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d.Door Hanger: Pizza places all over
U.S. do it everyday. They wouldn’t be doing them week after week if it did not work. I found this to be an effective tool for almost any localized business.
e.Local Throw Away Paper: Every town has them and they are typically very affordable for reaching thousands of people. You can choose which zip codes you would like your ad to appear in. Different zip codes typically have different income levels so response you may get from one zip code may be totally different in another. You will have to play around with a few before you find out which one clicks. A good way to reach perspective prospects but like fliers and door hangers, they are usually work better for some business than others.
4)WHICH ADVERTISEMENT IS WORKING: P.T. Barnum once said “50% of all my advertising is useless, if only I could figure out which 50%”. The next section is on toll-free numbers but I found a great use for them other than voicemail. Whenever I run a marketing campaign every piece of advertising I use has a different extension number. By simply putting my 800 number along with a different extension number, I can track which ads are effective and pulling in leads. I have used various 800 services, best for this purpose is by far FreedomVoiceMail at www.freedomvoicemail.com
5)800 AND TOLL-FREE NUMBERS: I recommend a voice mail service for any business that is serious about becoming a success. Why spend all your time advertising and planning only to miss call when it comes in. If you do not answer, someone else will reap benefit of all your hard spent marketing time and advertising money. When you have an 800 or Toll-Free voicemail number, you will never miss a call and general public is more likely to perceive you as a legitimate company. The least expensive way I have come across is a service called Freedom Voice Mail, www.freedomvoicemail.com. They have different systems available on a monthly basis and there are no long term contracts. Each system includes your own unique toll-free number. If you already have you, you can transfer it to their system or you can get yourself a vanity number such as, 1 800 buy this.
6)PRESS RELEASES: Sending out a Press Release to various newspapers in areas you do business in can be a big fast boost to your company! The key to writing a press release is to keep it short and to point while adding enough pertinent information where newspaper can re-print snippets of your information. Almost every word program available today has a template press release included in their programs. Still feel a little shaky; there is a lot of information available on net. Type in writing press releases and you will be in press release heaven. 7)ARTICLE SUBMISSION: Submitting articles on line are probably best things you can do to increase your rankings in search engines and give your business authenticity. There are plenty of submission sites available. Go to any search engine and type in article submission being specific to your field such as real estate article submission.
Robert Vilardi former VP for Specialty Rest., in charge of 27 operations, has sold and taught catering marketing with annual sales in excess of $125 million. Robert holds a Florida Realtors License, teaches Ethics for the Pasco Board of Realtors and is the Vice Chairman of their education committee. An active Mortgage Broker, he writes the Sunday Article for the Florida Saint Petersburg Times Real Estate and Mortgage section. Mr. Vilardi can be reached at rjv@rjvilardi.com
