Step 11: Promote Your Business Highlight your business's unique advantages to attract customers.

One of the last major steps in launching a new venture entailsplanning and implementing effective ways to promote your businessto others. The goal is to let potential customers know that you andyour business exist.

Although different types of businesses require somewhatdifferent approaches, the most cost-effective ways of promotingmost new products and services include the well-known basics:fliers, direct-mail letters and brochures, Yellow Pages listings,telephone calls and newspaper advertisements. Door-to-door visitsand personal appearances at seminars, trade shows and local eventscan also be quite effective.

One key to successfully promoting your offerings is to stressthe benefits of your new product or service, rather than focusingexclusively on its features. It is essential to show potentialcustomers how your products or services will solve their problemsor fill their needs. It is also important to point out why yourofferings are superior to those of your competitors. Another key isto design coupons, fliers and advertisements, and place them indifferent media outlets with unique identifying symbols or codes,so you'll know which channels are bringing you the greatestsuccess with members of your target market.

Adequately promoting your offerings involves strategic planning,aggressive thinking, and bold, innovative approaches. Here'show our Starting Smart entrepreneurs got the word out about theirnew businesses.

A business writer for the past eight years, Kylo-Patrick Harthas run a successful homebased consulting business since1989.

Lets Go Party

Marian Fletcher

"To let people know about my party-planning and cateringservice," explains Marian Fletcher, 55, whose Baltimore-basedbusiness is now in its third year, "I organized and catered anumber of events for different organizations at cost, so they couldsee the quality of my work and taste my delicious food. I knew thatonce they realized what I could do, I would be able to getadditional work from them in the future, at my regular price. Mostof the clients I got during those first few months are still myclients today."

Because Fletcher had been doing party planning for a localrestaurant owner before his restaurant went out of business, sheknew just where to turn in her search for quality customers."I knew the clients from the restaurant, and I had a sense ofwhich ones could get me the greatest number of customers for my newbusiness, based on the organizations they belonged to and thepeople they knew. I contacted them and sent the organizations theybelonged to an invitation to taste my food at cost. All they had todo was provide me with the date of an upcoming event and the numberof people who would be attending, and I took care of the rest. Theonly thing they really ended up paying for was the cost of the fooditself, not for preparation time, delivery or service."

Fletcher says that although initially pricing her offerings solow to drum up business may seem risky to some, she was sure thestrategy would pay off in the end. "I just knew I would getadditional work from the people I did those early jobs for,"she says. "For example, I did one job for a communityorganization that I knew held five big affairs per year, and it ledto my catering three of their meetings when the mayor of Baltimorewas in attendance." Today, some of the organiza-tion'smembers hire Fletcher to plan and cater their own individualevents, and she says even the mayor has referred clients toher.

Fletcher also did a number of other things to get the word outabout her new business. "I sent out little cards announcing myopening," she says. "I printed up 3,000 fliers and hireda gentleman to pass them out on people's doorsteps around thecity. I purchased magnetic signs, featuring my company's nameand telephone number, for the sides of my car. And I askedsatisfied clients to share their impressions with others throughword-of-mouth."

Meg-A-Nut Inc.

Vic and Suzette Brounsuzian

Like Fletcher, Vic and Suzette Brounsuzian felt it was importantto get samples of their product to the public in order to win loyalcustomers. After opening a small nut shop in late 1995, the coupleprovided samples of their dry-roasted walnuts, pecans, filberts andother varieties of nuts to customers in their community ofStreamwood, Illinois.

"We worked out an arrangement by which our bank'semployees would hand out free samples of our product to theirwalk-in clients," explains Vic, 45. "We made up smallpackets containing a mixture of our nuts, labeled with our storename and information, and left a huge basket of them behind thebank's counter for distribution." For its participation,the bank received the goodwill of the customers who received a freegift, while keeping a business client happy.

"The tellers were very gracious about telling theircustomers that the small gift was provided by Meg-A-Nut, a newstore which had just opened up across the street," says Vic."Many of the recipients walked across to our shop and askedabout purchasing more of the nuts they'd just sampled. Wedefinitely got the word out about our business that way, and itproved to be quite effective at generating additionalsales."

The Brounsuzians also held an official grand-opening celebrationat their store a few weeks after they opened for business. "Wedecided to work all of the kinks out of our operation first, beforehosting the big event," Vic says. "Because ours was a newbusiness in Streamwood, one of the local newspapers did a write-upabout our grand opening, which brought in a lot of customers. Ialso placed a newspaper advertisement promoting the grand-openingcelebration."

While most of the nuts sold in America today are fried, one keyto the Brounsuzians' success is that they dry-roast their nutsinstead, producing a healthier product much lower in fat andcholesterol. Informing potential customers of this distinct productbenefit became the primary focus of the couple's earliestpromotional efforts, and has remained so to this day. As theircustomer base continued to grow, the Brounsuzians placed additionalads promoting their offerings, including a four-week ad withanother newspaper and coupons in a local bimonthly direct-mailcoupon pack.

"Advertising is important, but the best promotion of all isword-of-mouth referrals," Vic believes. "That's whywe always have a fully stocked sampler plate in our store, sovisitors can sample our products and tell others about thedelicious taste. That's also why we rented a booth atStreamwood's annual fair, so potential customers could tasteour quality product firsthand. We believe in doing everything wecan possibly do to get our product and our name outthere."

Proudfoot Wearable Art

Judy Proudfoot

"My first promotional efforts simply involved presenting myitems at crafts shows, posting some fliers, and hoping forword-of-mouth referrals," states Judy Proudfoot, 45, who hasbeen designing and selling handpainted T-shirts and other clothingitems at crafts shows and shops since May of 1995. Working out ofher Alexandria, Minnesota home, Proudfoot uses a unique watercolormethod with acrylic paints to create wearable works of art.

"I created some fliers and posted them at local grocerystores, providing my name, telephone number, and the types ofclothing items I offer," Proudfoot explains. "I reallybelieve in the value of fliers. There are other ways to go aboutpromoting your offerings, but not if you don't have a lot ofmoney to spend. I also found out how much advertising was beingdone by various crafts show promoters, to decide whether or not toparticipate in the shows; if they are inadequately promoted, thatcan either make or break my business in terms of sales."

Proudfoot also asked a local coffee shop owner if she couldplace a rack of her clothing items in the establishment. "Iknew the more affluent members of our community go there," shesays, "and I wanted to display my designs in a placefrequented by people who could easily afford them."

Proudfoot keeps an eye out for unique opportunities to promoteher clothing items. "Without paying a penny, I took part in anannual Christmas home tour, during which women visit historichouses," she says. To participate, she simply contacted herlocal chamber of commerce. "There were 18 homes open to thepublic, and I was in one of them, displaying and promoting myclothes."

10 Winning Promotions

1. Host an open house and invite the local media and residentsto sample your product or service.

2. Distribute fliers door to door in your community, or on thewindshields of cars in nearby parking lots.

3. Post eye-catching announcements about your offerings onbulletin boards and kiosks in heavily traveled areas. Be sure toinclude tear-off slips on the bottom of each announcement thatinclude your business name, telephone number, and brief productdescription so interested individuals can easily take thatinformation with them.

4. Purchase and display magnetic signs--with your business name,telephone number, logo and offerings information--on the sides ofyour car.

5. Invest in attractive business cards and letterhead that willconvey a sense of professionalism.

6. Persuade established businesses in your area to distributepromotional literature about your product or service, or to make itavailable on their counters.

7. Create and distribute direct-mail postcards, letters orbrochures highlighting the benefits of your offerings.

8. Take out an ad in the Yellow Pages of your local telephonebook.

9. Send a press release to local media outlets in hopes thatthey will do a story about your business for free. Stress a uniqueproduct feature or service advantage so that editors will view thestory as "news."

10. Encourage satisfied customers to share their experiences andpass your name along to others.

Contact Sources

Let's Go Party LLC, 4531 Manorview Rd., Baltimore, MD21229, (410) 624-0584.

Meg-A-Nut Inc., 1574 Buttitta Dr., Streamwood, IL 60107,(630) 837-2551.

Proudfoot Wearable Art, 1402 Bridgeport Ln., Alexandria,MN 56308, (320) 763-4904.