Most of us who sell both on and off line need offline business promotion.
I receive frequent emails asking me how they can get more exposure to their businesses off line, especially party plan women and women who own their own business either by wholesale or making their own products.

My answer is always the same- Be the talk of your town in a good way!

I know it may sound off the wall but in 1998 I found myself the talk of the town and was surprised how easy it happened and was glad to be the talk of the town in business!
So did I have any special secrets doing it? No, none since I didn’t even know it was happening until it did.

I did compile a list of some ways to achieve it.

Have your business cards and mouth with you always!
Business cards in your purse you need to search for can loose you a chance to hand one or more out! If possible try to keep them in your pockets in a business card holder or in a front pocket of your purse if you have no pockets.

And your mouth and words you use. Just know nothing is private outside your house in public. And if you have kids sometimes at home nothing is private either. But in public like stores we have all heard people complain loud and clear. If you ever need to complain try to do it softly as your next potential customer could be within ear shot! So giving up bad language is good for your business and yourself and kids too!

I once sat in the dentist office waiting room and listened to a mom with her kids seeing the dentist tell the receptionist her daughters were in local little and jr. miss contests and she needed to get donations for the events.
Oh yes, I waited till she was done talking and sat down and handed her my card and offered a donation. She called me the next day and I drove cross town to drop off 2 items for the raffle with business cards attached of course. The mom then tells me her son is in this sport and her sisters kids do this other sport and the neighbor’s children are in this and that clubs and I left her with enough business cards with short notes on the back for all of them!

The result of me opening my mouth in the dentists waiting room gained me 8 new people having my card and knowing who I was! Plus the pageants did a list of contributors on the event flyer. If you have ever needed to find donations for an organization, then you already know the donation list at events is a great resource to get donations from down the road when needed. As a PTA Board member I can tell you we kept a folder with businesses names and people who were willing to donate things. So being on this list is a good thing.

Speaking of PTA’s most school have them. Make a list of schools starting with ones near you and expand the list out if you need to.
Do a letter to them and send them out or drop them off addressed to the PTA’s but also mention that if they have teachers who do fundraisers would the PTA be so kind to pass on the information to them also. Here where I live the 5^th graders go to out door science camp and they do fundraisers to earn money to help offset the costs to the parents. Plus schools especially high schools have booster clubs for their band, different teams like football, cheerleading, baseball and even some have booster clubs for chess clubs as they have traveling costs too. The booster list goes on and usually the High Schools Secretary will have a list of them all.
Then if you still need more grab the phone book! Look up non- profits org.s, churches and children’s organizations like local tee-ball and soccer clubs. Allot of parks and rec. will have the children’s sports lists.

And let’s not forget women and moms clubs and church organizations such as the women and men’s church groups and places like the American Legion and D.A.V. as they hold fundraisers too.

Start checking the paper, usually on Fridays for upcoming local events. If it’s to late this year then file their info and next year send them a letter.

Did you know the average hair dresser, grocery clerk and so on all either have kids or nieces and nephews who are in sports.

Once you sit down to make your own talk of the town list you may find as I did I know more people in clubs and org.’s then not.
When I get calls from people asking for donations I will ask how they heard about me and my business. I soon found out the local chamber of commerce had me on their list of people/businesses who donate and I never even joined them! So when you have gotten to the point that people are calling you and you don’t need to reach out for places and people you are now
“ The Talk Of The Town!”

But I do want to mention the pit falls of this as there are just a few!

I started receiving so many calls that I ordered 10 things to hand out and found they no longer lasted a few months but only 2-3 weeks. So if your not getting customers in return for all the donations it can become expensive!

You may need to set a limit and have to say “sorry but no” your months limit has been met. Business set limits on donations since they usually get more requests then they can handle. While some smaller ones do monthly budgets for donations most large businesses set their budget in June for their fiscal year.

Another tip, if your donation is for an event, ask for a ticket or if they cannot give one away free offer to buy one and go to the event. If they know that 1 or usually more then 1 of their donators is there they will acknowledge you!

Just be ready if they ask you to stand to be acknowledged.
Be sure to have your business cards and mouth ( when appropriate ) with you when you go!

Wear a pant suit with pockets, what I found is this works well and looks good and professional both!

Check and see if it is tax deductible . * Most donations to non-profits are tax deductible so be sure to get a receipt!

Being the talk of the town can be a good thing!