Promotional Items?

[zeros]

I usually order and hand out pens with my name and address on them to my clients. Anybody else do this? What do you hand out and where do you get them?

[lenboush]

I usually order and hand out pens with my name and address on them to my clients. Anybody else do this? What do you hand out and where do you get them?

We have used pens and like that idea. Here is a brief article I wrote some time back about advertising and some things that really do work.

This is my 35th year in the tax business. I built one business and sold it to one of the national companies in 2005, worked for them for 5 years due to a non-compete agreement, and then bought a business from a friend who was retiring 11 years ago.

Over my years in business I hate to think of the many thousands of dollars I have wasted on marketing and advertising. I could write a book. At the same time that I was wasting that money, however, I was learning the hard way how to make my marketing more effective. I'll share a few things I learned and provide a couple of successful strategies I have used.

The first and most important thing in building your business is to ask yourself this question, "What do I offer that makes me so different from the others out there; so much different that a new client would want to come to me instead of the others?" Unless one can provide a compelling answer to that question, one will ALWAYS have difficulty building a business. The experts in this business call that a "Unique Selling Proposition" or a USP. What makes you different from all the rest?

It is not enough to make generic statements such as "I am better" or" I am cheaper". USP's are always very specific and must scream to the world in no uncertain terms, "This is why you should absolutely choose my business".

Once you determine your USP, then and only then, should you think about how you are going to market your business.

It is my belief that all of the traditional means of advertising are pretty much a waste of money. I include in that newspapers, radio, TV, billboards, yellow pages and so on. As many have said long before me, the best results come from referrals. So I would recommend spending your time, efforts, and funds in finding ways to increase referrals. So the question becomes, "How do I get people talking about me in such a way that it will make others want to come to me?"

Another important principal in marketing is to think of the lifetime value of the client instead of just what the client pays just the first year. I assume you're in this for the long haul, so think of advertising expenditures and result for the long haul. For example, I have heard business owners say many times that they quit advertising in a certain way because it only brought in twice what they paid for the advertising. In my opinion, for a tax business getting $2 for every $1 you spend would be fantastic results. I'll even go further, I'm not even particularly unhappy when advertising brings in $1 for every $1 I spend. Obviously, this is only appropriate for those who expect that client to stick around for the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years or so. Furthermore, a mature business may not consider a $1 to $1 ratio, but what does a growing business have to lose?

The point here is to not be so guilty of short term thinking that you lose the opportunity to build your business.

Here are a couple of ideas for developing referrals:

1. Many years ago, I purchased 500 magnetic 6" rulers imprinted with my name on them. They cost 37 cents each for a total of $185. That was over 20 years ago and they are still on refrigerator doors and I still get referrals from them even though the phone number was disconnected in 1995 when I sold my business!

This year I finally bought 2000 more, this time in full color, this time with a current phone number.

These things paid for themselves in the very first year and have paid for themselves many times over and over as the years have gone by.

These work because people are constantly in and out of their friends kitchens. They see the ruler. They read the Unique Selling Proposition. They ask their friend about it and then you get a referral.

Some people have said to me that they thought they would just get a magnetic business card. Certainly that would work but a ruler is more likely to be kept since it is something they can use, as opposed to a business card that is just advertising. Further the cost really is not that much different. You can see a copy of my ruler here: http://heritagetax.com/wp-content/up...2/03/Ruler.jpg

2. The main benefit to the next idea is that it will increase referrals by getting people talking about your business. But it can also be used for generating interest with other prospects as well. The best part is that it is dirt cheap. We have used it very successfully for at least nine years.
I work with a local Chick-fil-A restaurant to give away totally FREE Chick-fil-A sandwiches to my clients. No purchase is required by the client. Clients would normally have to pay $3.09 for the sandwich and, at least around here, everybody loves them. If they have a Chick-fil-A in your area, it is an incredibly inexpensive way to create significant goodwill and get your clients to talking about you.

While it may be different from franchise to franchise, my local Chick-fil-A only makes me pay for the cost of printing the coupons. Since they are custom printed, I have my own business information printed on them as well as the Chick-fil-A coupon. Even this cost is not as much as it might otherwise be because they have already pre-printed the back in 2 colors in large volume. The cost for me has worked out to only about a nickel per coupon. That creates some dirt cheap goodwill. I usually give away about 4000 coupons per year.

I not only give them to clients but I go around to nearby businesses and ask if I can give them to their employees. I attach a small flyer to them with a coupon for my services. I also go to the nearby nursing homes and give one to every employee with the same coupon attached. At a nickel apiece, I can afford to be pretty free with how I give them away. They really do create incredible goodwill.

The only negative is that the clients have now come to expect them.

Incidentally, if there is not a Chick-fil-A in your area, I suspect one of the other sandwich chains might work out a similar deal with you. It benefits them by bringing traffic into their business and that traffic will usually buy a drink and fries to go with their FREE sandwich.

You can see a copy of my Chick-fil-A coupon here: http://heritagetax.com/wp-content/up...l-A-Coupon.pdf

Well, those are just a few of my thoughts. I hope they may be of value.

[Gene V]

Len-Thanks for sharing--very helpful.

[kpangelinan]

Thanks...

We have used pens and like that idea. Here is a brief article I wrote some time back about advertising and some things that really do work.

This is my 35th year in the tax business. I built one business and sold it to one of the national companies in 2005, worked for them for 5 years due to a non-compete agreement, and then bought a business from a friend who was retiring 11 years ago.

Over my years in business I hate to think of the many thousands of dollars I have wasted on marketing and advertising. I could write a book. At the same time that I was wasting that money, however, I was learning the hard way how to make my marketing more effective. I'll share a few things I learned and provide a couple of successful strategies I have used.

The first and most important thing in building your business is to ask yourself this question, "What do I offer that makes me so different from the others out there; so much different that a new client would want to come to me instead of the others?" Unless one can provide a compelling answer to that question, one will ALWAYS have difficulty building a business. The experts in this business call that a "Unique Selling Proposition" or a USP. What makes you different from all the rest?

It is not enough to make generic statements such as "I am better" or" I am cheaper". USP's are always very specific and must scream to the world in no uncertain terms, "This is why you should absolutely choose my business".

Once you determine your USP, then and only then, should you think about how you are going to market your business.

It is my belief that all of the traditional means of advertising are pretty much a waste of money. I include in that newspapers, radio, TV, billboards, yellow pages and so on. As many have said long before me, the best results come from referrals. So I would recommend spending your time, efforts, and funds in finding ways to increase referrals. So the question becomes, "How do I get people talking about me in such a way that it will make others want to come to me?"

Another important principal in marketing is to think of the lifetime value of the client instead of just what the client pays just the first year. I assume you're in this for the long haul, so think of advertising expenditures and result for the long haul. For example, I have heard business owners say many times that they quit advertising in a certain way because it only brought in twice what they paid for the advertising. In my opinion, for a tax business getting $2 for every $1 you spend would be fantastic results. I'll even go further, I'm not even particularly unhappy when advertising brings in $1 for every $1 I spend. Obviously, this is only appropriate for those who expect that client to stick around for the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years or so. Furthermore, a mature business may not consider a $1 to $1 ratio, but what does a growing business have to lose?

The point here is to not be so guilty of short term thinking that you lose the opportunity to build your business.

Here are a couple of ideas for developing referrals:

1. Many years ago, I purchased 500 magnetic 6" rulers imprinted with my name on them. They cost 37 cents each for a total of $185. That was over 20 years ago and they are still on refrigerator doors and I still get referrals from them even though the phone number was disconnected in 1995 when I sold my business!

This year I finally bought 2000 more, this time in full color, this time with a current phone number.

These things paid for themselves in the very first year and have paid for themselves many times over and over as the years have gone by.

These work because people are constantly in and out of their friends kitchens. They see the ruler. They read the Unique Selling Proposition. They ask their friend about it and then you get a referral.

Some people have said to me that they thought they would just get a magnetic business card. Certainly that would work but a ruler is more likely to be kept since it is something they can use, as opposed to a business card that is just advertising. Further the cost really is not that much different. You can see a copy of my ruler here: http://heritagetax.com/wp-content/up...2/03/Ruler.jpg

2. The main benefit to the next idea is that it will increase referrals by getting people talking about your business. But it can also be used for generating interest with other prospects as well. The best part is that it is dirt cheap. We have used it very successfully for at least nine years.
I work with a local Chick-fil-A restaurant to give away totally FREE Chick-fil-A sandwiches to my clients. No purchase is required by the client. Clients would normally have to pay $3.09 for the sandwich and, at least around here, everybody loves them. If they have a Chick-fil-A in your area, it is an incredibly inexpensive way to create significant goodwill and get your clients to talking about you.

While it may be different from franchise to franchise, my local Chick-fil-A only makes me pay for the cost of printing the coupons. Since they are custom printed, I have my own business information printed on them as well as the Chick-fil-A coupon. Even this cost is not as much as it might otherwise be because they have already pre-printed the back in 2 colors in large volume. The cost for me has worked out to only about a nickel per coupon. That creates some dirt cheap goodwill. I usually give away about 4000 coupons per year.

I not only give them to clients but I go around to nearby businesses and ask if I can give them to their employees. I attach a small flyer to them with a coupon for my services. I also go to the nearby nursing homes and give one to every employee with the same coupon attached. At a nickel apiece, I can afford to be pretty free with how I give them away. They really do create incredible goodwill.

The only negative is that the clients have now come to expect them.

Incidentally, if there is not a Chick-fil-A in your area, I suspect one of the other sandwich chains might work out a similar deal with you. It benefits them by bringing traffic into their business and that traffic will usually buy a drink and fries to go with their FREE sandwich.

You can see a copy of my Chick-fil-A coupon here: http://heritagetax.com/wp-content/up...l-A-Coupon.pdf

Well, those are just a few of my thoughts. I hope they may be of value.

Wow, thanks for taking the time to share.....where do you buy your rulers?

I'm 100% with you on the newspaper, radio, etc. forms of advertising.....expensive and ineffective.

The free sandwiches idea is AWESOME and although we live in a small town, we do have a Subway that I think I might approach. I'm guessing the sandwich store invests in the free sandwiches to be able to get people to try out their store and to buy other drinks and foods in there as well? Not sure what other incentive or reason to ask them to do this, but will definitely approach them soon for sure!

I do know what not to do: we couldn't give away calendars or key chains and the only 2 things that have worked consistently year in and year out (worked, meaning our customers absolutely love and rave about them each time they come in) are the pens (not much rave here, but everybody loves and takes a pen) and the little spiral notebooks 5x3 I think. I believe we buy them through national pen, but not 100% sure as I buy in bulk to save every other year or so. The pads and pens cost us around .30/each.

[lenboush]

Wow, thanks for taking the time to share.....where do you buy your rulers?

I'm 100% with you on the newspaper, radio, etc. forms of advertising.....expensive and ineffective.

The free sandwiches idea is AWESOME and although we live in a small town, we do have a Subway that I think I might approach. I'm guessing the sandwich store invests in the free sandwiches to be able to get people to try out their store and to buy other drinks and foods in there as well? Not sure what other incentive or reason to ask them to do this, but will definitely approach them soon for sure!

I do know what not to do: we couldn't give away calendars or key chains and the only 2 things that have worked consistently year in and year out (worked, meaning our customers absolutely love and rave about them each time they come in) are the pens (not much rave here, but everybody loves and takes a pen) and the little spiral notebooks 5x3 I think. I believe we buy them through national pen, but not 100% sure as I buy in bulk to save every other year or so. The pads and pens cost us around .30/each.

http://www.magnetsusa.com/

[kpangelinan]

http://www.magnetsusa.com/

thank you!

[oceanlovin'ea]

Pens and pocket calendars

I also agree on the advertising. A waste of money for me. I had an apartment complex call me the other day and want to put my name on their magnetic calendar that they put in all the apartments when they rent them. It was around $400 for a year. But I tried advertising in retirement park magazines and really didn't get any response. So I will pass on this one also.

I buy pens from National Pen every other year. I buy red squiggle pens. This is what my clients want. They like the red color. They can find it in the bottom of their purses. They like they way it writes.
Another EA gave me one of his pens a couple of years ago and National Pen sent me a sample. It has a 2 year calendar in it. Really cute. When my red ones are gone, I might try that one.

I buy pocket calendars from Amsterdam printing. One year I buy the whole calendar and then next year they get a refill to go in the holder they got the year before. Most all of my clients love getting the calendars.

So I guess those are two things I would probably keep doing. BUT and that is a big BUT.....I really like Len's rulers and I LOVE the Chick-Fil-A coupons. They just opened a drive through restaurant a couple of miles from me. I think I will definitely go in and talk to the manager. I love Chick-Fil-A. Although my granddaughter would probably confiscate all my coupons for herself.

So I will consider those and will share these ideas with my fellow EA's at our shareshop in a couple of weeks.

Linda, EA