For $50 Or Less

Three tips and 19 ideas to get the most bang for your fifty bucks!

Looking for ways to promote your business for the price of lunch with a friend? There are three main factors to consider: exposing your company name to as many people as possible; purchasing promotional products with your company name and logo from companies that don’t require a minimum purchase; and personalising your marketing efforts by contacting potential customers individually.

The following tips incorporate some of these concepts:

1. Wear a t-shirt promoting your business whenever you go to a large sporting event. Bonus: Wear an outrageous hat to increase your chances of getting on TV.

2. Display a magnetic sign on your vehicle.

3. Write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper commenting on a recent story. Be sure to mention the name of your business in case they choose to publish it in the newspaper.

4. Give a male friend a hat with your company name on it. Make sure it’s stylish enough that he’ll want to wear it outside the house.

5. Email your current customers and ask them to write a testimonial for your website.

6. Print customised adhesive labels and wrap around generic chocolate bars. Hand them out at public events.

7. Scan the business pages for women who have won awards for volunteering or achievements in their industry. Choose four and send them each a $20 gift certificate to your store with a nice note.

8. Always have customers fill out their birth date (they can leave off the year) when filling out forms or registering for gift draws. Each month, review the upcoming birthdays and send a personalised, hand-written card with a discount coupon to your store.

9. Scan the anniversary announcements in your local newspaper and send a discount coupon to any couples you can track down in the phone book.

10. Send regular updates to your high school or university alumni association about your business.

11. Already buying an ad in a magazine? Ask for a full-size version and print copies as flyers.

12. Register with your staff to participate in a fundraiser walk or run where everyone raises money. Name your team after your business for extra exposure in all the race-related print materials.

13. Give away tiny candy with your logo on the wrapper on Guy Fawkes or Valentine’s Day.

14. Print customised adhesive labels and wrap around generic bottles of water. Hand them on at a race, the beach, or in stand-still traffic.

15. Create customised bookmarks with your business information on one side and a literacy campaign on the other. Donate them to a school, library or local literacy organisation.

16. Create a customised adhesive label promoting your company on one side with a ‘thank you’ note on the other, then place on small sample size boxes of chocolates and give them to teachers, fireman, nurses and other caregivers.

17. Send all your staff announcements to the local media, even if it only briefly mentions where your employee works. Mentioning that your sales manager was recognised by a charity for her volunteer work not only promotes your company and the types of values your employees hold, but also demonstrates to your employees that youcare about their personal accomplishments.

18. Hold a contest for kids to guess how many lollies are in a jar in your store. Promote it to local math teachers as a lesson in estimation. The winner gets the jar full of gumballs.

19. Hide 20 five dollar bills around your store. Promote it on TV and radio as a one day event for people to come in and find them (and keep them).

By Wendy Burt-Thomas