Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the November 14, 2001 edition of
U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Ideas for Getting Back on Track
On Monday, November 19, at 3 p.m. small business guru
Jane Applegate speaks at a Back on Track America “Whistle
Stop Tour” at the Performing Arts Center in Newark. Back on Track
America is a project of Applegate’s SBTV.com, an online small business
network at (www.janeapplegate.com). Sponsors include Fleet Bank, ING
Aetna Financial Services, America Online, SCORE, Entrepreneur
magazine,
Amtrak, Wyndam Hotels and Resorts, and MasterCard.
Back on Track America is a coalition dedicated to revitalizing small
businesses reeling from the recession and the September 11 attacks.
It offers free advice, information, resources, and inspiration aimed
at helping small business owners manage in a difficult environment.
Each Back on Track America event consists of a three-hour work session
and concludes with a networking reception and a community town hall
meeting. It’s all free. Call 888-567-0615.
In addition to spearheading Back on Track America, and founding SBTV,
which broadcasts stories on finance, law, human resources, marketing,
and more, Applegate is the author of three books of advice for owners
of small businesses. The latest is 201 Great Ideas for Your Small
Business (Bloomberg Small Business, $14.95). Here are excerpts:
Create an Active Database. If you look at the piles ofbusiness cards on your desk and just see a mess — look again.What you’re really looking at is potential income.No matter how small your business may be, you should be creating andupdating a database. With simple software, a current database allowsyou to easily mail newsletters and sales information to customers.You can also target prospective customers by renting mailing lists.Add telephone numbers, and your database becomes the basis for atelemarketinginitiative.Collecting detailed information about people and their companies iseasier than you think. Business cards, sales invoices, catalogs,directories,and magazine and newspaper articles all contain invaluable informationand contacts. Small-business magazines such as Nation’s Businessusuallyinclude contact addresses and telephone numbers in their articles.The easiest way to create and maintain a database is with a simplesoftware program. There are many very affordable programs on themarketthat keep track of the information and allow you to cross-referenceand access it in several ways.More complex programs, such as Goldmine, Act!, and Sharkware, organizeyour daily appointments and remind you when to place importanttelephonecalls. The biggest headache is entering the data into the program,but you can certainly assign this task to a staffer or hire atemporaryworker or student to do it.Use Coupons to Attract Customers. On a balmy springevening,I took myself out to the local movie theater. Standing outside thedoor was a young man in a Haagen-Dazs apron. He was passing outcouponsoffering a “double feature” — a free scoop of ice creamwhen you bought one scoop at the regular price. I immediately knewwhere I was heading after the show.Ticket stub in hand, I trotted down the block to be the first in line.(I didn’t want to embarrass myself by running.) For a mere $1.85,I savored my calorie-laden pralines and coffee-chip double scoop.The kid even let me keep the coupon for a repeat performance. Talkabout generating goodwill!Giving away a free scoop of ice cream brought me into the store forthe first time. And, of course, it won’t be the last. It also provedto me that a coupon is a low-cost way to attract new and repeatcustomers.Coupons are great because they are cheap to print and easy todistribute.You can send an associate to place them under the windshield wipersof parked cars. Although, admittedly, this method can be annoyingand produces litter, it’s good for a local promotion. You might alsoconsider giving your coupons to neighboring merchants — and offerto pass out their coupons in exchange.Use a Mascot. Brenny Watt didn’t set out to find a mascotfor her small store, but she ended up with a famous cat.”One day, a stray cat wandered in, and we started to feedher,”said Watt. “Then one night, we accidentally locked her insidethe store. The next morning, when we came in, she was asleep in thewindow. She became an instant celebrity.”People, especially kids, loved Lily the cat and came to visit herweekly. To raise money for a local school, Watt decided to host a”Tea with Lily.” It was easy to promote the event, becauseby then most people knew who Lily was.Today Watt works as a freelance writer, but she remembers her famouscat mascot. “She was wonderful PR for us and loved her unusualhome.”But remember, if it’s appropriate to have a pet in your business,make sure it’s a people-loving one.Some small businesses are fortunate enough to hook up with a celebrityspokesperson. David Blumenthal, president of Lion Brand Yarn Co. inManhattan, learned that Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White lovedto crochet. He immediately contacted her agent to ask if she wouldbe interested in becoming the spokesperson for their line of yarnsand crochet patterns.They made a deal that has endured through the years.White worked with Lion on two illustrated pattern books on crocheting.She consistently wows customers when she appears at trade shows onbehalf of Lion Brand Yarns, demonstrating her crocheting skills andemceeing a fashion show of crocheted creations.It doesn’t make sense in every single case, but many small businessesbenefit enormously from a mascot or spokesperson. It’s a componentof your marketing plan that can help establish a brand identity foryour product and stir up a good deal of excitement, too.Publish a Newsletter. There are about 5,000 subscriptionnewsletters and thousands more for free, according to industryexperts.Newsletters cover everything from fly fishing and school violenceto gluten-free baking.With the right mailing list, exclusive or proprietary information,and a few thousand dollars, just about anyone who can write or hirewriters can start one. But making money is another story.”You have to pick a field as narrow as you can get it, but leaveit wide enough so there’s an audience to promote to,” advisesHoward Penn Hudson, president of the Newsletter Clearinghouse inRhinebeck,New York. “Too often, people who start newsletters find theyhaven’tnarrowed the field enough.”Health care, technology, and celebrity newsletters are hot right now,according to Hudson, who publishes the Newsletter on Newsletters,founded in 1964.Host an Open House. One of the best ways to acquaintcustomersand clients with your business is to arrange a visit. An open housecombines a social event with the ability to do some serious one-to-onemarketing. Of course, if you deal with toxic chemicals or dangerousmachinery, you’ll have to decide whether or not an open house is thebest way to boost awareness of your business.One of my strongest and fondest memories is touring the PepperidgeFarm bakery on a third-grade field trip. I’ll never forget the sweet,yeasty smell of the bakery and the freshly baked loaf of white breadthey gave each of us to take home. Since that tour, I’ve been a loyalPepperidge Farm customer.Hershey Foods is another big company that invites thousands ofvisitorsinto their factories each year. That open door policy has turnedHershey,Pennsylvania, into a major American tourist mecca.Even if you rarely have visitors, think of the things people wouldlike to learn about your business. Few people ever have theopportunityto see how things are made and packaged.You may not have a glitzy office, but even a small-scale open housecan draw people to your door. No matter how boring you think yourbusiness is, remember that people love to have a behind-the-sceneslook at anything. Consider the incredible popularity of UniversalStudios and the tours that visitors line up for.In planning an open house pick a time of year when your business looksits best, and weather won’t jeopardize attendance. Send outinvitationsat least a month in advance, and ask people to RSVP via telephoneor fax. Schedule the event to last two or three hours — no more.Ask all your employees to tidy up their areas and find places to lockup any valuables about a week before the open house.Hand out a flyer with basic information about your company along withan event agenda. Assign plenty of staffers to act as hosts and guides.Buy flowers or plants to decorate the reception area. Rest up thenight before so you are ready to meet and greet people.You might also invite your local station or paper to participate inyour event as a media sponsor. This takes more time and effort, butit may be worth it. Be sure to involve all your employees and theirfamilies in your event.Purge your database regularly. Creating a database isa great idea, but if it’s filled with out-of-date information itbecomesa waste of time and money. Every year a certain percentage of peoplein your database will move or change jobs, so it’s important to updatethe information at least once a year.A simple, cost-effective way to dean up your database is to send outa perforated, two-part postcard with a simple offer or discount anda space for people to update their information. Be sure to print orstamp “address correction requested” on each card, so thepost office will return the undeliverable cards. You pay the postage,but it’s worth it.Prepaying the postage on the return card will definitely increaseyour response rate. When the undelivered cards come back, spend timedeleting the names. Then update the responses as they are returned.Doing this kind of purge is important, particularly if you areplanningto do a major mailing. A clean, accurate list will increase yourchancesof a strong response rate to any offer you send out.Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
