Sponsorship Opportunities
A prime example of boostingyour business by helping out your community can be found in event sponsorship. Here’s how to choose theright events and get the most out of your sponsorship. 1. Look for demographicmatches. You’re probably already fielding your share of requests from charitiesand community groups asking for your help with upcoming events. Consider
Soliciting Customers From Failing Competitors
A failing economy certainlypresents challenges to any small business. It could also provide opportunitywhen competitors are forced to shut down because of tough times, leaving intheir wake customers that your business can bring into the fold. If a competitor closes itsdoors, consider the following tips to bolster your customer base and yourbusiness: 1. Honor gift
Bring in New Customers With New Approaches
Although it’s been proven to be far less expensive for a company to keep existing customers than gain new ones, attracting new business remains the toughest, most vital part of staying on top. This holds true particularly for tire dealers in today’s economic climate, where the majority of consumers are limiting tire and vehicle service
Going E-Marketing
Want to advertise more butdon’t have a bigger budget? One great way to get your name out is withe-newsletters. Printed and mailed newsletters are a great way to build customerknowledge about your products and services – and confidence in your expertise.But with postage and printing, paper newsletters are expensive. An e-newsletter costs just afraction of
How Important Are Testimonials?
You have a great Web site,brochures, sales flyers, POP displays, maybe even a weekly e-newsletter. Butare you overlooking the most important marketing piece – a customertestimonial? Testimonials – third-partyendorsements of your products or service – add credibility and help alleviateany worries or concerns prospective customers may have. Before you can usetestimonials in your brochures, Web
Advertising on a Shoe String
Small businesses faceperiodic times of slow cash flow with precious little money to spend foradvertising. Here’s how you clear the hurdles and not spend a fortune doing it. • Write a press release. Itwill cost you only the time it takes you to write it and the charge for faxingor mailing your release to your
Beefing up Your Web Site
On the Web, content is king.If you want people to visit, stick around and come back to your Web site, givethem a good reason to do so. Web users operate in“Internet time” or, in other words, fast. They don’t linger over Web pages asthey would a newspaper or magazine. Web users seek substance over style
How to Look Big
Even the smallest,single-location tire dealership operating on a modest budget can look like abig retailer. Here are several tricks you can use to expand your image. • Set up a high-qualityvoicemail system to pick up calls when employees aren’t available. And, whenemployees do answer the phone, train them to sound professional, upbeat andready to help.
The Changing Landscape
Under normal circumstances, it’s challenging enough to market your business to customers and keep profits moving in the right direction. But add to that the current recession economy, and today’s tire dealers are facing a whole new set of challenges. Even though they may feel attacked from all sides – by faltering profits, the credit
A Scientific Method
Question: What’s the bestway to make every advertising dollar count? Answer: Design your advertising sothat you can determine how much profit each ad dollar generates. The best wayto do this is to calculate the revenue from a specific ad, then subtract thecost of the ad. Look to direct-responsecompanies for an example. These companies build a
Easy Business Boost
Don’t have the funds for acomprehensive ad program? There are alternatives. Word-of-mouth marketing, forexample, is a simple and inexpensive way to promote your tire dealership andattract new customers. Simply encourage your happiest customers to spread theword about your quality service and expertise. Here are three steps forgenerating word of mouth: 1. Select a few of
Getting in the News
Did you just get a hot newtire in stock? Are you offering a car-care clinic? Are you offering a specialdeal on a set of new tires? Let the media deliver your message for free. The best way to drive mediaattention to your tire dealership is to send out a press release. Thoughthere’s no guarantee a