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Marketing a new concept
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October 10, 2000: 12:27 p.m. ET
When your service is unfamiliar, promote it with alternative advertising strategies
By Jane Applegate
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Dear Jane: I am the sole owner of a home staging business that has been up and running for a total of three years. (Home staging is preparing and merchandising homes for resale.) I believe without a shadow of doubt that this concept is valuable and needed in our active marketplace.
My business is located in Yorktown, Va., near Williamsburg. My marketing strategies have produced very little revenue. With a small business, how does one go about getting the word out to your targeted market without spending thousands of dollars on printed advertising?
You have to turn your clients into walking billboards for your business, especially since it's tough to convey exactly what you do in print advertisements.
Ask your happy clients to provide written testimonials that you can use on simple flyers. Take photos of them inside their homes and include their comments about how your expertise helped them sell their homes fast.
You should also market your services directly to real estate agents and brokers. They try to advise sellers about how to spiff up their homes, but may welcome an expert's help.
Offer them an attractive discount if they hire you to work with several properties in a fixed period of time. Keep track of open houses held just for real estate brokers and distribute information about your services to them.
A targeted marketing campaign is always more cost-effective -- and effective.
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