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The Real WAHM World

Offline Business Promotion

A lot of work at home moms are working from home with traditional businesses such as party businesses, direct sales and even home made, home grown businesses but many encounter the same hurdles…how can I promote my business to the fullest? It’s a common question for many entrepreneurs period. It may sound crazy, but are you using any traditional forms of advertising?

Along with the Internet boom, many services were born, businesses and new ways of advertising. Work at home moms have been sucked into purely wasting time on only web promotion. No one can depend on only one form of marketing, one form of advertising or one lonely customer and that’s why it’s important to revamp your strategies, sometimes going “old school” may be that answer.

Sometimes we forget about the resources that are available absolutely free in our community.

Review sources that could be valuable to you even if you think they are dead ends! Re-think everything you do in a given day, look at all of the opportunities that you may have unknowingly allowed to slip through your fingers and learn simple ways to promote your business. Last night Joe Scarborough from MSNBC news showcased a story about three kids who set up a small stand selling “mystery drinks” to support hurricane victims. This trio raised nearly seventy bucks selling drinks.

I bet you’re thinking, “everyone wants to help the hurricane victims, so that’s not a good example”.

Why not?

If you have a product that people use, something that could change someone’s life, save them money, something that would make their lives easier or something to make them feel better…do you think people will not buy it?

Why do you think the phrase, “location, location, location” was big news to business people all over the world when they discovered location has something to do with business success?

If your business is with a party plan company, your objective is to host as many parties as possible to recruit new people and increase sales, how many homes are there in your community? Reach out to all of them!

Find your target market and work it, promote yourself everywhere you go because virtually every person that you encounter on any given day is a potential sale.

• Print up business cards.
• Pass out catalogs.
• Give out free product samples.
• Offer a 10% discount on first time orders.
• Tell your friends to promote you, give them business cards to leave everywhere they go and give them a free product for helping or other incentives.
• Print up flyers to place on pay phones or at local businesses.
• Have a yard sale and set up a display at least once a month, advertise your yard sale in the newspaper and ask to set up at the yard sales of others.
• Take advantage of local events, set up a booth.
• Go to PTA meetings; bake sales and any school functions you can attend.

The possibilities are endless! Organize yourself, be ready for question, be ready for orders and make it a point to let everyone know that this is your business and how you make money.

The sky is the limit; think of your community and other ways that you can make an impact promoting yourself. If you haven’t utilized these areas, like so many haven’t then you’ll be amazed at the results you see. If you have a worthy product or a service, it will sell as long as your present yourself and your business…in a “business” manner. No one will find you if they don’t know how, happy promoting and good luck!

Keep an eye on this column in the next couple of weeks for other ways to promote your business aside from local promotion. We’ll explore all the secrets of web promotion too. If you have any questions or comments, tips or advice please e-mail me at gonzalezinc@lowcountry.com

About the author: Lisa Gonzalez is a wife, a mother to three rambunctious boys, a successful work at home mom, a freelance writer, a Spanish translator, a pizza junkie and she has two websites, www.zonemom.com  and www.keywordprincess.com 
If you would like to contact her for subjects in this column please do so at: gonzalezinc@lowcountry.com

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