St. Patrick’s Day grassroots marketing examples
For small businesses, grassroots marketing is a foundational strategy to reach a core customer base on a limited budget. GoDaddy.com can market using Super Bowl commercials but startup entrepreneurs need to get extraordinarily creative to make every marketing dollar count.
The Sloan brothers call out 3 ideas to get started with a grassroots marketing campaign in this article. I’ve seen many small businesses use a party holiday atmosphere like St. Patrick’s day to leverage marketing in a grassroots manner. And this year St. Patrick’s day falls on a Friday AND during day 2 of the NCAA basketball tournament. Talk about an excuse for a party!
Let’s brainstorm on ways to use grassroots marketing for a small business. What ideas do you have or what have you seen done that especially caught your eye?
So, pour yourself a Guinness and …
March 17th, 2006 at 10:15 am
Erin Go Burp!
Actually, Grassroots works well in large companies as well…in my past lives, I often found that having a relationship with a local town newspaper in areas where I knew company sales people had a customer base, turned out to be more fruitful, in terms of leads, and "closings" than an add in the New York Times.
Last night I went to my town’s planning meeting and met many business owners, it was an opportunity chat and hand out business cards. One person who owns a small gift shop is going to carry my line!
March 17th, 2006 at 11:04 am
In Irish it’s called the gift of gab…
In buzz-i-ness business speak, it’s the tipping point.
In plain terms, it’s the ability to schmooze.
Simply talking about your product to the right people can cause a viral reaction. So how do you know you’re talking to the right person? You don’t. So you tell everyone.
What if you’re like me, a horrible schmoozer? I’d bet there are friends, fans, family members and customers who will be your best schmoozers.
No blarney.
March 17th, 2006 at 11:09 am
Yes, you tell everyone…recently I told the girl in the post office about Pet Set…why not right…they are the ones picking up all that direct mail from my house everyday…
I’m not the best "schmoozer either" I get the shakes at parties…but I have found recently that my personalized style of writing has helped me.
I once got a famous radio talk show host to have my husband on as a guest for his birthday…and he agreed to it. There was something in my note to the radio guy that got to his sensibilities.
Point is use whatever you’ve got.
Cheers!
March 17th, 2006 at 11:23 am
Matt, here is the opposite of "grassroots". Today I received a pr e-mail from Ina Garten (Food Network’s Barefoot Contessa).
I wrote back, rambling on about how great her show and products are, added my url and what location in her area sells my products.
What do you call that? "Throwing (blank) against the wall" to see what happens?
March 17th, 2006 at 12:33 pm
Hey. What the heck. It’s worth a shot.
My wife studied in Italy with Sheila Bridges (From the Fine Dining Channel) and wanted to say hello to her. So I told my wife to go ahead and shoot her an e-mail through her web site.
She hasn’t received a reply, but you never know?
March 17th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
This may sound weird, but if you live near a busy street, have a professional looking sign made and put it up advertising your website or business name. (Or if you have a family member or friend who does, ask them if you can put up a small sign)
Put business cards in all of your bills that you mail in.
Network with people at church (if you go to one). People are always wondering who has specific skill-sets amongst church congregations.
Give away a free product on a local radio station!
If you find other websites that could become potential business partners, contact them! What the heck! I’ve found that other small businesses are happy to make new partners and contacts.
So what do you think of those ideas?!
March 17th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
Good stuff!
I would have never thought about placing a business card in the bill envelope. After all, don’t they stuff they’re bills with inserts and advertisements?
That’s dang near genius.
March 17th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
Thanks!!
I also think that people should create an ‘auto-signature’ and include it in all your e-mails - both personal and business. Include all your necessary business info - name, website address, slogan, phone number, etc.
This will remind even your friends that you are a business owner. Maybe they will refer you to someone else if they hear of a need.
March 17th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
Great stuff Krista! I have also donated products to associations that are affiliated with my business/industry…many are more than happy to have products for such things as silent auctions, charity benefits, etc.
As our business stradles both the pet industry and the gift/stationery industries…there are so many clubs and associations that I can align myself with.
Recently I donated product for an event at the Sundance Festival in Aspen…a dog spa driven by Ceasar pet products. Of course in the hopes that Brad Pitt would have seen our stuff.
March 18th, 2006 at 9:33 pm
We just finished running a contest called The Home Office From Hell contest. The winner will receive up to 12 months of free rent (maximum of $12,000) at any office suite location listed on our website - Offices2share.com.
We got mentions in hundreds of newspapers, websites, blogs, radio & even TV and we haven’t even announced the winner yet!!
We’re hoping that we will get even more press when the winner is formally announced in a week or 2.
Coming up with something unique and fun is a great way to get the media’s attention.
We did this on a national basis because we operate throughout the U.S., but this kind of idea can work very well on a local basis. You could sponsor a contest to benefit a local cause or charity, etc.
March 19th, 2006 at 5:47 am
Congrats, Jeff.
The home office from hell is such a creative idea, it’s no wonder it received the press that it did.
As a former newspaper editors, I know the power of a creative idea. Since most of the news is so dark, I was always trying to find something to lighten up the mood, so to speak.
I would have, no doubt, given some space to the Home Office from Hell story.
March 19th, 2006 at 1:05 pm
Thanks Matt - Too bad you’re not the editor for the Wall Street Journal or The NY Times:-))
March 19th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
I love creative PR ideas…seems like there is a potential reality tv show here…lol
March 19th, 2006 at 3:49 pm
Hey Kim - I think your clairvoyance is at work again.
We are actually planning to do something along those lines - maybe our friends - the Sloan Brothers - would like to get involved!!
March 19th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
Jeff, we must be psychic twins or something…I was thinking about a project that could involve taking some of our more evocative/snarky? threads and turning them into a book or promotional device.
I.e., the thread we had a few days ago about "Entrepreneurial Brownbagging" got me thinkning about recipies that entrepreneurs have been forced to come up with, the accompanying copy could be some real life dialogue about what idea that person was working on at 3:00am…
Then there could be a whole "lifestyle" section….
Maybe this isn’t a book but a "lifestyle" magazine like "O" or Martha…but this would be S.U.N. Living: Life solucions for the Entrepreneur"
Different than mags that are out there now.
Did I just show my hand too early?
March 19th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
Hopefully not!! Just remember - ideas are a dime a dozen. Anyone can come up with ideas - it’s the rare person that actually acts on those ideas, so you probably don’t have too much to worry about.
Nevertheless, always a good idea to keep your propriety ideas and plans close to the vest!!
March 21st, 2006 at 11:30 am
Does anyone have experience with online affiliate marketing?
March 21st, 2006 at 11:36 am
Steve, I thought these folks might be worth looking in to? http://www.one80group.com/
March 21st, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Steve–
I have been working with some online affiliate programs. I don’t know if I can be of any help.
Pretty much self-taugh and certainly not at an expert level, or anything.
March 21st, 2006 at 2:41 pm
Steve,
Have you checked out the On Demand seminar that we did on this topic here at StartupNation? IT’s titled [link=http://www.startupnation.com/pages/webinars/OS_Affiliate-Marketing-Boost-Website.asp' target='']Using Affiliate Marketing to Boost Your Website[/link].
Joel