Adman
June 22, 2009, 06:28 PM
I'd like to share something with you folks;
A week ago, my wifee and went over to a small coastal resort town for a "quickee-vacation".
As us and other "tourists" do...we walked around the town, going into various shops that struck our fancy...stopping in a coffee shop for some Foo-Foo...etc. Just leisurely walking around, relaxing and taking in the sights.
As we were strolling along, up comes a nicely dressed man who hands us a card. The card has the name of his shop, address and what is in the shop.
He tells us to "come on over", as he hands us the card and passes on by.
Well....I looked at his neatly printed card with Fancy Logo and instantly thought about a way to improve his response.
We walked over to his shop (it was Off The Beaten Path) and discovered a clean, nice "Gift Shop" of wonderful items "Coastal" visitors would be interested in.
I asked the owner if he had a minute and I would share with him a Marketing Idea that helped my wife's retail Antique Shoppe bring in customers.
I took his existing card and showed him how he could change it from being a simple "Info-Card' to a powerful "Magnet" card with a Strong, "REASON" to Visit his shop.
At the Top of the card I put the words, "THIS CARD GOOD FOR $1 TOWARDS THE PURCHASE OF ANYTHING IN THE SHOP!"
I told him he could use whatever graphics he wanted but to be sure to make the Dollar Sign BIG. (I also told him to add a map on the backside)
I then told him to "make up 100, hand them out as he's been doing, and see what happens"!
Well...he called me this morn (June 22) and thanked me. After a week, His new cards with the "Dollar Off", have been FILLING HIS SHOP with customers.
He now pays a kid to go around town every hour, handing out his special cards and they "DRAW LIKE FLIES"! (His words)
Sure...he gets those who want to use the "Free Buck" to buy a $1 item AND, he also gets people to pop for the $50 AND $100 ITEMS....with some, jokingly asking, "Can we apply this to the purchase?"
So...he opened his shop on the first of May. Bought ads in all the tourist stuff and sat there for the first few weeks...with hardly any visitors. Even when he decided that he had better go around town handing out cards with info about his shop....didn't bring in any biz....he was about ready to "kiss off his investment"...when I told him how to change his cards and give my idea a try.
Well....he NOW has a whole different outlook on his business and has sent me a nice "gift" for my "idea"
So...because I was extremely happy to hear from this shopowner who related how one simple idea has changed his whole business (and made his wife less-stressed-out)....I thought I'd share it with you folks here....as an example of how just ONE "idea" can change the whole ballgame.
Don Alm..."idea guy"
A week ago, my wifee and went over to a small coastal resort town for a "quickee-vacation".
As us and other "tourists" do...we walked around the town, going into various shops that struck our fancy...stopping in a coffee shop for some Foo-Foo...etc. Just leisurely walking around, relaxing and taking in the sights.
As we were strolling along, up comes a nicely dressed man who hands us a card. The card has the name of his shop, address and what is in the shop.
He tells us to "come on over", as he hands us the card and passes on by.
Well....I looked at his neatly printed card with Fancy Logo and instantly thought about a way to improve his response.
We walked over to his shop (it was Off The Beaten Path) and discovered a clean, nice "Gift Shop" of wonderful items "Coastal" visitors would be interested in.
I asked the owner if he had a minute and I would share with him a Marketing Idea that helped my wife's retail Antique Shoppe bring in customers.
I took his existing card and showed him how he could change it from being a simple "Info-Card' to a powerful "Magnet" card with a Strong, "REASON" to Visit his shop.
At the Top of the card I put the words, "THIS CARD GOOD FOR $1 TOWARDS THE PURCHASE OF ANYTHING IN THE SHOP!"
I told him he could use whatever graphics he wanted but to be sure to make the Dollar Sign BIG. (I also told him to add a map on the backside)
I then told him to "make up 100, hand them out as he's been doing, and see what happens"!
Well...he called me this morn (June 22) and thanked me. After a week, His new cards with the "Dollar Off", have been FILLING HIS SHOP with customers.
He now pays a kid to go around town every hour, handing out his special cards and they "DRAW LIKE FLIES"! (His words)
Sure...he gets those who want to use the "Free Buck" to buy a $1 item AND, he also gets people to pop for the $50 AND $100 ITEMS....with some, jokingly asking, "Can we apply this to the purchase?"
So...he opened his shop on the first of May. Bought ads in all the tourist stuff and sat there for the first few weeks...with hardly any visitors. Even when he decided that he had better go around town handing out cards with info about his shop....didn't bring in any biz....he was about ready to "kiss off his investment"...when I told him how to change his cards and give my idea a try.
Well....he NOW has a whole different outlook on his business and has sent me a nice "gift" for my "idea"
So...because I was extremely happy to hear from this shopowner who related how one simple idea has changed his whole business (and made his wife less-stressed-out)....I thought I'd share it with you folks here....as an example of how just ONE "idea" can change the whole ballgame.
Don Alm..."idea guy"
