Crooked Fence Gifts

Crooked Fence Gifts focuses on new trends in Jewelry, Home decor, Wedding, One of A kind Vintage & Holiday decor. We strive to create gifts from our own designs and to use Vintage and USA Items as often as possible.

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Saturday, July 28, 2012

Grass Roots Advertising

Tips to help Build your business by Vicky Watkins
This weeks topic is: Grass Roots Advertising: Fliers
Most of us have access to a computer or a way to get to your local copy center.
One of the easiest and most cost efficient ways for you to get the word out about your business if you are on a budget is to distribute fliers ( you can also use business cards). 
I would start with a quarter page size flier which means you would get 4 to a 8.5 X 11 size sheet of paper. You will want to consider size as most companies have a limited space dedicated for community posts.
If you do not know the first thing about designing a flier, look for information online or look at other fliers (look at ads in your local news paper) to get an idea where to start. You may want to tie in seasonal decoration or an event you know is coming up, or a particular color paper to make yourself stand out.
You can add a special offer or coupon or even a free item to entice customers to come and find you. Don't forget to ad your contact information.
Weather you are an online only business or a brick and mortar or both chances are that not everyone in your area knows that you have goods or services for sale.
Before beginning to distribute them you will need to check with your local city and find out what their ordinance is on fliers. Can you paper the town with them ? Can you leave them on vehicles ? Or do you have to have permission to do anything at all with them ? Most cities have ordinances listed on their website.
You don't want to start out by getting on someone's bad side.

Below are several places to start taking your flier to. Most businesses are more than willing to help new businesses or have an area dedicated for community information. Note: Some do not, that is o.k. and do not take it personally, just go to the next place.

1) Grocery Store Bulletin Boards
2) Local Library
3) Restaurants
4) Coffee Shops
5) Spas
6) Hair Salons
7) Community Centers
8) Senior Centers
9) Post Office
10) Schools
11) Hospitals
12) Hotels
13) Senior Centers
14) Banks
15) Local Chamber or visitor center
16) Your local newspaper may have a low cost way to place your flier in their paper.

If you are a new business in your town with a retail location I would walk your whole area (or drive if it is spread out) and go meet people at all the local businesses in your area and tell them you are new and ask if you can leave fliers on their counters or bulletin board. If you are in their area I would offer to take some of their fliers or brochures to put out in your shop. 
If you can afford to take a sample of something you sell, that is a nice touch.
Candy baskets are nice too. You can purchase bulk candy or mints and take a small amount to each place as a thank you. Just put it in a small basket or some sort of decorative bag from your local craft store and tie one of your business cards to it.
You can also put a flier with a future offer in your customers bags when they make a purchase to encourage them to come back and see you again !

Even if you have a big advertising budget this form of advertising is useful. By the time you are done you will know what everyone else is selling and who the business is run by. This is good information to be able to pass along to customers.

Good luck running your business big or small !

2 comments:

  1. We are so lucky to have your positive energy around us in Enumclaw. Thank you for simple and practical advise!
    Hugs, Ella

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ella,
    Thank you, and it is awesome to have you as a neighbor !
    Hugs,
    Vicky

    ReplyDelete