Marketing 101

Hello everyone!

All of these ideas I have used over the years for my businesses. Some that I thought were dead on target failed in one time frame, but it worked way above expectations in another. I have come up with the most stupid idea to take advantage of something that came up out of the spur of the moment and have it pay off so well that I was over whelmed!

1 On your advertisment put an extension number in the phone number. When I get a call and they ask for extension 69, I know what newspaper, thrifty nickel ad, road side "realestate" sign, flyer, door hanger, or business card taped to a gas pump. I know if it is the local paper, the out of town paper, or the home town wannabe newspaper. I know if it is my hometheater business card, CCTV card, or my nightclub/bar business card. Extension 32 yes one moment. Put them on hold. I have cheat sheets with the promos. Find # 32. Now pick up the customer and you see the ad that they see. It is funny how I get calls from a business card that I gave out 5 years ago!

2 You want to do radio on the CHEAP? Find a friend, or talk to a business that would have an interest in doing this. I go to the radio station and I get the time slots after 10pm. If I beg, I sometimes can get the spots for $20.00 each. I take the first 30 seconds, and my friend takes the second 30 seconds. This is a one minute commercial. We do 25 spots a week on the radio. We split the cost 50/50. It cost me $10 a spot X 25 = $250 a week! Yes this is a lot of money but it is dirt cheap if you get daytime quotes. Friday at drive time at 8am cost me $75 - $100 per spot!

We rent a digital multitrack recorder from the local music instrument store. We make our own commercials. It is a lot of work! We leave blank spots in the ads so that we can taylor it to the season, or change it with a different voice. This commercial can be five years old but you do not recognize it. Sometimes I have the DJ from that radio station fill in the blank Over different stations they sound different. Some stations are hard rock, with the "stoner", some are top 40 geared to daytime women listeners, some are geared to 20's something or the 40's something.

It is great when hollywood movie star is in the news and you can grab a premade commercial and fill it in with the "event" and get this on the air. It blows people away that someone famous does something, and I have a commercial on the air that day!

3 Buy or make some cookies. Ok,a lot of cookies! In advance go and have some stickers made up like a business card. It should be a round circle. Order at least a 1000. You get a better price break. It will probably cost somewhere around $200 to $300 depending on the size of the sticker.

Wrap the cookies in "saran wrap"(yes tm for all of you lawyers out there!!), and put the sticker on the bottom to "seal" it. Place all of these cookies in a box.

Now go to all of the High School Home Coming games in your area. Talk to the cheerleaders in advance as to what you want to do. You can bribe them in a way if you offer to take out an ad in what ever "newspaper" sponsors the cheerleaders. Go to the Home Bleachers. Divide the bleachers in to 3 sections. Start with the left side, then do the right side. When you get to the middle section they will have seen this done and it will be a mad house and they will be screaming the name of you company at the top of their lungs!!!! Would you like to know what I do?

Here is what I do. Go to the left side and have the cheerleaders chant scorpion, scorpion, scorpion, and toss a cookie here and there. The crowd will look at you like you are smoking crack! Someone will figure out that if they chant scorpion that they will get the cookie that they would really like!

Now you will have more people actually trying to chant. Toss somemore cookies! Now the section is really lively!!!!

Wait till later in the game and do the right side. Again they will look at you like you are on crack.

Now comes the sweet spot. When the center section sees you pick up the box with the cookies in them the whole bleachers start chanting in unison scorpion, scorpion, scorpion, scorpion!!!!!!!! Now start tossing those cookies everywhere!!!!! You can toss some chips too if you wanted.

The place will go mad!!! I have stopped games where the players wanted to know what was going on!!! scorpion, scorpion, scorpion!!!!

I cannot walk in the mall without group chanting scorpion, scorpion scorpion!! Ah MAN We thought you had some cookies!!!!!

IT DOESN'T STOP THERE! Before the game a big box of programs will come in. I tell the head coach that I can get people to buy the programs like mad in the next year! HOW? Here is how. Take 2,3, or 4 programs, what ever you feel comfortable with. Have the coach hand write a message on one particular page. "Congradulations! You have just won a free security camera and you can pick it up at the concession stand!

During part of the game the announcer will anounce "HEY EVERYBODY GRAB YOUR PROGRAM AND GO TO PAGE 11. IF YOU HAVE THE COACHES SIGNATURE YOU HAVE JUST WONE A FREE SECURITY CAMERA FROM SCORPION THEATERS!!!!!!! It is a blast to watch people "come on down" like it is the price is right or something while they shake their program over their head, and they scream all the way down!! I put sticker on the camera as well. When they get back to their seats everyone around them will ask if they can "see it"! I also put banners on the fence around the field, and I have "realestate signs" for people to see when they leave the game later. I usually bring a camcorder to the game and just walk up to randome people and ask them to say something. "We love scorpiontheater, and XXXXXX high rules"!!!!! I usually will go to some pizzera and show the video to who ever shows up at the gathering. Make sure they have a very large banquet hall!

4 Mothers day. I buy an obcene amount of daisys. They are very reasonable in price. I will usually go around to doctors office, lawyers etc. I give all of the ladies a flower for mothers day, and I leave a bowl of YES YOU GUESSED IT! CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES! I also drop off business cards as well.

5 Build a float for the Christmas, Thanksgiving, or the 4th of July Parade. Find a buddy who has a DJ business you can promote each other. He brings his lights, fog machines, speakers, and amps!! I love watching the night time parades and you can see the kids dancing to the music before you even get up to them! Pass out candy! Pass out YES CHOCOLATE COOKIES!!!!!

6 I have banners and realestate signs around all of the time. Once people were lining up in the street. There is no parade! What is going on. OH its the Olympic torch runner coming through! BAM I get the Banners up, get the signs out, and call the radio station who is marking the route of the runner and ask for a shout out from Scorpion Theater. There are usually a lot of people with radios and I get to hear my self. We have a lot of rocket launches and the tourist love to hear the count down and watch them take off. The launch area is about 40 miles do north of me!

7 Have a signage/printer shop make some really small stickers with the name of your company and give them to the kids of your customer. The customer will want to strangle you a week later but the kids will love you forever!

8 Have some banners made up. "CARWASH" sponsored by scorpiontheater. Have some hand held signs made up that say CARWASH. Get some buckets, sponges, hoses, towels, soap, and whatever. Maybe get some ot those orange cones at the hardware store. Talk to the local Burger King, McDonalds, Subway, area supervisor, or owner. Get some tickets made up with a BOGO. Buy one sub/burger get the second one free. The football team, cheerleaders, mathclub, rocket club, Glee club or who ever can sell these tickets in advance! They money off the carwash even if the ticket purchaser never shows up for the carwash! You get all of the exposure by helping out these groups! Now find a place that will help out with the groups that will let you have a carwash in the lot and let you use their water. Mix some groups. I tell the cheerleaders that I get can get the chess club to help wash the cars if they will help at their car wash. Believe me the chess club is really going to need a bunch of girls in bikinis if they expect to make any momey!

I have some more ideas but I think I have bored you all enough.

Remember if you do not like the idea thats ok. Do not do it. If you like it, feel free to modify the idea to suit your needs.

Good Luck!!!!

Let me know if anyone likes these ideas.