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New businesses and those that are struggling to grow are faced with many challenges in terms of self-promotion.  One of the biggest challenges these businesses face is the question of how much to spend on marketing and advertising, and what will give them the most bang for their dollar.  Summer and the warmer weather presents a bounty of opportunities for inexpensive and very personalized marketing activities that most small businesses can utilize.  These ideas are well suited for companies that provide service in the homes or offices of their clients, such as heating and cooling, pool care and landscape services, but the practices can be adopted and used by almost any small business.

WePrintQuick.com, a service of Eveready Printing wants to share some relatively inexpensive and simple ideas that you can use to promote your business and attract customer loyalty.

As the weather warms, options such as door hangers and printed flyers become a way to reach potential customers.  Selecting targeted neighborhoods based on the products or services you offer and the demand for those products and services is a very important step.  Once you have identified your ideal market, visit these neighborhoods and enjoy the warmth of the day as you meet potential customers and leave information behind for them.  For service based businesses, sending a stack of door hangers with technicians creates an opportunity to boast about the good job you’ve done in a neighborhood.  Have the technicians spend just a few minutes hanging door hangers on the doors of close neighbors, or placing flyers in the mailboxes or doors.  This says, “Hey – we did a great job for your neighbor, and we’ll do the same for you.”

If your business is one that doesn’t have service technicians going out into the community, another great idea for summer marketing your business is to personalize and distribute cold bottles of water.  Create a marketing message for your ideal customer and have labels printed up.  Distribute cold bottles of water in areas where your research indicates you might expect to find your target customer.  Be sure to include your contact information, including a QR code if possible, and keep the labels simple and eye catching.  Have your labels printed professionally for the best impact, but you can apply them yourself with tape or a glue stick to save money.  Only apply labels to what you think will get used up in a day, so that the moisture doesn’t damage your printed labels..

If these methods don’t meet your needs, another method that works well depending on your product or service is to visit yard sales and flea markets in your spare time with a pocket full of business cards.  Talk to everyone about what you, your business and the services you provide. Offer them your card.  Business cards are inexpensive and a very cost effective method of spreading the word, about yourself and your business, particularly when purchased in large quantities.  Business owners, you should always talk yourself up, because if you don’t, who will?

Joining forces with other small businesses to cross promote your products and services can help ease the financial burden of advertising.  Seek out partners that compliment each others’ business and that won’t put you in a situation of having to make hard choices or stepping on the toes of your partner..  Announce your partnership in both companies newsletters and mailings, write a press release and tell the community that you’ve teamed up to offer 2 (or more) great products or services. Combine your marketing dollars and send out postcards offering special summer savings, or team up to purchase flyers or door hangers together, creating more bang for your marketing buck.  Consider hosting blitz marketing campaigns utilizing college students to distribute your marketing information in exchange for a post blitz party or barbeque.

These are just a few ways to embrace the heat of the summer and draw customers to your business.