Enterprise Nation

It’s good to hear again from home business owners, Karen McNulty and Fay Judson of Marketing Plan Wiz. In the latest edition of their e-news they talk about the value of freebies and give-aways. Reproduced here with permission.

Spread the word. Spread the love.

Stuck for ideas on how to spread the word?  Gifts, cards and other "things" that you can leave behind with your customers can be surprisingly effective at a relatively low cost.  Or you might decide that a free sample of your product or service is what's needed to persuade that person that it really is a good idea to buy from you.

Give-aways

We're now bombarded with information via the Internet as well as through the door and via the usual round of keen "telesalers".  So what is it that catches the attention of your potential customer when they need the product or service that you provide?  Business cards are always useful, as are brochures and other marketing material, but it's very difficult to differentiate your leaflet/brochure from everyone else's (although we've got ideas on that one too - another Wiz e-article).

Give-aways are a quick marketing trick of leaving something behind and if you get it right, will work every time and, more importantly, often for a very long time as people hang on to the item that they find useful or particularly like.

Leaving objects such as paper clip holders or mouse mats with your new friend not only reminds them how to get hold of you (and if there's room, what you do), but also builds brand awareness as you're constantly visible.  Did you know that one of the most effective and cost-effective give-aways is the basic pen?  So you don't even have to blow the budget on something high spec - although we would recommend thinking about what fits best in terms of representing your business.  (You can get posh pens too though...).

Samples

The other brilliantly easy type of give-away is the "freebie".  What better way to show somebody that they really do want/need/like your product?  Think how effective those taster samples of food in the supermarket can be, or the free slices of cake on the counter of your favourite cafe. Or, have you thought of offering that "first consultation free "?

On the internet too, free advice, tips and content generally attracts all sorts of visitors to your website and if it's valuable they'll tell other people about it - excellent for getting people to link to you - and there's another subject again.

So what can you give away to kick start your business?

• Karen McNulty and Fay Judson are co-founders of Marketing Plan Wiz.