Design, print, and distribute your own catalog and, if you can get people to read it and buy from it, you have a powerful marketing tool. The mailing list is a critical component in the successful use of catalogs. Catalogs boomed in the 1980s and early 1990s, but a lot of the same effort is now going into the Internet. With luck, hard work, a good product, and a marketing budget, you can also get your product into somebody else’s catalog.
The classifieds are not just your first advertising experience, and the marketplace for used cars, houses, and apartments; some companies use classifieds as an important part of their marketing mix. Consider the classifieds in Inc. Magazine, Business Week, Sunset, or USA Today; these are major marketing opportunities for certain kinds of specialty products and services. The local newspaper’s classifieds are one of the best places to advertise services such as hauling, painting, and gardening.
In other side, there are coupons. Coupons can generate local business and new customers. Offer an attractive deal to get customers in the door once, and give them reasons to come back. An effective technique for years and years, and for the right kinds of businesses, it still works. A significant advantage of coupons is the tracking they offer, with each coupon dated and identified by the source. And demonstrations work best when crowds are already gathered, such as at a trade show. Have you ever seen the airplane toys flying around a toy store? A video of the product in use? One of the biggest uses of demos these days is in the software market. The Internet has made demo software an excellent tool for selling software.