Easy Offline Ways to Promote Your Products and Services

Are you trying to think of some ways to promote your products and services you are selling? If you haven't figured it out yet, the buyers aren't just showing up at your door. You have to go out there and get them. You can do this!

Now is the time to offer gift certificates. If you run your own home based business, you can offer pretty much whatever you want to. If you are a direct sales consultant, you are limited to what you can offer. Don't let that stop you!

If you provide a service such as babysitting ~ make your own gift certificates. How about making one for husbands to give to their wifes? "one day to yourself", "one night with me", or anything else! He pays you ahead for the baby sitting service! On the coupon, make sure to write how long the babysitting is for, when it expires, and that arrangements need to be in advance. Don't forget to make a receipt for the payment! Use your imagination and make it a fun gift to give! Kids can buy these for their parents as well!!

This would also be great if you do other services such as cooking, cleaning houses, organizing, laundry, car wash, haircutting, manicures, massages etc! People love to get these kinds of services as a gift! You can post these service gift certificates for sale in your local paper, make flyers and put them where ever you posibly can! (ask the local oil change centers to allow you to post them there!) Sorry to say, but guys need a little help when getting a gift for us. Make sure that your flyers are in bold letters! "HEY HUSBANDS OUT THERE ~ NEED A GIFT THAT SHE WILL ACTUALLY LIKE?" or something like that!! Don't forget to put what it is and your contact info. Put something like "Take out your cell phone NOW and call before you forget and it is too late!" This is a great way to target men to buy from you.

Make sure that you make the gift certificates with pretty paper, envelopes and fancy fonts. For certificates made to be given by kids, make them with big bold block letters and primary colors. The more unique they are, the more special they will be. Do you sell online? You can still make flyers with a link to your stores! You can still make gift certificates and coupons for your items! Just make sure that you keep track of them!

Don't forget to drop off sales books to the schools! Teachers LOVE to shop in catalogs on their breaks! Find out if you can bring some samples over for them to look at. If you sell food items see if you can bring over a sample tray for them to nibble on! This is great for any school or office that will allow you! Who turns away free munchies? When you are watching your child at dance or sporting practice, this is another great place to hand out "munchie samples"! Bring stuff that would be perfect for gifts and holidays parties! It will cost you a little to serve them the food, but it is a business expense:) Be ready to take orders and offer a discount if they order now! Remember to have business cards as well as inventory in the car to sell to them right then ( they may forget to call you back). Get their name, number, and email as well so you can send them a reminder with a discount offer!

Make your own jewelry, purses or diapers etc.? Wear them (well, with the diapers, your baby can wear them!) out in public as much as possible! ALWAYS have a business card with a discount coupon code. If possible, carry some of your stock with you so that you can get those impulse buys! If you make jewelry or purses, make special pieces with the teams colors and name. That is a cool idea for you diaper makers out there as well! Make dance inspired bracelets, t~shirts, dance bags. Shows these off to the other mothers and offer a special discount for your child's team/classmates. These make great small gifts and the moms will love these. Sometimes the teachers will allow you to put your items up for sale by consignment in the dance studio.

Use this holiday season to get motivated to sell your stuff and offer your services to new customers. Go out there and just do it! Don't be affraid to go get that sale. If you don't, someone else will.

Article by:

Trisha Dunaway is the mother of 3 girls (including a teenager) and wife to the best man for the job. She plays webdesigner and writer for Wanttobeawahm.com www.wanttobeawahm.com , a WAHM resources site where she gathers information for moms who want to be home with their kids. She started the site in March 2005. She just started a new site Shopping With Moms shoppingwithmoms.com where shoppers virtual window shop through stores set on a timer.

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