Easy Advertising For The Thriftwise Marketer

In today's world of marketing, you could easily spend thousands
of dollars a month and still not get the results you want.
However, by putting minimal money into some aspects of marketing,
you could get more sales than you think.

Here are some tips for easy, low cost marketing that might get
you where you want to go- fast.

**Market with excitement**

Nothing sells like excitement. When you seem excited and
enthusiastic, prospects catch your excitement.

For some reason a lot of people seem to think excitement has no
place in selling. They call it "hype" or "hard sell" and won't
do it. Sure, there is such a thing as trying too hard to be
enthusiastic, but that is rarely the problem.

Today I called U-Haul looking for a trailer to haul some big
boards. The man who answered the phone spoke so softly I could
hardly tell he was there. He had no enthusiasm and didn't care
to answer any of my questions. His location could double or
tipple their sales if he simply got excited.

I've seen top entrepreneurs and sales people badger, beg, cajole,
even cry to get the sale. It works. Customers won't buy unless
they FEEL a commitment to you and your products. You can build
that commitment faster by showing YOUR commitment with excitement
for what you do.

**Market with your own cassette**

Cassettes are a great marketing tool. You can put your
information on a tape and let people listen to it on their way to
work, while they are relaxing, or while they're working.

The recording industry is doing their best to phase out cassettes
which have never been as profitable as CDs. But the simple
cassette just won't die. Almost everyone has a cassette player
and will for years to come.

Record your tape yourself. If you use a small recorder or boom
box, get a cheap microphone from Radio Shack to improve the
sound. You can also record using the sound card on your
computer. Check the multimedia section of tucows.com for
software that lets you record four tracks. This will let you add
music to the beginning and end of your talk.

Check with musicians and music stores for small but well-
equipped home studios who can do a professional job for very
little money.

Look in the Yellow Pages for cassette duplication firms. Shorter
cassettes tailored to the length of your talk can cost from 15 to
30 cents per tape.

**Market with your ad on plastic bags**

Retail stores of every kind use hundreds, thousands, MILLIONS
of plastic bags. Many use paper bags as well ("plastic or
paper?" are the only words many bag boys get to say.)

Large chains have bags with their logo printed on them, but most
smaller stores have plain generic bags they buy from suppliers.
Find out how you can get your ad printed on those generic bags.

Many small stores may be happy to include your ad on their bag
if you pay for printing and include the store's logo as well.
Consider having your own plastic and paper bags printed, then
offer them to stores at a discount.

In a very short time your ad can be all over town. When I come
home from the store, I often pull out the item and leave the bag
on the kitchen table, then come back later to store the bag for
future use. That's a lot of repeated "views" for your ad by any
number of people who may see the bag today or in the future.

Ask local stores where they get their bags from. Contact the
supplier to find out how you can get your own bag ad campaign
started.

Perhaps these methods won't bring in as much business as spending
half your profits on advertising, but they will bring recognition
and a lot of customers that wouldn't have heard about you
otherwise. Give it a shot, or think up some more creative,
non-costly ways to market yourself. Your results could be better
than you expect.