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Yes, you have to spend money to make money; invest your money wisely. Identify your target market. Advertising is very expensive; you will need to try different advertising methods to see what works better for you. Always ask your clients where did they hear from you and keep track of those answers, this will help you to decide which ads worked and which didn’t.
Business cards can be printed relatively cheap. It’s best to print them full color. Take advantage that you sale a visual product and show it off. The success with business card will depend on how you distribute them. Never leave home without them. Hand out your cards to local business around your area and everywhere you go. Vista Print is one source for both business cards and postcards. They have a introductory offer of 250 premium quality, color business cards FREE! Click here. Postcards can be a little more to print than business card, but they are bigger and make a huge impact. A full color postcard can distinguish you from your competition. Make it unique, add photos of your best work, and distribute them at different locations. Ask other vendor if you can put your post cards in their business and you will put theirs in yours, this method has worked great for me. Internet: Today’s consumer is online. A web site is a must. Exchanging links in other web sites is a great idea. If you work with photographers, DJ’s, bakers, others, ask if they will like to have a link in your web site, and if you can exchange it for a link at theirs. This doesn’t cost nothing to either of you, so you have nothing to loose. Be very careful with pay per click ads in other web sites. They can get very expensive. Do your homework before starting an Internet campaign. We are offering you a Free Balloon Business Web Site no strings attached. Check out our AmericanBalloonArtist.com web site for more details and to see sample sites. Yellow pages: If you advertise in your local yellow pages, I will suggest you track your returns. Those ads can be very expensive with very little returns. Most people nowadays don’t open the yellow pages, they Google everything. Maybe having just a listing in the book and an ad in their web site can have better return. Newspapers: depending on what type of business you have it might be worth it. Newspaper ads are expensive, if you have a retail store you might want to buy an ad for special occasions, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s days etc. Be careful with local free papers; Make sure the paper covers your target area. If you are a decorator or an entertainer I recommend a classified ad under event services. An ongoing ad campaign can save you money. A few lines with your business name, phone number and web site can be very productive. As with any other advertising decisions, research all your options. Bridal books / local magazines: These are good because they reach a target audience unlike newspapers. Color books always have the wow factor. This business sells a visual product and that is an advantage. You can make great color ads and make people fall in love with your product instantly. Yes, It will cost you more than, than advertising in a newspaper, but don’t let that discourage you from advertising. Try it, you might find it’s one of the ads that really works for you and in the long run it’s worth it. Trade shows: Depending on your business, you might want to attend one. Some shows are good with a big attendance some are just ok. Do your homework. To make sure it’s worth your investment, attend as an attendee first. Stick around for a few hours and get a feel for the event. Look for booths that are full with people, and are offering a great product, of course not balloon related. Write down the names of those businesses. This can help you chose a booth next to or close to one of them when you decide to buy a booth. See if your competition has a booth and what are they doing to draw attention. Under no circumstance do the same design in your booth as they did. This will send a bad message; everyone will think you don’t have any creativity. Bring better designs and make your booth unique. Remember you have a visual product use it for your advantage. If the show has a great attendance that’s a good sign of a well respected & marketed show Depending on where you live this attendance may not always be the same. For example I live in the Wisconsin, you can never predict if the weather is going to be good or not. Our big shows are during the month of January. One year we can have a good weather and get a big attendance and another year we can have a blizzard, and sit all day waiting for people to show up. For sure it can happen to you, if you live in state like Wisconsin. You’ll never know if it’s going to be worth it until you try it. This is a risk you will need to take. Tips for trade shows: Tip #1- Bring a candy bow full of goodies, Do not bring cheap candy! Get the best bite size candy & chocolate you can find. Think about the people that can’t eat sugar and get some sugar free candy. Put them in a separate bow with a nice sign that say “I’m sugar free” You will not believe how many people will stop and tell you thank you for thinking about them. Tip #2- Offer a drawing at your booth. Have a clear sign that say what you are giving away. Make the prize be worth a 2-minute stop. A give away with an order or a discounts coupon in my opinion, don’t work as good as an actual gift. People need to know they can win something without buying anything or they wont enter the drawing. Carmen Ballering is the owner of Balloons Milwaukee and balloon designer behind www.Balloon-a-Palooza.com the Largest Balloon Art Exhibit in the Country
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