• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

PlanningShop

Plan. Start. Grow.

  • Our Products
  • Instructors
  • Entrepreneurs
  • BizGear
  • Rhonda’s Blog
  • Book Rhonda
  • About PlanningShop
  • Search
  • Our Products
  • Instructors
  • Entrepreneurs
  • BizGear
  • Rhonda’s Blog
  • Book Rhonda
  • About PlanningShop
  • Search
Signs as marketing tools!

6 Great Growth Tactics You’ve Forgotten

March 13, 2015 //  by Rhonda Abrams

The other day I was eating a terrific sandwich in a café near my office, when I noticed staff members wearing T-shirts saying, “We do business catering.” I immediately texted my office manager and told her to order from this café for our next staff lunch. Wow. They got an order from a T-shirt! This small business knew something many entrepreneurs forget—traditional marketing works.

In your small business, do you feel pressured to tweet on Twitter? Post on Facebook? Pin to Pinterest? Regram on Instagram? Still trying to learn how to get your website found on Google? And why, oh why, can’t you get your good reviews seen on Yelp?

In the frenzy for sexy new digital marketing, it’s easy to overlook some tried-and-true marketing strategies. After all, even a t-shirt on an employee can be an effective marketing vehicle.

So I’m here to remind you of six great marketing tactics that get customers in your door and boost sales. Marketing tactics you probably knew once—and have forgotten. The best news? They’re low-tech, low-touch, and low-cost:

  1. Business cards: Your business card may be your smallest marketing vehicle, but it’s also your most important. Customers and prospects hold on to business cards. Make sure they have all your vital contact info (including your social media handles). If possible, add one brief line telling people something crucial about your business. (On my card, for instance, we say ‘the leading publisher specializing in entrepreneurship and small business.’) Carry your business card with you at ALL times. Order them online at Vista Print or Overnight Prints.
  2. Signs: Whether it’s a sign over your front door, on the side of your van, or on a neon billboard in New York Time’s Square, signs get people’s attention. Unlike social media, which constantly needs to be updated, you design and invest in a sign once, and it stays around a long time. Signs can be effective inside your place of business too—like the sign in a restaurant near me that says, “Host your next party here.”
  3. Brochures: Think these are old-fashioned? Well, customers still like to get a succinct overview of your business, including your services or products. Brochures are great to give out at business mixers or trade shows, but they also work with current customers. I just picked up a brochure from my hair dresser, and it reminded me of the wide range of services offered. Brochures can be  inexpensive, so you can be generous in distributing them. Get template brochures at a number of online print sites or get a custom brochure designed by a company such as 99Designs. We print ours at PsPrint.
  4. Advertising specialties: I’ve got a magnet from my dog’s vet on my refrigerator, a beautiful calendar from my mortgage banker on my wall, and a mug from my bank on my desk. All these freebies – known as advertising specialties, promotional items, swag, or “tschotkes”—keep names and contact info in front of me. Meanwhile, I have to dig to find my plumber’s number when I need it, and I’ve totally lost contact with the electrician I liked last summer. Give-aways are effective little advertising vehicles that most small businesses forget to use.
  5. Sales materials: Sales sheets, price lists, product specification sheets and catalogs help you close the deal. They’re primarily used at the time or point of sale, often given by a salesperson to a prospect, and provide the information and details prospects need to make purchasing decisions, as well as to motivate them to choose you over a competitor. Sure, these may be boring, but they work.
  6. Newspaper ads: You thought newspapers were dead? Look around at any Starbucks or café, and you’ll see people reading them. Newspaper ads are still effective, especially when you announce sales or offer coupons. City and neighborhood newspapers target the people you want to reach—your local customers, and they put your message in front of people when you’ve got their attention.

It’s only natural to be excited about new marketing techniques—such as social media—and they work. But don’t forget the tried-and-true tactics that can grow your business right now.


Copyright, Rhonda Abrams, 2015

This article originally ran in USA Today on March 13, 2015

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Category: Solution Center, USA TodayTag: advertising specialties, business cards, growth, marketing, marketing strategies, marketing tactics, rhonda abrams, small business, small business marketing, traditional marketing, USA Today

Previous Post: « Spring Clean Your Fixed Expenses
Next Post: 7 Steps to Finding Your Ideal Customer Find your ideal customers!»

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Rhonda's Blog via Email

Instagram @rhondaabrams

Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tip Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tips and the latest info. sent straight to your inbox! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #newsletter #smallbizguru
What’s old is new again! How to stay in front of What’s old is new again! How to stay in front of your smallbiz customers, in my latest @usatoday column. Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #customer #digitalmarketing #smallbizguru
National Doughnut Day on Friday?? Great way to sta National Doughnut Day on Friday?? Great way to start the weekend!! Enjoy, and go find yourself some doughnuts 😋 🍩 
.
.
#smallbusiness #fridayfeeling #nationaldoughnutday
#smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #entrepreneur #ins #smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #entrepreneur #inspirationalquotes
“And I’m proud to be an American, where at lea “And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.” - Lee Greenwood -
.
.
#memorialday #neverforget
We're heading into a long weekend! Here's to some We're heading into a long weekend! Here's to some R&R, productivity . . . whatever your small business needs~
.
.
#smallbusiness #weekend #entrepreneur #fridayfeeling
Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tip Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tips and the latest info. sent straight to your inbox! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #tips #entrepreneur #newsletter #smallbizguru
#smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #inspirationalquot #smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #inspirationalquotes
Here's to a great week, small business owners! . . Here's to a great week, small business owners!
.
.
#smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner #mondaymotivation
My Tweets
  • Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tip Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tips and the latest info. sent straight to your inbox! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #newsletter #smallbizguru
    What’s old is new again! How to stay in front of What’s old is new again! How to stay in front of your smallbiz customers, in my latest @usatoday column. Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #customer #digitalmarketing #smallbizguru
    National Doughnut Day on Friday?? Great way to sta National Doughnut Day on Friday?? Great way to start the weekend!! Enjoy, and go find yourself some doughnuts 😋 🍩 
.
.
#smallbusiness #fridayfeeling #nationaldoughnutday
    #smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #entrepreneur #ins #smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #entrepreneur #inspirationalquotes
    “And I’m proud to be an American, where at lea “And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.” - Lee Greenwood -
.
.
#memorialday #neverforget
    We're heading into a long weekend! Here's to some We're heading into a long weekend! Here's to some R&R, productivity . . . whatever your small business needs~
.
.
#smallbusiness #weekend #entrepreneur #fridayfeeling
    Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tip Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tips and the latest info. sent straight to your inbox! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #tips #entrepreneur #newsletter #smallbizguru
  • Footer

    Our Products
    Instructor Central

    Privacy Policy
    Contact Us

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

    Copyright © 2023 PlanningShop · All Rights Reserved · Site design by paulinaart

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. ACCEPT Read More
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT