bad news. When I put your donkey on my truck back at my farm he was OK. But on the trip over here, the donkey died".
Our guy said: "Just give back my $100.00".
The farmer said: I don't have it. Yesterday, after you paid me I used it to pay some bills".
Our guy said: "Well, let's go out and take the donkey of the truck. He's mine".
The farmer asked: "What are you going to do with a dead donkey"?
Our guy (being creative) said: "I'm going to raffle him off ... sell tickets on him".
The farmer said: "You can't sell tickets on a dead donkey"!
Our guy replied: "Just watch me".
They went outside, dragged the donkey off the truck and the farmer left.
About six weeks later the farmer decided to drop in to ask how our guy did selling tickets on a dead donkey. Our guy said he sold 500 tickets at $2.00 each and generated $1,000.00 in ticket sales.
The farmer asked: "What did the ticket buyers say when you told them the donkey was dead"?
Our guy replied: "I didn't tell them. I told ONLY the winner. And when it was time to award the prize I told him that I was sorry the donkey had died but being the nice guy that I am, I would give him $200.00 (enough to buy two donkeys). He went away happy and I ended up with $800.00 ... enough money to buy eight donkeys.
Yes, with a little creativity almost anything can be sold. What marketing ideas does this story give you?
You Asked ...
Frequently I'm asked "what is the difference between marketing and sales"? My quick answer is: marketing makes the telephone ring and sales answers the telephone and closes the sale. A broader definition is; marketing focuses on the needs and wants of the prospective purchaser (while promoting product/service features, benefits and experiences) and sales focuses on the needs and wants of the seller.
In a large company there is usually (unless outsourced) a formal marketing department and a separate formal sales department. Sometimes - and maybe because each department has a completely different focus - they have difficulty communicating with each other. And one may blame the other when a product/service doesn't sell to expectations.
Of course, in a one-person business, you as the owner must wear both the marketing and the sales hats. Therefore, it is extremely important that you create appropriate marketing strategies (focusing on the needs and wants of your prospective customer (by promoting your product/service's features, benefits and experiences). And similarly, you must create separate, appropriately focused selling strategies if you want to secure sufficient sales. Do not try to take a short cut and simply mix the two strategies because if you do, you may confuse your prospective customer and a "confused mind" will almost always say no.
Wake up and smell the coffee! (Biz Idea)
Some time ago a young guy and gal in a large city went to many job interviews without landing a job. The reason almost always given by the job interviewer was that the guy and gal were too inexperienced. After hearing this much too often they decided to start a small business.
Here's what they did.
They went to a "war surplus" army/navy store and purchased a water tank, the type used by firefighters to fight forest fires. (Note: this was a water and not an air tank) They took their tank to a mechanical shop and had it insulated and then lined with stainless steel. They also had the nozzle shortened. After the modifications they had their tank inspected and passed by their local health department.
They then started their new business by filling their tank with fresh coffee and hitting the office district in their city. Very soon they were pulling profits (not revenues) that totaled almost $2,000. per week. With their afternoons and week-ends off and hundreds of dollars in their pockets our guy and gal decided they didn't want to work for anyone else. Today if you wanted to start a similar business you could completely bypass the water tank modification process and simply use several of those large insulated coffee dispensers so commonly seen today in cafes. Although, two people operated this business it could easily be operated as a one-person business. And overtime a "chain" of mobile cafes could be developed by the one-person business operator by establishing a brand name and franchising the concept to others.
Make for $2.00 and sell for $50.00 (Biz Idea)
How would you like to create a reasonable imitation of an oil painting in just 15 minutes, for less than $2.00 and then sell it for $50.00 or more? Obviously, we're not talking here about real oil paintings. However, the reproduction will be close enough. Here's how to do it.
Get some past issues of magazines containing full page size, colored pictures. Carefully cut out the picture and paste it onto some stiff cardboard. Get some ordinary cheesecloth and spread it out flat on a table. Place the picture face down on the cheesecloth. Place something heavy (maybe a book) on top of the back of the picture. Carefully gather the cheesecloth behind the picture and tie it in "ponytail fashion" using a rubber band. At this point, the cheesecloth should be pulled tightly across the front of your picture and tied at the back. Now get a spray can of shellac from your local hardware store. In a well ventilated room, LIGHTLY spray the cheesecloth which is covering the front of the picture. Spray from the center out to all four edges. And then spray from all four edges into the center of the picture. Let dry for approximately 30 minutes until the shellac starts to get tacky. Then carefully untie the ponytail at the back and gently peel the cheesecloth from the front of the picture. Put to the side to completely dry for approximately two days. And if you've done this properly - and it will require some initial practice - you should now have an imitation oil painting.
The special effect is produced by the threads of the cheesecloth and the shellac which dries to look like brush strokes. Make up 10 to 12 "oil paintings" and head out to your local flea market, or instead, maybe have older students sell them for you door-to-door.
Everyone has a front door (Biz Idea)
There are millions of houses throughout the world and every one has a front door. Those doors frequently open and close, and get dirty and scratched. And someone must repair them or the homeowner must get a new one. This offers you the potential for a front and/or back door renewal service.
Anyone with a few basic skills can easily remove a door from its hinges. You simply "pull the pins" that hold the two halves of each hinge together. You take the door to your garage for repairs and get it back and rehung the same business day.
This service would be cheaper for the homeowner than buying a new door and you could charge a high enough amount (maybe 1/2 to 2/3 the price of a new door) for your services that could give you a very good income. This is not an unproven idea, it's been available in Europe for many years.
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