Friday, March 13, 2009

PART 5: Freebies as Business Promotion

My precious my shiny precious


Lets face it, everyone loves to get stuff for free.

I have a campaign going this year where I hand out small carabiners with my website stamped on it. What makes it interesting is I also have a hiking website stamped on it too. I am an avid hiker and so I give them out when I meet people on trails and direct them to the hiking website so they can download maps and info on hikes available in the Vancouver area.


I also give them out when I meet people in networking parties. This is a great conversation starter and these days, if you are networking, you are trying to get to know people and not sell them. Think of an inexpensive gift you can hand out that will help steer the conversation down a different path and introduce them to something you are passionate about (like cooking, sailing, hiking or watching movies).

I like to give away 30 minutes on consulting to clients, It's what I have on the back of my cards. The reason for this is that it is very hard for me to explain the value of what I do. Getting the chance to give a person solutions to a variety of their marketing problems is a great way to show the value of hiring me as a "marketing solutions consultant".

I also do free seminars for my local networking groups and my chamber of commerce. Giving is always a good idea and will make you stand out in a crowd or networkers. So start thinking of the type of offers and gifts you can use to get more business connections at your next chance encounter or networking meeting.

Remember that "Givers Gain".

1 comment:

mrktg said...

Everyone knows the reason for the seminar and only attends because they happen to be interested in that specific topic. The other problem is that not one firm in a hundred has an effective system for following up on the people who attend the seminar. These are some of the suggestions for successful marketing seminars.